The Canvas Dagger by Helen Reilly (Macfadden, 1970)

Yikes.

“I say, that looks like the body of Grant Melville, the noted painter..”

 

Those drawn in by the gruesome cover may be disappointed to learn that ‘The Canvas Dagger' was originally published 1956 (presumably with rather more restrained artwork), and gives every indication of being a rather tame art-themed whodunit, rather than a rampage of psychotic, knife-wielding nihilism.