A new survey conducted to mark the publication of bestselling author Peter James’ new book, Picture You Dead, has revealed that Greater London is the second most crime-obsessed region in the UK, with a whopping 77% of participants saying that they enjoy reading crime fiction.

The data, gathered by Markettiers, showed that reasons for enjoying the genre varied, with 26% of participants citing the satisfaction of solving the crime themselves before getting to the end of the story and 19% reading in order to understand the mind of a criminal.

Others found that immersing themselves into an entirely new world give the genre its appeal, with 22% of people claiming that the element they enjoyed the most is the escapism.

Crime fiction enthusiasts will soon be able to fully immerse themselves into the dark and seedy underbelly of the art world with the release of Peter James’ latest instalment of the Detective Superintendent Roy Grace series, Picture You Dead.

The best-selling crime writer’s latest work is a fast-paced thriller which spirals into a cascade of deception and greed from the point that professional art dealer Charlie Porteous comes across an incredibly rare and sought-after painting by artist Jean-Honoré Fragonard.

The survey also quizzed people from the Greater London on the subject of forgery and frauds in the art world, and found that 32% of participants said that they’d feel cheated if they had taken a special trip to see a piece of art and it was fake. Taking it one step further, 32% of people surveyed said that they would request their money back from the gallery if they’d discovered this information.

But how easy is it to discern a fake from the real deal? According to the survey results, 43% of people believe that they’d be able to instantly recognise a work by Vincent Van Gogh; however, another 21% of participants didn’t think they’d be able to instantly recognise the style of well-known artists such as Pablo Picasso, Leonardo Da Vinci and Claude Monet.

Peter James spent time with one of the world’s most notorious forgers, who told him that he could forge a painting by an old master so well that even the world’s leading authority on that artist would be unable to tell it was a fake. The central story in Picture You Dead revolves around a couple who take a painting they bought in a car boot sale to the Antiques Roadshow. They are told it might be a long-lost work of the 18th Century French artist Jean-Honoré Fragonard and, if genuine, worth many millions; but within days of the show broadcasting their normal existence is turned upside down and their lives are in peril. Detective Superintendent Roy Grace finds himself on a fast-track learning curve into the murky and dangerous side of the art world – one of his toughest cases yet.

Art connoisseurs and crime fiction fanatics alike will have the chance to see if they can crack the case, with Picture You Dead set to be published on 29th September this year.