Murder, intrigue and a centuries-old mystery concerning the disappearance of a forbidden Islamic portrait all feature in the latest thriller by a Manx novelist.

’Prohibited Portrait’ was released by writer Bob Kermeen under his pen name, R.W. Kay, last month.

Bob, a retired RAF engineer, now lives in Ramsey, and ’Prohibited Portrait’ is his fifth novel, published by The Book Guild.

Like many of Bob’s thrillers, such as his earlier books, ’A Nastia Game’, ’Bin Laden’s Nemesis’ and ’Iraq’s Retribution’, it combines his knowledge of conflict and the troubles in the Middle East and a gripping tale set in the Isle of Man.

’The story, which is set in the 1960s, starts with a body coming ashore in Douglas and the subsequent revelation that, although the body drowned, he didn’t drown at sea,’ said Bob.

’An appeal in the local papers, including the Examiner and the Ramsey Courier, leads them to find the identity of the body, and after going to his home, the police find a letter saying that the victim saw it coming, saying that, if he should end up dead, this is where you should start looking. And that’s where the mystery deepens.

’The Police find a mystery object, which draws the story into Islamic mythology and a forbidden portrait, which has been missing for more than 1,000 years.’

Bob, whose father served as a policeman said that he was inspired to write to the story after finding a lot of murder mystery fiction predictable.

He decided to set the story in the Isle of Man during the 1960s, and he drew on his own knowledge on police procedure from that time to building the mystery.

He has included the names of many Manx figures, both current and historical in the tale.

’Hector Duff is in the book,’ said Bob.

’I rang him and told him what I was writing, and would he mind I used his name as a police officer, which, of course, he was in those days. There is another character called George Turnbull, who is also a former policeman.

’I also link the story back to Abdullah Quilliam. He was made a sheikh of Islam in 1924, and opened the first Mosque in Britain, in Liverpool.

’I have done a lot of research on him for this book. Even though he lived in England, Quilliam would come every year to the Isle of Man, and he would go for long walks, lasting for days, which I have adapted into my story.

’It is a complicated plot and I think it really keeps people guessing,’ he continued.

’I’m very proud of this book. I have got four titles already published, but this one is one that I am very satisfied with.

’I feel that, when writing a book, the more you write the better you get and, with this one, I found that it was much easier, and a more enjoyable experience to write and finish.’