Mystery, pre-1995, clues on the cover, scavenger hunt, upside down cross

Book found: Landscape of Lies by Peter Watson

----

I'm looking for a book I read between 1991 and 1994. The front & back cover were a painting containing many objects, which played a key role in the story: the main character finds/inherits the painting, realizes there are clues inside to a mystery/treasure, and starts tracing the clues across the countryside. I believe it took place in the UK.

I'm pretty sure there was an upside-down cross in the painting. The painting (and book cover) had many clues hidden throughout.

It was fiction, not one of those find-the-treasure-in-the-real-world books.

Thanks for your help!

It's outside your time window, but this reminds me of an old Agatha Christie show I watched based on By the Pricking of My Thumb which referenced a painting of a cottage (inherited) that had been altered and the characters find the actual cottage and follow the clues in the other details. There are a pile of covers, at least one shows a painting and others show a doll that's relevant to the story, among other things.

Was the painting in a style similar to Hieronymus Bosch's, did one of the main characters also inherit or work in a struggling family hotel and was one of the main characters a spy or something like that?

Ah yes, the painting was in a Hieronymus Bosch style, with many items in the painting competing for attention.

I don't remember if the main characters inherited/worked in a hotel...it's possible one of the main characters was a spy...it's been so long. Do you have a title in mind?

Have you ruled out the Agatha Christie book? I'm asking because (from the show), the painting was inherited, there was a bed and breakfast involved at one point (or a hotel), and the husband of the women who inherited the painting worked in government intelligence.

My vague memories don't really fit with the Agatha Christie's story, but I've found another candidate:
Landscape of Lies by Peter Watson

>6 AdoraBelle42: Ah, that definitely fits the bill. Funny how the details are similar on the surface but are put together differently. The alternate covers show stuff that definitely looks more Bosch.

Landscape of Lies! That sounds right! I'm pretty sure that's it, especially with that front cover. I remember the back cover has more of the painting too, so that the reader can see what the character saw in the painting. But it looks like some editions don't have the painting on the cover, which is too bad.

This makes me want to go read By the Pricking of My Thumb too....

Thank you both for your help!