Still Knife Painting
A Paint & Shine Mystery
by Cheryl Hollon
About Still Life Painting
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Publisher: Kensington (June 30, 2020)
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
ISBN-10: 1496725247
ISBN-13: 978-1496725240
Digital ASIN: B07W8VL149
Miranda Trent has set up a sweet life in a scenic corner of Appalachia—until she stumbles across the trail of a killer . . .
After inheriting her uncle’s Red River Gorge homestead in Eastern Kentucky—smack dab in the middle of the Daniel Boone National Forest—Miranda comes up with a perfect business plan for summer tourists: pairing outdoor painting classes with sips of local moonshine, followed by a mouthwatering sampler of the best in southern cooking.
To Miranda’s delight, Paint & Shine is a total success—until someone kills the cook. As the town’s outsider, suspicion naturally falls on Miranda. Murdering the best biscuit baker of Red River Gorge is a high crime in these parts. Miranda will have to prove her innocence before she’s moved from farmhouse to jail cell faster than she can say “white lightning” . . .
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| Old Fashioned Still |
About Cheryl Hollon
Cheryl Hollon now writes full-time after she left an engineering career of designing and building military flight simulators in amazing countries such as England, Wales, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan, and India. Fulfilling the dream of a lifetime, she combines her love of writing with a passion for creating glass art. In the small glass studio behind her house in St. Petersburg, Florida, Cheryl and her husband design, create, and produce fused glass, stained glass, and painted glass artworks. Cheryl is the author of A Webb's Glass Shop Mystery series set in St. Petersburg, Florida. Visit her online at http://cherylhollon.com, on Facebook or on Twitter @CherylHollon.
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| Ole Smoky Moonshine |
My Thoughts
Still Knife Painting by Cheryl Hollon has classical portrait artist, Miranda making changes to her life. Miranda Trent has inherited her uncle’s
farmhouse in Kentucky where she starts Paint & Shine. Paint & Shine involves a hike in the Daniel
Boone National Forest to Lover’s Leap where they have a plein air painting
class. Miranda then transports the group
to her farmhouse for a Southern meal where each course is paired with moonshine.
Her first group is a success until the
cook, Mrs. Naomi Childers turns up dead in the kitchen. When Miranda finds herself on the suspect
list, she begins nosing around and asking questions. Miranda must evade the
police and someone intent on burning down her farmhouse.
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| Sears & Roebuck Kit House (similar to Miranda's) |
Still Knife Painting is the ebut of A Paint and Shine Mystery series. I like the
premise of this new fetching cozy mystery series. The author took the time to introduce the
characters and set the stage for the series.
I enjoyed the rich descriptions of Kentucky and Miranda’s farmhouse (a
Sears & Roebuck kit home). I had
mixed feelings regarding Miranda. She
was a hard worker and a determined woman who was passionate about her art and
moonshine. She is an observant person
which is helpful to the investigation. Miranda,
though, could be snappish at times and a little rude. I must give her the benefit of the doubt since
Miranda is starting a new business, found a dead woman in her kitchen,
experiencing financial difficulties, and found herself a suspect in Naomi’s
murder. I found myself liking her more
at the end. Miranda is a flawed
individual which makes her realistic along with the other characters in this
cozy mystery. I just loved her adorable
puppy, Sandy. There is humor sprinkled
throughout the story and I just loved the Barney Fife references. The mystery was interesting with multiple
suspects and subtle clues. I was able to
identify the guilty party early in the story, but I had no clue as to why. I liked following Miranda as she asked
questions and dug for clues. Wolfe
County Sheriff Richard Larson and his wife, Felicia who is the county coroner
are likeable characters. I appreciated that Miranda kept Sheriff Larson up to date.
There is a rivalry between Sheriff
Larson and Detective Otis E. Peterson from the Lexington Homicide Division. We learn why these two men are at odds with
each other. There were some quirky
characters like Doris Ann and Officer Gary Spenser. I liked learning about the area as well as the
traditions of the people who live there. Southerners have their own way of doing things
and gossip flows faster than syrup on hot pancakes. I
thought Still Knife Painting was well-written and it moved along at a good
pace. I was not a fan of the
point-of-view switching from Miranda to other characters because it took me out
of the story. I hope we get to learn
more about the uncle’s will in the next book.
The details were skimpy. I enjoyed my time in Kentucky while reading Still Knife Painting and I look forward to returning in the next A Paint and Shine Mystery. There are moonshine cocktail recipes as well as recipes for the food Miranda served at the farmhouse at the end of the hbook. Still Knife Painting is an engaging new Southern cozy mystery with rampant rumors, plein
air painting, cultural cuisine, a killer knife, a precious puppy, and merry
moonshine.
Still Knife Painting can be purchased from Amazon, B&N, and Kobo. As part of the tour, the author is hosting a giveaway. Five (5) people will win an ARC of Still Knife Painting. To enter, please click here or use the Rafflecopter form below. Do not forget to leave a comment for an extra entry. Good Luck! Thank you for stopping by today. Tomorrow (for the Fourth of July) I am featuring The Last Curtain Call by Juliet Blackwell. It is the 8th A Haunted Home Renovation Mystery. I hope you have a cheerful day and a fun Fourth of July. Take care, stay safe, and Happy Reading!
Kris
The Avid Reader
Tour Participants
June 29 – Brooke Blogs – CHARACTER GUEST POST
June 29 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
June 30 - The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – GUEST POST
June 30 - The Book Decoder – REVIEW
July 1 – Elizabeth McKenna - Author – SPOTLIGHT
July 1 – I'm All About Books – SPOTLIGHT
July 1 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
July 2 – Baroness' Book Trove – REVIEW
July 2 – Hearts & Scribbles – SPOTLIGHT
July 2 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
July 3 – Reading, Writing & Stitch-Metic – SPOTLIGHT
July 3 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW
July 4 – OFF
July 5 – Cozy Up with Kathy – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
July 5 – Christy's Cozy Corners – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW
July 6 – Diary of a Book Fiend – REVIEW
July 6 – Literary Gold – CHARACTER GUEST POST
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| Lover's Leap |
July 7 – Brianne's Book Reviews - REVIEW
July 7 – Jane Reads – GUEST POST
July 8 – Thoughts in Progress – CHARACTER GUEST POST
July 8 – StoreyBook Reviews – REVIEW
July 9 – Celticlady's Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
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| Hemlock Lodge |
July 9 – Socrates Book Reviews – REVIEW
July 10 – MJB Reviewers – REVIEW
July 10 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
July 11 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW
July 11 – Here's How It Happened – GUEST POST
July 12 – Moonlight Rendezvous – REVIEW, GUEST POST
July 12 – A Wytch's Book Review Blog – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW
July 13 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW, GUEST POST
July 13 – La libreria di Beppe - SPOTLIGHT
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Oh my goodness. Your pictures look like the contents of my inspiration folder. Thank you for hosting this virtual book tour. It's the only travelling I'm doing this year.
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