Death a Sketch
About Death a Sketch
Death a Sketch (A Paint & Shine Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Setting - Kentucky Kensington (July 26, 2022)
Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
In eastern Kentucky, Miranda Trent runs a unique tour company called Paint & Shine, but sometimes the peaceful mountains play host to murder . . .
Miranda’s business—combining Appalachian adventure tours with art and a bit of moonshine—is the perfect place for an outdoor sporting goods company to hold an employee retreat. It’ll be a challenge, but the money they’re paying will definitely help with building her new distillery.
Miranda has lots of teamwork-fostering activities planned, from sketching classes to Southern cooking, but the executive running things prefers a more competitive spirit. In fact, after the workers are split into teams, they’re told that only the winners will keep their jobs, and tensions begin to spike. Even after a participant is found dead, the contest continues—while Miranda starts drawing her own conclusions about the ambitious attendees. Now she just has to find the proof . . .
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| Hemlock Lodge in Natural Bridge State Park |
About Cheryl Hollon
Cheryl Hollon now writes full-time after she left an engineering career 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 oil painting and creating glass art. Cheryl and her husband live in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida. Visit her online at http://cherylhollon.com, on Facebook or on Twitter @CherylHollon.
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| Sandstone Arch in Natural Bridge State Park |
My Thoughts
Death a Sketch is the third A Paint & Shine Mystery. It can easily be read as a standalone. Death a Sketch is well-written with realistic, developed characters. The story does start off slowly as we are introduced to the retreat members. I enjoyed the author’s vivid descriptions of that area of Kentucky. The Daniel Boone National Forest is a picturesque region. The depictions of the food will have your mouth watering. It was interesting learning more about the making of moonshine. The mystery was plotted out nicely. There are good suspects along with misdirection. There are clues to help readers solve the whodunit before the reveal (if you pay close attention). Miranda asked questions, but she did little investigating. There were various incidents along the way that kept things lively. I did feel the reveal was a wee bit rushed along with the explanation. Sandy, Miranda’s puppy, is adorable. He helped reduce the stress of the participants. Miranda’s mother only had a cameo in this book. She had to go out of town to complete the sale of her home. I like Miranda’s mother and I hope she will join her daughter in sleuthing in future books. Miranda is slowly getting the distillery off the ground. I hope she makes the deadline. Miranda is finding her place in the community and her romance with Austin is progressing nicely. Death a Sketch is a lively cozy with workshop woes, moonshine mixing, an eliminated executive, a cuddly canine, contestant sabotage, a romantic park ranger, and a caught killer.
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| Balanced Rock in Natural Bridge State Park |
Kris
The Avid Reader
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