Review by Booklist Review
Amy Webber has barely recovered from the events of A Murder for the Books (2017) when she is thrust headlong into another murder, this one of a prominent local artist. Rachel LeBlanc is found dead in her studio, her husband is missing, and Amy and beau Richard find a closetful of paintings by old masters or very good forgeries. Suspicious characters abound, from Melody Riley, the unpleasant chair of the Library Friends, to the drug dealer dating Rachel's daughter, to sketchy art dealer Kurt Kendrick. Though she tries to stay out of it (because of the risk and because, as director of the Taylorsford Library in Virginia, she is very busy with the annual Heritage Festival), a possible connection to her late artist uncle pulls her in. Aunt Lydia insists that Melody is responsible for Uncle Andrew's death, but when Amy finds more forgeries in a closet in Aunt Lydia's home, she's more determined to get answers, even as the danger increases. The arts are well represented by the painters and Richard's work as a choreographer, adding a new level of interest to this small-town cozy series.--Maguire, Susan Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In Gilbert's agreeable sequel to 2017's A Murder for the Books, Amy Weber, the director of the public library in Taylorsford, Va., is gearing up for the town's annual heritage festival, which will feature a sale of items to benefit the library, including two paintings donated by local artist Rachel LeBlanc. Amy and her boyfriend, the devastatingly handsome and charming Richard Muir, drive over to Rachel's farm to pick up the artwork. In Rachel's barn studio, they find her lying dead on the floor. Within minutes of the arrival of Chief Deputy Brad Tucker and his team, police discover a hidden room in the barn filled with canvases: "Morisot, Monet, de Chirico, Cézanne," according to Amy. Since Amy has an undergraduate degree in art history and is a good researcher, Brad asks Amy to lend a hand in the investigation. Art trafficking, small-town feuds, and another murder follow. Cozy fans will have fun, but seasoned mystery buffs will identify the killer too easily; Gilbert could use a few lessons in slipping clues seamlessly into the text. Agent: Frances Black, Literary Counsel. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Taylorsford, VA, library director Amy -Webber is not a fan of the annual Heritage Festival, as it means more work for her running a yard sale fundraiser for the library. This year, when she and her boyfriend agree to transport paintings from Rachel -LeBlanc's studio, they discover the artist's body. The cache of forged paintings found behind a wall draws Amy into the police investigation because of her art history background. It's the state's art expert, though, who links the forgeries to Amy's deceased uncle, Andrew Talbot. Uncle Andrew had struggled with drug addiction, and Amy fears he might have taken to crime to fund his habit. Her main concern is protecting her Aunt Lydia. Just when Amy thinks it can't get any worse, another person is murdered. VERDICT Once again, Gilbert (A Murder for the Books) delves into small-town family secrets in this mystery that is more traditional than cozy, launching a dark and dramatic new character-driven series. Suggest for admirers of Kate Carlisle.-Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Virginia librarian Amy Webber's love of books is upstaged by two other art forms, painting and dance, in her second cozy.The approach of Taylorsford's annual Heritage Festival promises a host of new experiences for Amy and her patrons, not all of them pleasant. Amy is apprehensive about sending Richard Muir, the dancer/choreographer/professor she met in her first brush with homicide (A Murder for the Books, 2017) off to New York, where he's suddenly needed to help Meredith Fox, the fiancee who ditched him, stage his dance Return. She's not eager to honor the request by Melody Riley, the new chair of the Taylorsford Friends of the Library, to ask her Aunt Lydia to donate some of the paintings by her long-dead husband, Andrew Talbot, for a yard-sale fundraiser. And she's not best pleased when her trip with Richard to pick up some paintings donated by better-known local artist Rachel LeBlanc ends with the discovery of the painter's corpse, stabbed with her own palette knife. Who could possibly have shattered the paradise of Taylorsford by committing such an outrage? A pillar of the community like gossipy ex-postmaster Zelda Shoemaker; a newcomer like Melody's son, Trey, who plans to reopen a shuttered winery; a missing party like Rachel's husband, artist/teacher Reese LeBlanc; or a confederate of the monstrous Quinn family, that notorious international gang of forgers? The hints of large-scale criminality are unconvincing, but Amy turns out to be as apt a student of art forgery as she is of everything book-related.Just the thing for readers whose pulses quicken when they read: "The way he looks at you sometimesdeserves an R-rating." Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
