Book 99, 2020
Nov. 13th, 2020 10:12 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chez_jae
A Brushstroke with Death by Bethany BlakeMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I took today off; therefore, I had no qualms about staying up late last night to finish reading A Brushstroke with Death by Bethany Blake. It's the first in the new "Owl and Crescent" mystery series, which is an offshoot of the author's "Lucky Paws Pet Sitting" series. Main character here is Willow Bellamy, young artist and witch.
Willow enjoys hosting painting parties in the converted barn on her property. When local merchants gather for one of her parties, she creates a still-life scene for them to paint, which includes a pair of pruning shears. After the party, one of the participants is found dead in the woods that run between her property and Willow's. Evangeline Fletcher had plenty of enemies, but when the police focus on her nephew, and Willow's former flame, Derek, she takes it upon herself to prove his innocence. Willow is aided by her coven, consisting only of friends Astrid, Pepper, and herself. She wants to prove the compelling Detective Lucien Turner wrong in his assessment of Derek. The odd thing about the detective is, Willow painted a portrait of the man before she ever met him.
It was an interesting story, peopled with interesting characters. Most of them I found likable, but I didn't much care for Lucien. I enjoyed reading about Willow's eccentric pets, which included a cat, a rescue pig, and the owl who lives in the rafters of her barn. The plot built slowly, but it flowed in a smooth manner. The ending, however, was unsatisfactory. I emphatically did NOT like that the murderer turned out to be someone close to Willow, whom she trusted, and, despite the fact that I never warmed up to Lucien, I also didn't like that he skived off at the end without saying goodbye.
Favorite line: ...the life I'd created, and which I loved, even if it was simple and a little cluttered with people, animals, and things...
Very good, for the most part, but I'm knocking a star off for that less-than-stellar ending: four stars.
