Death in a Pale Hue - (An Art Center Mystery) by Susan Van Kirk (Paperback)

About the Book

"Artist Jill Madison returns to her small hometown to restart her life. She no sooner accepts a job to manage a new community arts center than a burglar makes off with an expensive sculpture and an uninvited corpse is discovered in the basement. Even worse, the body belongs to someone Jill knew--Page 4 of cover.

Book Synopsis

Who knew going home could be deadly?

I will show them success. Artist Jill Madison repeats this mantra when she returns to her small hometown to restart her life. Hired to manage a new community art center, she vows to make it successful so the people of her town will have what she did not have-an education in the arts. She no sooner accepts the job than a burglar makes off with an expensive sculpture and an uninvited corpse is discovered in the basement. Even worse, the body belongs to someone Jill knew...well. Investigating what happened places Jill right in the path of a murderer.

How will she keep her job, run her first big event, and escape a killer who plans to paint her out of the picture permanently?

Review Quotes

"A charming cozy with a sensitive young artist heroine, Jill Madison, who returns to her small town with the best of intentions-to develop a non-profit art center to serve the community-only to discover an old murder that will pull the community apart before it can mend. With a rich cast of secondary characters-including Jill's intuitive detective brother Tom, the dour board member Ivan who constantly doubts Jill's management abilities, and a range of suspects-it's an entertaining read and a wonderful start to what I hope will be a series!" - Karen Odden, USA Today bestselling author of Down a Dark River

"There's nothing pale about this book - vivid prose, colorful characters, and small-town secrets!"-Kaye George, award-winning, national bestselling author of mysteries with a twist

"The journey of artistic protagonist Jill Madison and the small town she's determined to turn into a thriving arts center, infuses every page of this compelling mystery with warmth and gentle humor."-Ellen Byron, Agatha and Lefty Award-Winning Author

"A stolen sculpture and the discovery of a corpse threaten to prevent Jill Marsden from opening her newly created art center. A cast of zany characters make this a rollicking adventure of a spirited new series."-Marilyn Levinson aka Allison Brook, author of the Haunted Library series

"A break-in, a stolen piece of treasured sculpture, and a buried body introduce mystery lovers to Susan Van Kirk's talented young artist, Jill Madison. Will Jill's grit unearth the dirty deeds that threaten her town's art center opening? Or will her plans to honor her mother's name get painted out? A strong debut with a very likeable lead character."-Judy L Murray, Agatha finalist and IPPY Silver Medalist, Murder in the Master - A Chesapeake Bay Mystery