Finding a dead body in the fish pond wasn't on Lucy's to-do list.
Just back from her honeymoon in Paris, Lucy has been hard at work planning the library's promo for a local art event. Despite some, uh, unexpected guests, everyone seems to be enjoying themselves despite the downpour outside. The only snag seemed to be that the noted guest speaker was a no-show. Bet you can guess whose body was found in that koi pond as the party wound down.
There's another surprise ahead for Lucy. One of the borrowed but not valuable replicas is missing when she returns the next morning. Are the crimes related? Well, we know the dead man didn't have it on him but who would steal a replica painting, community sentiment attached to it or not? You surely don't have to have read the book to know Lucy is soon caught up in investigating, although her focus is largely on the stolen painting. She has the help of friend-enemy Louise Jane who was smitten with one of the mysterious guests, one supposedly known in the art world. One problem. He's gone missing and the police can't turn up any info on him, not that that seems to bother Louise Jane. Is he the murderer? Was Louise Jane inadvertently involved? Is she hiding something or maybe someone?
While the local artist is fictional, you'll learn a bit about art along the way, such as how painting strokes seem to identify the likelihood of it being such and such an artist as well as how/why certain signatures are used. You'll also gets insight in how it is evaluated and authenticated, not to mention how art dealers wheel and deal in acquiring and selling pricey art. The brief dive into the art world was fun. You get to see Lucy in action, albeit much of it seemed to be online, as well as meet some of the locals, including a very snooty, obnoxious artist who likes his own work much more than he perhaps should. And, it was great fun to see Lucy and Louise Jane team up rather than maintaining their usual polite co-existence. It'll be interesting to see what comes of that possible story line given the ending.
Bottom line, although the start was relatively slow going, it was giving us the background we'd need, so that made sense. I was a bit surprised to find Lucy being part of the police investigation in a way, albeit unofficially. The situation she (and Louise Jane) find themselves in at the end is also because of rather poor choices on Lucy's part. Her hunches aren't always factual, let's just say, and lead to more headaches. I'll just say, as way of a teaser, I hope she's not claustrophobic.You'll love Louise Jane's idea for summoning help. Nope, not giving away anything else. Eva Gates has another winner here and despite my minor quibbles, I thoroughly enjoyed hanging out with Lucy, Conner, and the rest of this cast, even the one in disguise. Thanks #CrookedLaneBooks and #NetGalley for inviting me back to Nags Head, NC. I've never been there in real life but feel like I have via Gates' books. I'd love to visit the very real lighthouse, albeit it doesn't really host a library.
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