I review a lot of books and enjoy most of them. As a result, I give a lot of five-star reviews. When an astounding book comes along that outshines everything around it, giving five stars isn’t enough. The Artist Colony deserves more than five stars.
Set in Carmel, California, in the summer of 1924, this novel glows with the beauty of this idyllic place. Carmel is one of my favorite places on earth, even if today it is trendy and touristy. In 1924, it was a thriving artist colony for early women painters. The focus of this novel is the death of Ada Belle Davenport, a real woman who died in the ocean that summer. Ada Belle’s sister, Sarah, is on the way to Carmel for the funeral when she learns the death has been ruled a suicide.
Sarah is not the only one who believes Ada Belle’s death was not self-inflicted, and she proceeds to prove it. The reader meets a cast of empathetic, layered characters, none of whom you want to be the killer. Clues are spread throughout, but the mystery keeps you guessing until the very end.
Filled with lovely descriptions using painter colors, wonderful characters with their own agendas, and an engaging mystery, this book is a winner. Curl up with a glass of your favorite beverage and a lot of reading time because you won’t want to put this one down.
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