Links: Author's Website / Show Article /

Stef Markov is an eccentric artist living in Silver Bay, Oregon. Believing that each painting is an unfinished part of herself, she refuses to allow her fourth husband, Dale Oliver, to sell them. Stef suffers a fatal fall and everyone, including her daughter Van, her mother Marnie, and former NYPD detective Tony Mauricio, believes Dale murdered her, especially when he produces a suspicious contract that Stef signed, allowing him to sell her paintings. Van, Marnie, and Tony wrestle tenaciously with their consciences, each one wanting Dale dead but not having enough proof that he actually murdered Stef. As they continue investigating Dale, they increasingly uncover more of his evil scheming and grow more intent on vengeance.

Product Description: In Kate Wilhelm's latest crime novel, a small Oregon town is rocked by a wheels-within-wheels case of art, fraud, and murder.

Silver Bay, Oregon, a small coastal resort town with nearly a thousand residents, is home to three generations of women: Marnie, the long-widowed owner of a small gift shop; Van, her granddaughter who is about to graduate medical school; and Stef, mercurial, difficult, and a brilliant artist who refuses to sell her work. When Stef discovers that Dale Oliver—the latest husband/paramour in a very long line—is trying to sell her work behind her back, she puts a stop to it and threatens to do the same to him. Shortly thereafter, Stef dies in an accident in her studio, and Dale shows up with a signed contract granting him the right to sell her work. Convinced that Stef was murdered in order to steal her artwork, Marie and Van—grandmother and granddaughter—decide to do whatever is necessary to see that Dale doesn't get away with any of it. This includes enlisting the help of the new stranger in town, Tony, a former New York City cop, who might be the only one who can prove it was murder and bring the killer to justice.

(Source: Minotaur Books)