Still Knife Painting (A Paint & Shine Mystery) by Cheryl Hollon

I am delighted to join the blog tour for Still Knife Painting by Cheryl Hollon today! My thanks to Lori at Great Escapes Book Tours for the chance to join and the review copy!

About Still Life Painting

Still Knife Painting (A Paint & Shine Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Publisher: Kensington (June 30, 2020)
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
ISBN-10: 1496725247
ISBN-13: 978-1496725240
Digital ASIN: B07W8VL149

Miranda Trent has set up a sweet life in a scenic corner of Appalachia  – until she stumbles across the trail of a killer . . .

After inheriting her uncle’s Red River Gorge homestead in Eastern Kentucky – smack dab in the middle of the Daniel Boone National Forest – Miranda comes up with a perfect business plan for summer tourists: pairing outdoor painting classes with sips of local moonshine, followed by a mouthwatering sampler of the best in southern cooking.

To Miranda’s delight, Paint & Shine is a total success – until someone kills the cook. As the town’s outsider, suspicion naturally falls on Miranda. Murdering the best biscuit baker of Red River Gorge is a high crime in these parts. Miranda will have to prove her innocence before she’s moved from farmhouse to jail cell faster than she can say “white lightning” . . .

I Thought…

Still Knife Painting marks the start of a brand new and intriguing cosy mystery series featuring Miranda Trent. Her Uncle Gene has left her a remote farmhouse on Pine Ridge, sited in the eastern Kentucky hills. One of the conditions that her uncle stipulated in his will was that Miranda must set up and make a success of a business including a distillery within a specified timescale, otherwise she will lose the right to her inheritance. So Miranda sets up a painting and distillery enterprise called Paint & Shine, pairing outdoor painting classes with sips of local moonshine, followed by a scrumptious homecooked meal, the best in southern cooking, but not everyone is happy that she is promoting moonshine within her business. When the cook is found dead in Miranda’s kitchen, as an outsider she becomes the main suspect.

I totally adored the premise of Still Knife Painting and Cheryl Hollon‘s character development was excellent. I took a while to warm to the main narrator and artist Miranda, at first finding her rather brusque and impatient but I felt more in tune with her as the story meandered along. The comfortable pacing helped to make this a very pleasant cosy mystery, and the author’s portrayal of the locale was terrific. There was a number of suspects to choose from to satisfy my tendency to play armchair detective, each with a plausible motive. I enjoyed the contributions from the quirkier characters such as Doris Ann (receptionist at the Hemlock Lodge)  as well as the splashes of humour dotted throughout the story.

For readers who are looking for a new cosy mystery series I think Still Knife Painting will fit the bill with its delicious sounding, scrummy recipes, hints of romance, and wonderful descriptions of the gorgeous scenery. I’m definitely curious to see how things develop for Miranda in the next book!

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from Great Escapes Book Tours at my request and this review is my unbiased opinion.

Brianne’s Book Reviews Rating | Five Stars

About Cheryl Hollon

Cheryl Hollon now writes full-time after she left an engineering career of designing and building military flight simulators in amazing countries such as England, Wales, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan, and India. Fulfilling the dream of a lifetime, she combines her love of writing with a passion for creating glass art. In the small glass studio behind her house in St. Petersburg, Florida, Cheryl and her husband design, create, and produce fused glass, stained glass, and painted glass artworks. Visit her online at http://cherylhollon.com, on Facebook or on Twitter @CherylHollon.

Purchase Links: Amazon * B&N * Kobo

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Don’t forget the other stops on the tour!

TOUR PARTICIPANTS

June 29 – Brooke Blogs – CHARACTER GUEST POST

June 29 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

June 30 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – GUEST POST

June 30 – The Book Decoder – REVIEW  

July 1 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – SPOTLIGHT

July 1 – I’m All About Books – SPOTLIGHT

July 2 – Baroness’ Book Trove – REVIEW

July 2 – Hearts & Scribbles – SPOTLIGHT

July 2 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT

July 3 – Reading, Writing & Stitch-Metic – SPOTLIGHT

July 3 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW

July 4 – OFF

July 5 – Cozy Up with Kathy – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

July 5 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW

July 6 – Diary of a Book Fiend – REVIEW

July 6 – Literary Gold – CHARACTER GUEST POST

July 7 – Brianne’s Book Reviews – REVIEW

July 7 – Jane Reads – GUEST POST

July 8 – Thoughts in Progress – CHARACTER GUEST POST

July 8 – StoreyBook Reviews – REVIEW

July 9 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

July 9 – Socrates Book Reviews – REVIEW

July 10 – MJB Reviewers – REVIEW

July 10 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

July 11 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW

July 11 – Here’s How It Happened – GUEST POST

July 12 – Moonlight Rendezvous – REVIEW, GUEST POST  

July 12 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW

July 13 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW, GUEST POST

July 13 – La libreria di Beppe – SPOTLIGHT

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