A Colorful Scheme: A Pen & Ink Mystery Novel
by Krista Davis
Our book club theme for June was “Secrets & Lies.” This
one fell solidly into that category, but with a fairly lighthearted manner, at
least as much as murder can be. The cover itself is a “Color-It-Yourself”
cover. I’m thinking I might do a little coloring this weekend now that I’m done
with reading the book. (But I also like to pass books on, so maybe not.)
Our amateur sleuth is Florrie Fox, a bookstore manager and
coloring book creator. She lives on the grounds of the Maxwell Mansion, and her
boss, Professor Maxwell, also owns the bookstore.
As the book opens, her boss is getting remarried in a lavish
wedding. Little bit of a hitch, the bride is missing. Florrie soon finds her
under very odd circumstances. But the party gets underway, with the wedding as
a surprise to most of the party goers.
The surprise for the party throwers is a dead body in
the swimming pool, come morning. It’s one of the guests and there’s a little
more to his death than drowning.
The book has a warm tone with details of the surroundings
and dress and food of a wedding. But there are also secrets abounding, from the
innocuous, to those simply made up in the minds of people like the wannabe
reporter, Cara, and understandably suspicious police officers.
As with any cozy mystery, there’s a second body drop. This
one is more immediately identifiable as a murder, and somewhat gruesome. The
bumbling nature of the police officer investigating is a tiny bit overdone,
imho.
There’s a light romance too, as Florrie is dating a handsome
police officer named Eric. There’s even a butler named Mr. Dubois, but I was
impressed with how fully his character is treated as a person instead of simply
window dressing.
It’s a very privileged world, and the author does gloss over
the financial aspects of running a business, especially one that seems as busy
as this bookstore. Do people still leave keys outside where anyone could find
them? I’m sure some do, but it seems a bit convenient.
I really did enjoy this story and it would make a lovely
light, summer read for anyone. I recommend for cozy mystery readers.
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