Miranda Trent is finally getting her life back on track after finding her head cook dead in her kitchen, well…kind of. The distillery equipment she needs to fulfill her obligations to keep her inheritance from her Uncle Gene seems to be hitting one roadblock after another. However, clients keep booking with her for her Paint and Shine adventure tours. Clients get to hike in the beautiful Daniel Boone National Forest in her Kentucky backyard, stop to paint or draw the landscape, and then head back to Miranda’s farmhouse for an authentic country meal. The latest clients to book an exploration with her are a group called Risky Business Adventures. This should be a piece of homemade cake. Things rapidly deteriorate when one of the members of Risky Business Adventures stumbles on some bones. Those bones end up being those of Howard Cable, Miranda’s cousin who disappeared years ago. The sheriff thinks that it was a simple hiking accident, but Miranda knows her cousin grew up in those woods and has high doubts that this is the case. With Ranger Austin by her side, Miranda decides to dig a little deeper. As secrets are revealed in her family, the community, and the Risky Business members, someone will try to kill again to keep their secrets buried.
DRAW AND ORDER by Cheryl Hollon, the latest book in the Paint & Shine series, is a masterful whodunit with so many twists and turns it will keep you on your toes until the very last page. The characters are all developing at the perfect pace. Miranda is a strong-willed lead character, with an even more strong-willed mother who we get to meet in this installment. We get to know Ranger Austin a little more, along with the Sheriff and his wife the coroner, and some new folks in town. The plot development and pacing were picture-perfect, with plenty of subplots to keep things interesting.
One thing I love about this series is the down-home feel. I love the way Chery Hollon emphasizes the less is more aspect of country living. With so much accessible at the click of a button, it’s nice to reel that back and appreciate the simpler things in life and a simpler way of life.
I really enjoyed DRAW AND ORDER and it is one series that I will be following and anxiously waiting for the next one.
Appalachian artist and local guide Miranda Trent opens a new murder investigation after her Paint & Shine tour group discovers the remains of a missing hiker along an ancient trail . . . For her latest excursion, Miranda is thrilled to take a close-knit group of rock climbers, the Risky Business Adventurers, up the challenging Battleship Rock Trail to paint and sample moonshine. But the outing is cut short when they discover a skeleton near the trailhead. Even more startling, the bones belong to Howard Cable, Miranda’s cousin…and a former classmate of the Risky Business group.
The sheriff chalks it up to a hiking accident, but Miranda isn’t convinced that Howard, an experienced woodsman, died within sight of a well-marked trail. So, with the help of Ranger Austin Morgan, Miranda sets out on her own investigation and discovers that the Risky Business group is keeping plenty of secrets. But is one of them hiding the truth about Howard’s death?
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