Etched in Tears

Local boy Dennis Lansing returns home triumphantly as a celebrated glass artist with an exhibition at the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. In Etched in Tears by Cheryl Hollon, his glorious return is short lived.

Some time during the night he was murdered and inelegantly draped over a green bench in the museum's garden. Savannah takes his death very hard as he was her first high school boyfriend and he was an apprentice at her father's glass. Complicating the issue is a reference letter from her father found clutched in Dennis' hand.

Another complication is Dennis' not so grieving wife Harriet who is glad to be rid of him before she inherits her multi-million dollar trust fund. An excellent motive.

When Savannah tries to search her father's files, which she has resisted for some time, she finds they are encrypted, adding to the mystery. How fitting for her father to encrypt files especially because he had been a cryptographer for the Unites States during the Cold War.

Even more amazing, Savannah discovers an Engima machine from

World War II that was used to break the German code. Why in the world would her father have used this machine to code the paperwork for the students in his apprenticeship program? What secret or private information would be revealed once the code was broken?

As Savannah tries to unlock the code, she relies on Jacob her young assistant who has a knack for numbers and puzzles. Jacob also has been extremely helpful in the business. He has figured out a way to load the kiln in the most efficient manner, a huge bonus for Savannah.

The suspects abound including the elusive director of the museum, an overzealous security guard and a local politician. An entertaining and fast-paced mystery. And, oh by the way, I love the glass elements. Can't wait to get to St. Petersburg to see the Chihuly museum.