The Cupid Caper

Enter the MapYourMystery giveaway. 

https://mapyourmystery.blogspot.com/2018/06/lowcountrybookshop.html

Larissa Reinhart writes such interesting and unusual characters, I've always wondered what she is like in person. Finley Goodhart from The Cupid Caper is another unique character.

Finley is a pool hustler and a good one at that, but she still longs for her ex-boyfriend and fellow grifter Lex Leopold. She knows she needs to go straight, but being a hustler has been so much of her life, she doesn't see a way out.

When her friend Penny is found dead of a drug overdose, Finley knows this is not true. Because of the way Penny was raised, she swore drugs would never be part of her life. Swearing to find the killer, Finley finds herself mixed up in a world of gangsters, hustlers and their marks.

When Penny's death points to a exclusive dating service targeting tech millionaires, Fin and Lex go undercover and discover a more sinister con.

Penny's millionaire boyfriend Mark Davis seems to have landed in the con with both feet. Penny made him her mark and conned him into embezzling money, but when she fell in love with him, she told him the truth. Unfortunately Mark was too far into the scam to get out by himself and Penny was killed. That's where Fin and Lex come in.

They set up an elaborate con at a Valentine's Day event to sting the Platinum Partners before they know what hits them.

The Cupid Caper is billed a book #1. I cannot imagine what trouble Fin and Lex will get into in the next book. A fun adventure with a bit of surprise at the end.

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Portrait of a Dead Guy

There's not much work for a fine artist in Halo, Georgia, as Cherry Tucker has learned. Sometimes you have to take the work you can get. In Portrait of a Dead Guy by Larissa Reinhart, Cherry is asked to paint a portrait of recently deceased Dustin Branson - in his coffin- for his stepmother.

Unfortunately his cousin Shawna fancies herself an artist and sets up to compete with Cherry. As bizarre as it seems, Cherry stations herself at the funeral home to being her sketches. Her concentration is disturbed by the appearance of Luke, the stepbrother, and her former boyfriend. He still manages to light a flame with his good looks and dimpled smile, but Cherry remembers his elusive ways.

To continue her work on the portrait, Cherry steals back into the funeral home in the middle of the night. While she is painting she notices the flap on his jacket is folded inside itself. It had not been like that before, so she decides to straighten it out. As she grasps the small bag inside the pocket someone hits her on the head and when she wakes up, the scene before her gives her chills. Her easel and paints are strewn over the floor, the coffin lies almost tipped to one side and Dustin is

dangling out of it.

This incident creates a stir in Halo as the Tucker family is notorious for the family's behavior. Cherry has been trying to overcome their reputation, but now she fears her career as an artist will suffer. Cherry decides it's time to find out who killed Dustin and why they are trying to stop her painting.

Halo is a place where everyone knows everyone's business, past and present, so Cherry begins to ask questions. When her truck and gun are stolen and another person winds up dead, Cherry is the natural suspect. Fortunately her uncle Will knows she could not have killed Creepy Pete, so she continues to investigate despite his warnings not to.

Portrait of a Dead Guy is a very quirky book with lots of goofy characters and an insight into life in rural Georgia. Cherry is smart and has talent, and hopefully she will have success in her art career.