The last book in this series, Drawing Blood
,
received my Paradise Rating last year.
This one is just as good, maybe even better!
The Drawing Game (A Sketch in Crime Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Setting – New York
Gatekeeper Press (February 6, 2017)
Paperback: 300 pages
ISBN-13: 978-1619845725
Kindle ASIN: B01N3CM6P1
Synopsis
A lover of all things green, CeCe Prentice is not impressed when a fully-sustainable development, Green Acres, pops up next to her family’s homestead. It’s not so much the ridiculous price tag of the million dollar homes built entirely from re-usable materials and powered by the sun, but rather the new neighbors who think they can simply buy a green lifestyle.
To make matters worse, one homeowner turns out to be CeCe’s high school nemesis, Phoebe Purcell, a hair-tossing vamp who tried to break up CeCe and her long-time boyfriend, Charlie.
Already disillusioned by the so-called eco-friendly development, CeCe’s family home is threatened when a series of power-outages at Green Acres kicks off a rash of home invasions. When neighbors start showing up dead, the mood at Green Acres turns south. But when Charlie, CeCe’s on-again, off-again love interest is implicated in the murders, CeCe springs into action when she discovers the only clue – a portrait she painted years ago.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
CeCe Prentice and her friends, Charlie, and Katrina have a unique lifestyle, they are “freegans“. The grow their own food, dumpster dive for things they don’t grow, and visit thrift stores for other things they need. They try to lives their lives as green as possible. Which is one of the reason they are in her mother’s basement during a power outage. Katrina recently gave birth to baby boy Roon, but all they have are girl clothes, so they head to the basement to find some boy clothes. Before they find what they are looking for the lights go out. This is not the first time that has happened. Since the new eco-development was built next door, it is happening a lot. Ten homes costing over a million dollars each that are supposed to be powered by the sun should not be draining power from other houses. As Cece soon learns, the houses in Green Acres are having the same blackouts and there have even been some home invasions. When a neighbor is found dead things get even darker. When Charlie is pinned as the prime suspect in the murder Cece gets caught between helping her friend or standing by her man, Detective Frank DeRosa. She finds herself trying to help them both.
First, the title to the book is beyond perfect and even the cover has a clue, at least for me.
Simon Fletcher is the developer of Green Acres and he has built the homes with all the latest technology for his fully-sustainable subdivision. Unfortunately all that technology did not keep someone from killing him.
The author gives us a great bunch of suspects. People who were unhappy with the things going wrong in their new homes, his wife, his employees, a bunch of neighborhood kids and even Charlie who was working on a new high tech application with him.
CeCe also knew the man because she had painted a portrait of his wife. She may have even seen the killer from the basement window, but she can’t picture the face good enough to actually draw it. When another witness comes forward Frank asks CeCe to work with them to come up with a sketch both because of her unique talent and because it may spark hew own memory. She has a hyper sense of observation that enables her to catch clues even the good detective missed.
Deirdre Verne takes these characters and intertwines their lives together to give us an outstanding and complex mystery. One that had me paying close attention and glued to the pages. I tried to read it all in one evening but my eyes just would not cooperate. I woke up the next morning mad that I had to work and could not finish it right away. I did grab it as soon as I could and was surprised and delighted with the way the book ended. That is when I realized, yes, the title and cover were absolutely perfect.
To get the most out of this story and the wonderful characters you really should read the three stories in order, but just knowing about “Freeganism” gives you a good start. The characters have grown quite a bit from the first book and are still evolving.
Suspense, drama, a little romance and a touch humor all come together to make this escape Paradise.
About The Author
Deirdre Verne is the author of Drawing Conclusions 
Author Links – Webpage – Facebook – Twitter – GoodReads
Praise for The Drawing Game
by Deirdre Verne
This is a fun series that makes me wonder about the characters and their lifestyles almost as much as I wonder about the mystery itself.
~Michelle’s Romantic Tangle
I really loved reading this book. It’s a great mystery.
~Books, Dreams, Life
This is a really interesting mystery with lots of twists and turns! It is well written with a brisk pace and lots of interesting characters.
~View from the Birdhouse
This was a unique read from the start. CeCe is interesting and complex as a character, and her voice is strong …
~Christa Reads and Writes
Tour Participants
February 8 – Michelle’s Romantic Tangle – REVIEW, GUEST POST
February 9 – Books,Dreams,Life – REVIEW, SPOTLIGHT
February 10 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW
February 11 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – INTERVIEW
February 12 – A Blue Million Books – INTERVIEW
February 13 – Mythical Books – GUEST POST
February 14 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
February 15 – Christa Reads and Writes – REVIEW
February 16 – Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
February 17 – Valerie’s Musings – REVIEW
February 18 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
February 19 – A Holland Reads – GUEST POST
February 20 – Author Annette Drake’s blog – SPOTLIGHT
February 21 – Island Confidential – INTERVIEW
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
This is a new author to me. I would really enjoy reading this series.
I just discovered this series…I am very eager to get into it.
Wow this sounds so good would love to read a print copy and post reviews on a few sites to help the author. ptclayton2@aol.com
How neat. Murder mysteries that involve art.