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    A Palette for Murder
    A Palette for Murder
    A Palette for Murder
    Audiobook8 hours

    A Palette for Murder

    Written by Sybil Johnson

    Narrated by Vanessa Daniels

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    A killer heat wave settles over Seagull Lane . . .

    Summer's sizzling in Vista Beach, the home of computer programmer and tole-painting enthusiast Aurora (Rory) Anderson. The abnormally high temperatures are hard on everyone in the quiet Los Angeles county beach community, especially the city's homeless population. Residents are doing everything they can to stay cool, including leaving windows open to catch the faintest breeze. Not the best idea when a string of burglaries is plaguing nearby towns.

    Still, Rory doesn't expect to find her neighbor's body just a few doors down. When suspicion falls on a friend and fellow painter, Rory must discover the truth before the police paint the wrong picture and send her friend away permanently.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateFeb 27, 2018
    ISBN9781541485990
    A Palette for Murder

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    Reviews for A Palette for Murder

    4.5/5

    8 ratings4 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      Thank you NetGalley for giving me a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

      I liked this book. It was a sweet cozy mystery where things ambled at their own pace. There was a lot of layers that were peeled off slowly, as Rory discovered more about Willow, the person who has been murdered. And yet, they never delve into WHY the person who died did whatever she did. That probably might have been too intense for a cozy mystery but everything that happened seemed to happen quite conveniently to push the story forward.

      I mean the book didn't have too many surprises for me. The best part about it was figuring out more about Willow. That part was something I hadn't read in many books, I mean where the person who died had so many shades of grey. But Rory simply informs the police whenever she discovers a loose thread and the police go about investigating everything. Which is practical, that is probably how things would happen in real life. But this isn't real life. It's a novel. And if Rory is sleuthing, shouldn't she be curious about something herself enough to peel back some layers? That part just didn't feel altogether that great. I mean Rory is a nice person, but there was also too little about her personality in this book. I, for one, liked Rory's best friend, Liz so much more than her.

      Okay, so Liz sets Rory up with Tripp, the person who is the culprit, and in the end, Liz has absolutely no guilt for setting her best friend up with a murderer? No apology nothing? That's so bad. I would feel so guilty if I put my best friend in harm's way, even if it was unintended.

      This wasn't one of the better cozy mysteries I've read in recent times. It's a quick and light read, just devoid on a lot of details. Also, this is Book 3 in the series and you can feel the gap in understanding because the dynamics between the characters aren't open enough for a newbie. You should have read the earlier novels to understand things. So, if you're jumping to Book 3 straight, I would recommend reading Book 1 and Book 2 before so you know what happens.
    • 4/5
      This trip to Vista Beach has the residents in the middle of a heatwave. There are two mysteries in this story, one trying to identify a seriously ill homeless man, the second solving a murder. Rory has befriended a homeless man, Kit and is heading down to the waterfront to give him a bag of cans to recycle. When she and Liz can't find him at any of his usual haunts, they are worried. When they hear barking on the beach, they realize it is Kit's dog Buddy. They run to him and ask him where Kit is. He runs off and they follow, finding him under the dock with a large bump on his head suffering severe dehydration from the heat. An ambulance is called and while waiting, Kit says the name Zoe to Rory before dropping into unconsciousness. Rory is determined to find out if he has any family and who is the mysterious Zoe. There are also several burglaries occurring in the area, and Rory stumbles upon one gone bad. Her neighbour, Willow is dead on the floor of her kitchen with a knife in her stomach. The police do not think it was a burglary and Rory's friend Dawn is accused of the murder and she has asked Rory to find out what she can. Dawn is adamant that she was not involved, although she was at Willow's house the night of the murder.

      Naturally, it turns out that Willow had a number of secrets, and those kept the pages turning until we reached the end. There were a lot of twists and revelations along the way and the ending, was quite surprising. I enjoy Rory and her friend Liz, but besides them, most of the characters are in and out of the story so not as well developed. Once again, Sybil Johnson included an issue plaguing many cities, homelessness. This added an air of reality to the story and makes you think about how you treat others, what supports are in place for homeless people and what you might be able to do to help. I really enjoyed how both these storylines were brought together at the end. A good, quick read for any cozy mystery lover.
    • 5/5
      Rory Anderson is a computer programmer and artist who works from home and lives in Vista Beach, California. Before heading out for the day with her friend Liz Dawson, she's gathered a trash bag of recycling for a homeless friend, Kit, so she and Liz head to the pier to find him. They don't immediately find him but do find his dog Buddy who leads them to an injured Kit under a pier. Discovering someone hit him over the head, he is sent to the hospital while Liz finds a temporary home for Buddy and Rory decides to try and find out who injured him.Luckily, her mother agrees to keep Kit's bicycle and belongings at her store, but when Rory arrives she finds another store owner arguing with her mother Arika. Willow Bingen is overbearing, opinionated, and makes some pointed remarks about the homeless before she finally leaves. Rory tells Arika the only information she has as to who injured Kit is the word "Zoe" and a picture she found in his backpack. Later that evening, Rory is at the home of Dawn, another friend who also works part time at Arika's store when she's not teaching painting. Rory and Dawn are testing a new software program for Dawn's online classes. While they're testing, someone arrives at Dawn's home and Rory can hear them arguing. It isn't long before she discovers the intruder is Willow; but after she leaves an upset Dawn refuses to speak of it. Also after leaving Dawn's home she finds out that Kit left the hospital but isn't able to locate him.The next day she finds Willow's cat Sekhmet's collar on her lawn - it turns out the cat has a regular habit of escaping the device - and goes to return it. When she arrives at Willow's home, the door is ajar and even though she senses something is off, she enters the home. What she finds is the body of Willow with a knife in her chest. So Rory has her hands full: trying to find Kit, wondering who killed Willow, and gearing up for a blind date that Liz has set up. If anything is going well for her, it's the date - she's met a doctor named Tripp Keating, and he wants to see her again. Of course, there is also the fact that Dawn is the main suspect in the murder of Willow and has asked for Rory's help in clearing her and finding the real killer.Once Rory starts investigating she finds out that Willow was keeping secrets - and some of them may be tied to more than one friend of hers. With Kit back under observation but not doing well, a possible new relationship on the horizon, a police detective watching out for her, and still trying to figure out who hit Kit and murdered Willow, Rory might just not only be trying to find a murderer - she just might be the next victim...I found this book to be quite a pleasurable read. Ms. Johnson's characters have depth and warmth; the book is peopled throughout with characters that are three-dimensional and believable. You can sense the bond between Rory and her friends, and the fact that you know they truly care for each other just by their interaction together. There are moments of sadness (where I may or may not have shed a tear) that show us that when you have great loss you also have great pain, and it manifests itself in different ways. With plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader interested, and more than enough secrets to go around, we are taken on a journey that connects one event to another in an impressive fashion. When the murderer is finally discovered (as we know they must be) and the motives known, the ending gives us a feeling of satisfaction and a book well read. I look forward to the next in the series. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      When I first started this series I wasn't really sure about it but now after reading this latest installment I have really grown to love it. This time Rory stumbles across her neighbor's body and is left investigating the murder when the police suspect that one of her friends did it.I was really excited when Detective Green told Rory that he and Mel broke up. I was hoping that would finally start something between the two of them but unfortunately Rory had another love interest in this one. I will keep my fingers crossed for them to finally start something in the next book.I liked that not only did Rory have to investigate Willow's murder but also had to investigate who had hit Kit, the homeless man she had become friends with. At first it doesn't look like the two storylines will connect but they do in a surprising way.I did end up figuring out who the murderer was way before Rory. I felt like even though I didn't know why that person killed Willow that it was pretty easy to figure out that they had.Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the galley.