The Blank Canvas
-
- $3.99
-
- $3.99
Publisher Description
Laura Magee is spending the summer in an art gallery in the southern New Jersey shore town of Safe Harbor. When a dispute over a painting by a man named Rafferty leads to the murder of one of her customers and puts Laura herself in danger, she must discover the identity of the killers and find out what makes a painting valuable enough to kill for. Then the FBI becomes involved, and Laura realizes that this crime has more layers than she ever imagined.
On top of all this, Laura must deal with an insecure artist who only paints sea birds, a friend who has a track record of dating the wrong men, the amorous attentions of a handsome vacationer, and her old college boyfriend, who shows up on her doorstep suffering from PTSD and just happens to save her life.
This fast-paced mystery has a strong sense of humor, particularly with regard to contemporary art, and a surprising conclusion. You may never look at an art gallery the same way again.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Selling art turns out to be a dangerous occupation in Ebisch's absorbing third mystery featuring advice columnist Laura Magee (after 2012's Breaking the Rules). Pushing 30, Laura Magee doesn't know what to do with her life; for the moment, she is in the ironically named seaside community of Safe Harbor, N.J. All hell breaks loose after she sells a painting by Rafferty, a modern artist. The purchaser is run over, and Laura is attacked by a knife-wielding woman. She also meets the attractive Mike Rogers, and befriends young Angie Tortelli, who works nearby. Complicating things is the arrival of her college boyfriend, Lawrence Brewster "Brew" Stoddard, seriously damaged after years in the military. Laura is an interesting character honest, introspective and reasonably brave. She also makes errors in judgment agreeing to double date with the whiny Angie, for one. The art background is as complex and as well delineated as the characters.
