Paint Me A Crime by Holly Yew

About the Book

Art curator Jessamine Rhodes has left behind her gig at a prominent gallery in the city to open her own community art center in the small town of Rose Shore. She’s all set to host an extravagant opening watercolors class and has even booked a famous artist to teach it. Gabriella Everhart brings along her priceless painting Tranquil to showcase as the centerpiece of the event.

The opening class is just wrapping up when suddenly Tranquil disappears before Jessamine’s eyes. Next, the lights of the art center flicker out and leave the crowd in complete darkness as a scream pierces the air. To her horror, Jessamine’s flashlight reveals that prestigious art collector Victor Carlisle has been murdered, and now her dreams are as shattered as the champagne glass found near the scene.

Determined to save her now teetering reputation, Jessamine sets out to search for answers and the missing painting on her own. She has invested everything into her art center and is too anxious to step back and do nothing. Along the way, she teams up with a handsome paramedic who seems to have his own reasons for wanting justice for Victor’s tragedy.

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Excerpt

After Madeleine left, partly closing the doors behind her, Jessamine took her time wandering around the room. One wall was completely covered in blackout blinds to keep out the natural light, and Jessamine noticed how each piece of artwork had its own spotlight, just like in a museum or professional art gallery. The other three sides of the long and narrow room were covered in paintings, each with an engraved plaque underneath stating the title of the painting, along with the name of the artist. The center of the floor was covered in a cushy area rug with four armchairs and two side tables. The whole setup was very professional. She recognized most of the artists and made some quick notes in her journal to look up the others.

She was completely lost in her own little art world when the gallery doors closed with a click.

“Madeleine? Are you there?”

Jessamine walked over to the doors and pulled at the handles. They wouldn’t turn. She was locked inside.

She knocked on the door. “Hello? I’m locked in here.”

She couldn’t hear anything on the other side of the doors and, even though her gut told her something was wrong, she tried to remain calm and think of a logical reason for the locked doors. Her panic didn’t subside for long as another sense flared alive, and her heart started pounding. She knew what was happening even before the high-pitched alarm went off.

She could smell it.

Smoke.

Jessamine started banging on the doors even louder. “Help! I’m trapped in here!”

No answer. She took out her phone and dialed 911 and told the operator what was happening before she searched for another way out. The blackout blinds were all electronic, and once she found the switch to pull them up, they seemed to take forever to rise. Her impatience with the whirring sound grew worse as it was becoming more and more difficult to breathe. Jessamine held up her arm in front of her mouth to block out the smoke that started to seep into the gallery through the cracks in the double doors.

When the blinds were finally up, she let out a strangled sob when she realized that none of the windows could actually open. Hurrying to the other side of the room, she searched for another way out, but there was only a large bookshelf at that end. Her only option now was to break one of the windows. She looked around on the bookshelf for something heavy enough to do the job and read the spine of the thickest book she could find. The Complete Collection of Jules Verne: Volume One sat perched in the middle of the highest shelf.

Jessamine said a quick apology to the beautifully bound book as she stood on her tiptoes to reach it.

It took a moment for her to realize what was happening next. A few seconds after Jessamine picked up the book, she stumbled forward into a black hole. Her senses were completely off balance as she stood and tried to make sense of what had happened. The bookshelf had shifted sideways, and she was now in another room.

“Of course, Victor would be eccentric enough to have a secret passage in his house. What a cliché,” Jessamine said out loud to the empty space. She fumbled around for a light switch and blinked as brightness filled the room. It looked to be a home office with the double-sided bookshelf serving as the door. No wait, there’s another door. Jessamine tried the door on the other side of the room. Also locked and her loud knocking again went unanswered.

She went back into the art gallery to make another desperate attempt at finding a way out. Dark smoke swirled around the ceiling of the gallery, heading toward the bookshelf passageway she had just stepped back through.

Suddenly, a loud crash came from the office behind her.

About the Author

After having called many places around the world home, Holly Yew has settled in the Okanagan, BC with her husband, son, and two rescue dogs. When she’s not writing or reading, she’s playing the piano, watching Star Wars, or enjoying a Dole Whip in Disneyland.

Holly is a member of Sisters in Crime and International Thriller Writers. She loves connecting with other writers and bookworms on social media, and you can find her at hollyyew.com.

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