Ashley is a Historic Preservationist vacationing with her sister Melanie in a house at Wrights ville Beach. When Val Russo a friend of theirs is murdered in what appears to be a robbery ( some art was stolen) Ashley decides to investigate as the police don't seem to be doing anything. A great beach read. This is the first book i have read by this author .I look forward to reading more of her books. ( )

I got this Kindle edition on sale, and while it wasn't my favorite in the series, it provided some good history of the series' characters, since I'm not reading them in order. ( )

Themes: cozy mystery, marriage, home restoration, art
Setting: modern Wilmington, North Carolina

Ashley's sister Melanie has rented a big resort home so they could all have a big vacation together. But before the vacation even gets started, Ashley finds the dead body of a friend and local art gallery owner. Some paintings have been stolen from the gallery. Ashley tries to forget about it and enjoy her vacation, but then the home she is restoring seems to be the target of some petty crimes. And she can't get hold of her husband, who is supposed to be working for the Department of Homeland Security, but apparently his cell phone is not working.

Ashley's marriage is falling apart, her sister is dating a ex-con, and the bodies are piling up. What's a girl to do? Guess she'll have to solve the crime herself.

I found this a rather average book until the end. I didn't much care for the characters, but the setting was fairly nice. The writing was mediocre until this line:

Cat's don't fall.

Really? What about CATS? Do CATS fall? I don't know who is to blame there, the writer or the editor or the proofreader, but I have *never* seen that in an actual book. An uncorrected proof, maybe. But this was not a proof. I really couldn't believe my eyes. But yes, that was in there - twice! ( )