Shades of Murder by Lauren Carr, a Mysterious Review.

Review: Former homicide detective Mac Faraday doesn't need the work — after all, he's worth almost $300 million — but when an unsolved murder mystery lands on his doorstep in Maryland, he can't resist getting involved in Shades of Murder, the third mystery in this series by Lauren Carr.

Mac has taken possession of a painting by renowned artist Ilysa Ramsey, her last, for she was brutally attacked and died soon after it was completed in 2004. The painting disappeared on the day of her death, only now surfacing after being identified by a dealer in stolen works of art. There is a suggestion that she was killed for something hidden within the painting, but what it might be is not at all clear. Separately, Pittsburgh detective Cameron Gates and JAG attorney Joshua Thornton are looking into a series of murders that took place in 2003. Though seven victims were found, the man accused of the crimes had only admitted to six of them. Why confess to all but one, if indeed he was also guilty of the seventh? The police were satisfied at the time they had locked up the right man, but now Gates and Thornton aren't so sure and believe someone literally got away with murder.

Shades of Murder is a fascinating, intricately woven mystery that has a number of engaging characters looking into two cases that would seem to have nothing in common. But of course they do, and the link is cleverly revealed as the Pittsburgh and Maryland investigations come together. This is a most entertaining entry in this series, made all the more so by the wonderful inclusion of Gnarly and Irving, Mac's dog and Gates's black and white cat, who meet during the course of the story.

Special thanks to guest reviewer Betty of The Betz Review for contributing her review of Shades of Murder.

Old Loves Die Hard
CreateSpace (Trade Paperback), April 2011
ISBN-13: 9781460935132; ISBN-10: 1460935136

Shades of Murder

A Mac Faraday Mystery by Lauren Carr