Brush With Death - Annie Kincaid, Bk 3 Author:Hailey Lind Annie Kincade, proprietor of True/Faux Studios, a quirky, wise-cracking artist, is struggling to stay on the legal side of the art world. After midnight she takes a break from refurbishing a fresco in a San Francisco cemetery. It's dark, and she's a little wary of her surroundings when she meets Cindy Tamaka, on a path leading to a crypt. — Cindy... more » is a graduate student, studying public displays of mourning. As they're standing talking, they're both knocked down by a mask-wearing thief, fleeing from a deceased child's crypt. Added to this shocking event is Cindy's idea that the cemetery's Raphael's LaFornirina , believed to be a copy, is the original. Annie takes a personal interest in the painting because Georges Francois LeFleur, her forger/grandfather, had been arrested many years ago for forging the masterpiece.
The LaFornarina mystery is compounded by the sudden appearance of Annie's former boyfriend, Michael X Johnson, a no-good thieving scoundrel-but a fine kisser.
The story takes a serious turn when a young woman's life ends. Did she commit suicide, or was she murdered?« less
Solid plotting, and good use of local setting. I appreciated keeping the plot (pretty much) on the mystery, rather than on Annie's complicated, cluttered personal life.