Fatal Brushstroke by Sybil Johnson is the first book in a new cozy series. This cozy centers around Aurora (Rory) Anderson who is a computer programmer and a painting, crafty lady. She finds a dead body buried in her garden one night and it turns out the body is someone she knows. The victim is a tole-painting instructor that Rory has had problems with in the past. Because of this, she is considered a suspect in the murder. Rory is not the only suspect in the case, though. There are many other people who have a motive. There is her adoptive mother, who owns and runs a craft store. There is the murder victims husband and son, as well as her best friend Trudy and her protege, Nora. Rory decides she needs to investigate on her own to be sure neither her or her adoptive mother are arrested for the crime. The suspense and mystery begin within the first few pages and are carried on throughout the entire book. There are many twists and turns that kept this reader changing my mind on who the killer is. The culprit was one of the people that I suspected but I was not sure until It was revealed at the end. The writing style flows smoothly and this is an easy book to read. The writing is descriptive and informative. I learned some things about crafting and tole-painting that I did not know, which is a plus in my opinion. The description of Vista Beach, a small town California beach community, was well written and made me want to visit. The characters are well developed, well rounded and three dimensional. I look forward to learning more about each of them. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well written cozy mystery. Everything that I look for in a cozy I found in this book. This is the first book in the series and I am looking forward to reading the others as they are published. I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a honest review. I would like to thank NetGalley and Henery Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.
mjbreviewers 