In 1894, Camden, Maine, is a quiet coastal retreat favored by rusticators and artists. Spinster Emily Driscoll faces another tedious summer—until she meets handsome Boston artist Charles Bartlett. They’ve barely exchanged flirtatious words when Emily’s best friend Abigail arrives with devastating news. Her father, Captain Coatsworth, owner of lime quarries and sailing ships, has been shot dead on a cliff overlook.
When the police decide the murder was by persons unknown, Abigail and Emily aren’t satisfied. For one thing, Caroline Coatsworth, the wife believed to have died at Abigail’s birth, has reappeared and laid claim to the inheritance. They also suspect Jonas Estabrook, the captain’s greedy business partner. He opposed costly expansion plans and is now pressing Abigail to marry him. When an employee with information for Abigail dies in a quarry explosion before their meeting, it becomes clear that she’s in danger. Fearing for her, Emily and Charles join together to solve the murder and answer the burning question: is that lovely, seductive woman really Caroline Coatsworth? Along the way, love and a new career as an artist blossom for Emily.
Death on the Cliffs is the first in the Canvas & Corset Mystery Series. In the late 1800s, half of American professional artists were women. During this period of intense creative expression, artist colonies thrived in cultural centers and near magnificent natural areas. Emily and Charles travel to a new locale in each book, enjoying the lavish bohemian lifestyle shared by artists and their wealthy patrons. Florence, Paris, London, the American West, and Bar Harbor, Maine, are possible settings. Emily’s growth as a painter provides a connecting thread through the series as do relationships with family and friends. Social issues of the day add texture.
Each Canvas & Corset mystery is an excursion to a time of unparalleled luxury, leisure, and romance. The second book, Death at the Villa, is set in Florence, Italy.
When the police decide the murder was by persons unknown, Abigail and Emily aren’t satisfied. For one thing, Caroline Coatsworth, the wife believed to have died at Abigail’s birth, has reappeared and laid claim to the inheritance. They also suspect Jonas Estabrook, the captain’s greedy business partner. He opposed costly expansion plans and is now pressing Abigail to marry him. When an employee with information for Abigail dies in a quarry explosion before their meeting, it becomes clear that she’s in danger. Fearing for her, Emily and Charles join together to solve the murder and answer the burning question: is that lovely, seductive woman really Caroline Coatsworth? Along the way, love and a new career as an artist blossom for Emily.
Death on the Cliffs is the first in the Canvas & Corset Mystery Series. In the late 1800s, half of American professional artists were women. During this period of intense creative expression, artist colonies thrived in cultural centers and near magnificent natural areas. Emily and Charles travel to a new locale in each book, enjoying the lavish bohemian lifestyle shared by artists and their wealthy patrons. Florence, Paris, London, the American West, and Bar Harbor, Maine, are possible settings. Emily’s growth as a painter provides a connecting thread through the series as do relationships with family and friends. Social issues of the day add texture.
Each Canvas & Corset mystery is an excursion to a time of unparalleled luxury, leisure, and romance. The second book, Death at the Villa, is set in Florence, Italy.
