Paint & Shine Mystery

Miranda Trent has set up a sweet life in a scenic corner of Appalachia-until she stumbles across the trail of a killer... After inheriting her uncle's Red River Gorge homestead in Eastern Kentucky-smack dab in the middle of the Daniel Boone National Forest-Miranda comes up with a perfect business plan for summer tourists: pairing outdoor painting classes with sips of local moonshine, followed by a mouthwatering sampler of the best in southern cooking. To Miranda's delight, Paint & Shine is a total success-until someone kills the cook. As the town's outsider, suspicion naturally falls on Miranda. Murdering the best biscuit baker of Red River Gorge is a high crime in these parts. Miranda will have to prove her innocence before she's moved from farmhouse to jail cell faster than she can say "white lightning"...

Appalachian artist and local guide Miranda Trent opens a new murder investigation after her Paint & Shine tour group discovers the remains of a missing hiker along an ancient trail... For her latest excursion, Miranda is thrilled to take a close-knit group of rock climbers, the Risky Business Adventurers, up the challenging Battleship Rock Trail to paint and sample moonshine. But, the outing is cut short when they discover a skeleton near the trailhead. Even more startling, the bones belong to Howard Cable, Miranda's cousin...and a former classmate of the Risky Business group. The sheriff chalks it up to a hiking accident, but Miranda isn't convinced that Howard, an experienced woodsman, died within sight of a well-marked trail. So, with the help of Ranger Austin Morgan, Miranda sets out on her own investigation and discovers that the Risky Business group is keeping plenty of secrets. But, is one of them hiding the truth about Howard's death?

In eastern Kentucky, Miranda Trent runs a unique tour company called Paint & Shine, but sometimes the peaceful mountains play host to murder . . . Miranda's business-combining Appalachian adventure tours with art and a bit of moonshine-is the perfect place for an outdoor sporting goods company to hold an employee retreat. It'll be a challenge, but the money they're paying will definitely help with building her new distillery. Miranda has lots of teamwork-fostering activities planned, from sketching classes to Southern cooking, but the executive running things prefers a more competitive spirit. In fact, after the workers are split into teams, they're told that only the winners will keep their jobs, and tensions begin to spike. Even after a participant is found dead, the contest continues-while Miranda starts drawing her own conclusions about the ambitious attendees. Now she just has to find the proof . . . Praise for STILL KNIFE PAINTING "With its colorful characters, charming Southern setting, and well-plotted mystery, the Paint & Shine series is the perfect blend of all things cozy." -Ellery Adams, NYT and USA Today bestselling author "Using a palette of clever plot twists and intriguing characters, Cheryl Hollon creates a richly drawn world that's both bucolic and dangerous in Still Knife Painting. Readers will take a shine to this addictive new series!" -Agatha Award-winning author Ellen Byron "Set against the blazing backdrop of an Appalachian fall, Still Knife Painting serves up a tasty stew of murder and moonshine. In this series debut, Cheryl Hollon weaves a tale as complex and country as the antique braided rug that figures in the story." -BarbaraRoss, author of the Maine Clambake Mysteries