Sketch Me If You Can (A Portrait of Crime Mystery)

by Sharon Pape

Book Overview

She's a police sketch artist. He's a dead lawman. Together, they put a face on murder. When her uncle dies, police sketch artist Rory McCain get's a list of clients from his private detective business... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0425236048
• Release Date: August 2010
• Publisher: Berkley
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 6.8" x 0.8" x 4.2"

Customer Reviews

A new favorite

I love a mystery, and one that includes a female lead, a dog and a ghost is a fun read. The title caught my eye and after reading a few pages, I was hooked. If you liked Cleo Coyle’s Haunted Bookshop series, you will love this.

SO SO NEW SERIES "PORTRAIT OF CRIME" MYSTERY

So-So book one of a new series: Portrait of Crime. Aurora (Rory) McCain's uncle dies suddently and she inherits his old Victorian home and private investigation firm. Setting: Huntington, Long Island, NY. Rory is currently the sketch artist for a local police department. She also inherits a ghost in her home - federal marshal Zeke Drummond from the 1970's. He assists Rory with her cases.

A good sketch

Not only did Rory inherit her uncle's house and business, she also inherited his ghost. Rory is startled when Marshal Zeke shows himself to her as she learns the secret of her uncle's successful business. As she is closing her uncle's private investigating business, one client asks if she can continue the work that her uncle started. Rory takes on the case and realizes that she needs the help of the ghostly marshal. You can't help but root for Rory in this action-packed and engaging story. The relationship she has with Zeke was interesting especially when I keep forgetting that Zeke is an apparition. The witty repartee between Zeke and Rory and the suspense-filled story kept me turning the pages.

A Great Start to a New Series

I really enjoyed Sketch Me If You Can. It is refreshingly different. I really found the exchanges between a 21st century female and a 19th century male very amusing and fun. The way the two worked together to solve the mystery made sense as to their varied experience in law enforcement. Zeke and Rory are great characters,and I look forward to the next installment of this series.

entertaining paranormal cozy

Nobody is more distressed and heartbroken than Rory McCain is when her favorite Uncle Mac died from what apparently was a massive coronary. Mac leaves his entire estate that includes a Victorian home, his private eye business and his luxurious car to his beloved niece. As a police sketch artist, Rory is not allowed to moonlight so she begins to close down his business starting with informing Jeremy Logan whom she cannot reach when he walks in asking for Mac. When he learns Mac is dead, he hires Rory to look into the death of his sister Gail. It was ruled an accident but he believes it was murder. To get around the police ban on moonlighting, Rory refuses to charge him a fee. She moves into her new home where she meets permanent resident the ghost Federal Marshall Ezekiel "Zeke" Drummond, who was killed in the 1870s while hunting a serial killer who murdered little girls. He explains he helped Mac and offers a similar partnership with Rory; her consideration being to investigate his cold case of whom murdered him. Although she explains to the ghost his case is Arctic frozen, he understands and she agrees to their teaming. They soon learn Gail had several enemies with motives and opportunities, but someone stalks Rory in case she gets too close to naming the culprit. This entertaining paranormal cozy stars a feisty heroine who copes with the death of a loved one, a ghost in residence when she thought spirits were something either in wine or a Ghostbuster movie, and a case with too many suspects. The fun in this lighthearted frolic is figuring out who the killer is before the heroine and her poltergeist partner do. Readers will admire and adore the intrepid heroine as she risks her life to uncover the identity of Gail's killer. Harriet Klausner

A GHOSTLY SERIES

A PORTRAIT OF CRIME MYSTERY RELEASE DATE AUGUST 3, 2010 BERKLEY PRIME CRIME First in a Brand New Series Rory McCain loved her Uncle Mac so much and is terribly shocked when he dies of an apparent heart attack. He bequeaths to her everything he has, including a huge Victorian home and his private investigation company. Rory works as sketch artist and detective for the police department, and is not allowed to moonlight. She starts to review her uncle's open cases and contacting the clients to refer them to another agency, but one of the clients begs her to continue with his case. She agrees but cannot accept any payment so that technically she is not moonlighting. As she gets settled into her uncle's home and begins going over her uncle's notes for the case she has agreed to investigate, she finds she is not alone in the big, beautiful Victorian. The house is haunted by the ghost of a federal marshal from the 1870's, Ezekiel "Zeke" Drummond. A letter from her uncle explains the apparition and tells her the ghost has been very helpful in some of his investigations. Not quite sure what to believe, she finds the ghost continually sneaking up on her and finds him to be quite stubborn, crotchety, and sexist. She doesn't understand how he can help her, but as she gets further and further into the investigation she finds her own life at stake. She decides she really needs a partner, even if he is ghost, it is better than trying to solve the mystery on her own. I LIKED IT!!!! I am not really into the paranormal genre, but I truly enjoyed this book. I found myself almost forgetting that Zeke was a ghost. The story is well thought out and while the current mystery was solved it leaves another than can continue for the rest of the series. According to the back cover this is the author's first mystery and that is hard to believe. She told the story with just the right element of suspense and intrigue that keeps you turning page after page. There are bits of humor, how can there not be when living with a ghost? I look forward to reading more of this spirited series for more delightful mysteries. To learn more about this author visit her web page at [...] Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Berkley Prime Crime, a division of Penguin Publishing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255 : "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."