Title: Color Me Murder
Author: Krista Davis
Genre: 
The book started with this quote:
Sometimes you have to see people as a crayon.
They may not be your favorite color, but
you need them to complete the picture.
-Ritu Ghatourey
By day, Florrie Fox manages Color Me Read bookstore in Georgetown, Washington D.C. By night, she creates her own intricately detailed coloring books for adults, filling the pages with objects that catch her eye. There’s plenty of inspiration in her new apartment—a beautiful carriage house belonging to Professor John Maxwell, Florrie’s boss. He offers the property to Florrie rent-free with one condition—she must move in immediately to prevent his covetous sister and nephew from trying to claim it.
When the professor’s nephew, Delbert, arrives, he proves just as sketchy as Florrie feared. But the following morning, Delbert has vanished. It’s not until she visits the third floor of the store that Florrie makes a tragic discovery—there’s a trap door in the landing, and a dead Delbert inside. The esteemed Professor Maxwell is an obvious suspect, but Florrie is certain this case isn’t so black and white. Doodling clues, she begins to consider other colorful characters on the scene, all with a motive for murder. With a killer drawing closer, Florrie will need to think outside the lines . . . before death makes his mark again.
Wow, what a book! This novel had me hooked from the first few pages with the beautiful descriptions of the beautiful book store, Color Me Read. Of course as a reader, I am drawn to books that involve books and this book was not the exception! When I first received this ARC from Kensington, I was over the moon not only did the story sound captivating but the cover was amazing!!! Not only did it have a beautiful and intricate design wrapped around the cover, you could customize it by coloring it anyway you wanted!!! Woot!
I fell in love with the characters right away with this book! Florrie was such a relatable character. She loved others to a fault, was bookish, was open-minded and was an animal lover. Her passion and loyalty to her job as manager at Color Me Read, gave Florrie the drive to be a great amateur sleuth. I loved that her knowledge from detecting and figuring out what is what came strictly from her being a bookworm. I always knew reading too many mysteries could benefit me in a adventurous way. I loved Florrie’s interactions with the fellow customers, coworkers and a local homeless man, Jim. She always looked out for everyone else and tried to see the best in them.
The mystery of this story was well thought out. I thought for sure I had things figured out early on but of course I was wrong. The plot had great descriptions of the settings and the characterizations but still had a steady pace that was perfect for the outline of this story. Overall, this was hands down one of the best cozies I have read in awhile. This book was so much fun but it also had all the details that us bookworms love. I felt like I was in the middle of the book with Florrie and think I enjoyed her adventure and new home way too much! I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves a good cozy and/or anyone who loves to read books that involve books. I thought it was a very unique take to have Coloring Book Artist/Book Store Manager as our amateur sleuth. This is the first book I have read by Krista Davis but it surely won’t be my last!
Krista Davis lives and writes in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. She resided in Northern Virginia for many years and lived for a time in Old Town, Alexandria.
She really does have a gregarious Ocicat named Mochie who can open cabinets and leap to amazing heights. Her dogs, including a Golden Retriever who isn’t golden and won’t retrieve, consider Krista’s writing career a convenient second job that allows her to be available for her primary job as door opener, canine cuisine chef, and walking assistant.
Krista’s fascination with mysteries was fueled by Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, and Agatha Christie. Like her protagonist, Sophie Winston, Krista loves to entertain friends and family, but would just as soon leave cleaning to someone else.
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