Sculptor Maggie Kean returns for a second perky foray (after 2001's A Dying Art) into the murderous world of the fine arts. On the eve of her first big show at The Outlook, an upscale Colorado gallery, Maggie is undeniably nervous, eaten up by the insecurities that have plagued her since childhood. Her forebodings are fully realized on the night of the opening when she takes an eccentric and wealthy art collector, Henry "call me Hank" Duran, behind the scenes to show off work not on display. Instead Maggie discovers a dead body inside the kiln, and all thoughts of showing off her work are discarded in the shock of being involved in another murder. Though her handsome cop boyfriend, Sam Villari, is on hand to lend support, Maggie is not exactly the most tractable of witnesses. The victim is soon identified as one Jeff Riley, board member of The Outlook and a high-level IRS bureaucrat. Despite warnings from Villari, Maggie feels compelled to delve into the murder while also trying to sniff out the source of the romantic troubles between two good friends. Uneasily suspecting that there might be some kind of link between the murder and her friends' damaged relationship, Maggie enlists the aid of her best friend, Lisa, and the amusingly garrulous Duran and gets in ever deeper. Davis has expertly constructed a suitably puzzling plot, but Maggie's insecurities—her distant relationship with her father, her inability to admit that she loves Villari—sometimes threaten to overwhelm the action. (July 2)
