Death of an Artist A Mystery

Silver Bay, Oregon, a small coastal resort town with nearly a thousand residents, is home to three generations of women: Marnie, the long-widowed owner of a small gift shop; Van, her granddaughter who is about to graduate medical school; and Stef, mercurial, difficult, and a brilliant artist who refuses to sell her work. When Stef discovers that Dale Oliver-the latest husband/paramour in a very long line-is trying to sell her work behind her back, she puts a stop to it and threatens to do the same to him. Shortly thereafter, Stef dies in an accident in her studio, and Dale shows up with a signed contract granting him the right to sell her work. Convinced that Stef was murdered in order to steal her artwork, Marie and Van-grandmother and granddaughter-decide to do whatever is necessary to see that Dale doesn't get away with any of it. This includes enlisting the help of the new stranger in town, Tony, a former New York City cop, who might be the only one who can prove it was murderand bring the killer to justice.

KATE WILHELM is the award-winning author of more than thirty novels and story collections, including the classic When Late the Sweet Birds Sang and the Barbara Holloway legal thrillers, most recently Heaven is High. She lives in Eugene, Oregon.

"One of the masters of psychological fiction in America."—San Francisco Chronicle