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Artist Nick Gresham returns from London to his art studio in Cornwall to find several of his paintings slashed with a sharp object. Madder than a wet hen, he storms over to Geoffrey Monmouth’s studio, certain that he’s the one who vandalized his work. But he finds Geoffrey dead, with a knife in his back. To make matters worse, Geoffrey’s girlfriend swears that she saw Nick stab him.
Eleanor Trewynn, recently retired from traveling the world and working for charitable organizations, is looking forward to an uneventful life—but trouble seems to follow her everywhere. Nick, a dear friend, is accused of a murder he didn’t commit, and she was right behind him when he discovered the body. Forced to accept the hospitality of the artists’ commune where Geoffrey resided until the police can question her, Eleanor starts snooping around and asking questions. What she discovers is that nearly everyone had a motive for killing Geoffrey.
Detective Inspector Scumble and Detective Sergeant Megan Pencarrow (Eleanor’s niece) are assigned to the case. Though he’s not crazy about involving Eleanor, Scumble realizes that he just might need her help to get to the bottom of things.
It’s a good thing that A Colourful Death is full of intriguing characters—because I immediately guessed who the killer would be. As the plot developed, I wasn’t always sure that I was right, but, in the end, it still came back to my first choice.
Still, with its witty dialogue, its multihued characters, and a cozy story set in a small Cornish town, A Colourful Death, kept me entertained—and I looked forward to returning to the book after a long day at work. Even Detective Inspector Scumble, who often acted like an ass, made me grin with the off-the-wall comments that he’d toss out every now and then.
Eleanor Trewynn is as energetic as she is shrewd. Even though she’s an amateur sleuth, she still knows how to get in there and ask all the right questions, which eventually helps her put everything together to solve the mystery. I liked her character, and I look forward to seeing more of her in future Cornish mysteries.
Though A Colourful Death doesn’t have a lot of twists and turns—and it’s fairly easy to solve—the eccentric characters and the vivid descriptions of the Cornish countryside still make it a fun read. Enjoy it while sipping a hot cup of tea before bedtime.
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