Praise for Cheryl Hollon
The Paint & Shine Mystery
“With its colorful characters, charming Southern setting, and well-plotted mystery, the Paint & Shine series is the perfect blend of all things cozy.”
—Ellery Adams, NYT and USA Today bestselling author
“Using a palette of clever plot twists and intriguing characters, Cheryl Hollon creates a richly drawn world that’s both bucolic and dangerous in Still Knife Painting. Readers will take a shine to this addictive new series!”
—Agatha Award–winning author Ellen Byron
“Set against the blazing backdrop of an Appalachian fall, Still Knife Painting serves up a tasty stew of murder and moonshine. In this series debut, Cheryl Hollon weaves a tale as complex and country as the antique braided rug that figures in the story.”
—Barbara Ross, author of the Maine Clambake Mysteries
“This book is well paced, anchored by an excellent central character, and infused with a keen sense of place. Veteran scribe Hollon makes it all look easy. Rocking in Miranda’s chair on the porch, sitting under a quilt and taking in the view sounds like a plan to me. Pass that moonshine.”
—Mystery Scene magazine
The Webb’s Glass Shop Mystery Series
“The novel’s pace is leisurely, built around character interactions, travelogue and lots of information about glass art and its history.”
—Colette Bancroft on Cracked to Death, Tampa Bay Times
“A zippy read. If you like cozy mysteries, you’re gonna devour Pane and Suffering.”
—Creative Loafing, Tampa Bay
“There is plenty of variety and not just workbenches in the lively story by Cheryl Hollon.”
—Fresh Fiction on Pane and Suffering
“Webb’s Glass Shop is certainly a place where you’d want to hang out.”
—Kings River Life Magazine on Pane and Suffering
“A fresh and original new series! Well-crafted with smart and intriguing clues.”
—Krista Davis, New York Times bestselling author on Pane and Suffering
Also by Cheryl Hollon
Webb’s Glass Shop Mystery Series
Pane and Suffering
Shards of Murder
Cracked to Death
Etched in Tears
Shattered at Sea
Down in Flames
Paint & Shine Mystery Series
Still Knife Painting
Draw and Order
Published by Kensington Publishing Corp.
Draw and Order
Cheryl Hollon
www.kensingtonbooks.com
All copyrighted material within is Attributor Protected.
Table of Contents
Praise
Also by
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Cast of Characters
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Recipes for Moonshine Cocktails
Recipes for Snacks - Cheesy Bits
Acknowledgments
Teaser chapter
KENSINGTON BOOKS are published by
Kensington Publishing Corp.
119 West 40th Street
New York, NY 10018
Copyright © 2021 by Cheryl Hollon
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
To the extent that the image or images on the cover of this book depict a person or persons, such person or persons are merely models and are not intended to portray any character or characters featured in the book.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.
If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”
The K logo is a trademark of Kensington Publishing Corp.
First Kensington Books Mass Market Paperback Printing: July 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4967-2526-4
ISBN-13: 978-1-4967-2527-1 (ebook)
ISBN-10: 1-4967-2527-1 (ebook)
Dedicated to Ramona DeFelice Long Author, editor, muse. RIP.
Cast of Characters
Miranda Dorothy Trent
Sandy
Iris Hobb
Lily Hobb
Austin Morgan
Gene Buchanan
Alfred Whittaker
Ben DeBerg
Jennifer O’Rourke
Kevin Burkart
Kurt Smith
Stephanie Brinkley
Sheriff Richard J. Larson
Felicia Larson
Barbara DuPont
Howard Cable
Ora Cable
Roy and Elsie Kash
Tyler Morgan
Doris Ann Norris
Dorothy Marcella Trent
Lance Campbell
Anna Belle Cable
Protagonist
Miranda’s male puppy
Cook
Cook
Local forest ranger
Miranda’s late bachelor
uncle
Client #1—a freelance
reporter
Client #2—a criminal
defense lawyer
Client #3—a jewelry artist
Client #4—owner of a
financial services
business
Client #5—a cosmetic
surgeon
Client #6—a licensed
pharmacist
Wolfe County sheriff
Coroner and sheriff’s wife
Forensic anthropologist
Miranda’s cousin
Howard’s mother
Miranda’s neighbors
Austin’s sister
Receptionist
Miranda’s mother
Brewery intern
Howard’s younger sister
Anna Sue Cable
Ron Menifee
Andrew Perry
Scott Caldwell
Doc Watson
John Latchy
Howard’s older sister
Miranda’s handyman
EMT #1
EMT #2
Local physician
Cousin of Lexington
Herald-Leader owner
Chapte
r 1
Early Sunday Morning in November,
Miranda’s Farmhouse
Short, earsplitting shrieks blasted from the fire alarm over the stove in Miranda Trent’s farmhouse kitchen. She startled, fumbled, and then almost dropped the final portion of her scratch-made country-fried chicken onto the linoleum floor. She held the dripping, golden-brown breast in her tongs over the spattering cast-iron skillet. Like a waiting-in-the-wings vacuum robot, her puppy, Sandy, skidded into the kitchen, toenails scrabbling for footing, and added crackly voiced wolf howling to the smoke detector wail.
“Iris! Grab the stepladder and turn that screeching thing off.”
The hot bacon-grease-and-butter mixture crackled like fireworks in the ancient skillet. A roiling plume of smoke rose from the angry frying pan. Miranda hurried to put the chicken on the draining rack, move the skillet to a back burner, and turn off the flame.
Grabbing a pot lid from the open shelf next to the stove, she slapped it over the still-sizzling skillet. Miranda sighed relief and wiped both hands on her logo-imprinted apron. She turned around to watch Iris Hobb, one of her local cooks, set up the stepladder right next to her huge commercial range. “I wanted crispy chicken, but I think I went a little too far.”
Iris stepped onto the ladder, grabbed the smoke alarm, gave it a quick twist, took it off its mounting plate, and then removed the battery. The resulting silence was beautiful.
“Where’s the fire?” Lily, the second cook and sister to Iris, walked in through the back door. She planted her hands on her hips. “I thought that thing only went off for a fire.”
Miranda opened the window over the sink on the other side of the kitchen. “It was the crackling of the grease. The modern ones are sensitive to airborne particles.” She flapped a kitchen towel toward the window opening. “Pump the back door open and closed a few times and help me clear the air.”
The chilly morning rushed through the kitchen as Iris and Lily helped Miranda whoosh away the smoke. Meanwhile, Sandy, her fluffy blond terrier-mix puppy, ran around the kitchen begging to play and nearly tripping them all. He thought smoke clearing was a wonderful game.
After a few minutes of door swinging and apron flapping, the smoke in the kitchen dissipated and the burning smell faded. “Go ahead and put the battery back in. Maybe we’ve blown things out enough for the little beast.”
Iris replaced the battery and the alarm didn’t make a sound.
“Perfect,” said Miranda. “Put it way over there.” She pointed to the counter next to the sink. “We’ll let it sit over there for a few days. If it stays happy, we’ll remount it over the back door instead of over the stove. Southern cooking involves lots of bacon grease and butter so we do get a lot of spatter.”
As the owner of Paint & Shine, a cultural-adventure tour business set in the Daniel Boone National Forest, Miranda wanted her clients to enjoy the best examples of Southern food possible. Her eastern-Kentucky farmhouse was normally the location for the meal. But today’s offering was an old-timey packed lunch to eat out on the trail overlooking the cliff formation called Battleship Rock.
“Thanks for coming in early on Sunday, ladies.”
“It’s no problem,” said Iris. “Although Grandmother Hobb was mighty upset with us.”
“We take her to church every week,” said Lily. “In fact, we’re using this as the perfect excuse. We don’t enjoy the fire-and-brimstone preaching anymore.”
Iris added, “We never did, but now that we have a paying job, she can’t say nuthin’.” They smirked and winked happily at each other.
“Thanks. Iris, is the dining room ready for packing up the lunch boxes?”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Iris. “We only needed the chicken.”
“Great.” Miranda grabbed the draining rack with the eight golden-fried chicken breasts and went into the dining room. On the large round table was an assembly line for packing each picnic meal into a vintage handwoven white oak basket. Miranda placed the chicken next to a roll of waxed paper.
“Okay, let’s first wrap the chicken in the waxed paper and put it on top of the gingham square at the bottom of each basket, like this.” Miranda demonstrated. “Then we put the green beans, pickled cabbage, pickles, and the mustard potato salad in the lightweight cardboard box.” That idea was supplied by her mom. She had told Miranda that Tupperware containers hadn’t been affordable for most farming families when reusable containers came to hand absolutely free. “Wrap the corn on the cob and the corn bread individually in aluminum foil. The cobbler gets wrapped in aluminum foil as well, and then finally, we put the lemonade moonshine cocktail in a mason jar.”
“Won’t the drink get warm?” asked Lily.
“It will be fairly cool up there, but I’m going to tuck in a few ice cubes. Realistically, if they want an authentic picnic experience, then lukewarm lemonade is what it must be.”
“This pack is already heavy,” said Iris as she hefted one of the backpacks with a Paint & Shine logo patch sewn onto the back. Miranda did the sewing herself and saved the cost of ordering them already attached from an imprint specialist.
“These clients have assured me that they are fit athletes and can carry more than twice the weight of these day-trip packs. We’ll see. I mean, as a group they call themselves Risky Business Adventurers. That must mean something. This is my first remote-trail offering. I hope it’s a success.”
Miranda was anxious. As a way to calm her worries, she was taking extra food to feed Ranger Austin Morgan and extra drawing supplies in case some got ruined, and finally she packed some emergency equipment in case of, well, an emergency. She would make sure Austin knew about them. All that made her feel more confident.
Austin was her down-the-road neighbor. An experienced forest ranger, he was a vital, colorful, but unplanned part of her cultural adventures. He usually stopped by the trail overlook site she had chosen for the painting session and gave her clients a history of the area’s geology. In addition, he knew a thousand tidbits of local lore to sprinkle into his ranger talk.
Iris wore a logo apron over a T-shirt she had embroidered with a strip of her namesake flower down one long white sleeve. She frowned. “You’re going to have Austin up there, aren’t you? You’ll feel better after he arrives to give the group one of his ranger talks.”
Miranda raised her eyebrows. “I will.”
Iris continued, “You’re worried that he might not make it all the way up the Indian Staircase to the view of Battleship Rock.”
“He hasn’t missed an event yet.” Miranda realized that she sounded a bit defensive. Could it be that his part of her events was becoming important to her in more than a business way? “He must enjoy them.” Or could it be that she felt grateful for his help solving the case of the murdered cook when she first opened the business last month? What a calamity.
Lily, wearing a T-shirt with lilies embroidered down the opposite sleeve to Iris’s, slipped the last lunch basket into the sixth and final client backpack. “The lectures are part of his job, but he does seem keenly dedicated.” Lily and Iris exchanged a knowing glance.
Iris looked up and down at Miranda’s light jacket, logo shirt, sturdy jeans, and hiking boots. “Is that all you’re going to wear? November weather can be pretty tricky up on the cliffs.”
“Good catch. I forgot to pack my all-weather jacket and pants. Thankfully, they fold up into small self-contained packets. I’m also going to put in my emergency pop-up tent. Each of the backpacks already have a tiny survival kit.”
“That should do it,” said Iris.
Miranda’s clients had requested a specific location for their cultural adventure. Given the distance of the hike and its remoteness, Miranda had chosen to provide a lesson in charcoal sketching rather than the normal activity of creating an acrylic painting of the Battleship Rock overlook. After all, everything hauled up to the vantage point had to be hauled back down.
Lily and Iris helped her load the pile of backpacks into Mira
nda’s white van.
She was just about ready to leave when the phone rang in the living room. Iris dashed into the house to answer it before it rolled over to the answering machine. In another moment, she opened the screen door and yelled, “It’s the distillery supplier. He says there’s a problem.”
“You mean another problem.” Miranda glanced at her watch. She had a few minutes to spare. She went into the living room and picked up the phone. “This is Miranda Trent. What’s the problem this time?”
“Good morning, ma’am. I’m the owner of Custom Metal Craft. I’ve run into an issue with your stainless-steel fermentation tank. It’s not a serious one, but there will be a small delay.”
“Another delay? You’ve missed every date that you’ve promised. Every date.”
“Yes, ma’am, but your specifications are unique.”
“Unique?” Miranda formed a fist and shook it at the phone. “What you really mean is that you have no experience with anything but the standard size of fermentation tank. Don’t tell me this is the first special order you’ve ever built?”
There was absolute silence on the other end of the line.
Miranda placed her hand on her forehead and looked up at the ceiling. “This is your first special order, right?”
Again the silence drew out into a long pause. “Yes, ma’am. I don’t know how I’m gonna make this up to you, but I promise that I will. Your fermentation tank is an absolute genius of a design.”