Death in a Bygone Hue

An Art Center Mystery

When Jill Madison returns to her hometown to become executive director of a new art center, she never would have dreamed unexpected secrets from the past would put her life in danger. When her parents’ old friend, and Jill’s mentor, Judge Ron Spivey, is murdered, he leaves behind more than a few secrets. His baffling will makes Jill a rich woman, if she can survive the six-month probate period.

She finds a target on her back when the judge’s estranged children return and form an unholy alliance with a local muckraking journalist who specializes in making up news. According to the judge’s will, if Jill dies, the family inherits.

Jill and her best friend launch their own investigation, determined to find the judge’s killer. In the meantime, Jill must run her first national juried exhibit, launch a new seniors’ group, and move the weavers’ guild into the art center. Her arch nemesis and art center board president, Ivan Truelove III, watches her every move, determined to remove her if she makes a mistake. And, in between finding dead bodies, Jill may also discover a bit of romance with a newly arrived doctor in town, if she can live to enjoy it.

An Interview with Shawn Reilly about “Death in a Bygone Hue”

Death in a Pale Hue

An Art Center Mystery

Who knew going home could be deadly?…

I will show them success. Thirty-year-old artist Jill Madison repeats this mantra when she returns to her small hometown to restart her life. Hired to manage a new community art center, she vows to make it successful so the people of her town will have what she did not have—an education in the arts. She no sooner accepts the job than a burglar makes off with an irreplaceable sculpture and workers find a ghastly surprise in the basement. Investigating places Jill right in the path of a murderer.

How will she keep her job, run her first big event, and escape a killer who plans to paint her out of the picture permanently?