This week, on Evey’s Writers Blog I’m featuring author, Stephen L. Brayton. Please stop by to meet Stephen and read an excerpt from his Martial Arts novel, Alpha
I’m excited to announce that my new romantic suspense novel, Masterpiece of Murder, was published by Wings ePress and is now available in e-book and print versions directly from the publisher, http://www.wings-press.com and from Amazon. com. - http://tinyurl.com/9jjl5xc
It’s also available for the Nook from Barnes & Noble. http://tinyurl.com/9uyqj5r
Masterpiece of Murder is a fast-paced, madcap, romantic suspense adventure about a heartbroken American art student, Charlotte Ross, who is so intent on locating her errant fiancé that she submits someone else’s painting as her own in order to gain access to a Master art class being held in Bariloche, Argentina—the place her lost love was last seen. When the painting gets her accepted into the class given by a world-famous artist and womanizer, being a novice makes keeping up with the others nearly impossible as she struggles to fake her way though, while trying to win back the man she loves. But her fiancé has his own reasons for being in Bariloche – he’s after a stolen art masterpiece. They complicate Charlotte’s life and threaten her very existence as she stumbles into a downward spiral of deceit, art forgery, and murder. When she comes across the murder victim, circumstantial evidence begins to mounts against her and the local police suspect she is the killer. Now she must use every meager resource available to her, along with the help of two fellow art students, to discover who is really behind the murder. Not an easy task with a military police officer dogging her every step.
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Reviews:
–Masterpiece of Murder held me in suspense until the final page. Evelyn Cullet has crafted her mystery to ensure that the twists and turns Charlotte Ross has to take to prove her innocence, keep the reader engrossed throughout. The author’s skill in developing her very believable main character, makes sure the reader is able to feel her emotions, share her frustrations, her fear and her relief. –Vera Berry Burrows, Author of Tomorrow Never Comes, and Regarding Kimberly.
–The twists and turns in this novel will have the reader on the edge of their seat through to the last page. A masterpiece from Evelyn. Enjoy. — Author Marilyn Rice.
–Evelyn Cullet displays a style that makes the reader wonder, laugh and keep turning the pages of an unforgettable story. Once the book is started, it will be hard to put down. — Cleo Lampos, author of Teaching Diamonds in the Tough.
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If you love mystery, romance, and suspense, follow Charlotte on a madcap adventure through the beautiful and sometimes perilous resort city of Bariloche, (pronounced, bah reeh LOH cheh), Argentina, to uncover a Masterpiece of Murder. To see photos of the places mentioned in the novel, I invite you to explore my photos page.
The masterpiece mentioned in the novel, The Concert, is an actual art masterpiece by Johannes Vermeer that was stolen from the Isabella Stuart Gardner Art Museum in Boston in March of 1990. Of the 13 pieces of art that were stolen, this was the most expensive, valued at an estimated $200,000.000.00. While my story does not attempt to solve the Boston art theft, it does give a strong sense of what happens when unscrupulous people try to profit from some else’s crime.
The Concert
The style of painting being taught in the novel is Chiaroscuro which originated in the Renaissance. It’s an Italian term that literally means, “light-dark”. In paintings the description refers to clear tonal contrasts of extreme light and dark shades, as in the painting below by Jan Davidsz de Heem:
