Girl in the Painting

by Tom Hitchcock

During an arts festival, a couple drifts into Colleen Grey’s kiosk and makes a chilling One of her paintings bears a striking, eerie resemblance to their daughter, who disappeared without a trace several months ago. Colleen disavows any knowledge, insisting that the haunted, anguished faces in her paintings come not from models or photos but a distant muse deep in her imagination. The couple is unconvinced. The police are curious. Then a second set of parents has a similar harrowing encounter in a different the spitting image of their missing daughter in another of Colleen’s paintings. One likeness may be a coincidence; two suggest something more sinister. The police have no choice but to assume the worst as a tense debate rocks Amelia Are they paintings fired by the imagination of an artist, or macabre signposts left by a serial killer?

294 pages, Paperback

Published August 1, 2018

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

First for reference, I do not usually choose murder mysteries for enjoyable reading. I have read this book for my book club. So maybe don't put too much weight in my opinion.
I grew up in Jacksonville, Florida, so I found the setting of Amelia Island/Fernandina Beach for this novel to be intriguing.
Hitchcock is a fine writer, I don't have any specific complaints there. I just found for some reason that everything felt a bit clinical. There is a lot of legal verbiage.
This is a murder mystery where you should not expect to get much in the way of understanding anyone's personality in any depth. It does take some twists and turns like most mysteries I've read for book club, as authors need to really keep the reader guessing and try to mess with your mind.
I guess that its fair to say here as well and Hitchcock does a decent job with that.
Book clubs will probably have fun with it. And if you live anywhere near Amelia Island, Florida, you will want to put in on your shelf of 'to reads' and especially if you are a whodunnit fan.

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot until the last chapter. First, the good parts. The dialogue was excellent. The characters were distinct and interesting. The theme of "nature vs. nurture" was hinted at but not explored. The story is set on Amelia Island, just east of Jacksonville. I know this area, and the author describes the place and people very accurately. The ending is the big let down. There is no resolution except that the girls are both released. Yes, I got the hint of Crystal's girlfriend's Nissan Xterra. If this is a stand-alone novel, then it really has no ending. Please refer to Sue Grafton, David Baldacci, or John Grisham to see how they summarized what happened to the characters after the main plot is over. A novel, even if it has a sequel, still needs to be complete in itself. If a sequel is being planned, the lead-in should be evident in the last chapter (see Jeffrey Archer's books).

[Cindy McLaughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This mystery is set on Amelia Island, FL. The local flavor is very accurate. The prose is well crafted. This book is not a formula like so many others. Tom Hitchock has his own voice. It reads a bit like t documentary to me. It is not dry and boring. In fact, the author pulls you into the story with great descriptions and well fleshed out characters. Once I started reading this book, I found it hard to put down.

[Maggie Yoder · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book!

I came upon the book by accident - my brother bought a copy at a book fair on Amelia Island - and I’m so glad he did! The book was excellent! Kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish - the characters were real - it moved quickly. Just a wonderful book.

[Barbara B. Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of surprises!

I enjoyed reading this mystery. It's a great story line- full of twists and turns. I had to keep reading to find out how it ends- couldn't put it down!

[Laura L. Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book

Loved the storyline and character development in this book. I am not quite sure of the ambiguous ending though? I do look forward to reading more of this author's books. Thank you!

[Courtney Highstone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enjoyed the setting being that it is my home town but the writing was overly detailed and no ending was established.

[Gwen Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Amelia Island so the setting was perfect for me. While I enjoyed the plot, the use of big words took away from the flow. I know many authors love to impress us with their knowledge of the English language, but when it becomes overdone, it can create jerkiness to the story. Michael Connelly and Robert Dugoni are great at flowing their stories using simple language. There is a lot of fluff that tends to repeat itself in the middle chapters. I did not like the ending. I felt like it needed to be wrapped up or at least lean toward something, which this does not. Why I gave it a 3 star is because it kept you wanting to read on to get to the wrap up.