TLC Book Tours Book Review: Restrike

Author: Reba White Williams
Title: Restrike
Publisher: Delos
Publish Date: June 4, 2013
Review Copy Provided By: TLC Book Tours & the publisher
Buy: Amazon

Book Blurb:  Money and murder go hand in glove in the rarified art world of Reba White Williams's exciting first novel, Restrike.

Cousins Coleman and Dinah Greene moved from North Carolina to New York after college to make their mark on the art world: Coleman is the editor of an influential arts magazine and Dinah is the owner of a print gallery in Greenwich Village. But their challenges are mounting as one of Coleman's writers is discovered selling story ideas to a competitor and The Greene Gallery is in the red because sales are down.

When billionaire Heyward Bain arrives with a glamorous assistant, announcing plans to fund a fine print museum, Coleman is intrigued and plans to get to know Bain and publish an article about him. Dinah hopes to sell him enough prints to save her gallery. At the same time, swindlers, attracted by Bain’s lavish spending, invade the print world to grab some of his money.

When a print dealer dies in peculiar circumstances, Coleman is suspicious, but she can’t persuade the NYPD crime investigator of a connection between the dealer’s death and Bain’s buying spree. After one of Coleman’s editors is killed and Coleman is attacked, the police must acknowledge the connection, and Coleman becomes even more determined to discover the truth about Bain. In an unforgettable final scene, Coleman risks her life to expose the last deception threatening her, her friends, and the formerly tranquil print world.

Review: Restrike is another first book in a series and it really wowed me. Not only are Coleman and Dinah looking into the murder of a print dealer, but the book is so much more than that.

My only gripe with this book is the cover. It reminds me of Murder She Wrote ...its too 80s and really doesn't help pull readers to one of the best mysteries I've read.

And this book is so much more than a cozy. There's a lot going on with all the characters. Plus there are several mysteries within mysteries. Like what is the connection between Simon and Heyward Bain? Who is selling stories from ArtSmart to another magazine?

This is really what keeps the pages turning. I don't know much about the art world, but after reading this book, I felt like I knew something.

I loved getting different points of view...Coleman and Dinah are really two very different people. Coleman is more sophisticated and gutsy...Dinah is a little bit wishy washy and her husband...I hated him. This is one relationship that I really can't route for, Jonathan is just to controlling for me, even though it is apparent that he loves Dinah and Dinah loves him.

For the most part this felt like a different sort of cozy. It is a little bit longer (nearly 400 pages) and though their is a police investigation there's a whole lot more to this story than just a murder.

The author gives you clues to make you think you know who did it..but in the end, she kind of throws you a curve ball.

I loved getting to know all of the characters and I really am anxious to see where Reba takes them in the next book.

Definitely a great read for the cozy mystery lovers out there.

Rating: 5 flowers