4 out of 5 stars
** EDIT – FEBRUARY 25, 2017 ** I definitely would have rated this a 4 or 4.5 if I had read the other two in the series first. Often times, with cozy mysteries, it’s okay to start in the middle of the series and it doesn’t really matter. This series, however, is one that you need to read in order!
Welcome! Today, I’m hosting the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for The Drawing Game by Deirdre Verne. The Drawing Game is the third book in the Sketch in Crime Mystery series. While it wasn’t my favorite book so far this winter, it was pretty good.
Purchase Links: Amazon – B&N – BAM – Kobo
Brief Synopsis
A lover of all things green, CeCe Prentice is not impressed when a supposedly eco-friendly development, Green Acres, pops up next to her family’s homestead. It’s not so much the million-dollar price tags of the high-tech homes that bother her, but rather the new neighbors whose green lifestyles rely entirely on fancy phone apps.
Already disillusioned by the so-called sustainable development, CeCe is downright alarmed when residents start showing up dead and her best friend Charlie is accused of murder. CeCe’s not sure how to support both her best friend and her boyfriend, Detective Frank DeRosa…until she discovers a clue only she understands.
(Source: Goodreads description of the book)
Review
The more I got into this book, the more that I liked it. While usually it doesn’t tend to matter to me if I’m reading a book in the middle of a series or the first of the series. However, I think with this one, I would have done better to have read at least one of the first two books. Some of the lifestyle choices of the characters didn’t make sense to me at first and that put me off a little. I was thinking, “What did I get myself into with this one?” BUT, the more I got into it and understood things a little more, the more I liked it.
The characters are interesting. I really like Charlie, Frank, and Gayle. CeCe is definitely a character, but I haven’t decided if I really like her or not. There’s not a lot of character growth in this book and that saddened me a bit. CeCe and Frank’s relationship weathers the storm that this story line brings and is perhaps stronger now because of it, but other than that, there wasn’t a lot of character development in the story.
The setting was on Long Island and for the most part, I thought the descriptions were pretty good. I didn’t feel like I was struggling to imagine the setting. But yet, I didn’t feel over saturated in detail which is a big thing for me. I despise over saturation of detail, so I’m always thankful when the author does not do that in their stories!
I thought the story line moved along at a fairly good pace. I enjoyed the plot. There were twists in the plot that I didn’t expect, including the villain. So while I didn’t love it, I did enjoy it.
I’ve already put the first two books on hold at the library I work at and I’m looking forward to reading them!
[Thank you to the author, Deirdre Verne for providing me with an ecopy of this title. I was not compensated for my review and all opinions and conclusions are my own.]
About the Author
Deirdre Verne is the author of Drawing Conclusions 
Author Links
www.facebook.com/deirdreverneauthor
https://twitter.com/DeirdreVerne
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8276614.Deirdre_Verne
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