Publication Date: Jan 2020

Synopsis:

North Carolina, 2018: Morgan Christopher’s life has been derailed. Taking the fall for a crime she did not commit, she finds herself serving a three-year stint in the North Carolina Women’s Correctional Center. Her dream of a career in art is put on hold—until a mysterious visitor makes her an offer that will see her released immediately. Her assignment: restore an old post office mural in a sleepy southern town. Morgan knows nothing about art restoration, but desperate to leave prison, she accepts. What she finds under the layers of grime is a painting that tells the story of madness, violence, and a conspiracy of small town secrets.

North Carolina, 1940: Anna Dale, an artist from New Jersey, wins a national contest to paint a mural for the post office in Edenton, North Carolina. Alone in the world and desperate for work, she accepts. But what she doesn’t expect is to find herself immersed in a town where prejudices run deep, where people are hiding secrets behind closed doors, and where the price of being different might just end in murder.

What happened to Anna Dale? Are the clues hidden in the decrepit mural? Can Morgan overcome her own demons to discover what exists beneath the layers of lies?

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What To Expect:

Readers can expect a Southern fiction novel filled with art descriptions, slow burn romance, and mystery.

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Content Warnings:

Language: Moderate – Occasional language, with 5-6 f-words primarily in chapter 46

Sexual Content: Slow burn romance with kissing only

Violence: Moderate – Murder and rape in chapter 46

Substance Use: Alcoholism

Prejudices: Racism. The N- word is used twice.

Religious Themes: None

Other Topics: Difficult parent-child relationships, bipolar disorder

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