The Missing Masterpiece. Maple Glade Mysteries, #2

A stolen masterpiece. A dead art dealer. A secret the town has kept for sixty years. Maple Glade is buzzing with excitement. A grand new gallery is opening on the harbour front, and its flamboyant owner has promised to reveal a lost painting by the town's only famous artist, the reclusive Silas Thorne. This is supposed to be the night that finally puts the little coastal town on the map. But instead, the night ends with the art dealer found dead.
Mystery writer Jade Reed is drawn to the darkened gallery, where she discovers the body. The prized painting is missing from the wall, and the dead man is holding an old, unusual paintbrush. Everyone in town had a reason to dislike the victim, but someone had a reason to kill him. Jade keeps wondering whether the real question isn't who owns the painting but who actually painted it. Jade and the always-frustrated Inspector Axel Ford follow clues: forget-me-nots, forged signatures, and a lighthouse that stands on the wrong side of the harbour.
The case brings them closer to a truth hidden for sixty years-and to each other. But some secrets are hidden for a reason. In Maple Glade, even the prettiest places can hide the darkest secrets. The Missing Masterpiece is the second book in The Maple Glade Mysteries, a cosy series filled with coastal charm, quirky locals, slow-burn romance, and murder. It's perfect for fans of M. C. Beaton, Louise Penny, and Ellie Alexander.