Eastpoint, New York (Pop. 400-ish) is a quaint little farming community that seems more akin to Mayberry than Peyton Place. Then a murder exposes the secrets, fears, and paranoid insecurities that have been carefully hidden beneath the surface. Everybody in Eastpoint seems to be hiding something. The question is what are they hiding? And why?

Chief of Police Hank Reed is thrust into a scandalous investigation that no one wants... and he's finding out things that he really doesn't want to know.

First off, this is not a hardboiled mystery. I've seen several references that say it is one but it really isn't. Fans of true hardboiled stuff will likely be pretty disappointed if that's their sole criteria for choosing this book.

I found it to be more along the lines of a "guilty pleasure" type of read. A decent mystery with lots of schmaltz and melodrama that somehow comes together as a real page turner.

Unexpected plot twists, secret lives, love triangles, love quadrangles, and situations straight out of a soap opera handbook that just seems to work.

The Art of Murder is great mindless fun (I mean that in the best possible way). It does have adult content - language, sexual situations - but is fairly restrained all things considered. Don't go in expecting Fifty Shades of The Art of Murder or anything like that.

If you're in the mood for something different that will keep you guessing and turning pages but at the same time be almost completely forgotten within a week then give it a try.

***Thanks to NetGalley, INscribe Digital, and author Fred Lichtenberg for providing me with a free digital copy of this title in exchange for an honest review

I loved the beginning of this novel but truly because of my own preference I would have liked a bit more on the actual "Art" in this murder mystery. That said, I did develop an affinity to Hank and his team even if they seemed a little inept. A book worth reading if not entirely thrilling.

The Art of Murder is a Hank Reed mystery. Hank is a small-town sheriff, who has a murder to solve that keeps adding more suspects the deeper he investigates. Then things hit home when his spouse is also involved. Well! Didn't see that coming! This story is so well written that before you even know if you are halfway done and don't want to stop reading it.
I truly enjoyed this story and looking forward to the next one. I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book from Booksprouts and NetGalley

This was a pretty good first book in a mystery series, it had what I was looking for in a mystery book and was well done. The characters were great and I had a good time reading it.

A mystery as well as a police procedural with police officers that are not the smartest. Well written, good plot and characters.