Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book. I thoroughly enjoyed Hummel’s first book so I was excited to see there was a sequel (although they are calling it a companion). If you forgot what happened in "Still Lives" they do a good job jogging your memory in what happened. Because of this you do not necessarily have to have read "Still Lives" to read this one, but it does give you some background. This one closely mirrors "Still Lives" in that there is a mystery in the art-world that is trying to be solved that brings Maggie Richter back to Los Angeles. Out June 1.

This is flawed but mostly enjoyable. It has a large cast and the mystery didn't play out nor was it solved in as compelling ways as I'd hoped. That was a little surprising given that this is a fairly experienced author. Maybe she didn't have a good editor. I hope Hummel keeps writing.

Thanks very much for the ARC for review.

After thoroughly enjoying Hummel's first novel and the world it developed for readers, I was excited to dive into another opportunity to inhabit that world. While a solid mystery, this novel suffers from too many characters and not enough time spent with them to engender any deep investment in their outcomes or understanding of their motivations. I feel like there wasn't enough room for the characters or plot to breathe, but the upside to that is that the plot moves along quickly and keeps your attention, even if you're not necessarily buying the motivations of some of the characters.

Some sequels can be read as standalones, but I would highly recommend reading Still Lives first to wring the most out of this second entry.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the advanced reader's copy provided in exchange for an unbiased review.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

The plot sounded so interesting but the mystery was flat and took so long to develop I had long since stopped caring. Not even an entertaining guilty pleasure

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Lesson in Red.

The sequel takes off soon after the traumatic events of Still Lives as Maggie Richter has returned to her hometown to rest and recuperate.

But a summons from her superior leads her back to L.A. investigating the death of another up and coming female artist, who was found shot dead in her studio, apparently from a self inflicted wound.

Posing as a temp gallerina, Maggie infiltrates the dark and dirty modern art scene filled teeming with white privilege, backbiting, duplicitous art students and suspects, and coming across, sadly, a sexual predator or two .

Similar to Still Lives, there are plenty of new faces mingling with the old, exotic names that blur together and Maggie making conclusions about suspects and clues with no explanation behind it.

I don't dislike Maggie, but I'm not a fan. She doesn't solve crimes as much as accidentally stumble onto the bad guy by dumb luck. She doesn't give the impression that she's clever or witty; the author never explains Maggie's deductive reasoning nor how she figured out this person did that and for what reason.

I love art, not modern art but enjoy reading books that will teach me a thing or two about topics I don't know much about, which Lesson in Red, like Still Lives, do accomplish.

The writing was good but I didn't find the plot compelling, the numerous suspects and characters are poorly developed and though the ending is dramatic, it felt long and drawn out.

This wasn't for me but fans of the author's first book would enjoy it.

This is the delicious new novel that I enjoyed extremely. The prestigious art world is the perfect setting for this thriller. I recommend this book. It’s definitely going to be the best of the year.