When Rory McCain returns her neighbor's dog, Hobo, who wandered into her yard, she doesn't expect to find the wandering canine's owner, Brenda Hartley, lying dead in the middle of the kitchen floor. Not wanting Hobo to go to a shelter, Rory decides to take him home, much to the annoyance of her "roommate," the ghost of one-time US marshal Zeke Drummond. The ill will goes both ways: Hobo is frightened of the spectral lawman. Having found the body, Rory is itching to search for the killer, but since she is just a private investigator, she can't unless someone hires her to do it.

Luckily, that someone is Tin Kovack, a close friend of Brenda's, who hires Rory to find the dead woman's other dog, a valuable purebred Maltese, named Tootsie, that wasn't found at Brenda's house. Tina is certain that Tootsie, was stolen by the person who killed Brenda. Rory isn't sure if she agrees, but she takes the case, because it means that while she's searching for the dognapper, she can also hunt for Brenda's killer. With a little help from Zeke, Rory races to find the answers before the killer decides to take a "bite" out of her as well!

In Sharon Pape's second novel, TO SKETCH A THIEF: A Portrait of Crime Mystery, she continues the lively adventures of police sketch artist/private investigator Rory McCain. Rory is an inquisitive gal, and with the help of her ghostly mentor, Marshal Drummond, she tracks the clues to this intriguing murder with skill.

The relationship between Rory and Zeke is fascinating -- he is an old-fashioned gentleman who is sometimes appalled by Rory's modern ways, but he admires the girl for her spunk and helps her all he can, and tries to look out for her. Rory's family can't quite figure out what is going on at Rory's, but if they only knew ... The plot is fast-paced, containing a mystery, within a mystery, within a mystery that leaves the reader breathless with anticipation until the very end.

Pape delivers a thoroughly pleasurable series with her Portrait of Crime books, and fans of well-written, humorous mysteries are sure to enjoy them immensely.

Book Summary

After a stray dog named Hobo leads former police sketch artist-turned-paranormal private eye Rory McCain back to his owner's corpse, she finds herself involved in another homicide case-not to mention the new owner of a lovable pooch, which makes Rory's ghostly partner, Zeke, more than a little spooked.

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