Hi there, I’m Miranda Trent, owner of a cultural tourist business in the back-hills countryside of Eastern Kentucky.

This is my service: I guide tourists up a mountain trail, usually an easy hike because we’re carrying art supplies. Then I instruct them in a group painting class capturing one of the panoramic views of a sandstone arch formation. Did you know that my area has the most sandstone arches on this side of the Mississippi? It’s true, so finding a beautiful vista is as easy as pie.

On days when his schedule allows, the local Forest Ranger, Austin Morgan, entertains my group with a talk about local legends and the unique geology of the sandstone formations. We’ve known each other since we were kids when I visited my grandparents each summer. Being ruggedly handsome doesn’t hurt my feelings at all.

After that, I take the group over to my ancestral farmhouse for a traditionally cooked southern meal paired with samples of my home-distilled moonshine. That’s why I call it Paint & Shine. Good name, right?

Business has been pretty good so far. I’m getting referrals from my contacts at the tourist lodges. But I need to bring in some cash money to pay the back taxes on the farm my uncle left me. The most significant complication in his will is that I need to convert the old tobacco barn into a distillery before the end of the year, and it’s almost Thanksgiving already. Time is running out.

I’m organizing a team-building workshop for a Lexington sportswear company to increase revenue. I’ve created a dizzying array of culinary, physical, and mental challenges to support the fulfill the contract. I’m a little nervous about this corporate adventure. There are so many things that could go wrong. Please wish me a big ol’ pile of good luck because if this goes wrong, I lose the farm.


Death A Sketch, A Paint & Shine Mystery #3
Genre: Cozy
Release: July 2022
Purchase Link

In eastern Kentucky, Miranda Trent runs a unique tour company called Paint & Shine, but sometimes the peaceful mountains play host to murder . . .

Miranda’s business—combining Appalachian adventure tours with art and a bit of moonshine—is the perfect place for an outdoor sporting goods company to hold an employee retreat. It’ll be a challenge, but the money they’re paying will definitely help with building her new distillery.

Miranda has lots of teamwork-fostering activities planned, from sketching classes to Southern cooking, but the executive running things prefers a more competitive spirit. In fact, after the workers are split into teams, they’re told that only the winners will keep their jobs, and tensions begin to spike. Even after a participant is found dead, the contest continues—while Miranda starts drawing her own conclusions about the ambitious attendees. Now she just has to find the proof . . .


About the author
Cheryl Hollon writes full time after she left an engineering career designing and building military flight simulators in amazing countries such as England, Wales, Australia, Singapore, Taiwan, and India. Fulfilling the dream of a lifetime, she combines her love of writing with a passion for creating art. Cheryl and her husband George live in one of the new fancy apartment buildings in downtown St. Petersburg, Florida.

Sign up for her monthly newsletter when you visit her website at cherylhollon.com. You can also visit Cheryl and her books on Facebook, Twitter, BookBub, and Goodreads.

GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment below for the chance to win a signed copy of Death A Sketch along with a set of coasters, bookmarks, and a sticky notepad. This giveaway package is open to U.S. residents only and ends July 29, 2022. Good luck everyone!

All comments are welcomed.