The Skeleton Paints A Picture by Leigh Perry is the fourth book in the “Family Skeleton” mystery series. Publisher: Diversion Books, coming October 10, 2017

Georgia Thackery, adjunct English professor, has a new job teaching at Falstone College of Art and Design, known as FAD to its students and faculty. Living in a borrowed bungalow during winter in the snowiest part of Massachusetts, Georgia feels her isolation weighing as heavily as the weather. Then she receives a package containing her best friend, Sid, a walking, talking skeleton who has lived with the Thackery family since Georgia was six. With Georgia working out of town, Sid was lonely too.

The two of them make plans for a cozy semester together, and it might have worked out that way if Sid hadn’t snuck out in the middle of the night to play in the snow and spotted a crashed car. When he drags Georgia out to investigate, they find the driver behind the wheel, apparently dead from the collision.

Initially, police think it’s an accident, so Georgia and Sid think that’s the end of it—until Georgia finds out the body hits closer to home than she’d realized. . .

In this latest adventure, Sid delivers himself to Georgia and the two of them find themselves involved in more than what appears to be an accident, but open up a can of worms involving art theft. When it comes to solving murders, there is no better pair than Georgia and Sid. Sid is more human than a sack of bones and their relationship is so tight that you forget that he is what he is, especially when it comes to the manner in which they rely on one another.

This is a well-written and tightly woven whodunit that I devoured because I had to know how this was all going to end. The narrative was cleverly dispersed putting me in the middle of all the action as Georgia and Sid go about looking for clues with a suspect pool that was small yet everyone had a motive or two. With short chapters, it was easy to follow along with the progression of the multi-plot storyline. The author does a great job in presenting this drama with engagingly witty repartee, a lovable cast, although I did miss Madison’s presence, and the perfect winter scenery which played a factor in the outcome of this deliciously charming series. This is by far the best book in the series and I can’t wait to see where we go next with Georgia, Sid and the rest of the gang.

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FTC Full Disclosure – I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.