Estate of Mind

By Tamar Myers

A Faux Van Gogh

When North Carolina antique dealer Abigail Timberlake makes a bid of $150.99 on a truly awful copy of Van Gogh's The Starry Night, she's just trying to win Mama's approval by supporting the church auction. Hopefully, she'll make her money back on the beautiful gold antique frame. Little does she expect she's bought herself a fortune...and a lot of trouble.

A masterpiece to kill for

When her ex-boyfriend shows up and offers ten bucks for the ugly Starry Night, Abby pops the frame and is stunned to discover hidden behind the faux Van Gogh canvas a multi-million dollar lost art treasure. Suddenly she's a popular lady in her old hometown, and her first visit is from Gilbert Sweeney, her schoolyard sweetheart (according to him), who claims the family's painting was donated by mistake. But social calls quickly turn from nice to nasty as it's revealed that the mysterious masterpiece conceals a dark and deadly past and some modern-day misconduct that threatens to rock the Rock Hill social structure to its core. Someone apparently thinks the art is worth killing for, and Abby knows she better get to the bottom of the secret scandal and multiple murders before she ends up buried six feet under a starry night.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 13, 2009
• ISBN: 9780061857348

Tamar Myers

Tamar Myers is the author of the Belgian Congo series and the Den of Antiquity series as well as the Pennsylvania-Dutch mysteries. Born and raised in the Congo, she lives in North Carolina.

Reviews for Estate of Mind

[caittilynn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When Abby Timberlake picks up a painting at the local church auction, she gets more than she bargained for. The hideous replica painting hides a famous painting that could be worth millions. However, Abby quickly finds herself in a dangerous position as many parties interested in the painting keep popping up and some of them aren't afraid to murder to get their way.

This is a fun book. I first read it over 10 years ago, but it is just as fun now. I am definitely going to go back and reread the rest of this series.

[chrisweir-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This one Abby buys a painting at a benefit auction for her mother's church. The painting is a poor rendition of Van Gogh's Starry Night. She's buying it for the nice guilt frame. Problems arise however when someone breaks into her car. She has the painting and frame in the trunk of the car. Her on again off again boyfriend takes a liking to the painting. She pries it from the frame to find a missing real Van Gogh behind it. It seems that her plots are getting formulaic but they are still light and fun reads.