Brushwork — John Scherber

BRUSHWORK What looks like a routine portrait commission for a flamboyant former vice president of the United States quickly turns to disaster when he is murdered after only one session. The artist turned detective, Paul Zacher, becomes intrigued by the reason for his presence in San Miguel, but his curiosity turns to desperation when accumulating evidence indicates that Zacher himself is the killer. When a reading of the victim's will reveals the motive, Paul and Maya are forced to flee across central Mexico to avoid arrest for murder. After one of the most ruthless conglomerates in the country lines up with the police against the Zacher Agency, Paul goes on the offensive and sets a trap that exposes the plotters. When he is nearly trapped himself, he is forced to kill one of them in a face-to-face shoot out. Brushwork is the third mystery title in the Murder in Mexico series.