6 reviews for Girl with Pencil, Drawing

1. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Lois W. Stern – August 30, 2015

   Linda Marie Frank sure has a knack for building page turning mysteries. Although I am far from a young adult, I became thoroughly engrossed in this read. Being the second in this series of three, I hope “Girl With Pencil Drawing” doesn’t suffer from middle child syndrome. (You know how the middle child often is the one most likely to be overlooked.) But those middle children often sneak up to grow into the stars of their families. I won’t be at all surprised if this is the case with “Girl With Pencil Drawing.” It’s magnificent. Meticulous research, beautifully articulated, intriguing plot.

   Lois W. Stern
   Creator or the Tales2Inspire “Authors Helping Authors” contest/project

2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Martha A. Cheves – June 5, 2015

   He busied himself rummaging through the kitchen drawers, two sets of panic-stricken eyes following his every move. He found some emergency candles and went into the small dinette adjoining the kitchen. He lit them, let the was drip onto some paper plates from the counter and affixed the candles to the plates. There were six candles in all. Was he into satanic rituals? He came back into the kitchen and turned on all the gas jets at the range and the oven, leaving its door ajar. He blow out the flames, letting the gas escape freely. “Bye, bye, ladies.” He hurried out the back door locking it behind him.

   When I was a young girl I loved reading the Nancy Drew mysteries and to this day I still enjoy the style and mysteries of the young ‘detective’ but you can only read them so many times before you know them by heart. Well… Author Linda Maria Frank has brought my young memories back. Annie Tillery is today’s Nancy Drew! In fact, she is great at getting herself into trouble but working it out in a fashion that would make Nancy proud. In Girl With Pencil, Drawing Annie goes to art school and finds that her instructor/teacher is mixed up in a murder that Annie doesn’t believe she committed. Can she prove her innocence without getting both of them killed? What do you think?

   This the second book in the Annie Tillery Mystery Series. I’ve read the first, loved it and couldn’t see how it could get any better. Well it does. I’m now looking forward to reading the third book to see what Nancy, oh excuse me, Annie gets into and how she gets through it.

3. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Cold Coffe Cafe – March 25, 2015

   Annie Tillery Mysterys book three ‘Secrets In The Fairy Chimneys’ can be summed up as Indiana Jones meets Nancy Drew with the skills and precision of CSI. A mystery unfolds amidst a mix of ancient history and modern innovation, in an ageless Eastern country where time moves at a camel’s pace.

   Dedicated research by author Linda Maria Frank leaves no stone unturned while great description text transports the reader to the streets of Turkey with it mosques and minarets, towers and modern buildings. One of my favorite quotes from the book is “Water droplets plunked into the pool from the vaulted ceiling. After the heat of the bazaar and the street chase, it was deliciously cool. Ornate columns with carved capitals supported the ceiling. The bases were decorated with animal and human figures. There were a few visitors, but the enormity of the space muffled their conversations.”

   Strong characters with great dialog brings us to dusty archeological site in one of the oldest towns in human history called Catalhoyuk. Nothing can explain it better than this quote: “We were in a valley of shapes I couldn’t believe were not made by humans, humans with a fabulous imagination. Conical formations called fairy chimneys in various sizes spread away from us in every direction. The color of bleached bones, they sat majestically among the gray-green brush and white claylike soil. The air shimmered from the heat. I could smell the odor of clay mixed with a faint herbal scent that must have come from the brush.”

   Cosponsors from Vermont University are looking for a DNA connection between residents of Catalhoyuk and our original nomadic ancestors in Africa. Annie Tillery and her team go to work excavating this archeological site with all its inherit dangers and a mystery brings out the detective in Annie.

   From the spell of an Ouija board to a magical balloon ride in the sky nothing is lost as this time and space makes all their senses come alive with amazing black and white graphics that bring the main characters to life.

   Students and young adults of all ages will enjoy Annie Tillery Mysteries. Although a series each book is unique and stands alone with no need to read in a particular sequence.

   Review completion date February 5, 2015 (from a PDF). For more information please visit Cold Coffee Press

4. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   Majanka – December 31, 2014

   In the second book in the Annie Tillery Mystery series, The Girl With Pencil, Drawing we follow amateur detective Annie Tillery once again. Annie wins a series of art lessons at a prestigious art gallery. When she shows up, her instructor is arguing to the art gallery’s director over his non-stop requests for her to illegally copy art masterpieces. When the gallery director is found murdered, Annie’s instructor becomes the prime suspect and asks for Annie and her aunt to help solve the crime and clear her name.

   Annie and her aunt, Jilly, a NYPD detective, have a lot on their plate in this second installment. Not only do they have to face the dangers of an international art fraud, they also have to solve a murder in which the key suspects offer anything but easy clues. And with the murderer still on the loose, their very lives could be in danger. When it becomes clear the murderer has something planned for Annie and her instructor, she has to save both of them.

   This is a true page turner aimed at teens. The book combines several subplots and waves them masterfully into one tight, suspenseful plot. Obviously a lot of research went into writing this book about the world of art, which makes it even more impressive. Definitely recommended to YA mystery fans. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

5. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Mary Lambert – May 23, 2013

   WOW! It’s even better than The Madonna Ghost! The second in the Annie Tillery Mystery Series takes the reader on a journey through the sinister and mysterious world of art forgery as Annie tries to help a new friend. As with her first novel, Linda Maria Frank provides the reader with not only a page turner mystery, but with a great deal of good research–in this case about art forgery. Her strong and memorable female characters are welcome in a world that is usually dominated by men. Both teenaged readers and their parents will enjoy this novel.

6. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   A.S. – September 14, 2012

   The characters are fun and interesting. This is the 2nd book in this series that I’ve read and I really enjoyed them. I’m looking forward to the next book. I recommend this series for teenagers as well as adults.