Ex-cop Sid Shale took early retirement from the NYPD and now relishes the peace and quiet of home—a beach-front bungalow in a small Long Island village where the latest "crime spree" is a rash of bicycle thefts.
Sid now has two responsibilities: to follow his dream of being a full-time artist and, with the help of his agent/ex-wife, to sell enough of his paintings to pay his daughter's college tuition bills.
Then a sixteen-year-old girl is murdered a few houses down the shore from Sid. In just a few short hours everyone, from the inexperienced village cops to the girl's mother, knows that she'd once modeled for Sid—in the nude.
Whether he likes it or not, he's back in the crime-solving business, this time to save his own skin.
With a superb story, an eminently likable sleuth, and the hard-to-put-down prose that has continually characterized Gordon Cotler's work, Artist's Proof is another exceptional read from an exceptional writer.
"Sturdy prose, pointed observation, subtle wit, and a fine sense of place." - Library Journal