A Cruel Light

A Cruel Light

By Cyndi Macmillian
Narrated by: Nan McNamara
Listening length: 7 hours, 53 minutes
Release date: April 4, 2023
My review: 4 out of 5 stars

It was a blood-curdling crime that rocked the town to its core, leaving some with permanent scars and others with deep regrets. A young girl had been brutally slain. Memories were beginning to fade, but during the renovation of the old parsonage, the murder rears its ugly head again when workers discover a time-ravaged portrait of the young victim. Conservator Annora Garde is hired by the local police to clean the painting and expose what lies buried within it.

Inspector Scott Mac MacGowan is convinced the mural is a cryptic confession that will solve the cold case—but it’s looking more and more like someone will do whatever it takes to keep the past in the past. Together, Mac and Annora struggle to put the pieces of the puzzle together, in order to provide closure to surviving family members.

Toxic mold obscures blood-chilling clues, and the painting has an eerie life of its own. Annora is haunted by what she reveals, by the dirt she digs up, by her own tragic losses, and perhaps even by the young victim herself. As she closes in on the killer, the killer inches ever closer to her, and she will come face to face with a brutal truth: some murderers never come clean.

Although I received a copy of this audiobook in exchange for a review, all opinions remain my own. Thank you Netgalley and Dreamscape media for the opportunity to listen to this story.

The description of this mystery pulled me in, and once I started listening, I couldn't stop. This story didn't feel like one that you have heard over and over. In this novel, Annora is tasked with restoring an old mural, but not for the "usual" reasons that one restores art. She is tasked with restoring the mural to help solve a cold case. As she and Mac get closer to figuring out the painting, the murderer is getting more and more violent to try and keep them from the truth. I loved how this book weaves in parts of Annora's past, helps you understand why she sees things the way she does. Another thing I really loved was the relationship between characters. You see the realness of the people shine through in the way they handle the things that keep getting thrown at them.

Overall, this was a great mystery and I hope to be able to read more stories that feature Mac and Annora.