No bones about it, this death is suspicious…“Amateur sleuth Georgia, and her sidekick, Sid, are just plain fun!”–Sofie Kelly, New York Times-bestselling author of the Magical Cats Mysteries Georgia Thackery, adjunct English professor, has a new job teaching at Falstone College of Art and Design, known as FAD to its students and faculty. Living in a borrowed bungalow during winter in the … a borrowed bungalow during winter in the snowiest part of Massachusetts, Georgia feels her isolation weighing as heavily as the weather. Then she receives a package containing her best friend, Sid, a walking, talking skeleton who has lived with the Thackery family since Georgia was six. With Georgia working out of town, Sid was lonely too.
The two of them make plans for a cozy semester together, and it might have worked out that way if Sid hadn’t snuck out in the middle of the night to play in the snow and spotted a crashed car. When he drags Georgia out to investigate, they find the driver behind the wheel, apparently dead from the collision. Initially, police think it’s an accident, so Georgia and Sid think that’s the end of it–until Georgia finds out the body hits closer to home than she’d realized…
“Dr. Georgia Thackery is smart, resourceful, and determined to be a great single mom to her teenager. Georgia is normal in every respect–except that her best friend happens to be a skeleton named Sid. You’ll love the adventures of this unexpected mystery-solving duo.” –Charlaine Harris, #1 New York Times bestselling author
“A very touching and entertaining whodunit. The mystery is intelligent and nicely done with fun insights into academia and anthropology.” —RT Book Reviews on A Skeleton in the Family
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When there are thousands of cozy mystery series available, it’s often difficult to figure out which one to choose. A little over two years ago, I stumbled across a a brilliant series called the Family Skeleton Mysteries written by Leigh Perry. I’d read the first few and loved them, but had to wait until she wrote her fourth one. I got a bit behind but when I saw she was releasing her fifth one this fall, I ordered a copy of The Skeleton Paints a Picture and read it this week. I think it’s probably my favorite one to date. I’m still reveling its hilarity.
To start with, the main character is an English professor in New England– two things I adore! the other main character is a ‘dead’ skeleton that can move and talk. Yes, you heard me correctly. The guy who inhabited the body/skeleton in the past was murdered and searched for his killer in an earlier book, but… the gist of the series is that he doesn’t really know much about his former life, and since a majority of the population would not accept him living in society as a skeleton, he hides out with Georgia and her family. As her lovable, witty, and sarcastic sidekick, Sid helps Georgia solve crimes whenever they fall into her lap… which is usually because Sid has stumbled into them.
Think of the humor and imagination in this series. Leaving a skeleton in a room to listen to people and find out clues without anyone knowing you’re doing it. Then again, what if someone catches the skeleton walking around since he CAN move? Creativity without any bounds in Perry’s awesome series. I truly look forward to reading each successive book. In this caper, Georgia’s working out of town and she has no one with her (parents, daughter, friends)… so Sid ships himself in a box to her rental house where he inadvertently finds a dead body in a car during a snowstorm. He was restless and had to go walking in the middle of the night. Who can blame the poor guy?
Georgia interviews colleagues while trying to do whatever she can to win the coveted tenured position that’s up for grabs. Will she do it? Will an ex who still has feelings for her cause a final downfall with Sid’s discovery… or discovery of the talking skeleton himself? So many laughs… great character development and constant page-turning brilliance. A must read for anyone who likes their books a little more unusual than the norm!
This is the first book I’ve ever read by this author though it is the fourth book in this series. I was able to follow along well enough to enjoy the story immensely. I loved Sid and I like Georgia a lot. The mystery was good, although I figured out who the culprit was. I still enjoy reading those stories, though, because I like seeing how the author gets the main character or characters to that same conclusion. I liked this book enough to be curious about how the series starts and also to hope that we can get more Sid and Georgia adventures in the future.
OMG I want to have a dance party with Georgia and Sid in this humorous mystery of theft and murder with dialogue and situations that almost had me rolling around on the floor with laughter and amazement.
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Another Sid and Georiga Thackery book that delivers a delightful twist on a walking, talking skeleton. Love it.
This book was too long. Too much fluff.
I’m glad she found another publisher.
This series is based on a very clever premise–The main character has grown up with a sentient, talking, mobile skeleton in her life.
The whys and hows of it are not known, but just accepted.
The two, Georgia and Sid, make a great odd couple who work well together solving murders and supporting each other.
Put aside the impossibility and have a good time!
Georgia is thrilled when her childhood friend Sid mails himself to her new location teaching at an art college. She’d been feeling isolated and lonely, and having this living skeleton there is perfect. However, that first night, Sid finds the scene of an accident. The police think that Georgia is hiding something when she reports finding the dead body, never dreaming it is Sid. The victim worked at the college with Georgia. Could someone on campus be the killer?
Since Georgia has started teaching at a new college, this book is light on returning characters, just Sid and Georgia. However, they are more than enough to carry the book, especially when surrounded by a strong group of new characters. The plot is strong and a lot of fun, although the ending does seem rushed. I felt like we got some PC forced in at one point, but this was more than offset by the humor throughout the entire book.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
I am so happy this series has found a new home.
Georgia Thackery has a new position at Falstone College of Art and Design, which meant moving out of her parents home but leaving her daughter there to stay in her school. That means Georgia gets a little lonely and all the snow falling doesn’t help. One day she arrives home from work to find 2 large boxes waiting on her porch. Imagine her surprise when she opens the first on to find her pal Sid. Sid the skeleton would walks and talks and loves to shovel snow. Sid has lived with her family since Georgia was six. His arrival was just what she needed. Then Sid wakes her up in the middle of the night telling her he found something. She bundles up and trudges out in the snow following Sid to what appears to have been a car accident. The driver did not survive. Georgia is shocked to learn the victim was part of her department at the college and she and Sid start to think her death was not an accident but murder. Especially when the police started questioning her more about the case. They decide to use Sid’s mad computer skills to start an investigation of their own.
I want my own Sid! What a cool thing to have. Who wouldn’t want a friend like him? He is a great sounding board, gives awesome advice, doesn’t sleep and loves to clean and cook and is an excellent assistant sleuth!
We meet a whole new cast of characters with Georgia’s new job. It is a crew full of artists and the English professors that teach the classes that are part of the general curriculum for students to get their degrees. They are a unique group. Georgia does have a past history with one of the profs, but can barely stand to be around him now, he is kinda creepy.
Leigh Perry has made my day by continuing this series. Georgia and Sid are two of my favorite cozy characters. At no time do you feel as if Sid is beyond the realm of possibility. The relationship he has with Georgia and family seems perfectly real. I don’t even think that is this any kind of a paranormal story when I am reading. Sid just IS and I have accepted that – at least that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
The author also gives us a solid mystery to solve. Who would want to kill the woman who runs the writing lab at the college? Full of twists and turns and a lot of digging by Sid brings forth several suspects. Georgia enlists the help of a couple of students to try to draw out the real killer. The pace was brisk, the dialogue was just right and the drama was at the perfect level. There are also many laugh out loud moments, your funny bone will be tickled. Sid antics just crack me up and had me cheering when he saves the day at the end of the story.
This is a great series but with a new publisher this one can be read all on its own, but I bet you will want to go back and read the first three too!
The Skeleton Paints a Picture by Leigh Perry is the fourth tome in A Family Skeleton Mystery series. Dr. Georgia Thackery is working at an adjunct at Falstone College of Art and Design (FAD) in Falstone, Massachusetts. Georgia arrives home (the borrowed bungalow) and finds two packages on her porch. She opens them to find her best friend, Sid inside—a walking, talking skeleton. Sid was feeling lonely (too many grad students at the Thackery home) and decided to visit Georgia (who was equally lonely). That night Sid (who doesn’t need to sleep) is out exploring the backyard and spots a car crashed in the woods behind the bungalow. When Georgia and Sid check it out, they find the body of a woman. The next day, Georgia discovers the victim is Kelly Griffith who ran the writing lab at FAD. Georgia and Sid believe there is something off about Kelly’s death and start researching the victim (and faculty—Sid is whiz with computers). It seems that Kelly was involved in her own investigation and it ended up getting her killed. Can Georgia and Sid follow the trail and find Kelly’s killer?
The Skeleton Paints a Picture is nicely written and easy to read (has good pacing/flow). I just love Sid. He is such an entertaining and unique character (Sid will provide many laugh out loud moments) and Georgia is the perfect counterpart for him. I like that their relationship is changing and developing into a partnership (a team). I especially like the creative “swear” words that they utilize. The author has certainly found some creative ways for Sid to get out and explore the world as well as investigate (Sid just loves snow blowers). I do want to mention the author included a “gender fluid” character. I applaud the author for tackling a gender fluid character and her handling of it (though it was confusing to read about the character without the gender specific pronouns). My rating for The Skeleton Paints a Picture is 4 out of 5 stars. The mystery is medium complexity. I think some readers will be surprised by the solution (pay very close attention & it can be solved). I did miss Georgia’s parents and daughter (Madison) in this installment. I hope they return in the next book in A Family Skeleton Mystery series. While The Skeleton Paints a Picture is the fourth book in this series, it can be read alone. Personally, I am glad I have read each book in the series. I believe you will be missing out by not reading the first three books (you find out more about Sid and how he joined the family, Georgia’s teaching history). The Skeleton Paints a Picture is a humorous (Sid makes a funny “humerus” pun in story) cozy mystery that will delight many readers. I am glad that Sid is back!
I am so glad to see Georgia and Sid again! Who is Sid, other than the best friend of Georgia, an adjunct English professor? Sid is the best! He is her confidant, someone to laugh with, who pampers her, and has known her most of her life. Someone who felt so useless at her parent’s house when she took a one-semester position at a small, out of town art college that he packed himself up and sent himself to her. Sid is a skeleton. A walking, talking, skeleton who, when alive, had been murdered, and has been with Georgia’s family since she was a child.
Georgia’s parents are professors who returned from sabbatical and are helping students with meals and homework needs, leaving Sid no place to be except back the attic, alone. Georgia’s daughter Madison is staying with her grandparents, but she is so busy with school that she can’t spend much time with him.
Sid awakens Georgia to see a car with its headlights in the yard behind the summer cottage property she stays at. It was dark, very cold, and snowing hard. Sid boosts her over the wall where they find drops of blood leading away from the car to the body of a woman lying face down in the snow. Only later did she find it was Kelly, the woman who worked in the writing lab to help students with research and preparation of papers for classes.
Sid believed Kelly was murdered. Georgia, not so much…until she met and listened to Indigo, the student who claimed to be Kelly’s assistant. In truth, Kelly was helping Indigo find who has been stealing the students’ artwork, mostly graphic art. Yet if Kelly, a journalist, couldn’t find who the thief was – and if the thief and the killer were one and the same…what could Georgia do? Lieutenant Buchanan seems to think Georgia is a suspect and has questioned her on more than one occasion. Someone has been leaving footprints in the snow and peering in the windows where Georgia lives, which is enough to creep out even Sid! In the meantime, one of the five adjunct English professors is being considered to fill a tenured new opening at the private art college. The other four profs go into self-protection, backbiting mode, as creepy as the footprints.
I love how fully-defined Sid and Georgia are! A reader can almost begin to believe that Sid is a real…okay, he sure seems like … oh, never mind. We see events through Georgia’s eyes, as well as how she and Sid approach finding the source of the problems at the college. They and the other characters, including the department chair, her secretary with his resourcefulness, adjunct professors, and two students enjoy snappy, witty dialog with further-defining behaviors.
Plot twists change the suspect list frequently, even though it seems Kelly would have few enemies since she did not have close friends. There are two additional layers of mystery surrounding the department and staff that make solving the murder and theft even more challenging. Liberally sprinkled within the novel is humor, sometimes completely unexpected, at other times as part of the comfortable friendship Sid has with Georgia. The end brought surprises, as I had thought someone else to be the bad guy(s)! It is completely satisfying, however, and I am already looking forward to the next one. I absolutely love this series, and highly recommend The Skeleton Paints a Picture as well as the earlier three in the series.
From a grateful heart: I received this eBook from the author and NetGalley, and this is my honest review.