The Sketch Artist - Amanda McKinney
THE SKETCH ARTIST
AMANDA MCKINNEY
*****
She draws criminals for a living. Now one of them is watching her.
Harper Leighton has built a career sketching the most dangerous people in the room—capturing their tells, their guilt, the truth they try to hide.
But when her aunt dies under suspicious circumstances, Harper inherits something far more unsettling than the lake house: A hidden file, and a note written in her aunt’s hand: If you’re reading this, he’s already killed me…
Inside the file are decades-old courtroom sketches tied to one of the most infamous crimes in Marrow Lake history. The man convicted of the crime was executed forty years ago. But her aunt believed he was innocent—and that the real killer was never caught. Now, as the anniversary approaches, the small town begins to fracture. Tourists arrive for “Camp Ghosts.” Locals whisper about curses. Old grief resurfaces—and suspicion spreads like wildfire.
And as Harper retraces her aunt’s final investigation, she realizes the truth about that night was never fully uncovered. And someone is willing to kill to keep it that way.
From the number one bestselling author comes a page-turning emotional thriller for fans of Lisa Jewell, Alice Feeney, The Silent Patient and Listen for the Lie.
MY REVIEW
*****
I love reading thrillers, and as I haven’t read anything previously by Amanda McKinney – who is a prolific romance and thriller writer, I was intrigued by The Sketch Artist.
After her mentor and aunt dies, Harper - a courtroom sketch artist, inherits her drawings and finds a message regarding an old case that her aunt had sketched but had been recently investigating. The information that she discovers may change the town of Marrow Lake forever…
I was a little apprehensive when I saw Amanda McKinney has written a lot of romance, as I usually find that genre to be quite cringey and worried it would take away from the grittiness of a crime thriller. However, I found all of the characters in the book to be well-rounded, realistic and relatable. I particularly enjoyed how Harper’s young child Bird is portrayed and treated by the adults in the story, which made her feel an important part of narrative and not a plot device or distraction, which has happened in other books I have read. There is a romance element between the main character and the police detective, but it was realistically portrayed and very much a slow-burn, so it didn’t feel like it overrode the storyline – it just added an extra element to the plot.
Although the plotline in The Sketch Artist is relatively simplistic, it is a well-told story and had me hooked at every turn. It’s well plotted and the chapters alternate between Harper trying to solve the mystery of an old case where children at a summer camp were killed, to a councillor at a summer camp who keeps seeing someone in the shadows. This kept the tension and the stakes high as I raced through the book to find out what would happen next. There are a lot of twists and turns that I also didn’t see coming and I also loved the portrayal of the artist techniques in the book as well.
Overall, The Sketch Artist is a well-told thriller which had me hooked, with a twisty plot and relatable main characters – I’ll certainly keep an eye out for more of Amanda McKinney’s books! Thank you to NetGalley & Storm Publishing for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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