Joanna FitzPatrick, the author of The Artist Colony, has painted this wonderful novel with her beautifully written words. The novel, set in the prohibition era in the 1920's, is equal parts historic fiction and murder mystery. I really appreciated the setting and description of Carmel and the Monterey area. It made me want to catch the next plane to visit. The author also focuses on the racism and prejudice towards Asian Americans as well as the era's misogyny. All of the characters are well developed, including Sarah's little dog, but the location is the star of the show.

REVIEW FROM COFFEE & INK
Successful painter Sarah Cunningham travels to California to bury her sister, also a successful painter. The authorities, and others, believe Ada Belle committed suicide, but Sarah knows this can’t be true.
The author paints a gorgeously layered picture of Carmel-by-Sea, an early bohemian refuge for artists and poets. But the pretty layers of Carmel are peeled away by Sarah’s suspicions her sister was murdered, revealing the dark heart of the people who live and work there.
A deeply satisfying mystery paired with an equally satisfying prose style. Highly recommended for all historical mystery lovers. And I know it’s a phrase I use frequently, but I mean it—I could not put this book down! 😊

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The synopsis of this book sounded intriguing to me so I requested a copy to read.
Unfortunately, I have tried reading this book on 2 separate occasions and during this 2nd attempt, I have
decided to stop reading this book
and state that this book just wasn't for me.
I wish the author, publisher and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.

This was an interesting concept for a novel and certainly a worthy setting.

The Carmel-by-the-Sea colony is arguably not nearly as well known as it should be, and blending history with speculation is a worthy approach to novelizing it.

FitzPatrick has done a wonderful job of setting the scene and creating a wonderful sense of atmosphere, though the plot ultimately fell short of intriguing.

I’m generally a bit skeptical of books based around something the author inherited or discovered through a family connection. Like the person who finds an antique in a relative’s attic that they are convinced is priceless but is ultimately of little value beyond the sentimental, writing about a family heirloom often causes a disproportionate significance tone placed on it by the author.

While I’ve seen authors run with something like this successfully, too often the grand family legend is legendary only to that family, and unfortunately this book falls squarely into that category. I can appreciate what FitzPatrick was trying to do here, and her writing is lovely, but sometimes we get too close to things to see them objectively, and because of that this book was too much contrived “what if” and not enough compelling story to have widespread appeal.

What an interesting concept - and a thoughtful homage to an artist and location that have not received enough attention. FitzPatrick has done a fabulous job transporting readers to a time and a place, and her mix of fact and fiction made for an informative as well as entertaining what if...

THE ARTIST COLONY is an atmospheric, literary page turner that I highly recommend. I really enjoyed the mystery element and was so anxious to learn what happened to the main character's sister. The artists and other characters are entertaining and FitzPatrick includes sensory details and lovely descriptions so that the reader feels they are in Carmel. The narrative moves at a nice pace, but never feels rushed or contrived.

I enjoyed this look at 1920s Carmel, which was a haven for women artists. Joanna FitzPatrick did an excellent job bringing Carmel to life. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this.