The Portrait in Black: A gripping classic crime thriller

Pretty but aloof, Crystal Perry makes an honest—if modest—living painting portraits of the pets of Santa Barbara’s upper crust.

She finds the likes of handsome playboy Hugh Melville a little fast and reckless for her crowd. But when Melville asks her to paint Hotspur, his beautiful prize-winning horse, how can she resist?

Rob Schuyler is a veterinarian who finds Crystal hard to resist. But when the owners of the animals she has painted are suddenly confronted with extortion threats, Rob calls in Detective Dan Hobbs to investigate. Hobbs finds only one person with access to all the threatened pets: Crystal Perry.

Hugh Melville believes no one would stoop to killing his prize pony. But soon it is men, not horses who are being murdered. And not even Santa Barbara bluebloods like Hugh are above suspicion...

Joan Van Every Frost was born in 1929 in California. Her first novel, This Firey Promise was published in 1978 and between that time and her death in 2012, she published several books, including Kings of the Sea in 1972. She was faithful supporter of many charities and wrote several screenplays in addition to her novels.