Mystery Book Review: Still Life and Death

Still Life and Death

Still Life and Death is a fun sister-centric cozy mystery with a creative theme and a charming setting.

• Series: Shepherd Sisters Mystery (Book 3)

• Written by: Tracy Gardner

• Published by: Tule Publishing

• Publication date: June 16, 2025

• Mystery type: Cozy mystery

Plot Overview

In Still Life and Death, Savanna Shepherd’s uncles move to Carson, Michigan, a tight-knit community in Michigan where the three Shepherd sisters live and work. Uncle Max gets a job at Libby’s Blooms, a flower shop where Savanna Shepherd is teaching a still life painting class.

When Max finds a dead body in the shop’s rooftop greenhouse, gossip tears through the town, and the Shepherd family finds themselves in the limelight once again. Savanna and her two sisters decide to dig into the mystery to clear the family name.

Spoiler-Free Review

The three Shepherd sisters (Savanna, Sydney, and Skylar) solve a new mystery and grow closer with each book in the series. Still Life and Death has them sorting through horticultural clues, and once again, using their individual skills and personalities to solve the mystery.

As with the previous mysteries, Savanna is the main sleuth. Her former job as an art authenticator and her current role as an artist and art teacher give her a keen eye for detail and allow her to see clues and patterns that others might miss.

Two new family members, Uncle Max and Freddie, move to Carson in this book. They give the sisters extra incentive to poke around and try to solve the mystery since Max is the one who finds the body.

Carson is a picturesque locale on Lake Michigan with a tight-knit community and lots of familiar faces and places. It makes a great backdrop for the small-town suspense. (Check out the map of Carson in the front of the book to get a feel for where everything is.)

The book concludes with a satisfying ending and a truly delicious recipe that would be perfect for a book club meeting, potluck, or family meal.

The books in this series can be read in any order, but if you’d like to start with the first one, look for Death by Deception. The fourth book in the series is A Brush with Murder.

Review disclosure: Cozy Crime Reads received an advanced reader copy of Still Life and Death from Tule Publishing. This did not influence the review.

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