Waking the Dead (Cafferty & Quinn)

They say a painting can have a life of its own

In the case of Ghosts in the Mind painted by Henry Sebastian Hubert, that's more than just an expression. The characters are reputed to come to life and to kill. The artist was a friend of Lord Byron and Mary Shelley, joining them in Switzerland in 1816, and now, almost two hundred years later, the painting appears in New Orleans. Wherever it goes, death seems to follow.

Danielle Cafferty and Michael Quinn, occasional partners in solving crime, are drawn into the case. They begin to make connections between that summer in Switzerland and this spring in Louisiana. Danni, the owner of an eccentric antique shop, and Quinn, a private detective, have discovered that they have separate but complementary talents when it comes to investigating unusual situations.

Blending their personal relationship with the professional lives they've stumbled into, they confront this work of art and evil. They have to discover what brings it to life. And they have to destroy it before it destroys them.