We're back at the bookstore called Color Me Read, located in the Georgetown section of Washington, D.C. Florrie Fox, who manages the store, is also a talented young artist who has published some advanced coloring books. She and her cat Peaches live in the carriage house behind her boss's white brick mansion, a few blocks away from the store. She is sort of involved with Sgt. Eric Jonquille, whom she met in a previous investigation. Florrie is the first-person narrator of these stories.

Florrie recently formed a coloring club at the bookstore. At one of the meetings, member Dolly Cavanaugh shows off a magnificent find that she landed at an estate sale. It's a copy of The Florist, a book from the 1700s that is considered to be one of the earliest coloring books ever printed. Dolly bought it for a song because the seller didn't know what he had. It may be worth big money. She shows it to Florrie and to her fellow club members. Evidently, she also posts pictures on social media, because suddenly sniffers of old and rare books come to call at the bookstore, expecting to see The Florist for themselves. Dolly had taken it home.

And when Florrie stops by Dolly's apartment, she discovers her friend lying on the floor, taking her last breaths. The corner of an old piece of paper is clutched in Dolly's outstretched hand. Her valuable book is not to be seen.

Yes, of course, emergency personnel and the proper local authorities are called in to figure out what happened to Dolly. Of course, Florrie and Dolly's friends want to investigate. They want to find the old book, too. Enter a cast of characters that include the bookstore staff, their regular customers and Florrie's sister Veronica, in addition to the outsiders who have just descended upon the scene. Can any of these folks find Dolly's attacker(s)? Or will the people responsible get away with both theft and murder?

Since Florrie cooks some interesting food for herself and her friends, some of her recipes appear at the end of the book. And since Florrie is a coloring book artist, the paperback cover is an outlined design that you can color. No artist is credited with the cover art for the books in this series. Are we supposed to imagine that Florrie drew them? Why not offer more coloring pages at the end of the book or on the publisher's website? Or surprise us with special giveaways of colored pencils? I think readers would enjoy such extras.

Nevertheless, The Coloring Crook is a strong second installment to this series, complete with an ending that should satisfy most readers. And yes, rare copies of The Florist can be found in a few museums today.