This cozy mystery series is based around a bookstore called Color Me Read, located in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Florrie Fox manages the store. She's also a talented young artist who has already published some advanced coloring books. She and her cat Peaches have just moved into the carriage house behind her boss's white brick mansion, a few blocks away from the store. Florrie is the first-person narrator of these stories.

In this first episode, Delbert Woodley is found murdered on the second floor of the bookstore. Delbert is the obnoxious nephew of the bookstore's eccentric owner, Professor John Maxwell. The professor doesn't think much of his nephew. He believes that Delbert merely wanted to inherit the store and everything else in the Maxwell estate. Based on certain statements the professor makes on the day of Delbert's murder, he is quickly arrested and is presumed guilty of the deed. In their outrage, Florrie and some of the bookstore's regular customers do their best to figure out who REALLY had it in for Delbert. Can they help direct the local authorities toward nabbing the right person?

Florrie often has her sketch pad with her. Drawing seems to help her focus on the details of the investigation and the players involved.

The cast of characters surrounding Florrie is an interesting one. Bob and Helen are her bookselling co-workers. Florrie's parents and her sister Veronica live nearby and offer assistance -- or intrusion -- at select times. Once the police are called in, it's Sgt. Eric Jonquille who grabs Florrie's attention. She begins to depend on him, both for information and for protection. If sparks begin to fly between the two of them, then maybe the heat will finally turn away Florrie's family friend Norman Spratt, who has an unabashed crush on her. Toss in a few customers, a few local authors and the professor's manservant, and the mix of personalities is fun to follow.

The unique hook to this series is Florrie's artistry in creating pages for coloring books. In fact, the cover of each one of these paperback mysteries is an intricate line drawing that is suitable for coloring by the readers themselves. (That is, only if the readers OWN the books and aren't borrowing library copies.)

Here, I think both the publisher and the author have missed an opportunity. Shouldn't books with a coloring page theme INCLUDE a pull-out page or two to color? Or shouldn't similar coloring pages be offered for free download on either the publisher's website or the author's site, or both? I didn't find any. I have also noticed that no credit is given for the designer who created these lovely book covers. Maybe by omission, we are supposed to believe that Florrie Fox drew them. But readers are more savvy than this. And the real invisible-to-us artist deserves to be acknowledged.

Instead: Because the author allows Florrie to cook some good food for herself and for occasional drop-in guests, the publisher includes recipes at the end of the book. Recipes, schmecipes. Countless mystery series add recipes now. (What are the bestselling book genres? Mysteries and cookbooks. Hence, the popular publishing strategy is to combine the two to hit both markets at once.) I would ditch the recipes and provide nice and relevant illustrations instead. And tell us who to thank for them.

Nevertheless, Color Me Murder is a strong opener for the Pen & Ink Mysteries. Most readers will probably want to search for the subsequent books, to continue having a relationship with Florrie and her friends. Because we just KNOW that the gang will be able to prove that Professor John Maxwell is innocent. We just know it.