Karen E. Olson – The missing ink

The first book in the Tattoo Shop Mystery series, published July 7, 2009.
Genre: cozy mystery
Cover: nice, pink.



Brett Kavanaugh is a tattoo artist and owner of the Painted Lady, catering to high-profile clients in Las Vegas. But in her free time she does a little investigating too, because murder really gets under her skin…
When a girl makes an appointment to get devotion ink with the name of her fiancé embedded in a heart, Brett takes the job, but the girl never shows. The next thing Brett knows, the police are looking for her mysterious client, and the name she wanted on the tattoo isn't her fiancé's...
An alliance with an unlikely partner leads Brett to a dead body, a suave Englishman, and an Elvis karaoke bar. And who is the tattooed stranger stalking her? Brett draws lines between the clues, unwittingly putting herself in danger. But she intends to see justice done, since death, like a tattoo, is permanent.


When I found the second book in this series for a bargain price, I just had to buy it. Meaning, I had to order the rest of the series from Bookdepository. Unfortunately, the third book is out of print, so I will have to find that one on EBay or such. Still, this book fell on my doormat, and I just had to start reading it. I had read a good review about it, and as I love tattoos but am too scared of needles to get one myself, I put it on my neverending wishlist.

I have to say, I enjoyed learning more about the tattoo business and the strange people that work in it. The mystery was a good and strange one, which I did not solve before our heroine gets a confession. The characters are (literally) colourful.

It is very hard to tell anything about the plot without spoiling some of the surprises that Brett faces. You just have to read this one yourself. I liked Brett and her no-nonsense attitude, her self-made career against her mothers’ wishes. She is raised Catholic, and you never can get that out of a girl completely. The contradictions were fun to read about.

Karen E. Olson has a nice writing style, her humor is my kind of thing, and one day I hope to be brave enough to get a tattoo. Perhaps for my 50th birthday? Perhaps when they can give one under a full narcosis? I really, really don’t want to feel it or see it being done. There is also a love interest around the corner, a gorgeous man with a British accent, even though the main casino in the story is all about France…

And apparently, reading pink books in October is good for breastcancer awareness month. I think I can find more pink books on my shelves.

8 stars

© 2012 Reviews by Aurian