I found this hardcover at a local Savers thrift shop. It's from Langton's "Homer Kelly" mystery series, though this one focuses on Homer's niece Annie, an illustrator of children's books. (I've enjoyed other books in the series, most notably The Escher Twist.)

This one takes lots of children's stories - and the illustrations that they inspire in Annie - as part of its inspiration, but throws in the brutal death of a child and a nasty conspiracy that led to it. Descriptions of the art, relationships among the characters, whimsical asides and gritty police-procedural bits... it definitely has its points. [I did quibble a bit at the revelation of a key piece of evidence, but Homer himself calls it out, so I felt better about it.]

The illustrations themselves appear in the book - well, outlines of them, as the book isn't printed in color, but it's still rather impressive. There's a key at the back with the sources for the figures in each one, too.

Guidelines for safely visiting and stocking Little Free Libraries during the COVID-19 pandemic, from the LFL site here.

I left this book in a new-to-me Little Free Library while visiting LFLs in Lexington and Arlington; hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in MA here.]

*** Released for the 2021 Heads Shoulders Knees Toes challenge. ***