A Forgery of Roses

Myra Whitlock is an artist in a place where the religious majority believes her work is blasphemy.  Even worse, she is a prodigy.  This means she has a magical ability to use her art to change reality.  She knows she must keep this power hidden.  To be outed as a prodigy is to be killed or imprisoned by the government.  

Artists all over town have gone missing over the past few months, including Myra's parents.  Her mother was training Myra, but now it is up to her to make enough money to care for herself and her chronically ill younger sister.  Lucy is curious and intelligent, but she is clearly getting worse, and they don't have money for a doctor.

That's why Myra accepts a dangerous offer that could change their lives forever.  Mrs. Harris, the governor's wife, offers Myra more money than she could make in a lifetime to heal her son through her art.  There are only two problems.  Governor Harris and his wife actively hate prodigies which means Mrs. Harris could turn on her at any moment.  The other problem?  Will Harris isn't just injured or sick; he's dead.

Myra joins the household undercover and quickly tries to do the impossible.  As far as she knows, no one has ever used magic to bring someone back from the dead.  But to use her magic to heal, she needs to understand the injuries and the emotions behind them.  It quickly becomes clear that Will's death was not an accidental fall.  Someone murdered him, and Myra has no hope of reviving him until she knows the truth.

With the help of the Harris's older and gentler son August, she begins an investigation that will reveal dark secrets and bring her face to face with a murderer, but will she recognize the face of a killer before it's too late?

I have a split opinion on this one.  I thoroughly enjoyed Jessica S. Olsen's story which is well-plotted with an interesting take on magical ability and the toll it takes to exercise it.  This would easily be one of my favorites of the year if not for the repeated passages of awkward metaphors and overwrought phrasing.  I will still recommend this one; I just don't know why the prose didn't get more editing.