The Missing Ink

My father used to tell me that when I turned 21, he would take me Reno, Nevada. It’s a good thing I did not hold my breath because it never happened. I still haven’t made it to Reno. I did, however, make it to Las Vegas. Only not with my father. My first visit there was with my boyfriend-now-husband for a friend’s wedding. We stayed at Circus Circus and had fun playing the arcade-like games (Skee-Ball was a favorite) and watching the free circus acts performed nonstop throughout our stay there.

Even though we have never been interested in gambling or spending hours on end in the smoke-filled casinos, there is something about Las Vegas that attracts us there still today. One of the best views of the city is driving up to it, seeing show more it rise out of the desert like a huge funky oasis. During our last trip to Las Vegas, my husband and I did not stick to the strip, the most famous part of the city. Rather we explored the back streets and other parts of town that are lesser known. It’s just a regular city like any other, really.

As much as I enjoy reading about places I have never been and may never go, I also take pleasure in reading books set in places I have traveled to. While I would have read The Missing Ink for the very reason that it is written by one of my favorite crime fiction authors, the Las Vegas setting made it all the more appealing.

Brett Kavanaugh is a tattoo artist who owns her own tattoo parlor, The Painted Lady, a classy joint that is nestled in an upscale shopping center. I instantly took a liking to Brett. She’s smart and witty, not to mention a bit gutsy. She lives with her brother who is a homicide detective with the Las Vegas Police Department. Having both just come out of bad relationships, it is the perfect arrangement. I enjoyed the easy banter between the sister and brother. They make a good team, even if the detective doesn’t quite see them as such. It’s obvious they love and respect each other.

In the first installment of this tattoo shop mystery, Brett becomes especially curious when a police officer asks her if she has seen a missing woman. Brett, valuing her clients confidentiality, at first does not admit to anything. The woman had, in fact, been to her shop and requested a devotional tattoo, only the name she wanted on the tattoo would turn out not to be that of her fiancé’s. Brett decides to ask a few questions to see if she can find out more about this mysterious woman. She ends up in the middle of a murder investigation when a woman’s body is discovered and the police’s prime suspect takes her into his confidence.

Author Karen E. Olson’s latest novel is just a tad less gritty than her last series, but by no means less entertaining. She has created a cast of colorful characters who make the perfect sidekicks. From the gentle but tough looking Joel who can’t resist a doughnut to the small Bitsy who shouldn’t be underestimated despite her size. Then there is the elderly Sylvia, a pioneering female tattoo artist, who I hope to see more of in future books. And I dare not leave out the charming and ever sexy Simon Chase, to whom there is more there than meets the eye.

Just as interesting as the characters is the mystery itself. It was like being in a car chase, with quick turns and heart racing moments. This is one of those books where the obvious may be just that—obvious—while at other times, nothing is quite what it seems. What makes it works all the better is that, as the reader, I was never quite sure which was which.

The Missing Ink is a great start in a new series by author Karen E. Olson. It is fun and fast paced. It makes for great summer reading. And if ever I decided to get a tattoo in Las Vegas, I would head straight for The Painted Lady. show less

I came across The Missing Ink by Karen E. Olson completely by accident while digging through a discard bin at work. Olson is the author of the Annie Seymour mysteries and The Missing Ink is the first book in her newer Tattoo Shop mystery series featuring Brett Kavanaugh. And that is what captured my attention and made me pick up the book--the fact that a female tattoo artist and shop owner was the protagonist. Well, that and the striking and very cute and fun cover. Additionally, I've been trying to make a point to read more mystery novels but have been having a hard time recently finding any that really interest me. So, I was happy to have stumbled upon The Missing Ink even though I had never heard of the author or the series before. show more And after reading the first line, "I've made grown men cry," I was pretty certain I was going to like the book.

Brett Kavanaugh is the owner of The Painted Lady, a stylish tattoo shop situated among the Venetian Grand Canal Shoppes in Las Vegas. She's used to cops, her brother Tim is one of the city's detectives, but that doesn't make her any happier when one shows up outside her shop asking questions. One of Brett's potential clients has gone missing; she never arrived for her appointment and it looks like Brett may have been the last person to see her alive. Of course the media gets a hold of this and The Painted Lady is suddenly getting unwanted publicity and Brett herself is receiving more attention and scrutiny from those interested in the investigation. But she can't help digging for more information on her own, especially as the situation becomes more complicated and a fellow tattoo artist is not only implicated in the disappearance, but for murder as well.

The Missing Ink introduces a great set of characters and I liked them all from Brett's detective brother, to her colorful employees, to her unscrupulous rival tattooist. But probably my favorite character of all, even above Brett, was Sylvia--a feisty female tattoo artist from an older generation when it was more difficult for a woman to get any respect in the industry. I really do hope we get to see more of her in the following books because she is a wonderful character and I hope I can be as cool and self-assured as she is when I grow up. Being inked myself, I enjoyed all of the tattoo talk in The Missing Ink; Olson certainly did her research. She also includes many pop culture references (most of which I actually got) which was fun but made it more frustrating when she had to be deliberately vague in the case of a celebrity's unknown-to-the-reader identity.

The Missing Ink was a lot of fun. The mystery itself wasn't particularly exceptional or clever--I wasn't really taken by surprise by any of the plot developments or twists--but it fortunately doesn't rely too heavily on coincidences. I did find some of the story elements to be a little unbelievable or overly melodramatic, especially a few of the romantic conflicts, but this works for what is more or less a light read. I did really enjoy the incorporation of tattoos, tattoo culture, and the tattoo industry into the story and even into the mystery itself--it adds a nice flavor and interesting commentary and is one of the things that sets this series apart from the rest. I also liked Brett's easy, sassy sense of humor which made The Missing Ink a delight to read and the chapters were short and sweet. So, even though the book may not have been the most original (well, except for the tattoos) I still plan on reading, and expect to enjoy, the next book in the Tattoo Shop series, Pretty in Ink.

Experiments in Reading show less

First Line: I've made grown men cry.

When Las Vegas homicide detective Tim Kavanaugh split with his girlfriend two years ago, his sister Brett moved in to share expenses. She also became the owner of The Painted Lady, a tattoo shop on the Las Vegas Strip.

A young woman makes an appointment for a tattoo that contains the name of her fiance within a heart, but she never shows up. The next thing Brett knows, the woman is missing, the police are looking for her, and the name she wanted on the tattoo isn't her fiance's.

Everyone on the suspect list seems to be beating a path to The Painted Lady's door (whether the shop is open or not), and Brett needs to find out what's going on while she still has a business to run.

This is a light, fun romp show more through the mean streets of Vegas with Brett as tour guide-- although she's not 100% sold on the city. (She has issues with the use of water, among other things.) Brett is level-headed, doesn't believe in taking foolish chances, and since her brother is a policeman, she knows how to find a dead body and not trash the crime scene.

There's also some tattoo lore and history to be learned along the way:

" I wanted to stay, to talk to her more.... just to watch her, a previous generation of tattooist, a woman tattooist who'd had to suffer far more discrimination that I ever did. Those women who came before me were pioneers, breaking into a male-dominated profession and breaking all the rules."

I liked the pace of this book, Brett's employees, and Brett's voice. The identity of the killer seemed a bit obvious to me, but it didn't spoil my enjoyment of The Missing Ink. I'm looking forward to reading more of Brett's adventures. show less

Brett Kavanaugh is a former art student, turned tattoo artist who has moved to Las Vegas to open her own shop. She lives with her brother, Tim, who is a police detective. When one of her clients turns up missing she is drawn into a mystery that includes a couple of murders and a mysterious obect that she is supposed to have at her shop. Despite warnings from her brother, friends and enemies, Brett can't help but dig herself in deeper and deeper into the mystery, and trouble.

This is a fun read. I really enjoyed Brett and the other characters that are sure to show up in the upcoming books in this new series. The mystery wrapped a bit too quickly for my taste but it is still a very nice setup for a fun series.

The Missing Ink is a cozy mystery with bite. The premise and setting are promising, but I was not a big fan of the mystery itself.

One of my gripes with cozies is that the genre seems to always pull from the same pool of professions and settings. A cozy set in Las Vegas with a tattoo shop-owning protagonist immediately drew me in. I especially liked the way that Olson described Las Vegas and the business of the tattoo shop itself!

The reason why I'd say this is a cozy mystery with bite isn't because of the profession/setting combination, but rather, the way that the mystery is investigated. There is quite a bit of action in the book, particularly in the latter half, such that the book reads as a cozy thriller at points. I personally show more enjoy this style of book, but readers who'd like a very traditional cozy mystery may not care for this.

Unfortunately, I think the mystery was one of the weaker aspects of this book. The lives of many of the suspects are extremely intertwined together, making the mystery confusing to follow for me. I feel like I needed one of those corkboards with red string to help me connect all the dots!

This also made it difficult for me to care about the case. I found myself more invested in the protagonist and her shop than the mystery itself - which I feel is somewhat of a bad sign in a mystery novel.

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I want another tattoo. That's my biggest takeaway after reading this book. It probably isn't the reaction Ms. Olson was hoping to generate from this book, but I admit that the fact that this mystery revolved around a female tattoo artist is the reason why I read the book in the first place. My overall thoughts on the book itself are, unfortunately, mixed. Mainly, I thought this was quite a fluffy, engaging but not overly so. I found it easy to put down each night and found myself rolling my eyes quite often at many of the very unrealistic scenes that occur throughout the book. Still, I enjoyed the book.

In addition, I feel that the subject will not appeal to the masses. While it is a mystery, the fact of the matter is that the main show more character has a full-arm tattoo plus one that wraps around her body. Tattoos are mentioned on almost every page. While society in general is more tolerant of tattoos, full sleeves or massive ones that cover large portions of the body still generate stares and cause others to immediately form negative opinions about the owner. I have three small ones and still get stares of disbelief that someone as "vanilla" as me could possibly want one let alone three. So, I do not seeing a large portion of society being interested in a book about a tattoo artist or someone trying to solve a mystery surrounding a tattoo client.

Also, I feel that the author knows nothing about tattoos themselves, even though she should. I get this impression from the way Ms. Olson glosses over descriptions of someone getting a tattoo, how to take care of a newly inked one, and the mindset of someone who is interested in sleeves and leg tats. She also does not adequately describe the pain of getting inked. It is a subtle lack of knowledge but, again, for someone who has several of her own, the lack of knowledge is there.

There is a significant lack of character development in The Missing Ink. All of the characters remain one-dimensional, with very little back story shared to fully round out the main characters. Brett remains nosy, selfish and fairly superficial, which surprises me given her profession; tattoo artists or anyone considered on the fringes of society are, in my experience, fairly accepting and open-minded. Brett constantly jumping to conclusions based on superficial observances bothered me and kept me from fully becoming immersed in the book.

Given the mostly negative review I have written so far, I did enjoy the book. I attribute this to the fact that I am a sucker for any mystery. I have a compulsive need to know the answer that will keep me reading and enjoying them on the whole. The Missing Ink is no exception. From a macro level, I enjoyed my time with Brett and her staff from The Painted Lady, even though on a micro level, there is quite a bit with which I can find fault. The fact is I enjoyed this book in spite of its faults. I will not be running out to get the rest of the series but I had fun reading it and trying to solve the mystery. I also figured out what I want for tattoos number four and five. I consider that to be a successful book. show less

There was lots to enjoy about this cozy mystery. The setting in Las Vegas was great and I liked the sort of "behind the glitz" viewpoint. Brett, the lead character, is a tattoo artist and runs a tatttoo shop with interesting, well fleshed-out characters. It's a profession that I haven't seen in a cozy before, and that I know little about so I also enjoyed that aspect. My one major complaint is that one of Brett's employees is overweight, and either Brett or the author (or both) seem to have a serious problem with that, although it's something that the character only thinks about but would never say aloud. Despite this employee being helpful and dedicated, Brett is often thinking snide comments about his weight. It was distracting and show more not necessary.
The mystery itself was strong and well-written. I'm sure that I will pick up the next in the series. show less