In Cedar Bluff, some things are worth more than they appear. And some people will kill to keep it that way.

Real estate agent Lily Morgan has survived one buried secret. Now, as Harbor Days transforms her charming lakeside town into a showcase of art, music, and carefully curated charm, she's managing eleven historic artist rentals — and one very volatile painter named Adrian Vale.

Vale claims someone broke into his studio and went through his compositional studies. Nothing was taken. Nothing was damaged. Someone simply looked — and that, Lily knows, is the most deliberate kind of theft.

When a painting goes missing from a locked studio and a forgery operation surfaces inside Cedar Bluff's most prestigious gallery, Lily finds herself untangling a web of stolen originals, fraudulent certificates, and reputations built on beautiful lies. The art world, it turns out, has been asking the same questions about authenticity that Cedar Bluff has been avoiding for years.

Then the forger turns up dead at the old lighthouse — and the suspect list includes nearly everyone Lily has been trying to help.

The Weight of Beautiful Things is a sharp, atmospheric cozy mystery about the difference between what something is worth and what people will pay to keep it looking that way. Perfect for fans of Lucy Burdette, Julia Henry, and Diane Mott Davidson.