Series: A Paint By Murder Mystery #2
Published by Crooked Lane Books on October 11, 2022
Genres: Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Amateur Sleuth, Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Cozy / Crafts, Fiction / Mystery & Detective / Women Sleuths
Pages: 320
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Netgalley
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In Bailee Abbott’s second book in the Paint by Murder mysteries, Chloe and Izzie are taking their paint party business on the road—with murder as the first stop!
Chloe Abbington and her sister, Izzie, are enjoying huge success running Paint with a View, their paint party business in the tranquil western New York lakeside town of Whisper Cove. Now, their aunt Constance—president of the local chapter of the Chautauqua Sisterhood—has hooked them up with a gig hosting a Halloween painting party. The guests will be painting a local ghost legend, the Lady of Chautauqua Lake, who died a hundred years earlier and rises from the lake every October to haunt anyone who dares venture out on All Hallows’ Eve.
The event seems to be going off without a hitch, until Chloe overhears an argument between Constance and Viola Finnwinkle, the Sisterhood director, about the fate of the local chapter. Both women leave and the sisters finish their painting. But the next morning, Viola’s body is discovered floating face down near the town ferryboat dock, her long red hair spread around her. Eerily, the image is an exact replica of a painting Chloe and Izzie had discovered at the event the night before.
What’s more, the police find Constance’s purple knit hat lying on the ground near the crime scene. Constance pleads innocence, saying the hat mysteriously went missing during the event. Frantic that she might be charged with murder, she begs Chloe and Izzie to help her. The sisters believe their aunt is innocent, but if so, who’s the real killer—and when will the next victim turn up?
Copaganda: None that I could remember.
Narrator: Chloe and Izzie, sisters and sleuths
What kind of animals are involved: Tiny white dog
Location: tranquil western New York lakeside town of Whisper Cove
Sub-location: Paint with a View, paint…. shop?? Activity center?
Whether or not there are recipes in the back: No :<
Notes on the puns of the title: Middling. 6/10
Further Notes: ART MURDER ART MURDER ART MURDER
I liked this! I think this is a solid three-and-a-half star murder mystery; the only reason it doesn’t hit four stars for me is no recipes in the back, although I guess it does technically make sense because food is not a major part of this cozy mystery. I’d read the next one in this series! They remind me of the Hat Shop Mysteries a bit, so if you’re into those I think you’d like these.
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