This was a fine enough read but honestly not great. The writing felt like it was rambling on and got repetitive. Sadly, the characters weren’t all that likeable either.

But one thing I did love was all of these quaint artistic shops. Like a small town artist quarter. That was a great idea.

This cozy was just ok. I like Chloe and her dog, Max. The mystery was a little too drawn out for my taste. Also, a character, Izzie, "hiccuped" constantly instead of replying or saying. It got really repetitive and annoying. The setting was great, and I will continue on with the series.

That while this book wasn't my favorite and was a little on the slow side of cozy mystery for my taste. I am glad I read it, for the very least to be able to recommend to my library patrons. It sometimes good to know what's coming. Though I don't think I will contuine with the series.

This book was just OK. While I loved the typical small-town setting and the painting business, the characters themselves were not all that interesting. In fact, Izzie, the business owner and sister of the main character, had to have been the most immature and self-absorbed of them all. And can we please stop with the detectives who don't actually do any of the work to find the murderers? They follow the evidence but it never seems to lead anywhere. Cozies used to be my go-to but they're not as good as they used to be. This one was overly formulaic and added nothing new to the genre. I will give this series one more try but this was not my favorite.

I have mixed feelings about this cozy mystery. I liked the general setting of a lakeside town in western New York state. I liked the strong community of artisan shop owners too. Abbott's writing style is easy to read.

I found the characters a bit hard to like. Izzie is supposed to be an enterprising new business owner yet has no trouble being gone from the business at crucial times. Starting a business is hard work and Izzie is certainly not up to the task. No wonder she asked her sister, Chloe, to help her. Chloe was hard for me to like too. She has a short temper, gets irritated way too quickly, is often fuming, is rude and sarcastic. Abbott has crafted characters to the extreme. Reactions are overly done with people gasping, jumping, dropping things when surprised. And Izzie is always hiccuping, something that became quite irritating. And Hunter, while a handsome detective, was actually ineffective. An attorney found the aliases and criminal record of one of the suspects in a matter of hours when Hunter didn't know that information after days of the investigation. Hunter never got very far in solving the mystery for all his bluster.

The plot presented a suitable mystery. The murdered woman was a reviewer of businesses for the local newspaper. Her reviews where savage so there are suspects galore. Abbott provided plenty of red herrings and, irritatingly, newly revealed information near the end. Because of that new information, the resolution to the murder mystery felt off to me. If the reader did not suspect the right person, that would be because there were not many clues. Near the end, the killer, talking to Chloe, says there were many others who had better opportunities and motives. (3756/4068) And Chloe admits at that point she didn't have a clue as to the why of the killing. (3762/4068) If the amateur sleuth and the detective were both ignorant to the motive and identity of the murderer, I didn't feel bad that I hadn't figured it out.

I like to learn something new when I read fiction. I liked the information about having an event of painting a portrait of a pet and the work going into preparing the drawing on the canvas. I did learn a bit about collectibles too. I was surprised that Izzie used oils in her customer painting projects. (Willow had to use turpentine to clean a paint spot off her clothing.) I would have thought acrylics would have been used with amateur projects.

Even though I felt there was over characterization and issues with the plot structure, I liked the setting and will be on the lookout for another mystery from Abbott.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

A Brush with Murder A Paint by Murder Mystery by Bailee Abbott opens with Chloe Abbington returning to Whisper Cove after breaking up with her boyfriend and leaving her fine art career in NYC to assist her sister with a painting event shop. Secrets abound and before the paint is dry on the canvases of the first event, a participant is found murdered in the alley behind the sisters’ shop. Chloe can’t help but investigate when she feels the need to clear herself, her sister and her friends.

As the first in what I hope will be an ongoing series, the characters are evolving and the relationship unfolding. There’s a love interest or maybe two woven into the plot that keep the reader guessing. Some of the characters were a bit one dimensional and Izzy can be a bit immature and whiny at times. But overall this was a solid mystery and I look forward to the next in the series. (I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy and all opinions are my own.)

A Brush with Murder was a great start to a new cozy mystery series. It had been sitting on my (virtual) shelf for a while and I finally purchased the audiobook version so I could read it while commuting. I enjoyed the getting to know Chloe and Izzy and the supporting characters. The story kept me guessing. I want to re-read it to see if I missed any clues, but I definitely did not see the ending coming. There seems to be a hint of a potential love triangle, which is not a trope I personally enjoy. But I will wait to see what happens in the next book in the series.

Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A Brush With Murder

A Paint By Murder Mystery

By: Bailee Abbott

Crooked Books

Mystery & Thriller

Publish Date 12 October 2021

#ABrushWithMurder#NetGalley

50 Book ReviewsProfessional Reader

I would first like to thank NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Good Reads Synopsis:

A quiet lakeside town in western New York state is the new home of Manhattan artist Chloe Abbington and the backdrop for murder in this series debut by Bailee Abbott.

For Chloe Abbington, the transition from fine art painter in New York City to painting-event business owner in charming Whisper Cove is more than a little jarring. But when poison-pen journalist Fiona Gimble writes a viciously negative review of the newly opened Paint Your Shop, Chloe learns that critics are the same everywhere. And when she finds Fiona’s body behind her shop with a painting knife in her neck, Chloe realizes that this picture-perfect town offers anything but peace and quiet.

Suddenly, bustling Artisan Alley is a crime scene, and Chloe is the prime suspect. Her sister and business partner, Izzie, isn’t much help–she’s busy running the shop, and besides, she has secrets of her own. As shrewd Detective Barrett tries to paint her into a corner, Chloe soon finds that Fiona had plenty of enemies. The Whisper Cove Gazette columnist wielded her pen like a sword, slicing and dicing just about every shop owner in the lakeside town.

With the help of her affectionate canine buddy, Max, Chloe sets out to prove that she’s been framed for Fiona’s murder. But she’d better learn the fine art of detection quickly, before the real killer paints the town red again. Otherwise, she may end up trading in her paint smock for an orange jumpsuit…or a green burial plot.

Review:

This is the first book in a new cozy mystery series. I had a fun time reading this book and I gave it 4 stars.

This book is about Chloe who just moved back home for a little while. She is there to help her sister open up her business, which is called Paint Your Shop. Just before the grand opening a journalist is killed in the back area of their shop.

This journalist was not well liked so no one is surprised. Chloe wants to find out who did it so her sister can open her store. There are a lot of characters and each and everyone has a reason to kill the journalist. They are also hiding something which makes Chloe suspect them even her own sister.

Who actually killed the journalist? You will need to read the book and be surprised like I was because I was not expecting who the murderer ended up being.

This is a quick read and I had a lot of fun trying to figure out who done it.

The storyline was good with the right amount of romantic hint and intrigue. Chloe found herself smack dab in the middle of a puzzling murder mystery. With her sister’s business tied up in this mystery, Chloe needs to help solve this case before Izzie’s business goes belly up. An entertaining, intriguing, and witty story, it is a worthy addition to your bookshelf.

This was a fun mystery with a mostly good set of characters. I liked Chloe a lot but her sister Izzy drove me nuts. Izzy is immature and selfish and I hope her character evolves into a more likable character in future stories. The resolution of the crime was exciting and interesting. I will give book 2 a try.

A new to me author of a clean, cozy mystery. Just the right amount of build-up and the author did a fantastic job of keeping me guessing. I had no clue "who done it". The story was realistic although I could not actually see myself going after a killer. The storyline was original and entertaining.
Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this advanced review copy. In return, I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

Chloe is returning home after what she thinks is a failed attempt at a career. Her partner and she have parted
ways and coming back home to a quiet small town was her way of recouping her losses and trying to decide what
she wants to do next.

Izzie her sister is just opening a Paint shop and is excited that Chloe is here to help with what she wants as a
grand debut with event after event lined up to kick start the show, especially since it is tourist season.
What they did not take into account was the murder of one of the ladies in the backyard of Izzie's shop. Since the
victim was someone who had taken a dig, blackmailed and slandered practically all the shop owners in the town,
there was no shortage of suspects including Izzie and Chloe and Detective Hunter has his hands full trying to
eliminate one by one from his list.

A more tame version of a mystery murder. Not vintage and not very modern this was a slow story but pleasant
reading.

I enjoyed this book. The killer took me totally by surprise. Really fun story. Excited to see what the next adventure holds for the group.

Chloe Abbington spent two years in New York after earning a graduate degree in art, hoping to make it as a fine arts painter. Unfortunately, those hopes never materialized. At the same time, she was in a relationship with Ross Thompson, a New York lawyer, but that also failed. Meanwhile, back home in small-town Whisper Cove, Chloe’s sister, Izzie, has just opened the Paint Your Shop, and Chloe moves back to her hometown to help Izzie with her new business. Unfortunately, trouble finds Chloe when Fiona Gimble, a reporter for the local newspaper known for her poison pen brand of journalism writes a scathing review of Izzie’s store. Making matters worse, Chloe soon discovers Fiona’s corpse behind Izzie’s shop with a painting knife stuck her neck and becomes local Police Detective Barrett’s chief suspect. Learning that Fiona’s vicious articles in the Whisper Cove Gazette had made many enemies among local merchants, Chloe and her faithful canine companion, Max, set out to prover her innocence by finding the real killer. I found Chloe to be a likable and believable character. I loved her interactions with Max as they - forgive the pun, please - sniffed out clues to the murder. I’ve read other reviews by others who weren’t keen on the subplots, but I found that they added to the story. This is the first book in the new Paint by Murder series. I look forward to reading the next.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Chloe Abbington has returned to Whisper Cove to help her sister open her new business, Paint with a View, a painting event shop. Chloe isn’t sure when or if she will return to New York, right now she is just going to do her best to make her sister Izzie’s shop a success.

Journalist Fiona Gimble is not a nice person. She has negatively reviewed almost every place in Whisper Cove and enjoyed doing so. Izzie tried to do the right thing by inviting Fiona to her opening night event. Instead, the woman flung one-liners at Chloe during the event and stated she doesn’t know when she will run the article about Izzie’s shop as she hightails it out the door.

As Chloe finishes cleaning up she goes to take the trash out to the dumpster and finds a very dead Fiona Gimble with a painting knife in her neck. Of course, Chloe is the prime suspect, but she really doesn’t have much history with the victim. She needs to convince Detective Barrett there are plenty of other viable suspects while working to clear her name too. The only thing Chloe would want to be framed is her artwork, not herself for a crime she didn’t commit.

In Brush with Murder, author Bailee Abbott introduces us to Chloe, Izzie, and her parents along with Izzie’s employee Willow and some other friends. I really enjoyed meeting Chloe. She really puts her sister’s interests first. Willow is also a hard worker which is a good thing because Izzie’s interests are clearly divided giving me a negative feeling about her. She pushes a lot off onto Chloe’s shoulders and not the way I would expect someone to act when opening their dream business. Some of the tasks Izzie’s came up with to promote her business felt off too, but those issues were minor. Their parents seem to be the quirky characters a mystery like this needs. Mom is pretty set in her ways and Dad is the cuddly guy that tries to smooth everything out. A surprise appearance by Chloe’s ex shakes up the story in a fun way. I felt the author did a nice job of presenting the core characters, but I hope Izzie grows quickly as the other characters evolve at a reasonable pace. Check out the cute puppy on the cover. That is Chloe’s dog Max, lovable from the very start.

The mystery was complicated by the victim’s own actions. She was a ruthless individual leading to a vast number of suspects in her death. The author drops some clear clues but it took me some time to catch on. When I did my thinking was still diverted by some turns and twists perfectly placed by the author. By the end, the guilty party was at the top of my personal suspect list but there were a couple of others still on the list too. I think Ms. Abbott penned a very interesting mystery that kept me on my toes.

The event painting theme was fun. I really liked the painting your pets event and would love to do something like that for my own pets. It seemed to be set up for novice painters which I truly am.

Brush with Murder was a really good first installment for this series. I hope Izzie grows on me in the next installment because I truly like the other characters and think the series has a lot of potential.

Author Bailee Abbott kicks off her brand new Paint by Murder Mystery series with A Brush with Murder.

Whisper Cove is the new home of twenty-six-year-old Chloe Abbington who is a fine art painter. She has moved from New York City with her little dog, Max and is to be helping her sister, Izzie, back in their hometown, with Paint with a View, Izzie's new painting event business. When journalist, Fiona Gimble writes a bad review for the shop, Izzie hears a heated argument between best friend Megan and Fiona. Later, Willow North, Izzie's assistant instructs a painting group, but Izzie herself is called away to deal with some urgent matters. Fiona has been invited by Izzie to take photos and write an article for the Whisper Cove Gazette but is found dead by Chloe behind the shop.

In this tale of concealments, the mystery was very well done and I was absorbed in events until the big reveal. I liked the two sisters, Chloe and Izzie well enough who were both keeping secrets. There were a few good twists and some misdirection to keep the story fizzing and I'm intending to meet up with Chloe and Max again in book two.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

I think there's a lot of potentian and this could become a good cozy mystery series.
I liked the story but I found the characters a bit unlikeable and the mystery was quite easy to solve.
I want to read the next story.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

After breaking up with her boyfriend Chloe has come home to Whispering Cove to help her sister start her new business, Paint with a View. The town Chloe grew up in is simmering with tension as the newspaper’s new reporter, Fiona Gimble, seems determined to write bad reviews of every small business in town. Then, on the evening of a preview event at the shop, Fiona ends up dead in the alley behind the shop. Suspects abound as Fiona had written scathing columns about many of the local shop owners and Chloe is on the list since she found the body. The handsome detective Hunter Barrett is working the case and to complicate matters for Chloe her ex-boyfriend shows up from the city to try and win her back. But all Chloe wants is for the murder to be solved before her sister’s business suffers more.

A pleasant start to a new series. The setting is picturesque and the characters are believable. Chloes does keep the detective informed for the most part and, surprisingly, while she gets herself into a pickle at the climax she gets out of it without being rescued by either of the men vying for her attention. I look forward to the next entry in this series

Another awesome new mystery by a new-to-me author with a great sense of humor that shines through to her characters. Her main character Chloe isn't as funny or snarky as Chloe's sister Izzie or some of the others, but Chloe did have some great one-liners and knew just what to say.

Gotta say, I was really ready to loathe Ross's character being that he was the ex-boyfriend, and everyone knows how those guys are usually jerks in books, am I right? But Ross turned out to be a decent and likable character. I'm not sure I'd want Chloe back with him (I'm Team Hunter already, lol), but he's a super good friend to have and promised he'd always be there for her. That cute ball of fluff on the book cover is Max who's just a good little friend to Chloe and not a crime fighter, yet anyway. The sisters had a great relationship, and their parents, while sometimes a little flaky and out there, were good people who loved both their kids unconditionally.

At one point in the book, I started suspecting the person who ended up as the killer, but this clever author eventually steered me off course. The showdown was a good nail biter one. There were a couple of side mysteries that got cleared up as well, so there are no hanging storylines in this series. I'm awfully eager now to read the next book and am hoping it comes out more than once a year like some series.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

Bailee Abbott is a new to me author. This is a good start to a cozy mystery series. There were many characters having issues that detracted from the murder mystery.

I see a lot of potential with this series. I found the killer easily identifiable.

Looking forward to seeing if this series tightens up.

I rate this as 3.5 and since we can only give whole numbers, I will round up.
I am not required to give a positive review.

I was provided an advanced readers’ copy by Netgalley & thank them for allowing me to read the first in a new series and introducing me to a new author.