Miranda Trent has her new business moving along and this book deals with her first attempt at corporate teambuilding. However, what the client wants is an event that puts one team against the other - losers are fired and winners get promoted. Dangerous especially when one of the participants ends up dead.

Interesting mystery with beautiful scenery descriptions throughout. Maybe a few more regular characters would be helpful.

An unusual business combination. It seems that in addition to the paint and shine businesses that there is a third one, outdoor adventures. I have a greater appreciation for that fact that I am no longer involved in company politics. I am also thrilled that I missed the company's team building experience. I was much safer and happier remaining in the office. Had not a clue as to who was the culprit. A cute ending to the book, too.

I received an ARC from Netgalley to read and review.
I like Cheryl Hollon's Webb Glass books.
I've tried to like this series but had a harder time with it.

The countryside around Miranda Trent's Kentucky farmhouse is just about holding on to a little of its autumnal finery but winter is on its way. Her fledgling business, Paint and Shine, is slowing down as are most local tourist endeavours but she still has a four day team building retreat to host and then she too can begin to wind down herself.

Unfortunately, someone has moved the goalposts and her plans are about to be altered beyond recognition but this is a big deal for Miranda and so she gets a snap education in biting her tongue and an increased appreciation of being her own boss. With the arrival of one of her oldest friends as part of the BigSky Corporation group Miranda is hopeful she can renew their acquaintance while changing the focus as she goes along.

The first outdoor event takes them into the hills of the Daniel Boone National Forest where charcoal drawing is the order of the day. All goes according to plan until Miranda, and her new beau, park ranger Austin Morgan, are leading the way back to beginning of the trail when they come across one of the group gravely injured with a blood stained rock nearby. Shockingly the company insist the retreat continues and Miranda and Austin know they will have to work doubly hard to do their own jobs as well as helping the Sheriff do his!

This is the third in this enjoyable cosy crime series. Art and moonshine don't seem like easy bedfellows but it works; the main protagonists are gelling well now and the mix of murder and romance is well drawn and easy to read. I really like Austin and Miranda and those protagonists close to them. There were a lot of additional characters this time but never once was I confused or unsure of who was who.

The only downside to so many potential killers was it could have been any of them and any actual investigating seemed to be done off the page while every nuance of the team building exercises was described in great detail. This lessened my involvement in the whodunnit elements but I did enjoy reading about the various activities which were undertaken.

Overall this was a good read but the balance could have swung a little more towards the investigation rather than having it revealed at the end without the chance to get the reader involved. Hopefully that won't happen in the next installment. There are recipes at the end as well.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the opinions expressed are my own. I enjoyed this but with reservations. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

This is the third in the series. The story gets better and better. It is a standalone but I am enjoying the romance between Austin and Miranda.

I really like there was a list of characters at the beginning of the book. It’s nice to review since it’s been a while since the last book came out.

Ms. Hollon has a way of writing the bad guys so you don’t like them. I haven’t had to face so many self-centered, chauvinistic leaders since I retired. I worked in predominantly male staffed jobs.

I like that Miranda is attempting to expand her business, strengthen local jobs, connect with family, and take care of herself.

I could relate to the team building exercises but didn’t like the competition aspect placed on it by the sports company management. I realize there were other issues in the company but this just rankled me.

I liked how Austin, Miranda, the medical examiner, and the sheriff worked together without taking unnecessary risks to solve the murder.

I was given an advanced copy and am not required to provide a positive review.

Miranda Trent has an organizational team building retreat booked for her new business Paint and Shine. The retreat could really put the fledgling business on the map and allows Miranda to connect with an old high school friend. It quickly becomes clear that Big Sky is a toxic organization when the company’s executives arrive to declare that the results of the retreat will determine the participants’ futures at the company. It doesn’t take long for Miranda to find herself in the middle of another death investigation and enlists the help of her friends to help find who is responsible.
First of all, I’m pretty sad that Paint and Shine isn’t a real destination. Set in the mountains of Kentucky, it sounds heavenly and Miranda is the perfect host for tourists looking for art lessons and authentic moonshine! Cheryl Hollon creates wonderful characters (I wish I had Miranda’s chutzpah). I love that her mountain folk are realistic and intelligent and not hokey. The moment I started reading I felt that I returned to a favorite haven with a group of treasured friends.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review.

Its a cute cozy mystery story. Enjoyed it.

Miranda has spent a good amount of energy in creating a team building exercise combining painting and hiking and other things for the Big Sky clothing company and she's happy that her old pal Rowena, now an admin assistant at the company, is going to be there. And then the CEO turns it into a sort of Hunger Games thing, with the low performers in the exercise losing their jobs. Well one of them loses his life and - oh no- Rowena is found with the body and a bloody rock. Well, of course Miranda investigates with some help from Austin, the park ranger who is her neighbor and love interest. Miranda's also, btw, working to expand the distillery. It's classic cozy with great characters and I like the atmospherics. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. It's the third in the series but will be fine as a standalone and then you like me will be looking forward to the next one.

Death a Sketch by Cheryl Hollon is Book #3 in her A Paint & Shine Mystery series. I found this to be a truly fascinating storyline. The company team building that amateur sleuth Miranda Trent anticipated hosting becomes twisted into a nasty competition with jobs on the line. Miranda's high school friend, Rowena becomes the prime suspect when a murder occurs. This was a tough case to crack. I enjoyed following along as Miranda and her special friend, forest ranger Austin Morgan collected clues and helped the local sheriff solve the crime. This is a super addition to the series.

The Paint and Shine mystery series has become one of my favorites. Book 3, Death a Sketch, has Miranda hosting a four-day retreat for a sporting goods company. The days are jammed packed with events that are supposed to be team building, but turn out to be a competition between two teams and the losing team is not going to do well with the company. One obnoxious boss begins the competition and a second (even more obnoxious) boss keeps it going under terrible circumstances. Miranda is her usual assertive self, and she gets involved in solving a murder among the group. The book, and series, has lots of unique characters. The mystery is good and the theme around painting and moonshine is fun to read about. I enjoy hearing about the scenery in Kentucky.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for this wonderful ARC. I’m submitting my honest review and opinion. I will post this review to my blog, Goodreads, Bookbub, & Amazon accounts on the publication date, 7/26/22.

What could possibly go wrong with an employee team building art retreat? Plenty when it's involving Miranda's fledgling businesses and her home! This latest entry in the Paint & Shine mystery series, gives not only another great look at the Appalachian area, but the roots of the food and culture, as Miranda and her team keep the guests entertained amid a murder investigation. As Miranda once again gets embroiled in a murder case that literally lands at her feet, she'll have to match wits with an apparent murderer under her own roof! A fun mystery that will have you craving a mountain vacation, you'll love this series!

Miranda has her hands full as she takes on corporate team building workshops. I bet you may have met some folks like she had to deal with. I love the name of her business, Paint & Shine. If I had a business where there was food involved, I would want the Hobb sisters to have my back. I wish I had their skills. I loved the storyline and the characters. I’m enjoying seeing where the relationship between Miranda and Austin is going. Oh, I can’t forget Sandy, who I love. I can’t wait to go hang out with these good folks again. I received this book from NetGalley, but my opinion is my own.

The Paint & Shine series is just an all-round wonderfully engaging series. Miranda Trent is a highly likable character - she is sincere, hard-working, loyal to her friends and bright. She's trying to start her own tourist business in eastern Kentucky, having left the city to try her hand at building a moonshine business on the family farm while leading "Paint & Shine" tours and activities in the Daniel Boone National Forest. Death a Sketch finds Miranda taking on her most ambitious tour yet, with hopes of expanding her business, by offering to host a sporting goods company employee retreat. This is a great opportunity for Miranda, but she is not prepared for the personalities of the employees participating in the retreat, the corporate executive attending the retreat to observe, or the fact that the retreat has been turned into a competition whose losers will be fired at the end of the event. Between the squabbling and competitiveness of the participants, and the murder of the corporate exec, Miranda is able to host a successful event while working with the local law enforcement to solve the murder.

I always look forward to the next installment in this series as it is set in a beautiful location which is well-described, involves very likable and realistic characters, and always involves a unique mystery to solve. The moonshine and associated recipes, combined with the painting/artistic aspect of the tours makes for a one-of-a-kind very enjoyable series. This is a mystery with a great story that keeps you guessing till the end.

The icing on the cake for this book was the recipes at the end - many of which were similar, but not identical, to recipes with which I grew up. I enjoyed reading them and remembering.

Thank you Cheryl Hollon for a well-written mystery and excellent diversion - looking forward to many more of Miranda's tours!

Still trying to figure out ways to keep her new business afloat, Miranda takes on the challenge of running an retreat for an outdoor sporting goods company. At the last minute, the prickly executive in charge demands several changes to the event, making it more of a competition than the team-building event she had planned for. When one of the participants is found dead, Miranda digs deeper to find out which of the attendees wants to succeed – at any cost.

This is the third book in this series, which I am enjoying more as it progresses. Although I’ve never been to the mountains in eastern Kentucky, I live near mountains here in Pennsylvania, so the setting feels somewhat familiar to me. I would love to visit Miranda at her farmhouse and take one of her less-strenuous tours of the area – and of course, sample some of her shine as well. It was fun getting more backstory on a few of the recurring characters, and it will be interesting to see where some of the relationships go as the series continues.

The character who was killed was so unpleasant, it wasn’t a surprise when the death occurred. There were quite a few viable suspects, all with logical motives, and the person at the top of my list kept changing as the book progressed. I really hoped the murderer would be another unpleasant character, but having that person’s life at stake during the reveal was almost as satisfying. I look forward to my next visit to Kentucky and Miranda’s farmhouse in the next book in this series.

I love the Appalachian Mountains setting of this series, and Miranda's paint and moonshine business offers plenty of opportunities for exploring, for new characters, and for murder. In this outing, I had to suspend disbelief even a bit more than usual, because I find it hard to believe a corporation would contract for a team-building corporate retreat that features making moonshine. Um, surely there are implications there for tax write-offs and such? And the idea that Miranda would send these employees out to gather flora for a floral arrangement but give them this little warning about avoiding Queen Anne's lace and its look-alike, hemlock. Half the employees have already shown they're fairly stupid and not willing to take direction. Miranda seems like a smart businessperson, and yet...I know those aren't elements that affect the plot directly. It's just that they pull me out of the story. If an author is going to make the main character's small business an important part of the story, as most cozy authors do, then I think they need to make that part of it as realistic as possible.

The murder plot itself is good, and I enjoy the exploits of the two different teams as they navigate various challenges that Miranda sets forth. It's a good small set of recurring characters with a new set of customers each book, and I really like that set-up. Even though I don't like whiskey and I'm a terrible artist, I'd like to go on one of Miranda's outings, but I'll stick with visiting her in the pages of these books.

Review copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoy the Paint and Shine series. The community is so interesting and the descriptions of the area make me want to travel there. For some reason this story was a little flat to me. Miranda is so busy with her team building clients that there seems to be much less personal interaction with other characters, especially with Austin. Her investigation is pretty limited because of all the team activities. The murderer's identity is revealed without a proper buildup of tension. All of a sudden all is revealed. I hope there is more personal "stuff" in the next book, especially with Miranda and Austin.

I had really wanted to enjoy Death a Sketch, since I had been looking forward to a cozy mystery novel; however, there was very little about this book that I enjoyed. First, the writing is too simplistic and the dialogue is forced (and extremely repetitive). No one would talk the way these characters do. Second, there were a lot of little inconsistencies, such as when people entered a room or who was judging what competition. While these are minor details, they are significant in a thriller/mystery novel. Third, some of the actions by characters were simply unrealistic. The Sheriff would never depend on a citizen's sketchbook to solve a case. Finally, the mystery was an afterthought. There was very little focus on the mystery, and the reveal was extremely rushed. This book was just not for me.

A nice twist on a cozy mystery Hollon has written a book that examines a mystery more complex than usual.
Miranda runs a business called Paint and Shine. It involves whiskey distillation, tours of the Appalachian countryside, and a bit of painting.

A company retreat brings a group that it becomes clear is forced to compete and whoever is the winner of games can keep their job. Cutthroat. Soon a body turns up dead and still the games go on.

It is up to Miranda to solve the mystery.

I had a hard time getting into the story, but as I progressed I enjoyed it more and more. I enjoyed the unusual setting and the concept of Miranda’s business. The characters were fun and I particularly liked Austin and the sisters. I would give this series another try.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a digital ARC of his book. This review can also be found on my Goodreads page.

I received this ARC via Netgalley and Kensington Books, in return for an honest review. While the third book in this series, it is easily read as a standalone. Miranda Trent has created a unique business, combining art-oriented events with her moonshine distillation business. This time, she’s facilitating graphic design’s leadership team building 4-day event. Of course, things don’t go well when the company’s very senior leadership keep changing the rules for all the participants. When one of the participants dies and Miranda’s old friend is found standing over the body, things go from bad to worse. Determined to both preserve her fledging business and find the actual killer, Miranda is trying to juggle all kinds of balls. Add in family members returning and a handsome local ranger, there’s lots of interpersonal dynamics to use in developing their stories. Fun and interesting cozy mystery so it’s lovely this series is continuing!