As a small-town portrait artist, Cherry Tucker works hard to make a living. So when she hears that the wealthy Branson family wants a portrait of their trouble-making son, Dustin, she jumps on it. Yeah, painting a dead guy in a coffin is a little odd, but she can handle it. Then she finds herself accused of trespassing and stealing from a corpse. She’s also the suspect in a murder. She needs to figure out who killed Dustin if only to save her reputation.

Cherry is a fun character. She’s sassy, smart, and talented. She has a weakness for pretty men and is firmly loyal to her friends and family. We’ve got the usual quirky characters and a stubborn goat, but it’s all done with a bit of Southern charm and flare.

The mystery itself was good. I guessed who the killer was but didn’t know the motive. There were several clues and enough red herrings to keep Cherry on her toes.

Portrait of a Dead Guy was fun, light-hearted, and laugh-out-loud funny. I’m looking forward to the next in the series I will admit this has been sitting on my to-read list for quite a while – I should have picked it up earlier.

Larissa Reinhart writes a great cozy mystery with Portrait of a Dead Guy. It has everything I like in a cozy: awesome characters, humor, and a mystery that keeps me wondering whodunit.