Author: Bailee Abbott
Genre: Mystery
Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 978168512639
Level Best Books
238 Pages
$16.95; $5.99 Amazon
May 7, 2024
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When the town council hires Chloe Abbington's close friend, famous wall muralist Lana Easton, to paint a mural advertising the return of the floating amphitheater, not everyone in Whisper Cove is happy about the theater or Lana. Naysayers think the noise from concerts and visitors will disrupt their quiet community. It doesn't help that a lot of money taken from the town's budget is being used to pay the muralist for her services. The mood turns even more grim when Lana is found dead, and since Chloe was there alone to discover her body, that makes her the prime suspect.
Before Chloe finds herself painted into a corner as the killer, she and sister Izzie hurry to solve the case and find the real criminal. The suspect list grows to include Lana's boyfriend and her intern, as well as a couple of local residents. The task is a tall order for the sisters, and it doesn't help that the detective on the case is someone who doesn't seem to care for Chloe or her interference. Clues about Lana's past surface and point to more than one suspect. the challenge will be to decide which one is the real killer.
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Chloe Abbington and her sister Izzie live with their parents in small town Whisper Cove, New York, near the finger lakes. They own a paint-your-own shop and also do events, hoping to make enough money to expand a little.
A man in town has brought the floating amphitheater back, and has just hired Chloe's muralist friend to paint it. Lana Easton and Chloe were roommates in Paris, before Chloe decided to give up her art there and help her sister. She's happy with her choice, but will having Lana here make her also have doubts?
Lama is accompanied by her boyfriend Nick, and employees Tate and Audrey, who each have their own skills. Everything seems to be going nicely until one night while Chloe is going to pick up Lana for an evening out, hears a scream, and finds her lying dead below the art lift. Now the lead detective on the case, Winsell, thinks Chloe, along with others, might be a viable suspect. Chloe and her sister have no choice but to do a little investigating themselves, or Chloe might be looking at the inside of a jail cell instead of outside her shop window...
I read the first two books in this series and I enjoyed them very much. But this one is a little different for some reason. First, there is a huge issue with continuity. Chloe was talking about an argument between two of the townspeople, and I thought I missed something, so went back to check. But I found out the argument hadn't happened yet! This is just one example, but I won't list the others. There are also a lot of grammatical errors that should have been caught by an editor. These things detracted from my enjoyment of the story.
Anyway, Chloe and her sister Izzie are trying to gather clues in between running their business, and it keeps them busy. They have four main suspects of their own, but need to question them and weed through everything to get to the truth. There are plenty of red herrings, and pointing to the actual killer isn't easy. But in the end, it comes with unexpected help from someone to find out everything they want to know. It's rather sad, but it all comes together nicely.
I received an advance copy from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.
More on Bailee Abbott's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/a/bailee-abbott/
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