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.

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. Chloe 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. ~~ Stephanie L Bannon

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