In Bailee Abbott’s second book in the Paint by Murder mysteries, Chloe and Izzie are taking their paint party business on the road—with murder as the first stop!

Chloe Abbington and her sister, Izzie, are enjoying huge success running Paint with a View, their paint party business in the tranquil western New York lakeside town of Whisper Cove. Now, their aunt Constance—president of the local chapter of the Chautauqua Sisterhood—has hooked them up with a gig hosting a Halloween painting party. The guests will be painting a local ghost legend, the Lady of Chautauqua Lake, who died a hundred years earlier and rises from the lake every October to haunt anyone who dares venture out on All Hallows’ Eve.

 The event seems to be going off without a hitch, until Chloe overhears an argument between Constance and Viola Finnwinkle, the Sisterhood director, about the fate of the local chapter. Both women leave and the sisters finish their painting. But the next morning, Viola’s body is discovered floating face down near the town ferryboat dock, her long red hair spread around her. Eerily, the image is an exact replica of a painting Chloe and Izzie had discovered at the event the night before.

 What’s more, the police find Constance’s purple knit hat lying on the ground near the crime scene. Constance pleads innocence, saying the hat mysteriously went missing during the event. Frantic that she might be charged with murder, she begs Chloe and Izzie to help her. The sisters believe their aunt is innocent, but if so, who’s the real killer—and when will the next victim turn up?

Once again Chloe and Izzie are dragged into a murder investigation when their Aunt Constance is the prime suspect. The Chautauqua Sisterhood hosts a Halloween event to paint the ghost  Lady of Chautauqua Lake run by Chloe’s and Izzie’s Paint with a View shop and during the event Aunt Constance and Viola Finwinkle argue. Viola intends to disband the local chapter of the Chautauqua Sisterhood and that means Constance will lose her position as chapter President. Viola leaves before the end of the event and then turns up dead at the ferry landing. Constance has no alibi. Detective Hunter Barrett doesn’t really think Constance is guilty but  the more evidence turns up, the more it points to her. She begs for Chloe and Izzie’s help so they start asking questions which turns up a couple of other suspects with one clue being the picture painted and left behind at that evening’s event which strangely shows Viola’ body floating in the lake. Complicating matters for Chloe is having to ask her ex-boyfriend Ross, an expert criminal lawyer, to come to town to represent her aunt, a maybe burgeoning romance between Chloe and Hunter and an adorable lost dog who leads them to some evidence.

This is a delightful follow-up to the first in the series. Characters, even the secondary ones, are likeable. The action is believable for a cozy mystery and the murderer is not hugely obvious until really close to the end of the book. I look forward to the next in this series. Recommended ~~ Stephanie L Bannon

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