Stars: 4 out of 5
Pros: Strong mystery with lots to keep you guessing
Cons: Characters could be a little stronger
The Bottom Line:
Painting convention
Takes a deadly turn in this
Complex mystery
Be Sure to Paint This Book Read
The blessing of having a huge to be read pile is you never
are hurting for books to read. The curse
of having a huge to be read pile is it sometimes takes much longer than you
intend to get to books you fully intend to read. That was the case with Paint the Town Dead, the second Aurora Anderson mystery. When I enjoyed the first back in June, I had
hoped to read the sequel before now. I still
wish I’d read it sooner since I did enjoy it.
Aurora “Rory” Anderson is excited about the decorative
painting convention that is coming to her seaside town of Vista Beach in Los
Angeles County California. She is taking
some of the offered classes and helping out her mother who is one of the
venders for the week-long event. Even
better, her friend Jasmine has recently returned to town. As a fellow decorative painter, she is part
of the convention as well.
Not that the week gets off to a smooth start. The convention is being held at a new hotel
in town, and building it has led to quite a bit of controversy. In fact, there are picketers around when Rory
shows up to help her mom set up.
However, nothing prepares her for Jasmine to collapse and die during the
first class of the convention. The
police think it was a horrible accident, but Rory isn’t buying it. Can she find proof that her friend was
murdered?
It was great to be back in Vista Beach and with these
characters again. I love this small town
setting, and I love the beach, so that’s definitely a plus. While I like the characters, I felt they
weren’t quite as developed as they could be.
Don’t get me wrong, I did care about them and I cared about the
outcome. They just need a little
something more. This applies to the
series regulars and the suspects equally.
However, the plot more than makes up for any deficiency with
the characters. Things get off to an
exciting start in the very first sentence, and events just keep happening as
the book progresses. Each of the
suspects were so viable I thought I had it completely figured out several times
before the end, yet when the real villain was revealed, it once again all made
sense. I truly enjoyed trying to figure
it out with Rory.
So if you are looking for an exciting mystery that will keep
you guessing until the final page, pick up Paint the Town Dead. You’ll be happy you
did.
Enjoy more art mixed with murder in the rest of the Aurora Anderson Mysteries.
Enjoy more art mixed with murder in the rest of the Aurora Anderson Mysteries.
Thanks for the post, I am going to check this series out. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteStrong characters are super important to me, especially by the second book in a series.
ReplyDelete