Hello and welcome to your summer! Today I am hyping myself up to start #1000wordsofsummer. This is it--this time I'm going to finish writing a cozy mystery rough draft. Even if it ends up printed out and sitting in a drawer, this time I'm going to do it! No, I won't be able to finish it in the first two weeks of summer, but I am going to finish it by Labor Day. I am not currently working so I do have the time. I just need to avoid scrolling social media!
Speaking of writing, today I'm reviewing a new cozy series by Bailee Abbot, called A Brush With Murder. I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley to review. All the opinions are mine. I had a tough time rating this book. Ultimately, I decided on a 3.5 rounded up to a 4 for posting purposes. I struggled to like the characters in the book. It wasn't until I was 80 percent through the book that I came to like at least some of the characters. The mystery is good, a nice twist, but clues are laid out from the beginning so, it's earned. I know as a reader I don't like a twist that doesn't have a trail of clues.
Chloe is our amateur sleuth, and she is trying to save her sister's business and herself after Fiona, a local reporter who liked to pan local businesses, winds up dead. Chloe, I grew to like, though I found her ex-boyfriend situation confusing, am I supposed to like Ross or dislike Ross? My instinct was to like him. Izzie is Chloe's sister, and the proprietor of the new paint shop in town, Paint with A View. I thought a business that does painting classes is a good business choice for a cozy mystery job. However, during this book, Izzie the shop owner spends very little time at the shop. She disappears frequently, is being secretive, and actively refuses to talk to the police officer who is trying to solve the murder. Overall, I had real trouble liking Izzie she came off as very flippant and entitled throughout the book.
Chloe and her family are literally trust fund babies. Her parents live off the funds from the family estate. This is not something I have experience with, but in the book, there were multiple businesses run by twenty-something women who had financial backing from their families for their businesses. So the main character's situation wasn't completely uncommon for this town. One of these owners was very panicked about her business and worried about being a complete failure after her second chance--which was, to me, a little funny because she was 24 years old. No one is a complete failure at 24, plenty of time to try many more things in life.
Chloe's dog Max is on the cover, but he isn't the emotional support or sounding board that many a cozy companion provides to their sleuth--he's more of a traditional pet.
If you enjoy a potential love triangle, this book is definitely for you! Seasonally, the book takes place during the heat of summer in a lakeside community.
Most likely, I will pick up the second book in the series to see how Bailee Abbot develops the characters and what new mystery she creates.
This book will be out on October 12, 2021. Add it to your TBR pile now!
