Paint the Town Dead

Paint the Town Dead

by Sybil Johnson

Rory is excited for the upcoming painting convention in the brand new Akaw hotel. But not everyone in town shares her excitement. Residents are protesting the hotel, threatening those involved in its development. Even though Rory only created the hotel website and app, someone throws a rock through her window. When people start dying, she finds herself trying to figure out whether it's all connected.

This book starts strong with an exciting opening scene. However, it then progresses into the main character sitting down with her best friend and having a conversation that gives us a lot of background information that, in my opinion, probably could have waited another chapter or two and been introduced more organically. Many of the conversations and narratives in the early chapters felt this way to the point where the characters almost felt gossipy.

It also took a while to really get to the heart of the mystery. (Here's a hint: the rock through Rory's window is not the main mystery within the book. There is eventually a dead body and that is the main focus of the story.)

Eventually, though, the mystery is revealed, the background information is done, and the story becomes interesting. It is full of red herrings to keep the reader guessing. At 25% of the book, I was sure I knew whodunit and why. But, I was only partially right. While I had the motive (there are so many motives in this book), I did not correctly identify the guilty party. In fact, I didn't even suspect the guilty party until the main character did.

I truly enjoyed this mystery and look forward to reading more by this author. Overall, I would rate this story four quills and place it on my middle shelf.