This was a great third entry in the Paint by Murder Mystery series, it had everything that I enjoyed from the previous two books. It had that mystery element that I wanted and enjoyed going on. The characters had a overall feel that I was hoping for and glad I read this. Bailee Abbott wrote this perfectly and can’t wait for more.

It seems like I’ve waited forever for Bailee Abbott’s third book of A Paint by Murder Mystery series to be released. The minute I seen it was available as an early read I snatched it up. I loved it. Every single page of it. Abbott always makes her readers wait till almost the end of the book before she reveals the whodunnit. The anticipation kept me flipping the pages. The four sleuths put themselves in harms way as they searched for clues. There were four suspects and every one of them had motive to kill the deceased. The book was unpredictable and the mystery perplexing. It had everything that makes a cozy mystery great.

Since this is the third book in the series I have gotten to know the characters well. This is what makes me wait patiently for the next book in the series. In Easier Dead Than Drawn a close friend of Chloe gets murdered. For Chloe it’s personal but also she finds herself on the suspect list. She and her sister Issie and Willow their shop employee, sift through the clues to find the killer. Who knows that maybe one clue would unlock the mystery. Will justice be done for Chloe’s friend or will her murder end up in the cold case files?

I recommend this book to readers of Cozy Mystery and Suspense. This book can be read as a standalone but for a better reading experience I recommend reading the other two books in the series also.

I read an advanced readers copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.
#EasierDeadThanDrawn #NetGalley

Many thanks to Netgalley for this arc. I received a copy of this digital arc in exchange for my honest review. My thoughts are entirely my own.

In this book we meet Abigail who runs a paint party shop with her sister Izzie. Abigail invites her best friend to Whisper Cover to paint a mural for the new floating amphitheater. But shortly after arriving Abigail’s best friend dies and the new detective thinks it’s Abigail since she was the one who found her friend. We have quite a few suspects and just as Abigail and friends think they have cleared someone a new motive is revealed. Then finally at the May Fling festival it is revealed to be Nick who stole money from Lena, Abigail’s best friend, in order to save his family’s business. Nick accidentally pushed her while they were arguing. The case is solved and Hunter wants Abigail to meet his mom. I loved the cute names of the town and businesses involved in this cozy mystery. I can’t wait until the next one.

There is nothing better than I cozy mystery series that gets better with each new book. Book three in the series is Easier Dead Than Drawn.
Small town mysteries are so fun to read. Chloe and her sister Izzie co-own a painting and wine store. Everyone in town adores them. When there is a mural that needs to be painted Chloes friend Lana is coming to paint the mural for the amphitheater. Not everyone in town likes the idea of having the amphitheater. When Lana turns up dead this sets Chloe and Izzie into motion to find the killer.
This is a series that I think all cozy mystery readers will enjoy.
Thank you NetGalley and Bailee Abbott for the copy of Easier Dead Than Drawn. This is my personal review.

A very enjoyable addition to the series. This is the third release in the cozy series "Abbott's Paint by Murder Mystery" series, The location is a lakeside small town in New York. The series features Chloe and her friend who own and manage a wine and painting store that is adored by the local community and very popular. Thank you to the publisher, to Net Galley and to the Author for the opportunity.

I have read the first two in series and recommend highly this charming cozy series. Each book developes the characters further and builds on the last book with wonderful supporting characters and intriquing sleuthing by Chloe and her best friend. The author builds a remarkable amount of clues and red herrings to keep the reader guessing to conclusion. A adorable dog and a detective boyfriend for Chloe add to the series. This mystery centers around a artist who is hired to paint a mural and is murdered. Chloe is first person to find her body and is now suspect number one. While trying to clear her own name Chloe finds a series of suspects and works to clear her name, save her business and find the right suspect for the police.

I enjoy this series and look forward to the next in series. The writing is well crafted and the creation of the characters and the plot is excellent. Well done to the author.

The last book which was the second one was published in October of 2022, so I was glad to see the return of this series. This is book three for anyone reading as a standalone, since it’s not listed that way on the big book site. I’d very much recommend reading the first two books so you can get to know the characters and their stories. I’m happy I’d started the series from the beginning. Now that the series has a new home, I hope there’ll be more books.

Chloe had her hands full after a woman she recommended for a mural painting job was murdered. Not only did she need to clear her own name but now Whisper Cove had another killer loose. I never knew how to take that new detective since he could be hard core one minute and friendly the next. Maybe he was his own one-man good cop/bad cop act.

The showdown was a bit different since the perp wasn’t the one holding the weapon, but all worked out. I’m pretty happy with where Chloe and Hunter are in their relationship and hope that continues so there’ll be more books.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

“Easier Dead Than Drawn”, is the nicely done third book in Bailee Abbott’s Paint by Number cozy mystery series. In this book Chloe Abbington is thrilled when her close friend, famous wall muralist Lana Easton, is hired to paint a mural for the return of the floating amphitheater to Whisper Cove. Unfortunately, things don’t go as well as expected and when Lana is murdered, Chloe finds herself one of the suspects. She and her sister Izzie, along with their employee Willow, need to clear her name and find her killer but will they be able to do so?

I really enjoyed this mystery. I love the setting – not only the paint shop and events that Chloe, Izzie, and Willow run, but their relationship with their parents and significant others, and the setting of Whisper Cove. It is a town full of passionate people and their response to the return of the amphitheater plays an important role in this book. The mystery is well done with just the right touch of sadness from Chloe at the loss of her friend (it is well done but doesn’t overwhelm the book) and just the right amount of suspects – just like Chloe, Izzie, and Willow, I was going back and forth trying to figure out who the killer was. The part where the killer was revealed was nicely done with just the right amount of tension. All in all, I really enjoyed this book and was sorry when my visit to Whisper Cover was over – I look forward to visiting there again.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.

This is another interesting trip back to Whisper Cove, New York where Chloe and her sister Izzie and friend Willow run an art and paint party business. Chloe's friend muralist Lana is in town to paint a mural to kick off the opening of a floating amphitheater. This is not accepted well by many townsfolk. When Chloe finds Lana's body near the mural, she is the prime suspect. But there are four others who have a greater motive and the two sisters set out to find the killer. This is nice mystery to unravel and find answers. How the mystery was solved was not as expected though. Nice addition to the series for those who enjoy cozy mysteries with an art flair.
I received a copy for the purpose of an honest review. These are my thoughts.

Easier Dead Than Drawn is the 3rd book in A Paint By Murder Mysteries. This is the first book I have read in this series and although it is ok as a stand alone book I felt I had missed quite a bit of the character development. Chloe Abington and her sister Issue co-owner a paint studio. Chloe's friend Lana is coming to town for two weeks to paint a mural. Chloe and Lana had been really good friends in Paris but had a falling out in NYC. They decided to forget the past. Lana brought her boyfriend Nick, her assistant Audrey and a computer whiz Tate. Not everyone in town is supportive of the mural and the amphitheater. Lana ends up dead and Chloe and Izzie begin to sleuth. Chloe's boyfriend Hunter who is a police detective in another town comes back to help out. I may go back and read the other books, although the cases and culprits are discussed in this book. The characters are likable and the sisters are great! The cozy mystery kept me guessing although there were basically only 4 or 5 suspects none of which were removed from the list. This was an enjoyable cozy mystery. #EasierDeadThanDrawn #APaintByMurderMystery #LevelBestBooks

Chloe and her sister run a painting art store, and when her old friend Lana is hired to create a mural in town she is excited. Sadly she later finds her friend murdered, and now the head detective is looking at her as a suspect. A good cozy mystery and one I highly recommend.

I love the cozy mystery genre and I did love this book. I have immense respect for anybody that can draw and paint so I felt like I resonated with the characters. Definitely a good who done it

Sisters Chloe and Izzie own a wine and paint shop, which in my opinion, sounds fantastic.
As their small town awaits the Amphitheater on water to arrive, many residents are grumbling about its presence. They say it will hurt their cozy tourist town, while others are excited for it.
The town is bringing in a famous mural artist, who happens to be a friend of Chloe's, but their friendship has had some problems.
When Chloe arrives to meet Lana, the artist, she finds her body on the ground, and Chloe knows her friend is dead.

Who killed the artist, was it her intern in a jealous rage, the artist who wasn't chosen, or the boyfriend, who might have been deceiving her?

I found #EasierDeadThanDrawn #NetGalley to be my favorite book so far. The story was very good and the characters really were well done.
I'm happy to recommend this book and the series to others.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of the book.

Arts & Antiques Cozy Mystery that finds a New York artist and paint party business owner and her sister as they turn sleuths after she finds her close friend and a famous wall muralist dead.

4/5 stars: This is the third entry in Abbott's Paint by Murder Mystery series, which is a Arts & Antiques Cozy Mystery that takes place in the Finger Lakes region of New York and features a fine artist who co-owners a paint party business with her sister. With plenty of twists and turns, Abbott has masterfully crafted a mystery that deftly balances the suspects, clues and red herrings and will leave you pondering the whodunit until the final reveal. Additionally, Abbott's writing and character work is stellar; the characters are well-rounded and complex while remaining incredibly likable. It's fun to be back with Chloe, her sister Izzie, her family and the folks of Whisper Cove again. Also I like seeing the relationship progressions of Chloe and her detective boyfriend, Hunter and Izzie and her beau, Brody. Oh and I can't forget to mention Chloe's twelve pound ball of fluff Maltese and poodle mix, Max. And I have to say I really like the the exploration of mural painting in this book and art in general. While you could read this as a stand-alone, you'll gain so much more by reading the series from the beginning; so be sure to pick up book one, A Brush with Murder.

I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and Level Best Books | Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.

I missed a book in this series but was happy to pick up again with these characters. I've enjoyed this author's writing style and character development. I have an older sister that is close to me in age so I'm a sucker for tight sibling bonds in a story. The mystery was well done and I thought the reader was given plenty of clues, evidence and options for the culprit. I was happy to visit with these characters again and will be back for any future books.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Bailee Abbott for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for Easier Dead Than Drawn coming out May 7, 2024. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author. I haven’t read the other books in the series, but I didn’t feel lost during it. I love cozy mysteries! I thought the plot was fun and interesting. Chloe was a strong character who had solved mysteries in the past. I love amateur detectives. I’m not an artist, but I thought the painting talents were interesting.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys cozy painting novels!

"Easier Dead Than Drawn (A Paint By Murder Mystery #3)" by Bailee Abbott is centered around trying to get a floating amphitheater back to town and a movable mural has been commissioned to be painted Chloe's famous ex-roommate. There are lots of people against having the amphitheater back and, by extension, the mural. There may still be some old grudges too.

However, this one panned out about how I expected it too. I had two suspects in mind and a couple of motives for both of them. In the end it was good that there was a wrap up of what the culprit confessed too because it wasn't totally clear otherwise.

Chloe is a self-described artist by day and sleuth by night which makes her a departure from the normal character in a cozy. What is not a departure from cozies is the feeling of nostalgia that we feel when reading cozies. When reading a cozy, the town either reminds of us when we live or an idyllic town, we which we lived in. The town in this story is described as an artist haven with small shops doing well and a controversial project that could bring more tourists or more commotion.
That town drama sets the stage for a fascinating cozy mystery with Chloe, her boyfriend, and her sister at the center. The portrayal of a tight family in this story made it incredibly relatable to me as my family has always been tight. Our author also created a very relatable tale when she talked about how hard it is to make ends meet today.
The author did a really nice job of building many red herrings into the story keeping us guessing almost to the very end. We had clues and evidence that pointed in multiple directions including adding another crime to the tale. Chloe is a terrific character as is Hunter and the author gave us a touching moment with the first time they said the L word. Hunter’s timing is perfect especially at the end of the tale. When I initially selected this book, I did not realize it was part of a series but now that I do I plan to go back and read book 1. Obviously, that means I enjoyed the book but thought it was a touch long but things came together at the end and made me glad I read it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Level Best Books for the opportunity to read this ARC.