Paint the Town Dead

Written by Sybil Johnson

Narrated by Vanessa Daniels

It's June in the quiet Los Angeles County city of Vista Beach, the place computer programmer and tole-painting enthusiast Aurora (Rory) Anderson calls home. Decorative painters are flocking to the newly built Akaw hotel to attend the Ocean Painting Society's inaugural convention.

During the week-long event, Rory plans on shopping the trade show floor, working in her mother's booth, taking classes, and connecting with other decorative painting fans. She doesn't expect to witness her childhood friend collapse in class and die. When the police find no evidence of foul play, Rory embarks on her own investigation. Can she brush aside the lies to uncover the truth and bring the killer to justice?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Jan 2, 2018
• ISBN: 9781541485983

Reviews for Paint the Town Dead

[carlathelibrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

PAINT THE TOWN DEAD is the second in the Aurora Anderson Mystery series. I have not read the first one, but had no problem following the story. Aurora, "Rory" is a tole-painter and freelance computer programmer in Vista Beach, California. Recently, the quiet city just had a new hotel constructed, the Akaw. It is the site of the Ocean Painting Society Convention. Unfortunately, several residents are angry that their homes were damaged by the construction of the hotel and they are picketing, causing some vandalism and harassing customers and employees. Rory's house was targeted and she had a rock thrown through her front window. While trying to sort out who threw the rock, she is also attending the convention with several of her friends, one of which just moved back to town. Jasmine has a severe case of Narcolepsy and is on a new medication. When under stress she will have an attack. After the hotel is evacuated because someone pulled the fire alarm as well as setting off a stink bomb, she has an attack, or was it. Jasmine ends up dead from an overdose of her new medication. Now Rory has another situation to investigate. Are they tied together?

I like that Sybil Johnson includes a situation tied to what is happening in the world. With many communities upset with progress, as well as big business getting away with bribes, damage to homes and ecosystems, this side story sheds a bit of light onto an important issue. It wove into the story nicely. I enjoyed the plot and how the story flowed. The characters, Rory, Liz, Rory's mom and Dashing D (the handsome police detective) play nicely off each other and have good chemistry. I am looking forward to more in this series.

[kris_anderson-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Paint the Town Dead by Sybil Johnson is the second book in An Aurora Anderson Mystery series. Aurora “Rory” Anderson lives in Vista Beach, California. Rory designs websites and apps. She recently did work for the new hotel in town called Akaw. Unfortunately, some people in town are not happy with the new hotel and they are taking drastic actions. One of those actions is a brick through Rory’s front window. Similar incidents happened to council members of Vista Beach. Rory is hoping to put the incident behind her as she gets ready for The Ocean Painting Society’s inaugural convention. Rory enjoys toll painting and her mother, Arika Anderson will have a booth at the convention. Her mother owns Arika’s Scrap ‘n Paint. Rory is looking forward to the convention. There are classes, shopping (of course), and connecting with other painters.Rory is happy to see her childhood friend, Jasmine Halliday is at the convention. Jasmine is doing the bookkeeping for the convention manager, Nixie Mohr (I bet she got picked on in school). Jasmine suffers from narcolepsy and has a cataplectic attack after greeting Rory in the hotel lobby (it is not Rory’s fault). She soon recovers and they go on to enjoy the convention. However, while taking a class, Jasmine collapses. This time she does not recover. The police are willing to write it off an accident, but Rory is not so sure. Rory decides to investigate and find out what happened to her friend. If Jasmine was murdered, who would want to harm her? Paint the Town Dead had interesting characters, was easy to read, and contained a good mystery. The author did a great job with the mystery (and with misdirection). Paint the Town Dead is a light, fun cozy mystery. I read Paint the Town Dead without having enjoyed the first book in the series. I think it would have been helpful if I had read the first book. It would have given me a better understanding of the characters (background information), relationships, and the first case (it is referenced in this book). One thing I did not like was Rory’s obsession with Detective Martin Green. It was a little over the top for a person who had one date and then never went out again (it was just strange). I give Paint the Town Dead 4 out of 5 stars. I am going to go back and read the first book in the series as soon as I get an opportunity (and look forward to reading the next book in the series). I received a complimentary copy of Paint the Town Dead from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[dpappas_25 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

No matter what mood I am in I am always up for a good cozy mystery. While I did enjoy the first book in the Aurora Anderson series this installment was even better. This time around Rory is at a local painting convention when a close friend suddenly passes. Everyone thinks that Rory's friend Jasmine died by accident but Rory refuses to believe it and investigates the death.Rory can get in my nerves sometimes with her stubborn headedness but I also can't help but feel a bit protective of her. It seemed like around every turn there was more danger for Rory. I could understand why she would want to investigate Jasmine's death but sometimes she seemed to be a little reckless in her investigation.There was a time after Jasmine died that I was a little bored while reading this but it really didn't last all that long. There were quite a few people that I suspected to be behind Jasmine's death and I am happy to say that I wasn't able to guess who was behind it. That really kept me interested in the story and I loved the action that happened after the reveal.I was a little bummed that Rory and Detective Green were not in a relationship. They don't appear that they will be in a relationship anytime soon (because of Mel) but I am still keeping my fingers crossed for them.Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the galley.