Paint by Murders (Emily Ellis, #1) by Amanda Jaeger Review Copy

⭐⭐⭐ Stars

Book Blurb

Her talent couldn't save their lives. Can it save hers?

Girls are dying in the town of Volga, and no one seems to be talking about who or what is behind their deaths. Emily Ellis, aka Mills, knows her talent as an artist has a purpose: to tell the stories of girls who are no longer able to tell their stories themselves.

In her hands, Mills’ brushes do the talking. They take over her hands and mind, and what they produce seem to have a connection to the girls and what happened to them. There’s only one person who knows how dark that connection is, and he’ll stop at nothing to use that connection for his own ends. With Mills in his crosshairs, she has to do whatever it takes to survive.

Paint by Murders Book Review 

I received a Review Copy of this book and my thanks to the team of BookSirens, the publisher and the author for the copy.

All views expressed in this review are my own and based on my reading of this book. Some of the initial comments were made as I progressed in this book and I have not tried editing them as it expresses my contiguous thoughts as I proceeded with the story.

The story of an artist able to connect with the dead through her paintings makes this a little off the normal track for thrillers. The concept and the book makes the story read-worthy. The story is dark and gloomy and throughout there is a pall looming.

The characters are interesting and leave an imprint despite the short size of the book. It helps to keep the story tight and provides enough action for the brains to get the reader invested. The story is the start of a series and the protagonist artist Emily or Mills is the centre piece. There are enough bread crumbs in the story to keep the reader progressing towards the finale.

The use of multiple point of views in the story is interesting but not used well enough here. I have had the pleasure of reading something along those lines in another book and here I felt short changed.

The story lands on a cliffhanger to take the story forward.

I loved the way Jaeger has used the length of the story to keep things well knit. the various points of views are a welcome plan and a proper segregation would have prevented any confusion. The leads are fine and a thriller reader would have guessed the villain early on in the story but that does not in any way take anything away from enjoying the story. I would definitely want to read more of the authors books.

My primary complaint would be about the numerous points of view which properly segregated would add weight to the story. Separate chapters with headings of the person whose view is being written helps matters when used properly. More character development was necessary and some extra pages could have been spared in the book. But being the start of the series I expect the author to develop this in subsequent sequels. There could be an idea to change characters of some of the cast which would be a pleasant surprise. This is up to the author. Some zing is still missing and prevents me from taking the ratings up a notch but was value for my time so it would be closer to 3.5 rather than 3.

Recommended reading for a great concept.

⭐⭐⭐ Stars

Recommended

Please do not forget to post your comments. I am an equal opportunity person so would love to hear your love or your hate for the review or book in any order. Please write what you did not like or whether the book was an absolute disaster for you and why.

You can also write to firstsutraindia@gmail.com


Goodreads Review here -

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5576975125

Amazon Review here -

https://www.amazon.in/review/R3BYTQ8AKGV65J

Or my Social Media Handle @BookishDramas in Twitter, Instagram & Facebook. Links are given below -

https://twitter.com/bookishdramas

https://www.instagram.com/bookishdramas/

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088404892842