Kathryn Long, AKA Bailee Abbott, admits she is a planner and when writing, a detailed outline is a must – “I do mean detailed, like pages and pages,” laughed Long. The general premise is always a murder beginning with how it happened and weaved with details and clues for the reader to solve the murder. Her latest Paint by Murder mystery series, Easier Dead Than Drawn, was inspired by family visits to a beautiful town along Chautauqua Lake in southwest New York.
In her third book of the series, Abbot paints a picturesque view of real-life Bemus Point and its floating amphitheater. Circumstances move the amphitheater to another city. Other events bring it back to the town. A totally fictional plot but cause for mayhem, trouble, and murder!
When the town council hires Chloe Abbington’s close friend, famous wall muralist Lana Easton, to paint a mural advertising the return of the floating amphitheater, not everyone in Whisper Cove is happy about the theater or Lana. It doesn’t help that a lot of money taken from the town’s budget is being used to pay the muralist for her services. The mood turns even more grim when Lana is found dead, and since Chloe was there alone to discover her body, which makes her the prime suspect. Before Chloe finds herself painted into a corner as the killer, she, and sister Izzie hurry to solve the case and find the real criminal.
Strong, independent women prevail in the Paint by Murder mystery series. Sisters Chloe and Izzie have strength plus close family and neighbor ties, something Abbott delivers across all her writing. The warm, supportive feel of characters in a small-town community resonates with her readers. Positioning the sisters in a paint party event business, was motivated from a personal encounter.
“I got the idea after visiting our local Painting with a Twist a few times. I can’t paint worth a lick, but I had lots of fun and my paintings didn’t turnout too shabby,” Abbot said.
Abbott AKA Long is an expert at cozy mysteries, a sub-genre of crime fiction where sex and violence occur offstage. The detective, or in this case detectives, are amateur sleuths in a small rural town. In addition to the Paint by Murder series, Long is known for the Sierra Pines B&B series, Boarding with Murder, Snowed Under Murder and recently released Blooming with Murder. She is a member of Sisters in Crime as well as International Thriller Writers.
Long enjoys talking with readers and fellow authors and is looking forward to the Annual Buckeye Book Fair Nov. 1, 2025, at the Greystone Event Center in Wooster. “Writing is such a solitary act but couple it with getting out there among readers and writers makes the life as an author whole,” Long said. Don’t miss your chance to meet the woman with more than one name and many mysteries.
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