What is Paint Me Like Your Dead Girls about?
17 year old Fliss is with her art lover father at an estate sale when she finds a famous painting. It is purchased immediately and from that moment, terrible things begin to happen around Fliss and her friends.
A true crime buff and budding investigative journalist, Fliss investigates the paintings as part of a college course she is doing with her best friend Izzy.
Plot summary of Paint Me Like Your Dead Girls (No Spoilers)
After finding a famous painting in an estate sale Fliss attends with her dad and his new wife, they take the painting home and organise it to be verified by an art expert. Learning it really is a legendary painting from a famous crime last century, Fliss is just as excited as her father. He wants it to be an important part of the art gallery he works for, and Fliss wants to investigate the crime behind the face in the painting.
As he leaves for his honeymoon in the Maldives, Fliss helps out at the gallery event showing the painting, only to be part of a murder investigation by the end of the night. There is word of a curse that follows the painting around, and Fliss’ best friend Izzy is worried that it’s true.
Against her better judgement, Fliss hosts a party with Izzy while her dad is away and to her horror, not only does it not go to plan, another death occurs. Her dad can’t get back to her due to bad weather, and Fliss convinces her mum (living in Aust) that she’ll be fine. In fact, she is even more determined to find out about the painter and his victims in four other paintings called – The Four.
Izzy loses patience with Fliss’ investigation and Fliss refuses to believe in any curse. They are soon faced with the truth and can’t believe what and who they have discovered.
Review
Paint Me Like Your Dead Girls is a catchy title and instantly made me think of Titanic when Rose asks Jack to draw her like his French girls, but the protagonist doesn’t actually meet the artist in this YA Thriller. She does investigate him however, and with flashbacks to 1911 when four murders occur, readers will learn more about him.
This novel is also interesting in the way best friends Fliss and Izzy view five creepy paintings and their history. Fliss believes in straight facts and nothing else, but Izzy believes in a curse that is said to come with the paintings. You’ll have to read it to find out who is right….
Another interest factor is the way the plot flicks back to 1911 to allow readers to learn a little about each of the historical victims in the story, and more clues each time reveal the women’s true fates.
I thought I’d figured out the villain in this YA thriller, but I had it completely wrong. That in itself made it a good read. The plot reminded me a little of Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, but it’s perfectly fine for readers aged 12 and up, including Intermediate (NZ) readers.
Book Style
352 Pages – with some chapters taking readers back to 1911 and unsolved crimes that are key to the story.
FAQ’s
What age is it for?
12+
Where & When is it set?
A fictional US town, its art gallery and a local college
What is the Point of View / Tense of the novel?
First person / Present Tense
Is there Violence?
Yes
Is there sex?
No
What genre is Paint Me Like Your Dead Girls?
YA Thriller
Themes
Mystery / Art / Crime / Murder /
Is it part of a series?
No
Author
Cynthia Murphy
Publisher
Penguin Books
(2026, Penguin Books, Crime, Thriller, Murder, Serial Killer, Historical Sections, Art, Gallery, Famous Paintings, Investigations, Mystery, Summer College Program, Creativity, 1911 crimes)