Paint Me Like Your Dead Girls

LoveReading Says

Super-suspenseful and shot-through with esotericism, Cynthia Murphy’s Paint Me Like Your Dead Girls blazes with the drive of its determined protagonist, seventeen-year-old Fliss, who throws herself into investigating a series of murders after finding what her art history professor father describes as “one of the most important pieces of lost art in the last century”.

The artwork in question, “so fabled that no one was sure it even existed”, depicts a creepy “soulless face”, and completes a set of four paintings of women by the same artist, whose body was found with all five paintings. When Fliss learns that some experts believe the painter killed the four women and immortalised them on canvas, she sets herself a goal: “I’m going to find out who these women were and share their names with the world.”

Through Fliss’ investigation, the narrative shifts back to the artist’s victims in 1911, all of them young women who were trying to forge fresh lives in New York City. When a series of murders happens close to home in the present-day, Fliss pivots her focus to tracking down the culprit. Adding to the intrigue, while Fliss is convinced the perpetrator is copying the historic murders, her best friend believes the painting is cursed, with tarot card connections playing a part in both their theories.

Told in Fliss’ voice, the entertaining, suspenseful story builds to a searing finale. Fliss is focussed, earnest, and driven by urgency, and so is the writing. Recommended for 13+-year-olds who love creepy contemporary thrillers, gothic murder mysteries, and scary movies, Paint Me Like Your Dead Girls is also ideal for aficionados of the esoteric.

Reviewed by Joanne Owen
Joanne Owen’s lifelong love of reading and writing began when she was growing up in Pembrokeshire, and very much wished that witches (and Mrs Pepperpot) were real.
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