Dead In The Doorway
House-Flipper Mystery, Book #2
Diane Kelly
5 Stars
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ynopsis:
A HOUSE WITH GOOD BONES. . .
Whitney Whitaker has scored the perfect piece of real estate: a ramshackle white Colonial at the top of a hill with views of downtown Nashville. What more could a self-taught home-improvement maven and occasional house-flipper ask for? Ideally, the property of Whitney’s dreams would not have come with a dead body blocking the entrance to the foyer. But Whitney, always quick to take heavy-duty matters into her own hands, also happens to be a skilled amateur sleuth. So that helps.
AND SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET.
Who is this older woman—and how did her corpse end up at the bottom of the staircase of this locked, unoccupied house? That is what Whitney, along with the support of her wood-working cousin Buck, Detective Collin Flynn, and, of course, feline partner-in-crime Sawdust, intends to find out. Her friendly-neighbour investigation takes a sharp turn, however, when Whitney discovers that the house’s former owner was a gourmet baker whose secret recipe for peach pie was to die for—perhaps literally. Now it’s up to Whitney to learn the truth about what happened before she loses this killer real-estate deal . . . and the killer comes knocking at her door. (Goodreads)
Review:
The characters are well developed, well rounded and three dimensional. Whitney knows her way around a hammer and she and her cousin, Buck, are doing another house flip. But this one comes with a dead body, and if she and Buck are going to make a profit, she needs to catch the killer. With the help of Sawdust, her cat, she is going to find the murderer, even if it kills her. And it just might. I enjoyed the Sawdust chapters, seeing things from his perspective.
The writing style flows smoothly and it defines the characters very clearly by their actions and words. The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and these descriptions pulled me into the story from the very beginning. And the mystery was very well plotted and not easily solved. There were enough clues to sift through and suspects to consider and I was not completely sure until the reveal at the end.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well written cozy mystery. The characters are engaging, the setting was inviting and the mystery was intriguing. I cannot wait for the next book in the series.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate.
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