A High-End Finish (A Fixer-Upper Mystery, #1)

by Kate Carlisle

THE FIRST NOVEL IN THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING FIXER-UPPER MYSTERY SERIES!

Don't miss the Hallmark Movies & Mystery Originals starring Jewel, based on the Fixer-Upper Mystery series!

In the seaside town of Lighthouse Cove in northern California, everyone knows the best man for the job is actually a woman—contractor Shannon Hammer. But while her home-renovation and repair business is booming, her love life needs work.

On a blind date with real estate agent Jerry Saxton, Shannon has to whip out a pair of pliers to keep Jerry from getting too hands on. She's happy to put her rotten date behind her, but when Jerry’s found dead in a run-down Victorian home that she’s been hired to restore, the town’s attractive new police chief suspects that her threats may have laid the foundation for murder.
 
Determined to clear her name, Shannon conducts her own investigation—with the help of her four best friends, her eccentric father, a nosy neighbor or two, and a handsome crime writer who’s just moved to town. But as they get closer to prying out the murderer’s identity, Shannon is viciously attacked. Now she’ll have to nail down the truth—or end up in permanent foreclosure...

• ISBN10: 0451469194
• ISBN13: 9780451469199
• Publish Date: 4 November 2014
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Berkley
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780451469199

Reviews

This was pretty average. I was expecting a lot from this - I always do for Penguin Berkley Crime - not least because they're always so expensive - but it just didn't quite deliver. I didn't hate it. I more or less didn't mind Shannon or the wacky cast of characters. The romance was absurd but thankfully didn't dominate the book. I didn't like either love interest. A lot of the romance was extremely juvenile. The plot line was enjoyable - if not majorly predictable. It got very over the top towards the end very Midsomer Murders with all the bodies/incidents but once I accepted that, it was easy enough to get through - it even managed to surprise a few chuckles out of me. It was rather long for a cozy mystery - or at least it seemed rather long. It dragged in the middle. And there isn't a lot of investigating persay. She talks to a few people but things mainly happen to her, so if you're looking for something a bit more than beach read, this isn't for you. 2.5 stars.