Dead Bolt: A Haunted Home Renovation Mystery (Haunted Home Renovation, #2)

by Juliet Blackwell

Turner Construction's latest restoration project is a historic Queen Anne Victorian in San Francisco. This time general contractor Mel Turner has to work around the owners who insist on sticking around- along with some ghosts that insist in their own way that the work stops...

The ghosts aren't the only ones standing in the way of the renovations. A crotchety neighbor, Emile Blunt, secretly wants this house, and could be behind some of the disturbances. But when Emile is found dead, it's Mel who appears guilty. Now she must restore the building-and her reputation-before it's too late.

• ISBN10: 0451235304
• ISBN13: 9780451235305
• Publish Date: 6 December 2011 (first published 1 December 2011)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Books Australia
• Imprint: Signet
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 336
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780451235305

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

Though this story's *living* plot seemed a bit disjointed and didn't really flow for me, I still gave the book 4 stars because the ghost story was great and the characters continue to develop into likeable characters I care about following. 

The ghost story was definitely the focus, while the living murder mystery was sort of back burner'ed for most of the first half of the book, with only occasional mentions. I didn't mind, but then everything started happening in the second half of the book and it sort of seemed, not rushed exactly, but compressed. Still I really enjoyed the book and look forward to the next one in the series.