Dead in the Doorway by Diane Kelly is the second book in the “House-Flipper” cozy mystery series. Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperback, coming March 31, 2020.
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-neighbor 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.
What a fun-loving cast of characters that brought me joy while reading about the adventures of Whitney, her friends and Sawdust.
This was a fast-paced and well-written tale that I could not put down, quickly becoming a page-turner. The mystery was nicely crafted with plenty of suspects and I had a good time watching it all play out with visually descriptive narrative that provided clues with engaging dialogue, and interaction between Whitney and the suspects. The relationship between the main characters are so refreshing and I love the humor that exists between all the murder and mayhem. I particularly love reading Sawdust’s point of view, which always put a smile on my face. . .how in tuned he is to everything. One by one, the field of suspects narrowed and when I thought I knew who was behind it all, the author changed direction, all to enhance my reading pleasure. Overall, this was one of the best books in the series and I can’t wait for more exploits in this delightfully appealing series.
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FTC Full Disclosure – I received an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) from the author.
Thanks Dru Ann for sharing info on Diane Kelly’s book, Dead in the Doorway. It is always great to hear another’s view of a book before possibly buying the book.
I so enjoyed the first in this series that I marked my calendar for the release of this the second book! Thanks for your great review.
So far none of the local county systems has it on order. I’ll keep watching for it though…This looks like a fun read.
I enjoyed the first book in this series and I’m looking forward to reading this one.
Great new series. I always enjoy this author and I loved the first book.