Shannon Hammer first appeared in A High-End Finish and one of the best ways to learn about a person is by asking questions, so let’s get to know Shannon.

What is your name?
Shannon Hammer, at your service.

How old are you?
32.

What is your profession?
Okay, this might surprise you. People never guess this when they first meet me—unless they meet me on one of my job sites, of course—but I’m a home contractor. I specialize in Victorian home renovation and construction in beautiful Lighthouse Cove, California. The detective stuff? I just do that on the side. As the police chief keeps reminding me, I’m not a professional sleuth. He’d like me to keep my nose out of his murders, in fact. I’d love to—but they keep happening on my watch.

Do you have a significant other?
Things are heading in that direction. I feel weird calling him my boyfriend, but Mac is the love of my life. You’ve probably heard of him—MacKintyre Sullivan, the thriller writer? He’s pretty famous. I never thought he’d go for a small-town girl like me.

Any children?
Not yet.

Do you have any sibling(s)?
Yes, one—and my sister is pretty famous, too. Chloe’s the star of the home makeover show, Makeover Madness. You might have seen it on the Home Builders Network. A complete home renovation in an hour or less. Of course, it takes a lot longer than that. They edit out the boring parts. And when Chloe came to Lighthouse Cove recently, they edited out the murder parts, too.

(This picture is from the set of Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, who brought Kate Carlisle’s Fixer-Upper Mysteries to the small screen.)

Do your parents live near you?
I lost my mother, rest in peace, but my dad lives about as close as you can get—his RV is parked in my driveway right now.

Who is your best friend?
I have a whole group of besties. Jane is my oldest and dearest friend. She runs the Hennessey House B&B, which she inherited from her grandmother. I helped her remodel it before her grand opening. Lizzie runs Paper Moon, a bookshop. Emily moved to Lighthouse Cove from Scotland and opened a very proper Tea Shoppe on the town square. And Marigold runs the quilt shop with her aunt Daisy. They were both raised Amish, and they still have strong connections to that community.

All of us would do anything for each other—which they’ve proven time and again when I turn to them for help in solving murders. Of course, some of them have had very personal connections to the victims, so I was helping them at the same time.

Cats, dogs or other pets?
I have two adorable pets I love with my whole heart. Tiger is an orange and white tabby. She’s very affectionate. Robbie the Westie is a lovable goofball—such happy energy. They make my house a home.

House or building complex? Own or Rent?
I own the house I grew up in—a Victorian, of course. There’s a creaky floorboard here and there, but by and large, my dad and I have kept it in good shape. (He started Hammer Construction; I took it over from him when he retired.)

What is your favorite spot in your house?
I love the kitchen, and especially the kitchen table. It’s the heart of my home, and every time I’m there, I feel even closer to my mom. Chloe and I used to sit at that same table and do homework while Mom made dinner. I can almost still hear her humming.

Favorite meal? Favorite dessert?
I’m a meat-and-potatoes girl—there’s nothing like good ol’ burger and fries. If I’m feeling fancy, steak and baked potatoes. And for dessert, I’ll say ice cream.

Favorite color?
Pink. It started when I was a kid, hanging out on Dad’s construction sites. I loved getting my hands dirty, so the guys started buying me pink tools. By the time I grew up, I had a lot of them, and the best part was that they didn’t get stolen because most of the guys didn’t want to be seen carrying a pink wrench.

Favorite author?
MacKintyre Sullivan, of course. And not just because he’s my boyfriend. His Jake Slater books are really authentic and exciting. Mac is a Navy SEAL, so he knows his stuff. It’s one of the reasons I rely on him so much when talking through clues and suspects.

Favorite vacation spot?
San Francisco for a quick weekend getaway.

Favorite sports team?
The Dodgers.

Movies or Broadway?
Movies.

In a few sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
On a typical day, I grab breakfast and coffee on the go and head straight to one of my job sites. I try to always be the first to arrive, whenever I can. It’s the quietest time of day, and I can think. (As long as I’ve had my coffee.) I usually have two or three crews going at any one time, so I often meet with my foremen to go over our plan for the day.

Then I jump in and work on whatever needs to be done. I do a lot of detail work on the Victorians because I’m experienced, and it takes a special touch. When I can and when I’m not covered in sawdust, I swing by Emily’s Tea Shoppe to meet the girls for lunch. I head home at the end of the day, feed the pets, grab a shower, then have dinner with Mac.

On an atypical day—although it’s happening more often than I’d like to admit—I’ll find a dead body somewhere along the way. . .

You can read more about Shannon in Shot Through the Hearth, the seventh book in the “Fixer-Upper” mystery series, released October 29, 2019. You can read chapter one for free .

Contractor Shannon Hammer is measuring murder motives in the latest Fixer-Upper Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of A Wrench in the Works and Eaves of Destruction. . .

Shannon’s good friend and retired tech billionaire, Raphael Nash, is loving his new retired life but he can’t stay unoccupied for too long. He’s started the Marigold Foundation that helps fund small companies and individuals who do humanitarian work around the world. It’s an exciting time in Lighthouse Cove as Raphael hosts the first ever global conference inviting big thinkers from every area of industry to give presentations on eco-living.

Raphael’s old business partner arrives in town with a grudge and a plan to steal him away from his important new passion project. Shannon knows her friend has no intention of giving up Marigold and is proud of Raphael for sticking to his guns. But when his former associate winds up dead, all signs point to Raphael.

It’s up to Shannon to hammer out the details of the murder before her friend gets pinned for the crime. . .

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About the author
Kate Carlisle is the New York Times bestselling author of two ongoing series: the Bibliophile Mysteries featuring San Francisco bookbinder Brooklyn Wainwright, whose rare book restoration skills uncover old secrets, treachery and murder; and the Fixer-Upper Mysteries (as seen on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries), featuring Shannon Hammer, a home contractor who discovers not only skeletons in her neighbors’ closets, but murder victims, too.

To learn more about Kate, visit her website at katecarlisle.com.

All comments are welcomed.