Whitney Whitaker first appeared in Dead as a Door Knocker and one of the best ways to learn about a person is by asking questions, so let’s get to know Whitney.

What is your name?
Whitney Whitaker.

How old are you?
Pushing 30. Old enough to have learned a few things, but still young enough for occasional bouts of overzealous optimism.

What is your profession?
I wear several hats. I work part-time as a property manager for Home & Hearth Realty. I also work on an as-needed basis in my Uncle Roger’s carpentry business, Whitaker Woodworking. Recently, I merged my real estate and carpentry skills to flip houses.

Do you have a significant other?
Yep.

What is his name and profession?
Collin Flynn. He’s a homicide detective with the Nashville, Tennessee Police Department. We’re not ready to label anything, but Collin and I have engaged in some harmless and quite enjoyable flirtation. It’s a little odd that we met over a corpse, but not everyone’s relationship begins with a “meet cute”, right?

Any children?
No human kids, but I have a special fur baby named Sawdust. He’s the sweetest cat who ever lived, though he has an uncanny knack for finding dead bodies.

Do you have any siblings?
Not officially, but I’m so close to my cousins Buck and Owen that we might as well be brothers and sister. I spent my childhood summers with them at their family’s cabin near the Kentucky border while my parents jetted off to Europe.

Do your parents live near you?
Less than half an hour away, depending on traffic. Close enough to provide support when I need it, but far enough away that they can’t meddle too much.

Who is your best friend?
Colette Chevalier. We met in college. She’s a chef at a fancy restaurant downtown, which makes her an ideal roommate. I do all the repairs and maintenance on our place, and she takes care of the cooking. It’s a win-win.

Cats, dogs or other pets?
My furry little cat Sawdust. He might be a runt, but he’s stolen my heart in a big way.

What town do you live in?
Nashville, Tennessee. Home base for many country-western stars, the Grand Ole Opry, the Tennessee Titans football team, and the Predators hockey team. The city is bisected by the picturesque Cumberland River and surrounded by beautiful rolling hills and horse farms. It’s a great place to call home.

Type of dwelling and do you own or rent?
I live in a stone cottage that my cousin and I originally bought to flip. After a body was found in the flower bed, we figured it was best to hang on to the place for a while, until the murder is less fresh on everyone’s minds and the home’s value goes back up. So, instead of selling it after we fixed it up, I moved into it along with my best friend Colette. One of her coworkers, Emmalee, has moved in, too. We all get along great.

What is your favorite spot in your home?
Curled up on the couch with Sawdust on my lap.

Favorite meal and dessert?
The southern-style veggies and biscuits at the world-famous Loveless Café. For dessert, nothing beats my Aunt Nancy’s sweet potato pie.

Favorite hobby?
Making birdhouses out of scrap wood. My Uncle Roger taught me and my cousins how to make them when we were young. We sold the birdhouses and earned enough spending money to keep us in comic books and candy all summer long.

Favorite color?
Is “pine shavings” a color? If so, that’s my favorite because that’s the color of Sawdust’s fur. (Can you tell I’m smitten with my kitten?)

Favorite author?
Melissa Bourbon, who also writes as Winnie Archer. Can’t beat her cozy mysteries.

Favorite vacation spot?
The Smoky Mountains on the east Tennessee/North Carolina border. They’re a great place to hike and, if you’re lucky, you just might spot a bear. I usually stay in Gatlinburg when I visit the Smokies. They’ve got great restaurants and live music, and places where you can sample moonshine.

Favorite sports team?
Nashville Predators. It’s fun to see a game and then hit the honky tonks down the street from their rink.

Movies or live theater?
Live theater with music. There’s lots of great shows at the Grand Ole Opry. Can’t beat ‘em.

Are you a morning or a night person?
Whatever my work calls for. Sometimes I’m yanked out of bed early with an emergency call regarding a broken pipe at a rental unit. Other times, I’m up late working on a flip house. Either way, I drink lots of coffee to keep me moving.

Amateur or professional sleuth and whom do you work with?
Amateur, but I’ve learned a lot having been dragged into two murder investigations. I work with Detective Collin Flynn and sometimes his former training partner, a no-nonsense woman named Officer Hogarty.

In a few sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
Organized chaos. I’m constantly multitasking, keeping the rental properties up and running, helping out on carpentry jobs, and, in between, fixing up flip houses with my cousin Buck. But whatever job I’m on, my toolbox and hardhat come with me. Oftentimes, Sawdust comes with me, too. I miss him when I’m away from home so much, and he has a fun time exploring our flip houses. I just wish he wasn’t so good at finding bodies!

Dead in the Doorway is the second book in the “House-Flipper” cozy mystery series, released March 31, 2020.

Dead in the Doorway is the second in a delightful cozy series from Diane Kelly set in Nashville―where the real estate market is to die for.

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.

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About the author
Diane Kelly loves writing books with feisty female lead characters. Diane is the author of the Death & Taxes, Paw Enforcement, and House Flipper mystery series. Find Diane online at dianekelly.com, on Facebook, on Twitter at @DianeKellyBooks, and on Instagram at @DianeKellyBooks.

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