Diane Kelly

The sixth in the House Flippers series has Whitney and her cousin Beau renovating an old fire station in Germantown, a Nashville suburb. This leads them to a townhouse around the corner from the fire station which is owned by a bunch of feuding siblings. The owner of the attached townhouse - widowed Joanna Hartzell - is afraid that the neglected building is bringing down her property values.

After some legal manipulations, including quit claim deeds, Whitney and Beau add the townhouse to their slate of renovations. But arson at the fire station, vandalism in the townhouse, and the suspicious death of Joana are delaying their renovations plans. Whitney needs to solve the murder and get the reno done at the fire station because she and her fiancé detective Collin are planning to use it as the venue for their upcoming wedding.

With a wide variety of suspects including the arguing siblings, the man across the street who wants to buy the newly renovated townhouse, the victim's daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter, and the family from across the street who also really want to move into the renovated townhouse, Whitney has plenty of people to investigate.

This was an entertaining cozy mystery. I enjoyed the chapters told by Sawdust, Whitney's cat.… (meer)

This cozy mystery is a quick read but lacks nothing. Entertaining, intriguing, clever, and even humorous at times, it still manages moments of suspense. A resort developer is staying at Misty’s lodge, pitching his concept of a new resort to wealthy investors. It doesn’t turn out well for him, as Misty’s sons accidentally discover when they accidentally uncover a rock that is shaped like a nose. Only, it’s not a rock. This is the third installment in this lovely series, sure to please regular readers as well as those readers new to the series. Don’t skip the chapters from the cat’s point of view - they are quite entertaining.… (meer)

Four-Alarm Homicide by Diane Kelly is the sixth A House Flipper Mystery. It can be read as a standalone for those who are new to the series or who may have missed a book along the way. Whitney Whitaker and her cousin, Buck are remodeling an old firehouse into a single-family home and a townhouse. Whitney and Buck need to stock up on the aspirin because these projects are going to be nothing but headaches. I like that the story begins with an amusing scene. Whitney and Buck are cousins, friends, and business partners (as you can imagine, they like to egg each other and compete against each other). When working in a neighborhood, you get to meet the neighbors. As you can imagine, there are an assortment of characters. Whitney and Buck have their hands full. I found the story to be easy to read. It is an active story with two renovations, a murder, wedding planning, the engaged couple need to decide where to live, and so much more. The mystery was interesting. I enjoyed joining Whitney as she searched for clues and asked questions. I like noticing those tiny details that lead to the killer. The method of murder was particularly unique. Whitney’s cat, Sawdust, is cute and helpful. The chapters from Sawdust’s point of view are cute. You can tell that the author has been around cats. The author includes information about home renovations (the various projects that Whitney and Buck tackle), mortgages, loans, home ownership difficulties in an easy-to-understand manner. The ending left me smiling. The one thing I did not like is the repetition of information (a pet peeve). I do not feel that key details need to be repeated several times. I look forward to Whitney and Buck’s next project. Four-Alarm Homicide is a makeover mystery with lingering neighbors, a mystifying murder, planning nuptials, kitty discoveries, mouthwatering morsels, and flipping properties.… (meer)

Tennessee, small-town, small-business, relationships, relatives, renovation, rental-units, wedding-madness, cozy-mystery, amateur-sleuth, local-law-enforcement, murder, investigations, verbal-humor, families, family-drama, family-dynamics, friends, friendship, arson, vandalism, pet-cat*****

Buck and Whitney are cousins and partners in a property flipping business. While they have had success with their partnership, they have been involved in solving several murders, and Whitney is soon to be married to the local Homicide Detective. This project is to turn an old firehouse into a home but they soon add a nearby townhouse to their agenda. They make friends with some and adversaries with others. Then an elderly lady dies, and it proves to be murder. All this while getting a wedding together! Good read with a learning opportunity to boot!
I requested and received a free temporary EARC from St. Martin's Press/St. Martin's Paperbacks via NetGalley. Thank you!
#HouseFlipperMysteryBk6 Pub Date 23 Apr 2024… (meer)