Murder is on the to-do list when construction contractor Shannon Hammer looks for a killer in the fifth Fixer-Upper Mystery....
At the annual Victorian Home and Garden Tour, Lighthouse Cove, California's premier contractor, Shannon Hammer, realizes that the competition is about to turn deadly....Shannon is in high demand among rival homeowners who will do anything to win Best in Show. One-upmanship and even espionage break out among neighbors, construction crews, decorators, and landscapers. Thanks to several new hires, Shannon is sure she can handle the extra load - until murder throws a wrench in the works.The small town's corrupt building inspector is found dead on one of Shannon's jobsites, and soon plenty of suspects are coming out of the woodwork. When another body is discovered, Shannon calls on her team of close friends and devilishly astute thriller writer Mac to help her nail down the details and build a case against the killer before the door shuts on someone else - for good.Series: Fixer-Upper Mystery #5 | Publisher: Audible | Narrator: Angela Starling | Length: 7 hrs 35 mins| Genre: Contemporary Cozy Mystery | Source: Audible | Rating: 4 CupsChallenges Read For: - Cruisin' Thru The Cozies: Book of My Choice
Praise to the book gods! Shannon’s finally stopped
complaining about the ‘mean girls’ from high school. Let’s have a moment of appreciative
silence because her whinging was getting really old.
Now, on with the review…With the Victorian Home and Garden
Tour looming, Shannon and her crew find themselves with more work than they
know how to handle so when Amanda shows up looking for a job, Shannon is happy
to put her woodworking skills to use. Although when the building inspector, who’s
been giving Shannon and her crew trouble, turns up dead and it’s discovered
Amanda possibly has a connection to the family they’ve been doing repairs for,
Shannon realizes she needs to do a little digging of her own before one of her
crew is charged with murder. Although when a woman is murdered in a local hotel
owned by Shannon’s friend, she realizes there’s more going on than what meets
the eye and all roads seem to be leading back to Amanda. Shannon must figure
out what’s going on before the murderer catches on.
This has to be one of my favorites in the series. It was
slightly predictable but not entirely in your face; there were still a few key
of parts of the mysteries that had to be worked out.
I felt like Shannon showed a
lot of personal growth in this one. She’s not constantly going on and on about
how she doesn’t compare to the ‘mean girls’ from high school or how they
treated her. She doesn’t seem caught up on how Tommy—her high school boyfriend
now cop—was trapped into marriage by one of the ‘mean girls’. She seemed more well-rounded
and adult and I really enjoyed seeing this side of her.
Both the murder mystery and the mystery of Amanda—the newest
member of Shannon’s construction company—were equally entertaining. While I had
a feeling things were going to play out the way they did, I was still sussing out
a few of the whys and hows. I did have a slight problem with the believability
of one particular reasoning and I did question how it went undiscovered—I’m not
going to say what as I don’t want to spoil it for reader—but I feel those two
items in particular could have been handled/explained a bit better. I don’t
really see how the one went undiscovered.
The romance in this one felt a bit stilted. Shannon’s been
wavering between the Mac and Eric but leaning more towards Mac. The last book
showed them growing closer but this book was a bit lackluster in the romance. I
didn’t really see any growth in their relationship and it felt as though they
were just really good friends hanging out rather than being a couple.
Angela Starling is back narrating and, for me, she’s just a
better fit for this series. She really brings Shannon to life and it easy and
enjoyable to listen to.
Overall, there still a few spots that could have improved but
I rather enjoyed this one. I feel like this one is getting back on track with
how the first book in the series was and I’m hoping that will continue.
Fixer
Upper Series
Eaves
of Destruction (Fixer-Upper Mystery #5)
A
Wrench in the Works (Fixer-Upper Mystery #6)
No comments:
Post a Comment
I simply love reading your comments! Thanks for stopping by! -Angela