Dead In The Doorway

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.

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.

Series: A House-Flipper Mystery – Book #2
Author: Diane Kelly
Genre: Cozy Mystery/Renovation
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Page Count: 352

Rating:

The long-awaited second book from Diane Kelly in the “House Flipper Mystery” series, Dead In The Doorway, is available at the end of March. This intriguing house renovation cozy published by St Martin’s Press will leave readers itching to renovate and investigate the old broken down houses in their neighborhood.

Whitney is a remarkable character in this enjoyable and entertaining cozy series. She is hard-working, dedicated, and mindful of the people around her, even strangers. The characters in this series are exceedingly likable; readers will find at least one or more that they can relate with. The detective, Collin, is slowly becoming essential and hopefully will continue to be involved with Whitney. Sawdust, Whitney’s beloved cat, steals the show more than once. I could read his thoughts all day and have a smile on my face the entire time.

In this addition to the cozy series, Whitney’s dream house flip turns into a nightmare when she finds the body of a neighbor in the entryway. Skeletons come out of the closet as she and Sawdust investigate. The old woman wasn’t well-liked by many, not her family or neighbors. She was bossy, rude, and at times downright nasty to everyone around her. But no one deserves to be pushed down the stairs and left to die alone. It doesn’t take long for Whitney to find the killer and figure out that sometimes motives, like people, are just plain crazy.

Ms. Kelly is a dynamic writer. Her work is smooth, easy to read, and fills the reader with a sense of having been a part of a real mystery. Dead In The Doorway is a fantastic, fast-paced, enjoyable read that readers will not be able to put down. I highly recommend this cozy book and the series, as well as all of Diane’s other mystery series. If readers want exciting reads and happy endings, they will love this book!

Other renovation/restoration cozy mysteries readers will want to read are Kate Carlisle’s entertaining series “A Fixer-Upper Mystery” and JoAnna Carl’s fun series “Chocoholic Mystery”.

About the Author:

A former tax advisor, Diane Kelly, inadvertently worked with white-collar criminals. Lest she end up in an orange jumpsuit, Diane decided self-employment would be a good idea. Her fingers hit the keyboard and thus began her “Death and Taxes” romantic cozy mystery series. A graduate of her hometown’s Citizen Police Academy, Diane Kelly also writes the hilarious K-9 cop “Paw Enforcement” series. She recently launched a House Flipper series and has published many romantic comedies.