- Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
- Publication Date: April 23, 2024
- Author: Diane Kelly
- Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
- Page Count: 304
Blurb
Carpenter Whitney Whitaker and her cousin Buck are hot for a historical property that has just come on the market—a fire station in Nashville’s Germantown neighborhood that was built nearly a century ago.
The cousins have just begun the interior demolition work at the fire station when Joanna Hartzell, who lives in a townhouse around the corner, comes by with a plea for help. Joanna owns the right half of her building, which she proudly maintains in perfect condition, while the left side falls into disrepair: the seven adult children who inherited it years ago refuse to lift a finger on repairs. Never one to turn down a challenge, Whitney and Buck manage to acquire the rundown townhouse—though it turns out Joanna is only one of the many neighbors interested in buying the property once they’ve worked their magic.
Then Joanna shows up at the fire station confused and rambling, then collapses, never to recover. Alarm bells go off for Whitney: she suspects something—and someone—evil could be the real cause. Can she and Collin put the clues together and smoke out a killer?
My Thoughts & Opinions
Four-Alarm Homicide is the sixth novel in the House-Flipper Mystery series, but it is the first novel that I’ve read from this author. That being said, I had no problem reading Four-Alarm as a standalone.
The story unfolds through the lens of the main character, Whitney Whitaker, a carpenter by trade and house-flipper with her cousin, Buck. There’s a few cameo appearances from Whitney’s cat, Sawdust. But I didn’t see the point of including a cat’s point of view as it didn’t add anything to the narrative.
The pacing of the novel was significantly slower than what I’m accustomed to as the murder doesn’t occur until I was at least 40% vested into the novel. I would normally give up at a little past 33%, but what kept me going were the science-based theories, and the house-flipping operations. Patience paid off in the end as the finale was unexpected and a surprise.
Being that the novel is the sixth in the series, I was pleasantly surprised that all of the characters were well developed and didn’t lose any of their attributes through the prior novels. I loved all of the characters. But dear to my heart was the crotchety old neighbor, Gideon. And then, of course, there was Whitney’s cousin, Buck.
Like most cozy mystery novels, there are a few recipes at the end which was a bonus in my book. Four stars.
I was invited to read a DRC from St. Martin’s Press through NetGalley. This review is completely my own and reflects my honest thoughts and opinions.
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