This Old Homicide

By: Kate Carlisle

Narrated by: Angela Starling

From the New York Times best-selling author of the Bibliophile Mysteries and A High-End Finish comes the second Fixer-Upper Mystery...

Contractor and part-time sleuth Shannon Hammer specializes in improving the quirks and flaws of the Victorian homes in Lighthouse Cove, California. The quirks and flaws of their residents are another story... Valentine's Day is approaching, and while Shannon is delighted to be friends with not one but two handsome men, not everyone in town is feeling the love. After her elderly neighbor Jesse Hennessey fails to make his daily appearance at the local diner, Shannon swings by his place to check on him. Not only does she find Jesse dead - of an apparent heart attack - but she also realizes that his home has been ransacked.

Someone suggests that a thief was searching for a priceless necklace Jesse claimed to have retrieved from a capsized sailing ship, but Shannon doesn't believe it. Everyone knows Jesse had a penchant for constructing tall tales - like the one about him having a hot new girlfriend. But his death is soon ruled a homicide, and shady suspects begin popping out of the woodwork. When another victim turns up dead, Shannon is convinced she must find the killer before someone else gets nailed...

©2015 Kathleen Beaver (P)2015 Audible Inc.

Great characters

contractors, family-dynamics, family, friendship, small-town, amateur-sleuth, law-enforcement, romance, cozy-mystery, murder, murder-investigation, pets*****

The first dead man Shannon finds looks like natural causes. Except that the entire house has been tossed while there seemed to be nothing stolen that could be pawned for quick sale. Meanwhile she is rehabbing a friend's newly purchased Victorian and another friend's B&B complete with ghost. Great believable characters and good sleuthing.
I started to buy the earliest books in series because I liked the newest one so much, but the narrator's
overly dramatic, saccharine style makes me wish I had a good robot to read it to me.

Enjoyable

This was an enjoyable book that was performed well. Honestly, this is my kind of mystery. It is light, mostly friendly, with a likeable main character.

Deceptive acquaintances

New characters are coming out of the wood work trying to find a rumored valuable necklace found by Shannons neighbor,Mr.Jessy.Murder,mysterious lights shining through a house that’s supposed to be empty,alot of people who have motive to murder in order to get the necklace.A suspect unlikely for reasons that are obvious but show,you can’t judge a book by its cover.

A wonderful read from Kate Carlisle

Shannon Hammer is determined to prove that her good neighbor Jesse did not commit suicide, what she unravels keeps getting more and more complicated. Lighthouse Cove is a small, peaceful town, filled with friendly people, or is it. This story will keep you guessing.

Shannon Needs to Build Herself a Backbone

While I love that Shannon is capable of building anything she wants, I want her to grow or build herself a backbone. She allows neighbors and former classmates to insult, manipulate and embarrass her constantly. Also, Shannon's female pals are not well defined, interesting or memorable. The best part of most cozy mysteries are usually the unique and strong-willed secondary characters. The worst part of this series is the constant bullying by adult women stuck acting out silly high school drama. Boring!