SERIES: Home Repair is Homicide, Book #5
AUTHOR: Sarah Graves
AUTHOR: Sarah Graves
NARRATOR: Lindsay Ellison
PUBLISHER: Blackstone Audio
PUBLISHER: Blackstone Audio
PUBLICATION DATE: June 2, 2011 (first published 2001)
FORMAT: Audiobook
LENGTH: 9 hrs and 9 mins
LENGTH: 9 hrs and 9 mins
GENRE: Mystery/Cozy Mystery
When Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree plans a visit to Faye Anne Carmody's house, she doesn't expect to find it covered in blood. She also doesn't expect to find Faye Anne dazed, yet alive. But she is. All looks fine, until Jake takes a trip to the butcher's shop, and finds a bunch of meat packages wrapped in brown paper in the display case. Realizing that this is unusual, Jake investigates, only to find Faye Anne's husband's, Merle, body wrapped in those little packages. Then another person is found murdered, and Jake immediately decides that it's up to her to solve the crime, instead of spending time with her family and working on rehabilitating her home. Who can get anything done during the holidays, when there's a killer on the loose?
MY REVIEW:
I jumped into this series at Book #5. I had it sitting on my dusty bookshelf, and it is a Christmas cozy so I threw caution to the wind. That might have been a mistake on my part, because I had a lot of trouble getting into the story.
It started off with a bang, after the main character and her BFF, Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree and Ellie, let themselves into a neighbour's house and found the kitchen looking like a bloodbath. Their first thought was that Merle, the abusive alcoholic, finally murdered his wife, Faye Anne. However, what they find is even more disturbing. In Merle's butcher shop, someone has taken the time to dismember Merle's body and wrap it in butcher paper and place the pieces in the display case. Faye Anne is arrested, but Ellie can't believe that her friend is guilty. Ellie and Jake set out to prove her innocence.
The beginning of the book had a great hook, but then it lost me from there. The pace of the story moved so slowly, and I had a really hard time getting into it. I ending up switching to the audiobook, which did make it easier to get through the book but the pace of it remained slow. I enjoyed learning about Jake and the relationship with her ex, Victor, and their son with her new husband. I think I'd like to go back to the beginning of the series just to get the back story on those characters. I'm willing to give this series another shot.
The narrator, Lindsay Ellison, is new to me and she did a fine job. Here is a sample of the narration:
MY RATING:
It started off with a bang, after the main character and her BFF, Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree and Ellie, let themselves into a neighbour's house and found the kitchen looking like a bloodbath. Their first thought was that Merle, the abusive alcoholic, finally murdered his wife, Faye Anne. However, what they find is even more disturbing. In Merle's butcher shop, someone has taken the time to dismember Merle's body and wrap it in butcher paper and place the pieces in the display case. Faye Anne is arrested, but Ellie can't believe that her friend is guilty. Ellie and Jake set out to prove her innocence.
The beginning of the book had a great hook, but then it lost me from there. The pace of the story moved so slowly, and I had a really hard time getting into it. I ending up switching to the audiobook, which did make it easier to get through the book but the pace of it remained slow. I enjoyed learning about Jake and the relationship with her ex, Victor, and their son with her new husband. I think I'd like to go back to the beginning of the series just to get the back story on those characters. I'm willing to give this series another shot.
The narrator, Lindsay Ellison, is new to me and she did a fine job. Here is a sample of the narration:
MY RATING:
2 stars!! Meh, it was just "okay."
This book qualifies as:
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