The Bookish Island's Book Review:
A High-End Finish by Kate Carlisle
Are there spoilers?
There might be some spoilers but then again maybe not.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Title: A High-End FinishAuthor: Kate Carlisle
Series: A Fixer-Upper Mystery #1
.........................................................
Pages: 311
Publisher: Berkley
Published: 2014
Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Cozy Mystery
.........................................................
Date Read: January 13 + January 17 + January 19, 2019
Rating: ★★★★☆
FIRST IN A NEW SERIES!
In the seaside town of Lighthouse Cove in northern California, everyone knows the best man for the job is actually a woman—contractor Shannon Hammer. But while Shannon can do wonders with a power drill and a little elbow grease, she’s about to discover that some problems aren’t so easily fixed.
Shannon’s home-renovation and repair business is booming, but her love life needs work. On a blind date with real estate agent Jerry Saxton, she has to whip out a pair of pliers to keep Jerry from getting too hands on. Shannon is happy to put her rotten date behind her, but when Jerry’s found dead in a run-down Victorian home that she’s been hired to restore, the town’s attractive new police chief suspects that her threats may have laid the foundation for murder.
Determined to clear her name, Shannon conducts her own investigation—with the help of her four best friends, her eccentric father, a nosy neighbor or two, and a handsome crime writer who’s just moved to town. But as they get closer to prying out the murderer’s identity, Shannon is viciously attacked. Now she’ll have to nail down the truth—or end up in permanent foreclosure.
My Review:
I choose this book as my pick for the Cozy Corner square in Romanceopoly because I had seen the Hallmark movie and I really loved it. But I quickly realized that this book has little in common with the movie series.
Shannon is a tomboy home renovator who is passionate about what she does and fixing houses and preserving their history. But shes also into her physical health and fitness and shes into a whole bunch of stuff that make her a well-rounded character. Something that I really loved because its the first main character form a cozy mystery that it a full character and not just someone who does the specific work the series is about (baker, cook, librarian, etc.) and it just so happens that someone is murdered and they take it upon themselves to solve it. Shannon had her hobbies, her work, her friends and family, and her enemies. What I'm trying to say is that she's one of my favorite cozy mystery characters. I love her and how strong she was with all that was thrown at her.
I was so delighted that the police in this was actively involved. And we're still collecting evidence even after they took away the body was found. And even stayed around the scene of the crime. I've read some that don't do that. The police in those books just show up take the body and don't even bother to have one cop stay at the scene of the crime so no one just walks in and touches everything.
I loved the way the author wrote about the houses and the process of the renovations. I could see what she was writing in my mind and understood it perfectly. Mostly since I've been watching a bunch of HGTV and DIY. My favorite show being, Rehab Addict.
Another thing about this book that I loved was just how female-driven it was for a cozy mystery. How Shannon and her friends ran everything and we're all in to help her figure out what was going on and catch the murderer.
About the crime. The murder victims in this book were not the greatest human beings and so your led to believe that they deserved it. One was a womanizer and a total jerk and the other one was a total jerk and super rude and entitled. And if it wasn't for the fact that one of them did something bad to Shannon, and in no point in the book was it explained and understood as such but rather just an attack, I wouldn't think it was deserved but -yeah.
Then there was the great at times, odd at other, love triangle that was happening with Shannon and the two love interests.
Having read this book I can now tick off one book read in the Romanceopoly. As a part of my 2019 Reading Challenges.
Shannon is a tomboy home renovator who is passionate about what she does and fixing houses and preserving their history. But shes also into her physical health and fitness and shes into a whole bunch of stuff that make her a well-rounded character. Something that I really loved because its the first main character form a cozy mystery that it a full character and not just someone who does the specific work the series is about (baker, cook, librarian, etc.) and it just so happens that someone is murdered and they take it upon themselves to solve it. Shannon had her hobbies, her work, her friends and family, and her enemies. What I'm trying to say is that she's one of my favorite cozy mystery characters. I love her and how strong she was with all that was thrown at her.
I was so delighted that the police in this was actively involved. And we're still collecting evidence even after they took away the body was found. And even stayed around the scene of the crime. I've read some that don't do that. The police in those books just show up take the body and don't even bother to have one cop stay at the scene of the crime so no one just walks in and touches everything.
I loved the way the author wrote about the houses and the process of the renovations. I could see what she was writing in my mind and understood it perfectly. Mostly since I've been watching a bunch of HGTV and DIY. My favorite show being, Rehab Addict.
Another thing about this book that I loved was just how female-driven it was for a cozy mystery. How Shannon and her friends ran everything and we're all in to help her figure out what was going on and catch the murderer.
About the crime. The murder victims in this book were not the greatest human beings and so your led to believe that they deserved it. One was a womanizer and a total jerk and the other one was a total jerk and super rude and entitled. And if it wasn't for the fact that one of them did something bad to Shannon, and in no point in the book was it explained and understood as such but rather just an attack, I wouldn't think it was deserved but -yeah.
Then there was the great at times, odd at other, love triangle that was happening with Shannon and the two love interests.
Having read this book I can now tick off one book read in the Romanceopoly. As a part of my 2019 Reading Challenges.
Goodreads || Amazon || Barnes & Noble || Book Depository
No comments:
Post a Comment
Welcome, all lovely booknerds!