Title: Premeditated Mortar
Series: Fixer-Upper Mystery #8
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Publisher: Berkley
Format: Kindle ARC
No. of pages: 294
Published: December 1, 2020
My Rating: 4 Stars
DESCRIPTION:
Contractor Shannon Hammer gets tangled up in murder at a spooky old asylum in the latest Fixer-Upper Mystery from New York Times bestselling author Kate Carlisle. . . .
Shannon Hammer is about to embark on one of the biggest projects of her career. Her best friend Jane Hennessey has purchased one wing of the Gables, formerly the old state insane asylum, located on a bucolic hillside two miles northeast of Lighthouse Cove. Jane plans to turn her section into a small luxury hotel complete with twenty ocean-view rooms, a spa, and a restaurant.
Shannon is raring to get started on the enormous project and is shocked when a group of unruly protesters shows up at the groundbreaking ceremony and wreaks havoc. She’s even more freaked-out when someone pushes her into a pit of bricks in a closed-off room of the asylum. Despite her close call, Shannon wants nothing more than to get back to work . . . until she finds a body not far from where she was pushed. Now Shannon is determined to get to the bottom of the goings-on at the Gables even if it kills her. . . .
MY THOUGHTS:
Abandoned insane asylums always have a sense of foreboding. The Gables, an old asylum, is the setting for the 8th book in the Fixer-Upper series. Jane Hennessey, Shannon Hammer’s best friend, bought a wing there and plans to turn it into a fancy hotel with all the bells and whistles. So, Shannon will be busy - not just because she’s Jane’s bestie, but also because she’s a contractor and will be starting the renovations.
For reasons unclear to Shannon, there are some people who have a problem with the projects that will be going on there and are giving Shannon a hard time. Shannon soon has a freaky experience. A protestor has shoved her into a pile of bricks and when they topple, she finds a dead body. Shannon has proved more than skilled when it comes to solving murders, so her attention is easily diverted. Shannon is now determined to discovervwho the body belonged to, how it ended up behind the wall, and even would like to identify the killer.
This book, Premeditated Mortar, does touch on some serious issues, including how terrible those suffering with mental health issues were treated in the past. With a total of eleven books so far in the series, Shannon often finds herself in a pickle, but always comes out the victor.
Many thanks to Berkley and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
New York Times bestselling author Kate Carlisle is a native Californian who worked in television production for many years before turning to writing. It was a lifelong fascination with the art and craft of bookbinding that led her to write the Bibliophile Mysteries, featuring Brooklyn Wainwright, whose bookbinding and restoration skills invariably uncover old secrets, treachery and murder.
Her first book, Homicide in Hardcover, debuted in February 2010, followed by If Books Could Kill, The Lies That Bind, Murder Under Cover, One Book in the Grave, Peril in Paperback, A Cookbook Conspiracy, The Book Stops Here, Ripped from the Pages, Books of a Feather, Once Upon a Spine, Buried in Books and The Book Supremacy. She also wrote a Bibliophile e-novella, Pages of Sin, available in e-format only.
Her first book, Homicide in Hardcover, debuted in February 2010, followed by If Books Could Kill, The Lies That Bind, Murder Under Cover, One Book in the Grave, Peril in Paperback, A Cookbook Conspiracy, The Book Stops Here, Ripped from the Pages, Books of a Feather, Once Upon a Spine, Buried in Books and The Book Supremacy. She also wrote a Bibliophile e-novella, Pages of Sin, available in e-format only.
With the publication of A High-End Finish in November 2014, Kate launched the Fixer-Upper Mysteries featuring building contractor Shannon Hammer, who specializes in Victorian home renovation and repair. The series is set in Lighthouse Cove, a seemingly idyllic town with many dark secrets hiding under its floorboards. This Old Homicide, Crowned and Moldering, Deck the Hallways, Eaves of Destruction and A Wrench in the Works continue the series. Three of the Fixer-Upper Mysteries have been brought to the small screen by Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.
Kate's television credits include numerous game shows, music videos, concerts, and variety shows, including The Midnight Special, Solid Gold and The Gong Show. She traveled the world as a Dating Game chaperone and performed strange acts of silliness on The Gong Show, most notably as a member of the girl group, The Whispers. They didn't sing, exactly, but spit water on the host of the show.
Kate also studied acting and singing, toiled in vineyards, collected books, joined a commune, sold fried chicken, modeled spring fashions and worked for a cruise ship line, but it was the year she spent in law school that finally drove her to begin writing fiction. It seemed the safest way to kill off her professors. Those professors are breathing easier now that Kate spends most of her time writing in Southern California where she lives with her perfect hero husband.
Kate is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers and Romance Writers of America. She is the proud recipient of the Golden Heart and Daphne du Maurier awards, and her first Bibliophile Mystery received a Best First Mystery nomination from RT Book Reviews. Kate loves to travel and read and drink good wine and watch other people cook.
Despite the appearance of overnight success, Kate's dream of publication took many, many years to fulfill. If you're wondering why, here's the real scoop.
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