I picked this up thinking it was from another home-repair series. I was disappointed at first, but that changed as soon as I began to read.

I had seen Ms.Graves books before, of course, and I even remember admiring the titles (Dead Cat Bounce, especially. I had to look up the meaning.) Yet for some reason I had never read any of this series.

The tone of this book was not as light hearted as the other (ones). Instead, by using different viewpoints, a tense and suspenseful mystery unfolds. The ending is not unexpected, but it's still a nail-biter.

This is one author I will look for again! ( )

A Bat in the Belfry is the 16th and final book in the Home Repair is Homicide mystery series. It serves to introduce Lizzie Snow, the protagonist of Winter at the Door and The Girls She Left Behind.

There are several subplots as well, One of them is another instance of heroine Jacobia 'Jake' Tiptree's son, Sam, having happy times with a frivolous and drug-taking young woman even though he's back dating Maggie, the curvy beauty who has been his off-and-on girlfriend in the series. Sam's best boyhood friend, Chip Hahn, is having relationship problems of his own. His Carolyn is driving him crazy by not keeping in touch while Chip is visiting Sam. (Carolyn has a habit of not taking care of herself if Chip isn't around.) Carolyn is a best-selling true crime author and Chip is her extremely competent researcher. Chip's work is going to become a problem for him later. [4/26/19 addition: These are the same Carolyn Rathbone and Chip Hahn from book 13, Crawl Space, which I hadn't read in years. I wish Ms. Graves had bothered to mention Carolyn's surname at some point in this book so I wouldn't have had to wait until checking out the earlier book again to find out what it was.]

Then there's the big November storm. We're given its status through pages made to look like actual urgent weather messages. It's going to be important enough to the action that it almost deserves to be listed as one of the cast.

There really is a belfry involved: the belfry of All Faith Chapel in Eastport. We're given some of the history of the chapel and its bell in chap0ter two. (The information about the massive bell's deadliness reminded me of Dorothy Sayers' classic Lord Peter Wimsey mystery, The Nine Tailors. I would recommend reading the book. There's also a full-cast BBC radio dramatization and a 1974 BBC TV adaptation for mystery fans who enjoy such things.)

What a shame that 14-year-old Karen Hansen, desperate to earn money to move to New York, entered the belfry that night. Her widowed, abusive, alcoholic father was a big factor in her desire to leave Eastport. His behavior after she's found provides plenty of trouble for some of the regular characters, such as Police Chief Bob Arnold and Jacobia's husband, Wade Sorenson.

NOTES:

Chapter 3:

a. The town ne'er-do-well was hung from the cemetery gate in book 3, Wicked Fix. The gruesome fate of the local butcher is told in book 5, Wreck the Halls.

b. It's been 15 years since Jacobia and Sam moved to Eastport.

c. Although Jacobia's mother's family isn't nice, she has nice relatives on her father's side. We met them in book 8, Tool & Die.

d. Lizzie Snow is introduced to the readers. Her sister's name was Cecily, nicknamed 'Sissy'. Her 9-year-old niece's name is Nicolette, nicknamed 'Nicki' Lizzie's old partner's name when she was a Boston cop was Liam O'Donnell.

Chapter 4: Look here for a description of Lizzie Snow. Her thought about her appearance made me smile.

Chapter 6: Lizzie and Dylan discuss their shared past.

Chapter 9:

a. Bob Arnold had to throw a net over Sam in . book .

b. The lines Hank Hansen are remembering come from the classic childhood song, 'Oh, Don't You Laugh When the Hearse Goes By'.

Chapter 10: If Jacob Tiptree's car accident happened in an earlier book, I don't remember which one it was.

Dog lovers: Monday the Labrador Retriever and Prill the Doberman Pinscher are present. There's also an old brown mutt named Maxie.

Cat lovers: No Cat Dancing, but another character's cat gets a scene.

This isn't my favorite Home Repair is Homicide mystery, but it's pretty good.

If you really like the characters from the 'Home Repair is Homicide' series, fear not. Ms. Graves has brought them back for a new series with a different publisher. The series name is 'Death by Chocolate' and the first book is Death by Cherry Chocolate Cheesecake. ( )

Very tedious reading. Slow on the action and the characters are mediocre at best. ( )

19. Reading Woman:



★

The honest truth: I Ab-so-lute-ly Hated this book:

I didn't like the writing, I didn't like the characters, I didn't like what they were really thinking, I didn't like the story, I didn't like the subject of Snuff sites, nor did I like the violence.

One would like to think that a "Home Repair" mystery would be less violent and more entertaining. I'll read Cornwell, Reichs, Woods, et. al. if violence is what I want to experience.

The reason I stopped reading this series was because of the violence.... which is a shame the home repair parts are interesting and her family interactions are good too.

Wasted time, lowered average rating score. ( )

A young girl, raised by an alcoholic father, with dreams of a modeling career in Manhattan, is found murdered in the top of an old bell tower. Add star crossed lovers and a nor'easter, and suspense builds. ( )