Priscilla Paton

When the House Burns by Priscilla Paton is the third book in the Twin Cities Mystery Series. Featuring

G-Met detectives Erik Jansson and Deb Metzger. Erik is recently divorced with a son and Deb is still looking for her significant other of the female persuasion. Neither is having success in their love lives. Deb is currently without a permanent home but is offered a basement apartment by her boss. It works on a temporary basis.

When a woman real estate agent, Jean Nerstrand is found dead in the driveway of a home for sale, it is up to the detectives to find the killer. Jean had worked for Lake & Isles Realty. The detectives find that this is not a straightforward murder.

There are a lot of characters in this novel, Dominick Novak, a real estate developer, Karma, who works for the same real estate company as Jean, Rafe of the crooked nose works for Dominick, Ulysses, a homeless man who definitely has a connection to the murder as do all of the characters I mentioned. Now it is up to Detectives Erik and Deb to get to the bottom of the mystery.

Not everyone is who you might think they are, everyone has their own story, some with secrets that they do not want to be exposed, thus making the case difficult to solve. Now throw in some dry wit into the storytelling and you have a story that is both compelling and hang on to your hat thrilling. Plus there is an element of romance throughout the story.

I have not read anything by this author and I think I need to remedy that and go read the first two books in the series. I love a good mystery and this one is one that I did enjoy. I think that the wit and quirkiness of the characters are what kept my attention. This book takes place in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota, of which I have been numerous times and recognized some of the areas that were mentioned, including areas in Wisconsin, where I live.

I give the book 5 stars!… (más)

This mystery is all about housing. The victim is a real estate agent found shot outside one of the properties she's listing.

Detectives Erik Jansson and Deb Metzger are assigned the case. Deb is in the middle of her own housing crisis as her place in a long-stay hotel is no longer available and she just can't find a place that she can afford that is large enough for her 6' 2" self. And the detectives' agency is facing a housing crisis of its own as their current location has become unusable and they need to build another. This adds to the investigation as the detectives must work out of their cars and in borrowed space in the county courthouse.

Jansson and Metzger look into the realtor's agency and find a group of best, back-stabbing friends. They also find a property developer who seems way too close to some of them and who's also involved in some questionable practices. One of his properties was recently burned in what looks like arson and resulted in the death of a homeless man. He's currently trying to develop housing - some affordable - on the grounds of an old munitions plant. His assistant, who has a major crush on one of the realtors, is secretly investing his finances.

While checking into the arson investigation, they discover that a homeless guy might have been stalking the victim and spend a lot of time in a homeless encampment across from one of the developer's properties looking for him.

One I got used to the writing style which seemed a lot like stream of consciousness but, thankfully, with punctuation, I found the story interesting. I certainly enjoyed the Twin Cities setting.… (más)