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Crawlspace: A Home Repair Is Homicide Mystery (Home Repair Is Homicide Mysteries)
 
 
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Crawlspace: A Home Repair Is Homicide Mystery (Home Repair Is Homicide Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Sarah Graves (Author)
3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

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Book Description

Home Repair Is Homicide Mysteries December 29, 2009
Jacobia “Jake” Tiptree abandoned Wall Street to its bankruptcies and bailouts for a far more rewarding life fixing up an 1823 Federal-style house in Eastport, Maine. But in Sarah Graves’s chilling new mystery thriller, Jake discovers that no matter what your address, the most terrifying crimes always hit closest to home.

The infamous Dodd murders are hardly among Eastport’s proudest legacies. So when bestselling true-crime author Carolyn Rathbone arrives to research the case for a new book, the locals in the seaside town let her know that she’s about as welcome as a spoiled clam. But surely no one would harm a crime writer out of a sense of civic pride–or would they?

Jake has her own problems, from the mysteries of old-house insulation to an anonymous caller plaguing her with death threats. But with Carolyn’s arrival, the slayings of the wealthy Dodd women suddenly go from cold case to hot topic–much to someone’s dismay. For Carolyn Rathbone’s untimely investigation hasn’t only reopened old wounds and stirred up new suspicions; it’s unearthed a string of deadly secrets–ones that a cunning killer is grimly determined to rebury right along with Carolyn herself.

Suddenly Jake finds herself inescapably targeted by one of the most deranged criminal minds she’s ever encountered. For as much as she fights to insulate herself from his grisly compulsions, someone with a taste for terror has already crept closer than she dares to imagine. She’d rather die than lose the home and family she’s built–and that suits her nemesis fine, because her death is just exactly what he has planned.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Exclusive: Sarah Graves on Crawlspace

People sometimes ask me whether my characters ever "take over the plot." By that, they mean characters refusing to do what I'd planned for them, so that I end up having to write some other book--or even none at all.

I usually answer humorously (I hope) that this is the handy thing about writing mysteries, that characters who don't do what I wish simply end up meeting their deadly fates much sooner than they expected. But the truth is, it's not as easy as that, so let me try explaining with an analogy, like... riding a horse.

(Yes, I would use a hammering-a-nail analogy, if it worked. But it doesn't. How I wish it were as simple as nail-hammering!)

Anyway: Writing a novel is a little like holding the horse's reins. One rein is plot, the other character. And while I try to have a good grasp on the plot before I begin writing, and on the characters before I write them, inevitably characters have their own ideas, too.

I wasn't surprised, for instance, when two characters in Crawlspace decided that despite their deep differences, muddling along together was far better than being apart. And when one of the series regulars realized that the way to find her courage was to do something really scary... no big surprise there, either. She may be a chicken at heart, but she's not stupid.

The trick is telling the difference between deep conviction--an awareness of love, the determination to conquer fear, the urge to kill--and a random whim. Because one drives plot but the other sends the book galloping off in the wrong direction...

That's why writing a novel takes a light, confident hand on both reins: the one for plot, and the one for the people who are living it. They are my creations, but they mustn't ever know it. In their world, they are independent entities, never made to feel a clumsy tug on the story-bridle or flick of the plot-whip.

They do as I desire, but as with the horse and his lightly-held "steering equipment," if they notice me at all, it's only as a companion along for the ride. Far from being directed, they're as free as wild horses, completely at liberty to do whatever they like and go anywhere they please...

Or so they think. And--psst!--I won't tell them anything different if you won't. --Sarah Graves

(Photo © Pam Edwards)


From Publishers Weekly

In Graves's tepid 13th Home Repair Is Homicide mystery (after 2008's A Face at the Window), true-crime writer Carolyn Rathbone and her unhappy assistant, Chip Hahn, arrive in Eastport, Maine, to research Randy Dodd, a psycho who faked his own death six years earlier after Cordelia Lang Dodd, Randy's wealthy wife, took a fatal fall down the stairs. Now Randy has returned to Eastport after the stabbing murder of Anne Dodd, the wife of his brother, Roger, and Cordelia's sister. Did Randy kill Anne, as the blubbering Roger claims? Soon after kidnapping snoopy Carolyn, a cosmetically altered Randy nabs Sam, series heroine Jake Tiptree's recovering alcoholic son, who's an unlucky witness. Chip, who once befriended Sam, joins sleuthing forces with police chief Bob Arnold, a frantic Jake, and others in an installment marred by a lack of surprises and boring, over-the-top villains, though redeemed in part by an exciting resolution. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Bantam; First edition. edition (December 29, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0553806807
  • ISBN-13: 978-0553806809
  • Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1 x 9.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #404,245 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sarah Graves lives with her husband in Eastport, Maine, where her mystery novels are set. She is currently working on her twelfth Home Repair Is Homicide novel.

 

Customer Reviews

11 Reviews
5 star:
 (3)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (3)
1 star:
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Average Customer Review
3.1 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Give it up already!, January 17, 2010
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This review is from: Crawlspace: A Home Repair Is Homicide Mystery (Home Repair Is Homicide Mysteries) (Hardcover)
I am so disappointed in the direction the "Home Repair is Homicide" series has gone. This has always been a quirky and complex series, not what I would really classify as a cozy, but with the last couple of books, I feel like Sarah Graves wants to write a certain kind of stand alone thriller, yet can't let go of Jake and Ellie. And the totally weak and unnecessary subplot involving death threats to Jake- please- what a waste of time! As I mentioned in my review of her last book, "A Face in the Window," I read this series because I love the tidbits about small town Maine life, the adventures Jake has trying to renovate her house, and the relationships between Jake, Ellie and their respective families. In this book, I guess there is a decent storyline, but I feel like tiny bits of the characters are thrown in so she can call it part of the series.

And I have to ask, why do reviewers insist on including detailed plotlines in their reviews?
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Tense and a little dark; a good, suspenseful read..., January 6, 2010
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This review is from: Crawlspace: A Home Repair Is Homicide Mystery (Home Repair Is Homicide Mysteries) (Hardcover)
A surprise phone call from an old acquaintance pulls "Jake" Tiptree into a missing persons investigation. Jake's former Manhattan neighbor, Chip Hahn, had accompanied his boss, an obnoxious "True Crime" author, to Eastport to research her latest book. But shortly after enjoying one too many drinks at a local bar the young author, Carolyn Rathbone , disappears. Is her disappearance related to the unsolved murders of two local women or does Jake's friend Chip know more than he's saying? Things are about to take a very personal (and frightening) turn for Jake...

I've always felt that this series was a little edgier than the typical "cozy" and this installment has a dark, tense feel. There are fewer domestic details, the home repair tips are sparse and the familiar Eastport characters make only cameo appearances. However, in their place is a nicely written, fast-paced story that works as a stand-alone novel. The story maintains a nice suspense level that hooked me early on and kept me flipping pages way past my bedtime! At times this book was tough to put down and I when I wasn't reading I found myself thinking about the storyline.

One small complaint. There is a sequence towards the end of the book where Jake and Bella (her housekeeper/step mom) are getting into Jake's car which is parked in a somewhat remote location. The next time we see them they are hitching a ride...I'm assuming something happened to the car, but there wasn't any explanation (that I could find). The whole incident was rather odd and threw the timing of the story off a bit for me.

If you are new to the series then you are on to a good thing. I would recommend starting at the beginning with `Dead Cat Bounce' to get the lowdown on Jake and how she came to occupy her beloved old house in down east Maine.

No swearing and no sexual content; some violent scenes
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars What happened to the characters?, January 17, 2010
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I am also disappointed in the way the series has gone in these last two books. I really enjoyed having all the characters working out the mysteries and I always felt at home with them. The last two books have been very dark and it seemed as though she is backing away from the hometown and writing from different perspectives. I was getting very tired of reading about Chip in this book. I felt like I wanted to reach through the pages and punch him. I miss Jake and Ellie and everyone. They are the heart and soul of the series. I really hope that Sarah Graves goes back to the Eastport community that we have all grown to love and stay away from the gore. If I wanted that much terror and yuck, I would read Steven King.
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