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Wreck the Halls (Home Repair Is Homicide Mystery)
 
 
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Wreck the Halls (Home Repair Is Homicide Mystery) [Hardcover]

Sarah Graves (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)


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Book Description

Home Repair Is Homicide Mysteries November 27, 2001
“The town (Eastport) and its warmly wondrous citizens continue to enchant!”
Booknews from The Poisoned Pen

When ex—Wall Streeter Jacobia “Jake” Tiptree bought a charming 1823 fixer-upper in tiny Eastport, Maine, she figured she’d also bought herself a tranquil, stress-free life. But Jake soon learned that appearances can be deceiving, and that even small towns have their share of dark secrets — including murder.

Wreck The Halls

People hardly ever lock their doors in Eastport. So when Jake and her best pal, Ellie, arrive at Faye Anne Carmody’s kitchen door, they knock and walk right in. But though Christmas is just two weeks away, what they find is far from festive: a dazed Faye Anne covered with blood, and her no-good husband — the town butcher, Merle — nowhere in sight. Nowhere, that is, until Jake discovers his body — tidily wrapped in his own butcher paper....

It doesn’t take long for news of the murder to race through the small town, and just about everyone has a theory about the grisly crime that has robbed Eastport of its least-liked citizen. But while police chief Bob Arnold considers it an open-and-shut case, Jake and Ellie aren’t convinced of Faye Anne’s guilt.

Jake has enough going on in her life without trying to investigate a murder. After all, she’s just married her longtime love, Wade, and the pair plan to spend the winter rehabilitating the paint-encrusted windows in Jake’s old house.

But Jake has to admit that there are a lot of details that don’t add up: for example, Faye Anne’s complaint that she was being stalked, and blood-splattered evidence at the crime scene that just doesn’t make sense. Then there is the diary that Faye Anne’s secret, sometime boyfriend claims is hidden somewhere in her house. Could Faye Anne’s own journal be the key to unlocking an even more fiendish murder plot, or is her double-crossing lover trying to frame her?

When yet another Eastport citizen turns up dead, Jake realizes the murderer’s trail began long before the night Merle Carmody died. But what keeps eluding her and Ellie is the motive behind the mystery. The truth is so close, they can almost taste it — but can they stop the shrewd killer before he chisels another victim’s name onto a tombstone?


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In her first hardcover in this popular series (Repair to Her Grave, etc.), Graves entertains with a cozy New England murder as she also treats such dark topics as domestic violence, stalking, date rape and drug abuse. When not do-it-yourselfing around her 1823 Federal house on a Maine island or looking after her son, Sam, Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree, a former Manhattan financial manager who's divorced from a philandering neurosurgeon, solves mysteries. In this outing, a neighbor, Faye Anne Carmody, stands accused of murdering her wife-beating husband, Merle, a butcher who was literally butchered. Although no one liked Merle, Faye is the prime suspect, and no one doubts her guilt except her friend Ellie. Ellie encourages Jake to investigate, and before long there are so many likely suspects you wonder if there is anyone on the island who didn't have a motive to kill Merle. But Graves is crafty and craftsmanlike enough to pull a least likely killer out of her top hat. Home repair doesn't figure as much as in past books, but the case is difficult to crack and involves considerable danger for Jake and Ellie. Incidentally, Jake acquires a cat and a mouse to keep her dog, Monday, company; and her ex-husband, who's moved to Maine to be near Sam, asks her help to persuade his new girlfriend to marry him. Graves's characters are very human creations, warts and all, with Jake in particular making fine company. (Dec. 4)Forecast: A most attractive holiday jacket will snag attention, but a few supportive blurbs, particularly from male authors, would help signal that this series isn't just for women.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In her hardcover debut, series sleuth Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree (Repair to Her Grave) and best friend, Ellie, try to help Faye Anne, an abused wife, after she's accused of butchering her drunkard husband. Unfortunately, their unauthorized investigating results in a stronger case against her. Nonetheless, Jake and Ellie persevere in their quest: they rev up the Eastport, ME, rumor mill and spout various crime scenarios. In spare moments, Jake weather-strips her 1823 fixer-upper. Frequent humor tempers the Down East mannerisms, plucky heroine, and more serious subject matter. Recommended.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Bantam; F edition (November 27, 2001)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0553802283
  • ISBN-13: 978-0553802283
  • Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,032,943 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

15 Reviews
5 star:
 (8)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (2)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (1)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (15 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Distracting punctuation and fragmented plot, December 14, 2001
By A Customer
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Wreck the Halls (Home Repair Is Homicide Mystery) (Hardcover)
I am a fan of this series, and have very much enjoyed the four preceding books in it. This one, however, was a disappointment. First and foremost, the author has developed an extremely quirky use of colons. This may sound unduly fussy on my part, but the appearance of the colons is more than just a misuse of a punctuation mark: the author uses colons in this book as a substitute for appropriate paragraphing and sentence structure. The ubiquitous colons make the work read in a very fragmented manner. I prefer paragraphs and complete sentences; the colons seem almost lazy, and prevent the language from having any flow to it.

Second, the characterizations and the plot were both fragmented. Like a Russian novel, numerous characters were introduced, but without enough about them to enable me to remember who they were between appearances. Perhaps this problem is related to the first one I mentioned, in that the abrupt writing style of this book distracted me from the content.

I am looking forward to more books in this series. Coming out so soon after the fourth in the series, this one might have been a bit rushed (releasing it in the summer would have been infelicitous). I am more than willing to forgive this lapse in an otherwise very enjoyable series.

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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Jake and Ellie solve a particularly grisly murder, December 12, 2001
By 
Moe811 (New York USA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Wreck the Halls (Home Repair Is Homicide Mystery) (Hardcover)
Jake and Ellie arrive at Faye Ann Carmody's house and things are suspiciously silent. Worried, they enter the house to find a sea of blood. They fear the worst, Faye Ann's violent drunken husband has finally killed her. They are relieved when a dazed Faye Ann appears from under a pile of comforters. Unfortunately, she is covered with blood. When Jake enters Merle's butcher shop to see who is actually dead, she finds him, neated chopped up and wrapped in butcher paper. Jake and Ellie need to find out who killed Merle, because Faye Ann is not capable of either the crime or defending herself.

This was a little more grisly that the usual Graves mystery, but very good. The author introduces us to even more of the unusual characters of Eastport, and life in a Maine seaside town in winter. Very Very good mystery!!!!

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars scooter mcgoo, April 7, 2009
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I have enjoyed each of her books. They are well written and have good plot development. One can easily imagine the setting of each situation.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
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First Sentence:
Blood was everywhere, so much of it that at first Ellie and I didn't realize what it was or understand what we'd walked into. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
phone alcove, state guys, rivet gun
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Faye Anne, Bob Arnold, Peter Christie, Merle Carmody, Ben Devine, Kenty Dalrymple, Water Street, Key Street, Melinda Devine, Passamaquoddy Bay, Tim Rutherford, New England, Clarissa Arnold, George Valentine, New York, South Meadow Road, Town Hall, Clark Street, Geofrey Claiborn, Nova Scotia, Prince Street, Willetta Abrams
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