Death by Demo by Callie Carpenter

Available December 5, 2023

Rating: 5 sledgehammers

Jaime Moore has spent the last 15 years doing home renovations under her husband's name. When he decides it's time for them to split he takes everything but a dilapidated old house that seems beyond saving. Unfortunately the house comes with a feature they weren't aware of... a wall fit only for concealing dead bodies.

Death by Demo is not only the debut mystery in the Home Renovation series, but is also the debut for this new author. I really enjoyed this book and can't wait to see what this author will write in the future! Jaime is a the quintessential cozy mystery main character, she's down but not out and doing her best to brush off the barbs being thrown at her by her ex and her ex's new flame. She may not have a lot of faith in herself but she's got a huge support system of people who have every confidence that she's going to make it. There's the best friend who's letting Jaime crash on her couch, the sexy neighbor who brings her coffee every morning, the curmudgeonly lawyer who represents her in legal matters, and her quirky but supportive parents.

The mystery is interspersed with Jaime working on the old house she's been stuck with in her lousy divorce settlement and she gathers clues as she tries to keep her renovation project on track. The investigation is fairly involved with new suspects popping up and old suspects getting eliminated as Jaime and Lara poke around asking questions.

I'd love to see the renovation of this house progress and also to see more of the town of Green River. This is definitely a series I will follow as new books come out.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing me an ARC.