Mallets Aforethought

✍ Scribed by Graves, Sarah

• Book ID: 108377414
• Publisher: Bantam
• Year: 2004
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 164 KB
• Series: Home Repair is Homicide 7
• Category: Fiction
• ISBN: 0553898779

✦ Synopsis

Jacobia Jake Tiptree left her high-powered career for a dilapidated fixer-upper and the dream of a quiet existence in the quaint town of Eastport, Maine. But she found that no matter how carefully you remodel your life, murder can take up residence anywhere.

Its Eastports most notorious landmark: the old Harlequin House. Named for the disgraced physician Chester Harlequin, it was used as a hideout for gunshot gangsters and their molls during Prohibitions heyday. Now fixer-upper enthusiast Jake Tiptree and Harlequins only living descendant, Ellie White, are refurbishing the mansard-roofed mansion to host the local Historical Societys upcoming gala. But when stripping down old wallpaper reveals a secret door to a room containing not one but two corpses, Jake and Ellie once again find home repair leading to homicide.

One of the bodies is a skeleton dressed in 1920s flapper chic. But the other is that of
real-estate mogul Hector Gosling, and in his pocket is a paper bearing the single word Guilty. The less-than-scrupulous tycoon has been poisoned, and when its learned that the offending substance is the poison that Ellies husband George has been using to kill red ants, he is immediately taken into custody. Then it develops that George had recently accused Gosling of a scheme to scam Georges vulnerable old aunt out of her life savingsand George out of his inheritance.

With George held for murder, Jake and a pregnant Ellie swing into action. In between Ellies Lamaze sessions, baby showers, and CPR classes taught by Jakes ex-husband
Victor, the two amateur sleuths must sift their way through a trail of seemingly contradictory clues. Then another corpse surfaces and suddenly Jake and Ellie realize they must find this killer fast. A clever culprit is not only building an airtight case against Ellies husband. Heor sheis planning to nail everyone who stands in the way.

From the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

While Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree met with accidents galore in last year's outing, Unhinged, she faces more realistic challenges as wife, mother and amateur sleuth in this, the seventh page-turner in Graves's innovative cozy series. Jake, who's been restoring her own 1823 Federal home, joins her pregnant friend Ellie White in the community effort to fix up the historic Harlequin House in Eastport, Maine, once owned by an ancestor of Ellie's. Unable to resist opening a hidden door in the parlor that they unearthed after stripping wallpaper, they're horrified to discover not only the mummified body of a woman from the 1920s but also the corpse of the local historical society president and "Eastport's most irascible real-estate mogul," Hector Gosling. When Ellie's husband, George, is arrested for Gosling's murder, Jake and Ellie, who's hampered by the imminent birth of her baby, set out to prove George's innocence. As carefully and methodically as she strips the years of paint from the old door in her house, Jake peels back the layers of deception that mask the real killer. Readers will relish the author's evocative descriptions of small-town Maine, strong characters whose relationships evolve, sense of humor and, of course, helpful home-repair hints.
Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Like the old Victorian homes she describes in her Home Repair Is Homicide series, Graves' stories seem to grow better with the passing of time. Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree, formerly a high-powered financial wizard in New York, is best known in her new hometown of Eastport, Maine, for her skill with power tools. While continuing to fix up her own home, Jake has agreed to work with her best friend, Ellie, on restoring the landmark Harlequin House. When they discover two dead bodies walled up inside a secret room, Jake and Ellie are tempted to cover them up again. One of the victims met her death years ago, but the other, Hector Gosling, was killed recently--and just happens to be the worst enemy of Ellie's husband, George, who quickly becomes the prime suspect. Readers who enjoy solving mysteries and fixing up older homes will appreciate Jake's do-it-yourself expertise in both areas. Jenny McLarin
Copyright American Library Association. All rights reserved