Batten Down the Belfry by Diane Kelly

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

Whitney and Buck, cousins who have gone into the house-flipping business, have taken on a new project:  an abandoned country church.  While not exactly a house, Whitney thinks it could have a new life as a theater or entertainment venue.  The acoustics are marvelous, the stained glass windows are beautiful, and there’s even another building that could be a bistro.  Besides, it isn’t as if Nashville hasn’t had a church turned music hall before: that’s the origin story of the Ryman, original home of the Grand Ole Opry.

But as if the rigors of renovation aren’t enough, the owner of the horse farm next door shows up to claim that Whitney and Buck are trespassing on his property and he is calling the law on them. Their problems only get worse when a man making a delivery to Whitney ends up dead in the church’s bell tower. 

Unless Whitney and her beau, homicide detective Collin Flynn, can solve this murder, the curtains may never go up at their new venue—much less come down.

This is the fourth in the House Flipper series, and I have enjoyed all four.  It’s not just that Whitney has an adorable cat named Sawdust, but I’ll admit that doesn’t hurt.  I like that Whitney is a sensible heroine who is as handy with a hammer as she is with interior design.  She doesn’t badger Collin for inside information and tells him of any clues she picks up. She and her cousin Buck have an almost sibling relationship, complete with bickering, but it’s all good natured.  I also like the bits of Nashville and Tennessee history that are dropped into the plots, as well as other information (this one has some neat legal tidbits, for example) and I enjoy the descriptions of Whitney’s decorating ideas.  The plots have been inventive as well.

This is probably my favorite of Kelly’s series which include Paw Enforcement, Southern Homebrew, and Mountain Lodge mystery series.

While this isn’t a series that needs to be read in order, the earlier titles in the House Flipper  mysteries are:

Dead as a Door Knocker

Dead in the Doorway

Murder with a View

Batten Down the Belfry