This third book in Kate Carlisle's Fixer-Upper cozy series delves deep into Shannon Hammer's high school past. It's always interesting to learn about a favorite character's background. However, as much as I like Shannon, there is a lesson that I wish she would learn.... Every time she gets exasperated, flies off the handle, and tells someone, "I'll kill you!" she puts herself chin deep in hot water. Hopefully she won't have to stumble over too many more dead bodies before she erases that sentence from her vocabulary!

Carlisle's strong mysteries, sense of humor, and vivid casts of characters are always the major draws to any of her books, but I have a special place in my heart for her Fixer-Upper books. Shannon specializes in renovating old houses, and there's always the possibility of discovering secret nooks and crannies. I love that. I also love how Carlisle incorporates fascinating nuggets about different facets of architecture and renovation. In Crowned and Moldering, I learned a bit about green architecture as Shannon wins a contract to build solar canopies for the local high school parking lot.

Whether it's humor, mystery, characterization, architecture, or romance, I recommend Kate Carlisle's Fixer-Upper series. I have a feeling you're going to enjoy them as much as I do.

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