Unhinged (Home Repair Is Homicide Series #6) » (~)

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.

It began with the mysterious disappearance of Harriet Hollingsworth - Eastport, Maine's snoopiest resident. Everyone is convinced the old busybody bolted out of town to escape her creditor - everyone except Jake and her best friend, Ellie, who suspect otherwise. But they'll need to come up with proof more sinister than a pair of abandoned binoculars. Just as Jake starts poking around for clues, things take a troubling turn for the worse. A suspicious accident nearly kills her teenaged son, Sam, and her husband, Wade, just misses getting his head blown off. Jake is prepared to attribute these incidents to a spate of bad luck - until another "accident" leaves a visitor to Eastport unmistakably dead.

Publishers Weekly

When the most notorious snoop in Eastport, Maine, disappears, amateur detective and ex-stockbroker Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree suspects foul play in this winning addition to Graves's Home Repair Is Homicide series (Wreck the Halls, etc.). Convinced that widely disliked Harriet Hollingsworth was murdered, Jake and her friend, Ellie White, team up to investigate. As accidents and the death toll mount in the small island town, crumbling foundations and rotting clapboards become secondary to discovering the identity of the perpetrator, who appears to have a diabolical blueprint for homicide that includes Jake's own family. Jake won't let physical injuries, starting with yet another fall off a ladder (evoked on the cozy yet menacing jacket), slow down her pursuit of the truth. Lending support are Wade, her husband; Sam, her teenaged son; and devoted friends who always seem to be there when they're most needed. A sleuth as tough as the nails she drives into the walls of her 1823 Federal home enhances a clever plot, which comes to an unexpected and explosive conclusion. Many will relish the vividly described Down East setting, but for anyone who's ever enjoyed making a home repair it's the accurate details of the restoration of Jake's old house that will appeal the most. (Jan. 7) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.