Hammers and Homicide by Paula Charles is the debut of A Hometown Hardware Mysteries. I like the fact that Dawna Carpenter is an older protagonist (I wanted to start with something positive). I did not understand why the author made her extremely clumsy (it seems to be the standard to make a cozy mystery protagonist clumsy). We get to all the details of Dawna’s life. I understand the author wanted to establish the character, but we really did not need to know so much about Dawna’s past (and not in such detail). Nor did we need to know so much about the hardware store. I am surprised that Dawna is managing to keep the doors of the hardware store open considering her lack of knowledge and her failure to update her stock. Dawna’s daughter, April, has moved back to town. There is too much attention focused on the mother daughter duo (it overshadows the whodunit). The mystery is simple. It was obvious who would die and who would end up at the top of the suspect list. The police chief is viewed as competent (mostly) by Dawna until he arrests a friend. Dawna along with April investigate the crime. I rolled my eyes more than once at their investigative skills. The suspect pool is miniscule. The clues are obvious (there might as well be a giant noon arrow pointing at the killer). The pacing was leisurely and there were repetitive details. There is humor sprinkled throughout the story. One plot point was left unresolved at the end of the book. My curiosity is not sufficiently aroused to seek out the next A Hometown Hardware Mystery. ( )

I was definitely ready for something on the lighter side after finishing The Storm We Made by Vanessa Chan, and Hammers and Homicide proved to be a great choice. Only in a cozy mystery would a book involving a murder be considered light.

What drew me to this book was the older protagonist, Dawna Carpenter, a recent widow who runs her own hardware store. It's just like any other work day for Dawna until she finds a body in the shared bathroom between her store and the boutique next door. The victim turns out to be a land developer who was in town to buy the town's old theater and turn it into a hotel. The victim had made quite a few enemies in the short time he had been there. When a long time friend of Dawna's is arrested for the murder, Dawna doubles her efforts to find out what really happened, not believing her friend could have committed the crime. With the help of her daughter, there's nothing stopping Dawna, even when danger strikes even closer to home.

Dawna isn't the most graceful person, nor is she a good cook, but she is a good neighbor and friend. Her daughter April recently moved back to town to work and keep an eye on her mom. I enjoyed the mother/daughter relationship Dawna and April share, with their gentle ribbing and the way they look out for each other. There's a hint of romance between the sheriff and April, perhaps something to look forward to in future books. I did find the tell for who the killer upon first meeting too obvious, but there were still unexpected moments in the book. Hammers and Homicide was funny and entertaining. There's even a paranormal element I hadn't been expecting! ( )

Hammers And Homicide is the first book in the A Hometown Hardware Mystery series by Paula Charles.

Dawna Carpenter Has continued the family business, Carpenter’s Corner Hardware store in Pine Bluff, Oregon, after her husband’s death. One morning, as she arrived near the store, she heard a loud argument from a nearby real estate company. Arriving at work, Dawna is surprised to see that her lone employee, Steve Harrison, has not arrived as yet. Later in the morning, she goes to use the bathroom, and to her horror, she finds a dead body with severe head injuries caused by a framing hammer lying next to his body. The bathroom is shared with Darlene Lovelace, who owns a pricey boutique next door. The body is quickly identified as Warren Highcastle, a real estate developer in town trying to buy the old Emery House opera theatre and convert it into a hotel. A women’s club in Pine Bluff had attempted to buy the opera house, but the offer was rejected. Dawna is a member of that club. With the murder happening in the hardware store and with easy access to the weapon, Dawna will become the prime suspect.

Dawna and her adult daughter, who recently moved back to Pine Bluff, will set out to clear Dawna's name from suspicion. But when the owner of a construction company that was going to work on the project is arrested, Dawna and April will also start to work to clear his name. Dawna will soon find many other suspects to clear her name.

I enjoyed this first book in a new series. I particularly liked how well Dawna and her daughter worked together. Also, I enjoyed how Dawna sensed her late husband's presence and how talking to him helped her in her investigation. The book is well-written and plotted. The characters are all well-developed, engaging, and entirely believable. There were plenty of red herrings that kept me guessing until the end of the book.

I’m looking forward to the next book in the series. ( )

Dawna is doing her best to keep the hardware store open and to keep her children from thinking that she is loosing it. When a murder occurs at her shop and then another one close by she feels that she needs to do something so that things can get back to normal again. This was an interesting start to a series and there are definitely openings for things to look forward to seeing how they pan out in the next one. ( )

small-business, small-town, widow, cozy-mystery, new-series, first-in-series, local-law-enforcement, murder-investigation, amateur-sleuth, situational-humor, verbal-humor, family, family-dynamics, paranormal*****

Dawna Carpenter is over 60, mother of two, widowed, continues to be proprietor of her small town hardware store, and found the dead body of an unliked developer in her store's bathroom. Oh, and she often converses with her deceased husband. She is also very realistic and likeable. Very good cozy, and I hope that the series will continue!
I requested and received an EARC from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you! ( )