The Book of Old Houses

Some time ago, after the first couple of books in [a:Sarah Graves|29183|Sarah Graves|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg]'s series about Jacobia Tiptree, someone (the publisher?) decided to subtitle them "Home Repair is Homicide." Although each chapter is headed with a home-repair tip and Jake's adventures in renovating her Eastport, Maine house often provide comic relief, you needn't fear that the home-repair hook detracts from the plot. These are simply good amateur-sleuth mysteries.

In recent books, [a:Sarah Graves|29183|Sarah Graves|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] has been flirting a bit with the supernatural. The supernatural elements seem to flow organically from the story, and show more there is enough doubt about them that I'd say even people who dislike this element shouldn't be turned off. In [b:The Book of Old Houses|1912846|The Book of Old Houses (Home Repair is Homicide Mystery, Book 11)|Sarah Graves|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1190227760s/1912846.jpg|1914816], a college professor comes to Eastport hoping to find the murderer of an old friend. The friend, an antiquarian book expert, had been examining an odd old book that Jacobia's father unearthed in her cellar in a previous novel. Now the book has disappeared. Several red herrings and a few more murders later, Jake and the professor unmask the surprise culprit.

Besides the expert plotting, my favorite thing about Graves's books is her depiction of down-East Maine and its people, neither idealized nor condescending (and how rare that is!) Although she's "from away," she does a great job with her adopted town as a setting and her characters ring true. Definitely recommended. show less

Overall, I found this entry in the home repair series not up to the previous books. I didn't care for the paranormal overtones (although luckily, that turns out to be faked)... Perhaps Graves thought she should cash in on the current paranormal mania, but it doesn't fit with Jake's character. Jake & her friend Ellie are at their best being the down-to-earth, suspicious, and nosy women of northern Maine coast (even though Jake is a transplant from NYC).

There were several good, plausible red herrings but I did figure out who did it before Jake did - another sign of weakness in the plot as typically I am very poor at solving the mystery!

I enjoyed this installment of the Home Repair is Homicide series very much. There is a slight supernatural bent to the story, as a book that may or may not have been written by a witch is the focus. The book was being authenticated by a man who seemed to look for satanic books on the side. When he was murdered, the book became the focus of many people who all wanted the book back.

There is also the subplot of Jake remodeling her bathroom. She grows irritated by the outdated bathroom and demolishes it without thinking. It was hard for me to believe that she would actually do that, given that it seems it was the only bathroom with a shower/tub in the whole house.

I thought the story moved along quickly. I liked Dave, the new man in town, show more who was searching for the book, and on a personal mission of revenge. Jake's son, Sam, did not appear in the book much. The book also advances the romance between Jake's dad and her housekeeper.

I am looking forward to the next installment in this series. show less

Finally Graves gets to the topic of the book that was found in Jake's house's foundation. We found out that the man that she sent it to to get it appraised (and have him tell her if it was authentic or not) was killed at the end of the previous book, and in this book we have Ellie and Jake investigating who did it.

And boy are there quite a few suspects who could have done the deed to poor Horace. There's, of course, the guy from away (although he is from New England, Rhode Island to be specific, although I could never figure out if the college he taught at was based on a real one in RI or not), who was Horace's friend. There's the crazy writer lady who is, well, really, really out of her mind, a guy who is sorta also crazy, and the show more guy's younger sidekick too.

I liked how some of the plot had been seeded in the previous book (although when I was reading those previous books it was annoying to not have the 'boo story' right then). Most of the series before these books were separate entities, easily read as stand-alones, but now the series has gotten much more tightly woven as a series.

There was also quite a subplot involving Jake's Dad and Bella, Jake's housekeeper, very big one, and I mostly liked how it ended too.

On the other hand, regarding the very end of the book, I mostly thought it was a bit --meh-- after all that led up to it.

A solid novel in the series, but not my favorite one by a long shot. show less

Sarah Graves is mostly back in form in this Maine mystery, which is foreshadowed in the previous volume in the series, [Trap Door]. The book found in that mystery forms the core of [The Book of Old Houses]. It gets a little on the supernatural side toward the end - I wonder where she's going with this oh-so-practical amateur tec and her Eastport family.

I enjoyed this latest mystery from Ms. Graves. This novel continues the storyline of the mysterious book that Jake finds in the basement foundation of her house. I guessed the murderer pretty early on - not from clues in the book, but just looking at the characters and picking the one that I thought was least likely! Also, Ms. Graves isn't very consistent about internal chronology - this novel takes place about three weeks after the previous novel, but where the last book ended in May, this one is set in August, and the injuries Jake sustained in the last novel aren't in existence in this one. This is an on-going issue in her novels and it sort of bugs me. But on the plus side, each of Ms. Graves' books stands alone, which is good for show more someone coming to the series in her later books. show less

Dave DiMaio comes to Eastport to avenge the death of his friend and mentor Horace Robotham. He is also on the trail of a very old book that went missing the day Horace died. Unfortunately someone else in Eastport is also hunting for the book, and they are willing to kill for it.

Jake Tiptree is the owner of the book, and she wants it back too! However, she doesn't entirely trust Dave so starts to hunt for the book on her own.

I enjoyed this entry in the series. All of the regular characters are there, Wade, Sam, Ellie, and George all help with the mystery. Looking forward to the next in the series.