Fatal Fixer-Upper

First Line: The letter from Aunt Inga arrived, as the saying goes, a day late and a dollar short.

If Aunt Inga had put the correct amount of postage on the letter, Avery Baker might have arrived at the elderly lady's old house in Maine in time to find out what she needed help with. As it is, when Avery arrived, her aunt was dead and Avery found herself the heir to her aunt's estate-- including one very neglected Victorian house. What at first seemed like a huge inconvenience turns out to be a blessing in disguise. Avery sublets her New York City apartment, quits her job as a textile designer, and moves to Waterfield, Maine-- intent on renovating the old house in order to sell it for as much money as she possibly can so she can move back show more to New York.

Hiring handyman Derek Ellis to help her with the renovations, Avery soon realizes that some of the facts just don't add up, and that her aunt's fall down the staircase was not a case of an old lady losing her balance. She has to find out what's going on before she's the next one to have "an accident."

Mysteries that have the renovation of an old house at their centers are one of my reading weaknesses. It was good to see that Bentley didn't merely use the renovation as a springboard for the plot and then ignore the work done on the house. Avery is a complete novice. Her skills lie with textiles-- textures, colors and patterns. She's never tried to bring an old house back to life. The man she hires, Derek Ellis, has, and it's hilarious to see his burgeoning sense of horror as Avery talks about bringing Manhattan industrial loft-style chic to the old Victorian home. It's also fun to watch their attraction to each other grow.

Although I knew the identity of the killer as soon as I saw his shoes, the why of the crime totally escaped me even though the author put the reason right out in plain sight. My only defense is that I was enjoying the story and the characters too much to pay close attention.

The good news is that Avery plans to keep on renovating in future books, so I'll get to enjoy the chemistry between the former textile designer and the handyman, the do-it-yourself tips, more wonderful old houses, and a solid cast of secondary characters in this fun series. show less

Avery Baker gets a 2 week old letter from her 'aunt' asking her to visit and help her right some wrongs before she dies. Avery drives from NYC to Waterfield, ME to see this aunt she hasn't seen since she was 5 years old. When she arrives it is 2 days after her aunt's death. As she and her aunt's lawyer are searching for any recent will, they find it in her desk and it leaves everything to Avery. An eager realtor tries to quickly buy the house as is, but another local tells her it would be worth a lot more with a little fixing up. When she goes back to NYC, she finds her boyfriend in a compromising situation and determines to return to Maine and do the fixing up herself. She hires a renovator/handyman to help and gets started. However, show more there remains the question of the wrong to be righted, the mysterious death of the aunt and the whereabouts of the missing professor who was doing local research for her aunt. As she and the handyman work on the house and begin asking questions, accidents begin happening and things start disappearing. Gradually things fall into place. The plot pulls the clues together logically with a nice climax and conclusion. I thought this was well done as far as plotting and character development. Good first of a series. I would read more in the series.
I did have a problem with the author’s limited knowledge of genealogy. The 'aunt' is not meant to be an affectionate title given because of her age but rather the author goes to some length to describe the connection. However, when a great grandfather has 2 sons and they have children, those children are cousins. If one of the cousins has children, the other is not an aunt to those children. They are cousins and we get into the "removed" category. Avery as the next generation becomes a further removed cousin. This does not seem to be a difficult concept and something an editor should have caught. Later they were talking of another relationship between her Mother and a 'second' cousin and they again go to great depth to say how this is so, only to verify that they are indeed first cousins. This is a small matter but why go to such lengths when you don't know what you’re talking about. Fortunately, the rest of the story doesn't have such problems. show less

Avery Baker is a fabric designer at a high-end company in New York. When she receives a mysterious letter from a great-aunt she hasn't seen in years, she heads to Maine and discovers that her aunt has passed away and left her everything. She decides to stick around and fix up the house before selling it, but finds herself interested in more than renovation when she picks up the trail of a killer determined to keep a secret.

Some of this book felt rather cartoonish. The flamboyantly French Phillipe, historical objects being smuggled in through tunnels, and - naturally - the hunky handyman, but all of it worked to pull off a fast-paced, fun little mystery. Avery is maybe a trifle scatter-brained, but genuinely likable, and the cast of show more characters was great.

The only time I stumbled was when this exchange took place, between Derek (hunky handyman) and herself:

"Derek quirked a brow. 'And when you need two-by-fours from the lumber depot? How are you gonna get those home?'

I wasn't entirely sure what two-by-fours were, but presumably they were too big to carry. 'Ask them to deliver?'

...

'Bet you have a car, though.'

'A Ford F-150,' Derek corrected. When I looked blank, he clarified, 'It's a pick-up truck.' " (74).

I will admit that I grew up in construction and in Texas, so two-by-fours and F-150s are part of the local vernacular. That said, really? When I quoted that part to my boyfriend, he wrinkled his brow and asked, "Is she an alien...?".

Not to mention, she's a designer. She specializes in textiles, but she mentions that she took some interior designing classes, as well, and not once in that time she learned what a two-by-four was? Has she never watched any variation of CSI on TV where a man is bludgeoned by a two-by-four? Never flipped through a home renovation project show?

The author, Jennie Bentley, was clearly trying to highlight how out of her depth Avery is, but there are so many better examples than two-by-fours and F-150s. Derek could have asked if she knew what rabbited lintels were or knew what a soldering iron was. Instead, it's two of the most common things to ever exist.

I soldiered past that, however, and thankfully things got better. There's a side plot where the flamboyantly French Phillipe turns out to have a secret of his own - pretty obvious, but funny nonetheless - and there's a small red herring at the local school. The other complaint I had, however, is that they literally identify the murderer about 260 pages in and outline every single one of his/her schemes and how he/she did it, but then are surprised when - guess what! - he/she turns out to be the murderer 40 pages later. Even before that, it was fairly obvious who it was, but still a fun romp to get there.

There is also a bit at the end on home-decorating tricks, which could turn out okay, but I have to question Avery's tastes. It appears Pinterest and its obsession with all things renovated and hideous has escaped the confines of the Internet and landed in a book. Some examples of Avery's "brilliance" include:

- a piece with "the distinctive arched and scrolled backrest and carved gilt-wood frame. My fabric, by contrast, was hip and modern, with a pattern of overlapping lipstick kisses in three shades of pink" (2)

- a "reproduction of a rococo chaise lounge" that is "upholstered in eye-popping shades of bubblegum pink, lemon yellow, and orange, with black trim and tassels" (5)

- her own couch, which is "oyster silk blend with black piping, printed with cross sections of enormous black and green kiwifruit" (8)

These all sound like something that could be found in a freshman's dorm room. In other words, not classy. I was wincing at the description of gorgeous furniture being upholstered in, apparently, the tackiest fabric one could imagine. Though Avery assures the reader that all of these things looked great, I cannot imagine a world where this would not be reviled. Maybe because I didn't live in the 70s.

All in all, however, this book is fluff. It's not great fluff, but it's kind of cheesy and fun and there's some good bits. show less

This was a nice summer read! It wasn't very suspenseful, but I didn't mind that in this book. It was a quick read that seemed to have a leisurely pace to it. The budding romance between Avery and Derek was a nice addition, and not distracting to the storyline. Looking forward to the next installment.

A pretty good read overall. This is the first in a series of books about Avery Baker, a designer who inherits her great aunt's Victorian house in Maine and her two Maine Coon cats. Avery goes to Maine with the intention of selling the house and returning to NYC but murder changes her plans.

Avery says that she graduated summa cum laude from Parsons The New School of Design. Their standards must be slipping. But we already know that she got her job by sleeping with the boss. On page 74 Avery doesn't know that a 2x4 is a piece of wood. On page 85 she starts renovating a room by refinishing the floor first instead of last. On page 189 she glues down tile and immediately grouts without waiting for the tile adhesive to dry but at the end of show more the book the author gives instructions for tiling a back splash and instruction #7 is "Allow [tile adhesive:] to dry fully."

Why 3 stars? I was in the mood for a safe series mystery and I love Victorian houses, Maine and cats. And, BTW, Avery is the most irresponsible pet owner since Stephanie Plum. show less

A pretty good read overall. This is the first in a series of books about Avery Baker, a designer who inherits her great aunt's Victorian house in Maine and her two Maine Coon cats. Avery goes to Maine with the intention of selling the house and returning to NYC but murder changes her plans.

Avery says that she graduated summa cum laude from Parsons The New School of Design. Their standards must be slipping. But we already know that she got her job by sleeping with the boss. On page 74 Avery doesn't know that a 2x4 is a piece of wood. On page 85 she starts renovating a room by refinishing the floor first instead of last. On page 189 she glues down tile and immediately grouts without waiting for the tile adhesive to dry but at the end of show more the book the author gives instructions for tiling a back splash and instruction #7 is "Allow [tile adhesive:] to dry fully."

Why 3 stars? I was in the mood for a safe series mystery and I love Victorian houses, Maine and cats. And, BTW, Avery is the most irresponsible pet owner since Stephanie Plum. show less

This was much more a real mystery than a cozy where the everyman detective stumbles over a body in the first couple chapters. Avery arrives in Maine to discover that her Great Aunt Inga has recently passed and she is the sole heir to Inga's rambling old home and belongings. Avery decides to fix up the house before trying to sell, and enlists the aid of recommended handyman Derek Ellis. Interesting tidbits about design and a historical rumor of Marie Antoinette's belongings landing in the area bring a lot of interesting detail to this book. There is a great small town vibe here, and really good secondary characters to round out the story.