A Face at the Window

I admit it. I didn't want to like this book. For one thing, I've done my share of home renovations and I'm pretty handy with power tools. My first thought was that Ms. Graves was using the home improvement tips as a gimmick. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the main character, Jake Tiptree, actually was adept at repairs. Even more satisfying, she didn't mind admitting she didn't know it all -- she was willing to learn.

The rugged setting of Eastport, Maine was a great backdrop for all the action and an integral part of the storyline. When Jake is pursued by Ozzie Campbell, the man who long ago murdered her mother, he doesn't just come after her by himself. He sends a couple of former "juvies", Marky Larson and Anthony Colapietro, show more to kidnap hostages in his effort to menace Jake. From the biting toddler, Lee, to the teenage sitter, Helen, the victims try their best to fight off their attackers, even as Marky and Anthony apply their own special ruthlessness in their quest to complete the job and get paid. As someone who worked with "juvies", I found the characterizations of both Marky and Anthony well done. Ms. Graves doesn't clone the boys -- instead, each has his own demons and desires that drive the bad behavior, and their own battles with each other increase the danger for Jake, Lee, and Helen as things spiral out of control.

For Jake, the guilt of knowing her own past has brought this danger to the people who matter to her almost proves too much to bear, making her even more determined to save them. Those home improvement skills she's been honing since she moved from New York to Maine serve her well. Logical, determined, and even courageous against the odds, she's an enjoyable heroine. It's hard not to root for her as she's facing what seem to be insurmountable odds, whether she's out to rescue Lee from the men who snatched her or in a leaky boat in rough waters with passengers who would sooner kill her than help her get to shore safely. Jake is the kind of character to restore your faith in your fellow human beings, the friend or neighbor we all would like to have. show less

A Face at the Window is the 12th book in Sarah Graves' Home Repair is Homicide series. In this one, Ms. Graves has gone out of her way to make sure that her heroine, Jacobia 'Jake' Tiptree is alone at a vulnerable time. Jake's husband, harbor pilot Wade Sorenson, spends most of the book away helping a ship in distress. Jake's son, Sam, is in Portland. Jake's father, Jacob Tiptree, has gone off for a trip to another island with his new wife, Jake's housekeeper, Bella Diamond. Monday the elderly Labrador retriever and Prill the red Doberman are away getting trained for the upcoming hunting season. Even Ellie White, Jake's best friend, and her husband, George Valentine, are off on a trip to Italy. Ellie and George's lovely daughter, Lee show more (short for 'Leonora'), is staying with Jake. Ellie is anxious that Lee's normal routine be maintained, so Lee still spends time at her babysitter's house. Young Helen lives with her mother and stepfather.

Why is this a vulnerable time? Jake's mother, Leonora, was murdered when she was Lee's age. For most of Jake's life, Jacob was the main murder suspect. A deathbed confession has cleared Jacob. The real killer, Ozzie Campbell, is going to be tried for the murder. Leonora wore beautiful ruby stud earrings. Jacob wears one of them. Ozzie wears the other, which he has long claimed that Leonora gave to him. Ozzie has maintained an air of confidence, but is apparently upset about Jake's victim impact statement. Jake has no idea why, but she's nervous that Ozzie has left New Jersey. She can't help feeling Ozzie is up to something. Unfortunately, her police chief friend, Bob Arnold, thinks she's overreacting.

The book switches between three viewpoints: Jake, Helen, and Anthony. Anthony is a New Jersey thief who grew up in a home who would like to know what a real home is. He and Markie were hired to kidnap Lee. Compared to Markie, Anthony is the soul of decency and kindness. Markie carries a gun and is fond of patting the pocket where he keeps it. Markie is subject to fits of temper. Be grateful if he destroys only objects during one of his fits. The young men took Helen as well as Lee, Anthony wanted them to wear masks during the kidnapping, but Markie refused. Helen and Anthony both think Markie wanted an excuse to murder Helen all along. The truth is a bit different, but just as terrible.

Ozzie calls Jake a few times. She's absolutely certain he's behind the kidnapping. To her frustration, neither Bob nor any other police officer involve believe her. They're certain that the kidnapping was done by two friends of Helen's abusive ex-boyfriend. (The ex-boyfriend has a great alibi -- after he hit Helen, Helen's stepfather Jodie beat up the creepy dastard so thoroughly that the boy is in traction in the hospital.) There's a warrant out for Jodie's arrest for assault. Helen's mother thinks that's unfair. I was hit enough as child and girl that I agree with her. Still, Jodie isn't going to let a little thing like having to hide from the police keep him from helping Jake to rescue Helen and Lee.

There's a suspenseful scene where Jake falls for a trap Campbell set. A text message is sent to Bob Arnold that's supposed to be.from Jake. However, the name on the text was 'Jacobia,' and hardly anyone uses her full first name, including Jake. Helen is in deadly peril. Can the lessons Jodie taught her, which she didn't appreciate at the time, save her life? Anthony must deal with an increasingly unstable Markie. Even little Lee is frightened, though she's trying not to show it.

Ms. Graves really piles on the danger. I was listening to an audio edition from my local library, and the only CD in the set that was skipping did so during an extremely suspenseful scene involving the whirlpool known as 'Old Sow'. How frustrating! (That scene wasn't even the climax.) I can't recommend listening if you're feeling stressed out, unless you think what the characters go through will make your life seem tranquil.

Dog lovers, I'm afraid you'll have to settle for cameo appearances of Monday the Labrador Retriever and Prill the Red Doberman. show less

Here's a twist on the successful approach to writing a mystery series: after carefully developing some ten supporting characters over eleven books, now send nine of them away/out of town/out of the country with little explanation; after charming and intriguing readers with the personality, streets and buildings of the town of Eastport, Maine, now have the mystery take place 90% or more away from the town in the Maine wilds; after basing the series on home repairs and letting the reader learn about the lay-out and history of the main character's home as a focal point, now reduce the technical repair to fixing a lamp and filling a hole in a cement front walk. A kidnapped child, at one point thrown up in the air and lying motionless on the show more ground, is simply added Bizarro-Eastport-World fodder. As you can gather, this book was a big change from the previous mysteries and monumentally disappointing: endless narration from the dim minds of evil-doers or a previously unknown babysitter, and even poor treatment of Jacobia from the one supporting character who does interact with her a few times in the book (the police chief) but who takes none of her observation or experiences seriously which, in turn, leaves her open to more problems (not exactly well motivated given his support in other books). At the final moment he reveals he apparently was "helping" her by doing long distance research quietly behind the scenes...all very forced. This work was tedious to read aside from a few pages in the beginning where I read curt dismissals of character after character (poor son Sam to an apartment in Portland e.g.) and a few brief pages at the very end where they all re-appear, and her father helps Jacobia clarify a mystery about her mother. All the pages in between are ramblings of others and hasty actions by Jacobia (whom I have come to dislike more much as inversely I got to like her ex-husband more as the books went along). This will absolutely be the last book I buy by this author…anything else will be a library borrowing at best in the hope of reading a mystery involving more about Eastport, Sam, her house, and the other characters. I liked that this was never “just” a tea-cozy series, but if I wanted to read mysteries involving bitter, sniping criminals or child kidnappers traipsing about in the wild without any interesting supporting characters, I have other authors I can Google. But to end on a good note, visit, if at all possible, the still unspoilt town of Eastport, Maine: you’ll find houses, shops and restaurants, and local geography all much as they are in the books. We did and enjoyed ourselves quite a bit. show less

While I was aware of exactly what I was getting myself into with this book, I still have a great many objections to the "child in jeopardy" plotline. The lengths the author goes to in imperiling the child in question just to demonstrate the madness and evil of the villain are much too far over the top.

In addition, I am not fond of the switch from first person narration in the first ten books of the series to the third person limited Graves is now using. Ideally, as a series continues, the reader sees the growth and development of the main character(s). That is more difficult to show with a third person narrative (or at least it's not showing here). The switch also costs the reader in terms of empathy and understanding for the main show more character, and it feels as if the "child in jeopardy" plotline was inserted to make up for that loss.

Overall, the book was okay, and I'll keep it because I have the rest of the series, but I will definitely wait for paperback or a library copy of the next book rather than investing in a hardcover. show less

I'm not being totally fair in giving this book only three stars. It certainly held my interest, and the change from Graves' previous practice of telling the story in the first person, which she experimented with in the last book, was refreshing. [b:A Face at the Window|4106822|A Face at the Window (Home Repair is Homicide Mystery, Book 12)|Sarah Graves|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51Wx1PXkAML._SL75_.jpg|4153988] was more of a thriller than a whodunnit, another departure for Graves. But...(if you are really allergic to any possibility of a spoiler, stop here!)

I had two problems with the story, one minor and one (for me) major. The minor one was the usual thing which appears in most private eye tales and some other types -- where show more the protagonist (in this case two protagonists) take an incredible amount of physical punishment and keep going. I believe in adrenalin and I've read some amazing true survival stories, but still.

The major problem I had with the book was that Graves makes one of the perpetrators a fairly sympathetic character and I fully expected that he would find redemption at the end of the book, or at least be on his way. This does not happen; and it almost seems as if the author (or her editor?) changed direction in mid-book to make it into a more conventional good guys-bad guys story where bad guys never change. Although I'd say I normally read mysteries for catharsis and the restoration of order to the world, and "literary" fiction for hope and redemption, I really thought at the beginning of the book that this would be a mixture of the two. That's why it disappointed me. show less

Wow! I've enjoyed all the Home Repair is Homicide books but this one is outstanding. Jake's past rears up again, this time the man she saw kill her mother is finally facing a trial. When he disappears while on bail Jake is convinced that he is coming to get her. Her "witness statement" seems to have worried him, a lot. Considering she was only 3-years-old, what was in the statement that was so worrying?

There is so much packed into this story, the tension just keeps building and building. Heart-stopping in places and wow, what an ending!

I'm not sure what Graves will come up with next but I'm looking forward to finding out.

Jake's past comes back again in the form of the man who killed her mother and framed her dad. This is one of the more gritty novels in the series. The suffering of Helen in particular is hard to read. Ms. Graves does a good job of mingling empathy in her descriptions of the "bad" guys.