The Dead Cat Bounce

Jacobia (“Jake”) Tiptree, 30, was a former money trader for one of New York’s largest financial institutions. She left that job to become an independent financial advisor to the wealthy. She was wealthy, successful, and happy, until she learned that her brain-surgeon husband was “a lying, cheating, son of a bitch with a stone where his heart belonged.” She left her second job, left New York, and now she and her teenaged son Sam are living in Eastport, Maine, where she bought a house 18 months ago. It is dilapidated but charming, and she is intent on staying there and getting the house fixed up, one way or another.

In Eastport she gained a best friend - Ellie White, who lives across the street; a boyfriend, Wade Sorenson, who is show more a harbor pilot; and lots of friendly, helpful neighbors.

As this book begins, Jake has just found a dead man in her storage room. Ellie, who was working with her in the kitchen, told her just to call George Valentine, the man in Eastport to call for anything you needed taken care of, which is kind of how things were done in that isolated small community.

Threnody McIlwaine, the dead guy in Jacobia’s storeroom, “was one of the fifty wealthiest men in the world, a corporate raider so aggressive that it was said, only half jokingly, that his limousines ought to fly the Jolly Rodger.” He was originally from Eastport, and his latest wife had wanted to live there. It was thus not entirely unexpected to see him, but a big surprise to hear Ellie confess to stabbing him with an icepick. She claimed Threnody was responsible for the financial disaster recently experienced by her father.

Jake can’t believe Ellie did it, but is convinced she is covering for someone else. But who? And why? She is determined to help exonerate Ellie, but someone wants her search laid to rest, so to speak.

Evaluation: I found this mystery to have a more intellectual element than most, and the backdrop of Maine, along with the information about that area, was quite interesting. There are twists and red herrings to keep it interesting, and even home repair tips (although the message I got most clearly was don’t buy an old dilapidated house unless you have plenty of money to pretty much redo the whole thing!) show less

Jacobia, Jake for shore, is minding her own business. She goes to her store room and there's a dead body in it. It only gets worse when Jake's best friend Ellie confesses to the murder and gets hauled to jail. But not before asking (in a very oblique way) Jake to find out who actually killed the guy.

The story had tons of twists and turns (though I sorta had an inkling at the beginning who actually did it). SOme of the twists were interesting and different, and some of them weren't surprising to me at all.

I did like all the background stuff in the book. The house repair tips were interesting as well as a little depressing here and there (half destroyed walls make me sad). The small town Maine stuff was cool too. And I really liked how show more Graves reminded the reader that Mainers have quite an accent, but she didn't hit us readers over the head with that fact. It probably also helped that apparently the author lives there so that it wasn't just the accent, but the vernacular and rhythm of the speech that came through.

But really, what I liked best about the novel were the characters. They were all different and vibrant. Sam, Jake's son was wicked nuanced, and Graves made Jake's ex-husband quite the unique character. It's the character that made me want to read another book in the series, to see what other layers Graves adds to all the characters. show less

A delightful little mystery, set in small town Maine, capturing the flavor of the town, the culture of those living by the sea and making their living from the sea. Jacobia Triptee lives in a falling down Victorian house which she is remodeling, has an ex-husband who is the proverbial jerk, and a teenage son trying to adjust to living in a small town after having lived in a big city.

When the dead body shows up in the pantry, and her friend confesses to the murder, Jake sets out to prove her friend innocent. There are several suspects, and the plot is convoluted enough to make it really interesting. This was the first in the "Home Repair is Homicide Series" and I'll definitely look for more.

It is about 18 months after Jacobia (Jake) Tiptree and her son, Sam, moved to Eastport, ME from NYC that Jake finds a dead man in her storage room. The man has an ice pick in his head. He turns out to be a local rich businessman who made good internationally and returned to build a mansion in Eastport. He is not well liked and has many enemies. Then Jake's best friend, Ellie, confesses to the murder but makes Jake promise to find out what happened. It is obvious she is covering for someone but who and why? Jake is a former financial wizard with some unsavory connections, though she did not break any laws. Her ex-husband is a brain surgeon and there is a thread concerning their relationship over issues concerning their son. I liked the show more secondary characters in the town, the references concerning fixing up the house, the background on the main characters. I think the story around the murder and those characters' backstory got a little over the top, but I look forward to reading the next installment. show less

I've read this before but took this chance to listen to it in the car. Jacobia (Jake) Tiptree has moved to an island off the Maine coast from New York with her son. In another life she was a financial advisor to all types of people including bad guys, but she was careful not to cross any lines. Her ex-husband, Victor, is in high demand as a surgeon. He also had no boundaries when it came to women and often cheated. Jacobia finally divorced him, but he then made her life miserable for along time. She moves to Maine more or less on a whim. The dead cat bounce is a financial term. A man is found dead in her pantry and her good friend, Ellie, from next door confesses. Jacobia investigates and finally comes up with answers. I like this show more character. show less

This is a new cozy mystery series for me. I thought it was very well-written. The action began immediately to draw you into the story. I thought the author did an excellent job of balancing past with present so the reader could understand the background. The storyline kept flowing, without choppy blocks of time. The characters were fun and interesting. Plus the ending was quite amusing. I will definitely continue the series.

Jacobia Tiptree has gone through a nasty divorce from her neurosurgeon husband and "retired" from her high-paced job on Wall Street to the peaceful town of Eastport ME. Then one morning she discovers a body in her basement and it turns out to be a high-profile multi-millionaire and her world starts spinning again.

Her first Eastport friend confesses to the murder but Jake knows that Ellie couldn't have done it and must be trying to protect someone. Is it father, her ex-boyfriend, her mother? As the story unfolds we see Jacobia trying to acclimatize herself to her new environment and neighbors as well as be a good mother and a good friend.

I really liked this story and the characters that involved. I'm definitely going to be looking for show more another in this series. show less