Dead in the Doorway
Written by Diane Kelly
Narrated by Courtney Patterson
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
Whitney Whitaker has scored the perfect piece of real estate: a ramshackle white Colonial at the top of a hill with views of downtown Nashville. What more could a self-taught home-improvement maven and occasional house-flipper ask for? Ideally, the property of Whitney's dreams would not have come with a dead body blocking the entrance to the foyer. But Whitney, always quick to take heavy-duty matters into her own hands, also happens to be a skilled amateur sleuth. So that helps.
AND SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET.
Who is this older woman-and how did her corpse end up at the bottom of the staircase of this locked, unoccupied house? That is what Whitney, along with the support of her wood-working cousin Buck, Detective Collin Flynn, and, of course, feline partner-in-crime Sawdust, intends to find out. Her friendly-neighbor investigation takes a sharp turn, however, when Whitney discovers that the house's former owner was a gourmet baker whose secret recipe for peach pie was to die for-perhaps literally. Now it's up to Whitney to learn the truth about what happened before she loses this killer real-estate deal . . . and the killer comes knocking at her door.
Diane Kelly
Diane Kelly is a former state assistant attorney general and tax advisor who spent much of her career fighting, or inadvertently working for, white-collar criminals. She is also a proud graduate of the Citizens Police Academy of Mansfield, Texas. Diane combines her fascination with crime and her love of animals in her stories, which include the Paw Enforcement series, the House-Flipper Mysteries, and the Mountain Lodge Mysteries. Diane now lives in North Carolina, where she spends her days catering to her demanding cats or walking her dogs in the region’s beautiful woods.
More audiobooks from Diane Kelly
Related to Dead in the Doorway
Titles in the series (4)
Dead in the Doorway Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Murder With a View Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Batten Down the Belfry Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Primer and Punishment Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related audiobooks
Murder With a View Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Batten Down the Belfry Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dead as a Door Knocker Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death by Chocolate Snickerdoodle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Frugal Lissa Finds a Body Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Primer and Punishment Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death by Auction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5On Borrowed Crime: A Jane Doe Book Club Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Peaches and Schemes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5And Then There Were Crumbs Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dough or Die Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Booked for Death: A Book Lover's B&B Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Peachy Scream Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Southern Sass and a Crispy Corpse Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5For Whom the Book Tolls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Tale of Two Cookies Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Southern Sass and a Battered Bride Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Murder Yule Regret Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sugar and Vice Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Death Gone A-Rye Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Can't Judge a Book by Its Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Marry Christmas Murder Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Peach Clobbered: A Georgia B&B Mystery Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Crime for the Books Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Reserved for Murder Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Long Overdue at the Lakeside Library Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Kneaded to Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Southern Sass and Killer Cravings Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Body in the Attic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Veiled in Death Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Mystery For You
Did I Kill You?: A Thriller Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5And Then There Were None Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unexpected Guest Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Complete Sherlock Holmes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Perfume: The Story of a Murderer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder on the Orient Express: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When No One Is Watching: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Silence of the Lambs: 25th Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Listen for the Lie: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Woman in the Library, The Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The River We Remember: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Heaven’s Crooked Finger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hit and Run Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Marple: Twelve New Mysteries Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mother-Daughter Murder Night: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What Lies in the Woods: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tell No One Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hallowe'en Party: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Tender Land Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Still Life: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Crooked House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Death on the Nile: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One for the Money: A Stephanie Plum Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Grace Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Altered Carbon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finlay Donovan Is Killing It: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Dead in the Doorway
70 ratings5 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5☆☆☆☆ Liked it
To the next book I go ♡ - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Whitney Whitaker and her cousin Buck are house flippers but some problems that they come across aren't structural - they're deadly. Arriving early to start demolition on their newest project, Whitney has trouble with the front door being stuck so when she enters from the back, she discovers a body blocking the front entrance.Whitney is drawn into the neighborhood dynamics as well as the investigation as to the identity of victim and murderer alike.This was a fun book, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if there had been fewer neighbors involved and a little bit tighter mystery.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Whitney Whitaker is excited to be flipping houses with her cousin Buck – not only is she looking forward to making some money but she loves working with her hands. They are about to start flipping a house when Whitney and her cat Sawdust discover a dead body in the house. Detective Collin Flynn is investigating the case but Whitney can’t help get involved as she meets the neighbors while flipping the house. She becomes friends with many of them but is one of her new friends a killer?“Dead in the Doorway” is the nicely done second book in Diane Kelly’s House Flipper cozy mystery series. While I have not yet read the first book in the series (“Dead as a Doorknocker”), I thoroughly enjoyed this book and intend of reading the first one. I like the idea of house flipping as a them for a mystery and Kelly does a great job with that aspect –giving just enough information about the house renovations without them overtaking the mystery. The characters in the book are great – Whitney, her cousin Buck, her roommate Colette (I need a roommate like Colette!), Collin, and the various neighbors in the neighborhood where Whitney and Buck are flipping the house. The mystery itself is well done with plenty of twists and turns and suspense. I did figure out who the killer was but wasn’t quite sure my guess was right until the killer was revealed.“Dead in the Doorway” is a nicely done cozy mystery.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dead in the Doorway by Diane Kelly is the second book in A House-Flipper Mystery series. Dead in the Doorway can be read without having picked up Dead as a Doorknocker. However, I recommend reading the cute debut of this series. A House-Flipper Mystery series is similar to A Paw Enforcement series written by Diane Kelly with chapters from an animal’s point-of-view. Sawdust, Whitney’s cat, is cute and smart, and I like reading about his perspective on things. I would like his chapters to have a wee bit more humor (I love Brigit’s snarky comments from A Paw Enforcement series). I thought Dead in the Doorway contained good writing, steady pacing and friendly characters. Whitney Whitaker works as property manager as well as a carpenter (for her uncle’s carpentry business). Her true love, though, is flipping houses which she does with her cousin, Buck Whitaker. They are both hoping for a better experience after the murder that happened in their first slip that prevented them from selling it (Whitney and two roommates are currently living in it). Whitney arrives early on demo day to find a woman dead at the base of the stairs and the deceased owner’s grandson squatting in the house (that gets the blood pumping). At first blush, it appears the victim fell down the steps during the night. Unfortunately, Detective Collin Flynn soon informs Whitney that the victim did not fall on her own. Whitney, who was going to snoop anyway, is thrilled when Detective Flynn asks for her assistance. There are definite sparks flying between the detective and Whitney (and he is a cat lover too). The mystery had a handful of suspects along with misdirection. There are clues to aid a reader in solving the crime. I would have preferred more sleuthing and less speculation. There was too much conjecture for my liking (I ended up skimming through some of it because it was repetitive). My favorite line from Dead in the Doorway is courtesy of Detective Flynn when he said, “You again?” when he sees Whitney at the crime scene. I did enjoy reading Dead in the Doorway, and I will be reading the next A House-Flipper Mystery with Whitney, Buck, Detective Flynn and Sawdust. Dead in the Doorway is a purr-fect cozy mystery to cuddle up with in a comfy chair.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5cozy-mystery, murder-investigation, law-enforcement, amateur-sleuth, small-business, family-dynamics, friendship, Tennessee*****I read the first three chapters in Cozy Case Files, A Cozy Mystery Sampler, Volume 8 and was hooked!The publisher's blurb is pretty good, but the quality of the story is much better. While there is a hint of romance, it certainly is not blatant enough to take anything away from the mystery but serves as a plot device to enhance the deduction process. Whatever. The important thing is that it is a good story with very little that is not realistic but not the kind of nastiness found in true crime. I definitely loved it!I requested and received a free ebook copy from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley. Thank You!