Author: M.E. Bakos
Genre: Mystery
Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9798985077094
M.E. Books
250 Pages
$17.12; $3.99 Amazon
August 11, 2022
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Before the festive holiday season begins, Katelyn jumps at the chance to renovate a Tudor style home in fictional Crocus Heights, Minnesota. All the home furnishings, fine china, and crystal are part of the sale.
The catch? Nearly twenty years earlier, in the aftermath of a famous Halloween blizzard, a woman who lived in the quaint home was found dead in her towed car.
Katelyn discovers a cache of cold, hard cash and jewelry in the renovation. Is it finders keepers or losers weepers? Who killed the beautiful, young, ambitious resident?
Did hunky Sheriff Don really propose? What is up with Olivia, his old flame's offspring? Does Eddy really want to marry again? Does Katelyn want to marry again?
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Katelyn Baxter is a home renovator; or a house flipper, if you will, since she sells the homes after renovating them. Her latest purchase is an old Tudor with a disturbing past. After purchasing the home, she finds that a young woman named Darlene Erickson was murdered on Halloween night in 1991. She lived there with her husband Lyle, brother Bruce, and parents. No one was ever charged for the crime, and although the parents and brother denied Lyle had anything to do with it, rumors abound so much that he moved out of state and eventually started a new life.
But there are memories, and both Lyle and Bruce have come several times to relive them. Convinced that maybe Lyle did murder his wife, curiosity gets the better of Katelyn and she starts investigating on her own, much to the dismay of Sheriff Don Williams, who is also personally interested in her...
But there are other things brewing as well: Don has a young woman named Olivia staying with him. He once thought she was his daughter from a failed relationship, but even finding out she isn't gives him a guilt trip and he's giving her time to find what she wants to do. But apparently, what she wants to do is threaten Katelyn, even though she's not shared this with Don.
With the holidays fast approaching, Katelyn wants to tie everything up. But will it put her in the crosshairs of a killer?...
This is the fourth book in the series, and, unfortunately, the first that I have read. (So many books, so little time, as the saying goes). I found it interesting from the beginning, and the characters are have their own little quirks as well, which only endears them to the readers. With Katelyn's ex-husband Eddy coming around regularly, it's hard not to like the guy, as he has his own brand of charm. We should all be as friendly with our exes as Katelyn, but then, our exes aren't as charming as Eddy.
Meanwhile, Gillie and Wayne are having their own problems as newlyweds, but an adjustment is more than expected when you first get married; everything in its own time. Then there's Don and Katelyn, who are not communicating well; and Katelyn trying to keep on the down low in her investigation, hoping the killer of Darlene doesn't find her as well.
But while holiday celebrations are circling around the people, so is a killer stalking Katelyn. And if she's found, things could go from bad to worse...like ending her life. When we come to the end of the story, and the climax rolls around, it is both satisfying and fitting; who knows what murderers think? And the motive is as old as time itself. Although I must say that I enjoyed the epilogue immensely as well. Now I have to go back and read the first three books...
I received a copy of this book from the author and Book Sirens but this in no way influenced my review.
More on M.E. Bakos's Books: https://www.amazon.com/M-E-Bakos/e/B077YDN99D/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1
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