Virtual Tour & #Giveaway for Death at a Fixer Upper by Sarah T. Hobart

Welcome to my stop on the Virtual Tour, presented by Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours, for Death at a Fixer Upper by Sarah T. Hobart.  Please leave a comment or question for Sarah to let her know you stopped by.  You may follow all of the stops on the tour by clicking on the banner above.

Death at a Fixer Uppper

By Sarah T. Hobart

Home Sweet Home Mystery, Book 1

Publisher:  Alibi (an Imprint ofRandom House Publishers)

Release Date: May 17, 2016

Genre: Cozy Mystery/Female Sleuth

Format: eBook

Length:  265 Pages (2348KB)

ISBN: 9780399177842

ASIN:  B012089P3W

Buy Links:  Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Random House

About the book: 

In Sarah T. Hobart’s wickedly funny and fast-paced Home Sweet Home mystery series, small-town real estate agent Sam Turner discovers it’s bad for business when her clients keep dropping dead.

Newly armed with her real estate license, Sam Turner loves Arlinda, her quirky seaside hometown in Northern California. But life by the beach isn’t exactly a breeze: She and her teenage son, Max, are being evicted from their apartment, her long absent ex-husband unexpectedly resurfaces, and her possibly romantic relationship with sexy Chief of Police Bernie Aguilar is, well . . . complicated. All Sam wants is a quick and easy sale. What she gets instead is a killer headache—or three.

Sam’s trying to drum up interest in 13 Aster Lane, a rambling Victorian fixer-upper that’s more than a little neglected—and possibly haunted—so when a trio of offers arrive out of the blue, she can’t help thinking it’s too good to be true. But after a new client drops dead on the property, she fears she’s lost more than a commission. Before Sam’s out of house and home, she must unmask a killer targeting her clients, or the only property she’ll be moving will be plots—at the local cemetery.

About The Author:

Sarah Hobart is a real estate agent and former newspaper reporter in Northern California, where she lives with her husband and two children in a majestic fixer-upper overlooking State Highway 101.

Website:  http://www.sarahthobart.com/  

A “fixer upper” that’s really falling down, potential clients killed at the scene and a rookie real-estate agent take center stage in Sarah T. Hobart’s, Death at a Fixer Upper, the first book in the Home Sweet Home mystery series.  Filled with lively dialogue, colorful characters and a light touch of romance, Ms. Hobart’s story grabbed my attention from the first page and made me laugh. If you like cozy mysteries with a female sleuth, this is a book you’re going to want to pick up.

Ms. Hobart does a great job introducing her primary character, Samantha “Sam” Turner, a single mom turned real-estate agent, living in Arlinda, a somewhat unusual seaside town in Northern California. Trying to drum up interest in a new listing, a large Victorian estate desperately in need of repair, Sam finds things looking up when three potential clients insist on checking out the property.  Hoping for a quick and easy sale, she soon finds herself at the center of a murder investigation.  I really liked Sam’s character; she’s funny, snarky, and seems like a great mom.  I liked how she faced unexpected challenges, being evicted over a cat, dealing with her ex-husband, who suddenly re-appeared after 13 years, and an offer of romance from her sister’s ex, all while trying to figure out who is killing her clients.    

The secondary characters were well developed and contributed a lot to the story.  I loved Max, Sam’s teenaged son, laughed at the craziness of her hometown and fell in love with the Victorian “fixer upper” that needed way too much work.  While I don’t necessarily believe in “haunted houses”, I do believe that each and every house and property has a character all of its own and I really liked the “character” of the house at 13 Aster Lane.  I also liked getting the historical background about the owners and their current “tenant”, who Sam connected with emotionally.

The mystery is well written and takes several twists and turns.  I really could not figure out who the killer was and I actually enjoyed that aspect, sometimes I find the killer’s identity too easy to identify and that takes all of the fun out of the story.  The potential romance was interesting and there was just enough heat to make it interesting.  The story is fairly quickly paced and I found Ms. Hobart’s author’s voice enjoyable.    

Will Sam find out who’s killing off her potential clients?  Will she find a client who lives long enough to sign a contract for the “fixer upper” she’s falling in love with?  And who will she choose to let into her heart?  You’ll have to read Death at a Fixer Upper to find out, I really enjoyed it and look forward to reading about Sam’s next adventure.

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Crowns

a Rafflecopter giveaway FTC Disclosure:  I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley for a fair and honest review.  My review is my opinion, and my opinion only, of the reading material provided.