Week 4 Review: Batten Down the Belfry

From Goodreads:

Batten Down the Belfry is the fourth in the delightful cozy mystery series from Diane Kelly set in Nashville, Tennessee—where the real estate market is to die for.

Here is the church, here is the steeple…

Carpenter Whitney Whitaker and her cousin Buck have successfully flipped houses, but this is the first time they've attempted to renovate a house of worship. Still, the colorful stained glass in the country church has caught Whitney's eye, and she'd love to breathe new life into the abandoned building. What's more, the place has perfect acoustics. Could the worship hall be reborn as an entertainment venue with its parsonage repurposed as a pre-show bistro?

Open the doors, and see all the trouble.

The owner of the horse farm next door has asserted a legal claim to the church property, rendering their title uncertain. If that's not bad enough, while rehabbing the church, Whitney's cat Sawdust discovers a bombshell in the bell tower—the body of the man who'd delivered their beautiful new replacement windows. What transpired in the spire? Who rang the man’s bell and why?

The steeple is keeping its secrets and, when a second body turns up, things become even less clear. Can Whitney help Detective Collin Flynn solve the crimes before someone else is sent to meet their maker?

My Review:
This was a really great story! I loved this new mystery, and this new flip! Whitney did find the church at the end of the previous book, so we knew what it was, but it had some pretty interesting features, that lead to what they ended up creating-like a restaurant for Colette!

There were a few things going on, and I wasn't sure that they were connected. First, there was the property's next door neighbour, who seemed to think he had a claim to the property. And then there's the murder of the delivery guy who delivered their stain glass windows. So a good portion of the mystery was if they were connected! 

Of course the plot deepened and there were a few suspects, but once there was a turning point, and a good number of clues came to light, a domino effect that ending with the killer coming after Whitney. Loved how that confrontation went down! 

My one concern is now, after reading this book, is that this might be the end of the series-the next flip wasn't found, and things are in a pretty good place for these characters, so I don't know if this is the end or not. I'm kinda hoping not, because I would love more mysteries with these characters!

This was a really great read, and I hope we get more in this series! 

Author:  Diana Kelly 
Series: House-Flipper Mystery #4 
Read: January 23rd, 2022
Source: NetGalley
Reason Why: Love her writing and this series, and it's a Prequel & Sequel Challenge 2022 Book and a WoW Book! 
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Expected Publication: February 22nd 2022

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars