Week 48 Review: Primer and Punishment

From Goodreads:

Primer and Punishment marks the fifth in the delightful cozy mystery series from Diane Kelly set in Nashville, Tennessee. Whitney Whitaker has a knack for nailing down murderers . . . but this time she might just come unmoored.

Carpenter Whitney Whitaker and her cousin Buck are looking once again to rehab and resell a house, only this particular house is made of fiberglass, floats, and has been dubbed the Skinny Dipper. The old houseboat sure could use some work, but the unusual project has Whitney bubbling with excitement.

The charming and handsome Grant Hardisty lives on the cabin cruiser in the adjacent slip, but the cousins soon learn he's left a half dozen angry ex-wives in his wake and made enemies of all sorts of unsavory folks. The man is clearly caught in an increasingly dangerous current with no life preserver in sight.

Whitney and Buck are spraying primer on their houseboat when—KABOOM!—Grant's boat blows sky high with the man himself inside. Detective Collin Flynn has no shortage of suspects, but the waters become muddied when several of them confess to the crime. Is one of those who confessed truly guilty, or are they taking a dive for someone else? When anonymous threats are made against the cousins, Whitney must quickly determine who killed their neighbor at the lake, or she and Buck might also be sunk.

My Review:
This was another fantastic mystery! I loved watching Whitney and Buck renovate a houseboat, and the murder that they get pulled into because it was the guy in the slip next to them. It was such an entertaining read! Plus there was a quick mention of two of her other series with the explosions, which was really awesome! 

Grant was awful! No wonder there was no end of suspects! He was a user, a grifter, who wanted a sugar mama to take care of him basically, which means that he was working on his 5th divorce when he was killed. Besides that, he had some really questionable money borrowing practices. And an insurance claim for an injured knee. So many possibilities! 

I really enjoyed watching the investigation unfold. There were many clues, but the question was, which ones lead to his murder, and not just bad feelings? The way things worked out, I loved how it was figured out! 

Throughout the book, we had a lot of the events leading up to Colette and Buck's wedding, the bridal shower and bachelorette and bachelor parties, as well as their plans for once they were married. And then we got see their wedding! So that was very sweet to read! And oh, that last chapter! Loved it! 

I had such a great time reading this book, and I can't wait for the next adventure! 

Author: Diane Kelly 
Series: House-Flipper Mystery #5
Read: November 30th, 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 Paperbacks
Expected Publication: February 21st 2023

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars