Hello my cozy friends,
Today I am reviewing “The Barn Identity” the 8th instalment in the House Flipper Mysteries series by Diane Kelly.
The eighth in the House-Flipper mystery series set in Nashville, where the real estate market is to die for.
In Nashville, carpenter Whitney Whitaker is ecstatic when she discovers an abandoned barn perfect for her next project. However, since the surrounding former farmland has now developed into a shiny new shopping center, it seems the decrepit antebellum barn that once served as a livery stable should be torn down to make way for something more modern. Even so, Whitney can’t help but think the barn should be preserved. While unproven, it’s rumored the building once served as a hiding place for escaped slaves as part of the Underground Railroad. She convinces her cousin to take a chance on the old property. After all, the barn would make a unique retail space or, with its high ceilings and wide walls, could be turned into an arthouse cinema.
When a local print journalist reporting on the renovation is found dead on the property, investigators suspect he might have been murdered for any one of several exposés he’d published about local politicians, movers, and shakers. Whitney suspects there’s more to the story, and that the journalist’s fate might be tied directly to the stable renovation. Can she solve the murder and bring a killer to justice? Or might this goal be too lofty?
In Nashville, carpenter Whitney Whitaker is ecstatic when she discovers an abandoned barn perfect for her next project. However, since the surrounding former farmland has now developed into a shiny new shopping center, it seems the decrepit antebellum barn that once served as a livery stable should be torn down to make way for something more modern. Even so, Whitney can’t help but think the barn should be preserved. While unproven, it’s rumored the building once served as a hiding place for escaped slaves as part of the Underground Railroad. She convinces her cousin to take a chance on the old property. After all, the barn would make a unique retail space or, with its high ceilings and wide walls, could be turned into an arthouse cinema.
When a local print journalist reporting on the renovation is found dead on the property, investigators suspect he might have been murdered for any one of several exposés he’d published about local politicians, movers, and shakers. Whitney suspects there’s more to the story, and that the journalist’s fate might be tied directly to the stable renovation. Can she solve the murder and bring a killer to justice? Or might this goal be too lofty?
This time around a pregnant Whitney and Buck are remodelling an old livery stable/barn with history that it once served as a hiding place for escaped slaves as part of the Underground Railroad. When a reporter who was doing a story on the renovation and history of the barn is found dead, Whitney decides to investigate.
The mystery is interesting and had lots of twists which kept me guessing. I did suspect who the killer was just before Whitney did.
I highly recommend to all my cozy mystery loving friends.
Thank you for stopping by and visiting my little blog!
I requested and received an advance reader copy of this book from St.Martin Press and Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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