Feb 10, 2022

Batten Down the Belfry A House-Flipper Mystery by Diane Kelly

Hello my cozy friends, 

Today I am reviewing Batten Down the Belfry the 4th instalment in the House Flipper Mysteries series by Diane Kelly. This is 2nd book I have read in the series, and it can be read as a standalone.
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?

The characters of Whitney, Sawdust (cat), Buck, Collin and Collette are ones I have really come to love. I also enjoy the setting of Nashville, Tennessee. 

This time around they are flipping an abandoned church and the concept they come up with is really cool and somewhere I would want to go to.  I also like where the characters are heading in their personal lives. Overall I really like this series and it’s on my must read list.

The mystery is interesting and had lots of twists which kept me guessing. I had no idea who the killer was till Whitney did. 

I highly recommend to all my cozy mystery loving friends.


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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