law-enforcement, murder, murder-investigation, relatives, relationships, amateur-sleuth, renovation, cozy-mystery, friendship, small-business, Tennessee, artist, restaurant, rural*****

Great story! Cousins Whitney and Buck are flippers with imagination. This time they've bought an old church and rectory and decide to turn the church into a Playhouse and the rectory into a restaurant operated by Whitney's housemate. One visionary expense is to leave the few stained-glass windows in place and go to a glass artist to create four others. On the day that the windows are delivered, the delivery man is murdered in the belfry. There is also a major problem with the nasty man next door who uses taser on his horses and thinks that he owns everything. Let the sleuthing begin! Whitney has an edge because her boyfriend is a Nashville homicide detective, but they find more red herrings and plot twists than usual. A Good Read!
I won the print copy in a GoodReads Giveaway back in March courtesy of St. Martin's Paperbacks and started to read it (takes me awhile because of vision issues) but then it walked away with a friend. I have it back now but will pass it on to my local library. I have just bought and finished the audio narrated by voice actor Courtney Patterson! ( )

Whitney Whitaker and her cousin Buck have acquired an old church and parsonage for their next project. However, when they arrive to start, they find a herd of horses and piles of manure and are greeted by an irate neighbor stating that they are trespassing on his lands. The police and called and after producing their settlement papers, Buck and Whitney decide to ignore the neighbor and leave the issues to be settled in court. The process doesn't get any easier when a delivery is murdered in the bell tower will Whitney and Buck are working at the parsonage. Why would the delivery man be killed and why in the bell tower?

I really enjoyed the story of rehabbing the old church and the interaction with the neighbor who gets his just desserts. The mystery was interesting because of the clues that were subtly left. ( )

Batten Down the Belfry by Diane Kelly has Whitney Whitaker and her cousin, Buck purchasing an old church and parsonage. After finalizing the purchase, Whitney and Buck go out to admire their acquisition and decide how they are going to transform it. Shortly after they arrive, their neighbor, Nolan Sibley shows up with a cattle prod in his hand. He claims to own the property through adverse possession and wants them to skedaddle. The only way to settle this land dispute is through the courts. While waiting for their hearing, Whitney and Buck begin the remodel. They are going to turn the old church into performance venue. The old parsonage will become a café where Colette, Whitney’s roommate and Buck’s girlfriend, will serve her epicurean delights. There project goes south when a man is found at the bottom of the stairs leading to the belfry. He is pronounced DOA on the way to the hospital. Before long, a second body turns up nearby. Are the two deaths tied together? Whitney sets out to get answers with help from her sidekick Sawdust. Batten Down the Belfry is the fourth A House-Flipper Mystery. It can be read as a standalone, but I highly recommend reading all the books in this engaging series. I thought Batten Down the Belfry was well-written with developed, relatable characters. I like Whitney Whitaker who is down to earth. She is friendly and works hard flipping buildings. Buck Whitaker, Whitney’s cousin and business partner, is a nice guy who is dating Whitney’s roommate and friend, Collette. Sawdust, Whitney’s cat, steals the show with the chapters from his point of view. He is a cutie. Sawdust’s chapters will have you laughing and going “ahhhhh.” I enjoy the author’s descriptions of Nashville and how she incorporates history of the city (an example is details about the Belle Meade Plantation). The mystery was well thought it. I like how everything tied together into one fun whodunit. The mystery has unusual elements which I enjoyed. There are twists and unexpected revelations that I found delightful (I just love a challenging whodunit). There is a great reveal, and all the details are provided at the end, so I did not have any lingering questions. I just love how one character met his maker. It was very fitting. Whitney and Buck transformed a church into a performance venue. I liked reading about the various details and the work they did to accomplish the task. They also turn the parsonage into a café with Collette as the chef. I like the name Collette came up with for the café. I cannot wait to read the next A House Flipper Mystery. Batten Down the Belfry is an entertaining cozy with a land clash, a thoroughbred tyrant, a clever kitty, a bonging bell, a converted church, a disordered delivery, a messy murder, and a curious carpenter. ( )

Whitney Witaker and her cousin Buck's next house flipping project is converting an old church and parsonage into a new music venue and restaurant in Nashville. But the horse breeder next door believes that he owns the property and has been letting his horses roam there. He's not a very nice man given that he is a little too free with his cattle prod for Whitney's taste. That means that Whitney and Buck have to go to court, and Whitney is concerned about investing too much in the property until they are sure that they own it.

When a delivery man bringing some custom stained-glass windows to the site is murdered, Whitney and her cop boyfriend are on the case. And when the horse breeder also dies, Whitney's suspicions grow even more. Her investigations have her looking at the delivery man's possible involvement in selling drugs, the horse breeder's head hand possibly illegally selling stud services, and the stained-glass artist's possible connection to money laundering.

This was a fun story with lots of interesting details about house flipping. I liked the characters and thought the plot was nicely twisty. The recipes at the end of the book also look good. ( )