BONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Sarah Graves's Knockdown.
When a bestselling true-crime author arrives in Eastport, Main... read full description
When a bestselling true-crime author arrives in Eastport, Main... read full description
reviews
Mar 13, 2010
True crime author Carolyn Rathbone and her assistant Chip travel to Eastport, Maine, to research the murders of two sisters and interview a subject for a planned book. When Carolyn is kidnapped, Chip sets out in a small boat to save her. Meanwhile, Jacobia (Jake) Tiptree’s son Sam disappears. Carolyn and Sam, who recognized the killer, are being held by the murderer, long presumed dead, and Chip, who stumbles on their location when the boat’s motor dies, is captured as well. This fast-paced,
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Nov 25, 2010
Leslie
rated it: 
Pretty enjoyable, though I don't care for "themed" mystery series as a rule. Just a couple of quibbles:
1) The timing seemed completely screwed up in a couple of places. I found it particularly unbelievable that the widower of a rich woman who had been murdered in her own home would be able to gain control of her money (which was tied up in a trust at the time of her death), within weeks.
2) With all the things happening to various people in this book, narrow brushes More...
1) The timing seemed completely screwed up in a couple of places. I found it particularly unbelievable that the widower of a rich woman who had been murdered in her own home would be able to gain control of her money (which was tied up in a trust at the time of her death), within weeks.
2) With all the things happening to various people in this book, narrow brushes More...
Jan 06, 2012
Terri
rated it:
I was disappointed in this book. If you're going to read a series, you should be able to count on having some continuity. Part of the charm of this series is the home improvement projects which seemed to be only peripheral in this book--a way to kill time while waiting for news. The supporting cast of characters who added much of the charm to the earlier books was mostly missing or appeared only briefly or appeared often, but were unconscious at the time. I simply did not find the book engag
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Jul 28, 2010
This is a great series--I read this book over a weekend. Jake is a woman who was once a financial advisor to the rich in New York. Some of her clients were rather shady. One day she takes her son, Sam, and decides to move to an island in Maine where they start a new life. By the time this book takes place, Sam is grown up, Jake has remarried and made friends. Her best friend is Ellie.
Jake and Ellie try to find a young woman who was kidnapped—and then Sam disappears after working on More...
Jake and Ellie try to find a young woman who was kidnapped—and then Sam disappears after working on More...
Nov 26, 2011
Mercurybard
rated it: 
I remember really liking Graces' Home Repair is Homicide series, so I grabbed this one off my mom's shelf as a little bit of light holiday reading. Unfortunately, it wasn't at all what I was expecting. Multiple POVs tell a cold and creepy story about a serial killer in northern Maine/southern Canada. Jake Tiptree and her home improvement projects are stuck in the background, and we barely see any of the colorful and upbeat Ellie. Even Sam--who I remember cheering for through earlier books--g
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Sep 06, 2010
Kitty
rated it:
Roger and Randy Dodd marry wealthy sisters. Randy dies/disappears in a boating accident and his wife falls down the stairs soon afterward. Now Roger's wife is the sole heir and she is murdered in her own kitchen. When mystery writer Carolyn Rathbone, along with her assistant Chad, shows up to investigate, she is taken hostage by someone who does not want this exposed. And now Sam, son of a local couple, is missing, too. Jacobia, his mother, is beside herself with worry, and sets out to "
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Jan 13, 2010
Susan
rated it: 
Jake Tiptree hardly has time to do any home repairs in this fast-moving thriller. Jake is called by Chip, an old friend of her son's, who works for a true crime author researching an Eastport murder case. The author, beautiful Carolyn Rathbone, has disappeared and Chip is worried about mysterious e-mail messages that she's been receiving. Soon two more people are missing, and Jake and friends, including her new stepmother Bella, are frantically searching for a murderer's hostages. But just wh
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Sep 27, 2011
Tiger
rated it:
I've read and loved every book in this series until this one. Not only has Graves switched to third person, but she seems to have made an almost total departure from her original themes.
We know who the bad guys are immediately and their pursuit and capture is more like a Keystone Kops film then anything else.
I read the book in one day. It was okay, but I'd never reread it, nor would I suggest anyone start the series with this entry. There seemed to be more words than plo
We know who the bad guys are immediately and their pursuit and capture is more like a Keystone Kops film then anything else.
I read the book in one day. It was okay, but I'd never reread it, nor would I suggest anyone start the series with this entry. There seemed to be more words than plo
Aug 06, 2011
Sue
rated it:
This is the first of Graves' books that I have been disappointed in. We know who the bad guys are immediately but it takes her the entire book to catch them. There is alot of hustle/bustle with the characters who are trying to find the ones who are missing but it is like a Chinese fire drill with no one getting anywhere while the reader is saying "yawn" - we allready know who did it and the outcome so hurry up and get us there. It would have made and excellent short story.
Jul 24, 2010
Mascanlon
rated it:
Volume 13 in the Home Repair is Homicide series. This story jumped right into the action and rushed a long from one disaster to another in a most improbable way.Of course its also improbable one person would find 13 bodies in a lifetime... As always the writing is strong, and the plot clever with many twists and turns. Not to much time in this story for friends and family so I missed those touches.
May 28, 2010
Rosemary
rated it:
I think Sarah Graves has a new focus in her home repair is homicide series. There isn't very much about her struggles fixing up her old home, her family, and her friends but more about some dark and scary and sometimes violent (dark, scary and violent for a cozy, that is) experiences. I probably won't buy anymore of her books but will check them out of the library for awhile.
May 19, 2010
Jane
rated it: 
The first 10 books of this series are great fun with an artful mix of mystery and historic home repair. I think the last two or three titles have not carried the same punch, different pacing and emphasis. Maybe the concept is played out. I was very disappointed with this one.
May 20, 2011
Paula
rated it:
I have read part of this series of books. I got lost in the chase scenes and time lines. Old murders presumedly put to rest unsolved, are brought out in the open by the visit of a crime drama author.
Jan 22, 2010
Grey853
rated it:
Very disappointing entry for the series. About half the book was in the point of view of other characters instead of the main one. The plot was also extremely thin.
Jan 23, 2010
Heidi
rated it:
These books get more suspenseful and gritty as time goes by. The characters at this point are like family and I am always ready to hear more from them.
May 24, 2011
Mary Lou
rated it:
Jake is back, this time trying to find Sam before a psychotic killer does him in. Bella has a star turn in this volume. One of her better efforts.
Mar 27, 2010
Used to like this author/series. It's going down the wrong path now. Too much suspence/violence. Don't plan to read any more of this stuff.
Mar 23, 2011
Jan C
rated it:
As usual, I found this pretty enjoyable. No historic facts here to mess up, though, as there have been in some of her previous books.
I think she spins a fair tale. No longer from the first person point of view. So that cleared up one of my bugs about her books. Follows multiple characters. She had a bunch of people in various forms of peril here.
I look forward to the next one.
These are fairly light books (all right, this one did have a serial killer in it) an More...
I think she spins a fair tale. No longer from the first person point of view. So that cleared up one of my bugs about her books. Follows multiple characters. She had a bunch of people in various forms of peril here.
I look forward to the next one.
These are fairly light books (all right, this one did have a serial killer in it) an More...
Oct 12, 2010
Mary Kay
rated it:
The series protagonist is restoring an old house in Maine & keeps running into nefarious characters bent on murder & mayhem.
May 30, 2011
Lindig
rated it:
I usually like these books but this one just didn't grab me. Maybe I'll keep it around for a while and give it another chance. Or not.
May 19, 2010
Judy
rated it:
This is part of a series - had never read any of them and won't. There are too many other good mystery series out there.
Mar 14, 2011
Leslie
rated it:
more of a thriller--bit of a departure for this series which I usually read for the characters.
May 15, 2011
Erin
rated it:
I love the cast of characters Graves as built in this series. Another great mystery.
Aug 21, 2011
Lacey
rated it:
I should clarify my lower rating. As with the prior book in the series, this book is good, but it's different from the others in the series and more of a thriller than a mystery. I like thrillers, but it was jarring for the series to change from simple mystery to thriller.
Jun 26, 2010
Robin
rated it:
I enjoyed the early books in the series but she may be moving away from what I liked about the books. This book got a starred review in Library Journal saying "Graves transcends the bounderies of the conventional mystery by allowing her protagonists to indulge in heroics that land them in the shark-infested waters of the thriller."
