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Home Repair Is Homicide #15
Dead Level
Nobody knows the nuts and bolts of home repair quite like Jacobia “Jake” Tiptree, ex–Wall Streeter turned proud owner of an 1823 Federal-style house in Eastport, Maine. But when a killer with a screw loose sets his sights on Jake, her newest renovation project becomes a dire matter of life and deck.
Driving deep into the woods to her husband’s cottage with her best friend, Ellie White, in tow, Jake knows she has a challenging week ahead of her. Aside from saying goodbye to paved roads and indoor plumbing, Jake bet her husband that she could finish building the cottage porch in only a few days—a lofty goal for even the craftiest home renovator. But as Jake and Ellie set to work, they soon realize that they’re not alone. Someone is watching them . . . and that someone is out for blood.
Recently escaped from prison and having fled into the woods, Dewey Hooper recognizes Jake the instant he sees her. Her testimony got him sent away for murder years ago and here, in the remote wilderness, he can finally exact his revenge. Determined to make payback look like an accident, Dewey hatches a lethal scheme to ensure neither woman returns to Eastport alive.
But Jake and Ellie are tough as nails and not afraid to fend for themselves. With the exit roads flooded and a deranged convict stalking their every move, they’ll have to keep their wits above water to prevent the quaint little cottage from turning into the ultimate death trap.
Complete with Home Repair Is Homicide repair tips!
Driving deep into the woods to her husband’s cottage with her best friend, Ellie White, in tow, Jake knows she has a challenging week ahead of her. Aside from saying goodbye to paved roads and indoor plumbing, Jake bet her husband that she could finish building the cottage porch in only a few days—a lofty goal for even the craftiest home renovator. But as Jake and Ellie set to work, they soon realize that they’re not alone. Someone is watching them . . . and that someone is out for blood.
Recently escaped from prison and having fled into the woods, Dewey Hooper recognizes Jake the instant he sees her. Her testimony got him sent away for murder years ago and here, in the remote wilderness, he can finally exact his revenge. Determined to make payback look like an accident, Dewey hatches a lethal scheme to ensure neither woman returns to Eastport alive.
But Jake and Ellie are tough as nails and not afraid to fend for themselves. With the exit roads flooded and a deranged convict stalking their every move, they’ll have to keep their wits above water to prevent the quaint little cottage from turning into the ultimate death trap.
Complete with Home Repair Is Homicide repair tips!
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
69 people are currently reading
728 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Graves
33 books783 followersSarah Graves lives with her husband John, a musician and luthier, and their black Labrador Retriever in a house very much like the one Jacobia Tiptree is remodeling in Eastport, Maine. When she's not writing Jake's adventures, Sarah works with her husband on the house and she plays the 5-string banjo.
Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 132 reviews
February 9, 2014
Sarah Graves has redeemed herself in my eyes.
After six weak entries in her Home Repair is Homicide series, she delivers a strong one here. This is the first book since Tool And Die that had me turning pages to find out what happened next.
While Graves tells this story from multiple points of view, she returns to first person narration for scenes in Jake’s point of view, instead of the third person she’d used in the last few books, which had distanced me from the character, making me feel as if I was watching things happen to her instead of experiencing them with her. She also delivers tension almost from the beginning of the novel, something else that had been missing from recent entries in the series.
The last few books in the series had others saving Jake’s bacon and solving the crimes for her. Here, Graves has Jake and her best friend, Ellie, fighting off a demented escaped con trying to kill them in the isolated cabin where they’re trying to build a deck. That’s as it should be in a mystery/thriller/suspense novel – the hero or heroine (with a little help from friends) should carry the day.
The earliest novels in the series had a minor supernatural sub-plot (in the form of strange happenings in Jake’s home) that disappeared from later books but returns here as her dead ex-husband’s ghost appearing to Sam, her son; Wade, her husband; and Bella, her stepmother.
I only have two minor beefs about this book. One is the absence of a ‘kooky’ town resident, who gave Jake fits and added a humorous touch to the story. The second is the bad guy here, who blames Jake for being sent to prison and believes Ellie is his murdered wife come back to life, seems smarter than someone like him would realistically be.
This series had gotten so mediocre, I was one more lame book from giving up on it. Now I look forward to the next one.
After six weak entries in her Home Repair is Homicide series, she delivers a strong one here. This is the first book since Tool And Die that had me turning pages to find out what happened next.
While Graves tells this story from multiple points of view, she returns to first person narration for scenes in Jake’s point of view, instead of the third person she’d used in the last few books, which had distanced me from the character, making me feel as if I was watching things happen to her instead of experiencing them with her. She also delivers tension almost from the beginning of the novel, something else that had been missing from recent entries in the series.
The last few books in the series had others saving Jake’s bacon and solving the crimes for her. Here, Graves has Jake and her best friend, Ellie, fighting off a demented escaped con trying to kill them in the isolated cabin where they’re trying to build a deck. That’s as it should be in a mystery/thriller/suspense novel – the hero or heroine (with a little help from friends) should carry the day.
The earliest novels in the series had a minor supernatural sub-plot (in the form of strange happenings in Jake’s home) that disappeared from later books but returns here as her dead ex-husband’s ghost appearing to Sam, her son; Wade, her husband; and Bella, her stepmother.
I only have two minor beefs about this book. One is the absence of a ‘kooky’ town resident, who gave Jake fits and added a humorous touch to the story. The second is the bad guy here, who blames Jake for being sent to prison and believes Ellie is his murdered wife come back to life, seems smarter than someone like him would realistically be.
This series had gotten so mediocre, I was one more lame book from giving up on it. Now I look forward to the next one.
March 10, 2015
The Home Repair is Homicide series with Jacobia "Jake" Triptree started out so interesting with the Maine setting, the strong female character, and the plots. Unfortunately, the last few in the series have left me very disappointed. A wife beater/murderer that Jake helped put in prison, escapes. The guy was raised in the backwoods of Maine and knows how to survive there with little or nothing. Knowing that this murderer is loose, everyone decides he is heading for the big city where he never lived and has no contacts. So Jake decides to continue with plans to go out to their secluded cabin to work on it for a week on her own. First thing she finds is a dead body, but does that deter her or even make her realize the convict could be in the area - no, she just continues with her plan. In the meantime, her son is in the web of 2 con artists, everyone is seeing Jake's exhusband(now deceased) warning them all of danger - which everyone ignores. Jake and friend, Ellie, are attacked and nearly killed by the convict. Sam, the son, is nearly implicated as aiding the con artists. Jake's Dad and stepmother are nearly killed in a car/animal accident. The characters all come out looking really "dumb" and I wanted to hit them all on the head. Very disappointing.
February 1, 2013
I really wavered on what rating I should give this latest entry in the home repair is homicide books. 3 seems not quite right, 2 not high enough. It was gripping and had a good story. However it was not a mystery and the supernatural elements that were introduced seemed out of place. I'm not sure where the author is going with it. In any case I ended up giving it three stars just because I did enjoy the read it was just a little unexpected.
July 27, 2015
I absolutely love Sarah Graves and her novels! I have read many others in this series and this one was just as good! I love the small town feel and I can connect to these books especially well, because I have been to Eastport numerous times!
September 10, 2017
Not a bad listen, but I was seriously annoyed by Jake identifying Bella as her mother-in-law, more than once!
January 12, 2020
Not a cozy mystery but a decent read.
May 2, 2013
I returned to an old mystery series I read for years...but not so much. I remember reading her first books, and really enjoying them, and I don't know if the books have changed, or I have, but Graves' books have gone to the "Murder She Wrote" side...what I mean is, EVERYTIME the protagonist or her family go somewhere, someone dies, or their lives are at risk, or in this one, everyone was in danger through different circumstances. I understand, for a murder mystery series, people around the lead have to die, but I am bored with the intrigue - it has a been there, done that feel, that just isn't working.
As to the plot, well, I really don't remember it other than...her son was in danger, her husband was in danger and she and her best friend went into the woods and were ... yep, in danger, by a mad man.
As to the plot, well, I really don't remember it other than...her son was in danger, her husband was in danger and she and her best friend went into the woods and were ... yep, in danger, by a mad man.
May 12, 2012
Although I did like this book, I didn't like it as much as some of the other books in this series mostly due to all the "sightings" of Jake's ex. A little more improbable than the other. I also wasn't all that enthused with the negative storyline for Sam – it wasn't needed for the full story and took away from it for me.
July 7, 2018
What would happen if James Patterson, Erma Bombeck, and Bob Villa collaborated to write a book? I can't imagine, but it couldn't be as much of a disaster as this wannabe chic thriller with more subplots than a novel by Dickens. DIY aficionado Jake Tiptree and her sidekick Ellie set out to build a deck on the former's remote cabin while (surprise) an escaped homicidal maniac heads their way bent on an illogical sense of hallucinated revenge. I'll skip the subplots involving Jake's son, her parents, the bumbling town sheriff, the hokey apparitions of Jake's ex, and Harold, the Hiker.
The dialogue is gosh awful. When the two women are in mortal fear of the psycho grabbing Ellie, Jake states, "Quick as a little monkey, she hauled herself up between the two uncovered joists..." What? Is this the type of writing that creates thrilling suspense? Not in my thinking, but I'll grant that it can be argued that there is an element of mystery to Dead Level: just how did Sarah Graves manage to find a publisher who advanced her the money for 15 books in this series?
The dialogue is gosh awful. When the two women are in mortal fear of the psycho grabbing Ellie, Jake states, "Quick as a little monkey, she hauled herself up between the two uncovered joists..." What? Is this the type of writing that creates thrilling suspense? Not in my thinking, but I'll grant that it can be argued that there is an element of mystery to Dead Level: just how did Sarah Graves manage to find a publisher who advanced her the money for 15 books in this series?
June 6, 2019
There's foreshadowing and then there's telegraphing every move an every glitch that's fixin' to happen.
This book was all over the second one. Enough so that I thought "Wouldn't it be great if a bunch of this stuff DIDN'T happen? THAT would be an interesting plot twist." But (spoiler alert) no. Most of it did...in some way or another.
I like all the characters. The storyline was good (if a bit drawn out and every move telegraphed). There was one twist I didn't see coming - that made me smile.
I listened to the audiobook on CD (how retro, right?) and that may have impacted the "reading". I read very quickly & listen to e-books at 1.25X speed. Can do that on CD, so that slower reading pace may have made the book seem a bit heavier.
I have 2-3 more by this author on CD & I'll definitely give them a listen.
This book was all over the second one. Enough so that I thought "Wouldn't it be great if a bunch of this stuff DIDN'T happen? THAT would be an interesting plot twist." But (spoiler alert) no. Most of it did...in some way or another.
I like all the characters. The storyline was good (if a bit drawn out and every move telegraphed). There was one twist I didn't see coming - that made me smile.
I listened to the audiobook on CD (how retro, right?) and that may have impacted the "reading". I read very quickly & listen to e-books at 1.25X speed. Can do that on CD, so that slower reading pace may have made the book seem a bit heavier.
I have 2-3 more by this author on CD & I'll definitely give them a listen.
October 31, 2020
I haven't read any of the other books in this series so I can't say if they were better, but no desire to try.
This has serious pov issues. Part of the story is told in first person by Jake, a woman who is into home repair. Other parts are in third person omniscient, including what different characters were thinking. These include the villain, the police chief, and the Jake's son Sam. This might have worked if there wasn't so much jumping around between characters, but it was too disconcerting to go from what Sam was doing/thinking to the next section being in first person. Obviously Jake didn't know what was going on with Sam, so the omniscient part was totally separate from the first person narrative.
This looks like a cozy mystery, but there is no mystery since substantial parts of the story are what the villain is thinking and doing.
1.5 stars because I did finish it.
This has serious pov issues. Part of the story is told in first person by Jake, a woman who is into home repair. Other parts are in third person omniscient, including what different characters were thinking. These include the villain, the police chief, and the Jake's son Sam. This might have worked if there wasn't so much jumping around between characters, but it was too disconcerting to go from what Sam was doing/thinking to the next section being in first person. Obviously Jake didn't know what was going on with Sam, so the omniscient part was totally separate from the first person narrative.
This looks like a cozy mystery, but there is no mystery since substantial parts of the story are what the villain is thinking and doing.
1.5 stars because I did finish it.
September 6, 2018
I really wanted to like this book, the summary sounded so good. But the POV in it made it confusing at times where you didn’t know what was going on. It changed POVs so much and without a break in between you’d forget who is speaking and who is who.
Some things were dragged on too much and others were so short, the book was just not as balanced as I’d like. Then there was just so many things going on with all the different characters and it didn’t even connect to the story line, like they were trying to put separate novella like stories in.
For me the characters lacked depth and some smarts. Then the way the book ended was really kind of stupid and made no sense. With a random question that the few paragraphs before didn’t give you even a 1% idea of what it is.
Some things were dragged on too much and others were so short, the book was just not as balanced as I’d like. Then there was just so many things going on with all the different characters and it didn’t even connect to the story line, like they were trying to put separate novella like stories in.
For me the characters lacked depth and some smarts. Then the way the book ended was really kind of stupid and made no sense. With a random question that the few paragraphs before didn’t give you even a 1% idea of what it is.
September 30, 2020
Well, I guess I'm glad I stuck with this series, this one was definitely better after a string of bad ones. But my lord the sheer amount of STUFF these people go through! Heck, this is set in late September /early October and the last book was set at the 4th of July and she got blown up in an old house then! What are the odds of it happening again? It's remarkable that no one comments upon the number of times she - or her loved ones - have escaped death by fairly miraculous lucky breaks.
This one was short, and fast, and not someone from her past in NY, and Victor is sort fo back as a ghost (but does it all have t one so grim?). Oh well, one more book left, then the two lizzie snow (which are supposedly more hard boiled, ugh) and then the chocolate shop.
This one was short, and fast, and not someone from her past in NY, and Victor is sort fo back as a ghost (but does it all have t one so grim?). Oh well, one more book left, then the two lizzie snow (which are supposedly more hard boiled, ugh) and then the chocolate shop.
March 7, 2022
Tiptree's Tips are just as random and useless as in past books. They're so short and unimportant to the store that I started skipping or tuning them out.
Not really a mystery book. More of a drama. You know who the bad guy is right away because it's not even disguised whose point of view that particular part is about.
That leads to the multi person point of views problem. Why are we getting the occasional point of view from random people? Anyone other than Jacobia gave ZERO additional information to the story. If you skipped those parts you didn't miss anything. Like the Sam story line all the way up until he's with Wade leaving the hospital. Seriously! Nothing came of that other than Sam almost drank and is seeking help again. Was not needed at all.
It was a good story though. I did still enjoy reading this book. Just have to remember to go into these books like each is it's own separate story and ignore the past books.
Not really a mystery book. More of a drama. You know who the bad guy is right away because it's not even disguised whose point of view that particular part is about.
That leads to the multi person point of views problem. Why are we getting the occasional point of view from random people? Anyone other than Jacobia gave ZERO additional information to the story. If you skipped those parts you didn't miss anything. Like the Sam story line all the way up until he's with Wade leaving the hospital. Seriously! Nothing came of that other than Sam almost drank and is seeking help again. Was not needed at all.
It was a good story though. I did still enjoy reading this book. Just have to remember to go into these books like each is it's own separate story and ignore the past books.
April 16, 2018
One of my pet peeves is when authors forget what they have written in past books of a series. In Dead Level Sarah Graves writes that Bella Diamond is her Mother-in-Law instead of her Step Mother. She even stated that she was married to her father. This mistake happened twice in this book. Another error in this same book is when Bella goes up to clean the guest room stripped the bed and thought of how Victor died in that bed. In the book in which he passed away it is stated that they rented a hospital bed for him, instead of the bed normally in the quest room.
These errors don't effect the story, they just bug me.
These errors don't effect the story, they just bug me.
January 18, 2018
Jake Tiptree may find herself in a bind now & again, but this one really tips the scales. (No pun intended - I would have made it WAY more convoluted.) More than a touch of the supernatural, an escaped murderer with a bit of impulse-control problems, and the distraction of a couple of con artists lead to one of the more violent of Ms. Graves' HRiS series. Vulnerability of several of the main characters is brought out, as is the support offered them. I hope Bob Arnold gets the support he needs, whether he knows he needs it or not.
April 16, 2019
Jake is headed to fix the porch at the cottage with Ellie in tow. Meanwhile Dewey Hooper has escaped from prison--he is there with help of Jake testimony.
Meanwhile everyone is dealing with the deathiversay of Victor.
Dewey runs across the cottage and is determined to get revenge on those that have wronged him.
Jake, Sam, Bella and everyone are dealing with their own issues while trying to focus on others and appear like all is alright.
I enjoy this series and have the next book waiting for me to pick up at the library.
Meanwhile everyone is dealing with the deathiversay of Victor.
Dewey runs across the cottage and is determined to get revenge on those that have wronged him.
Jake, Sam, Bella and everyone are dealing with their own issues while trying to focus on others and appear like all is alright.
I enjoy this series and have the next book waiting for me to pick up at the library.
September 21, 2021
Off to an exciting start with a new mystery series about remodeling an old house in the country?? Not sure if the author was desperate for an audience. Great climax until she revealed the plot in Chapter 3. By then it was obvious a serial killer was on the loose and easy to guess his intentions. A wobbly subplot unrelated to Jake and Ella's dilemma pushed to read faster to the predictable conclusion. Not a mystery but a fluffy novel.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 26, 2019
A crime story with a twist - a sense of humour too. Some of the things that happen a quite funny but there is a dark side to it too. I want to read more from this author Sarah Graves because the book kept me interested and wanting to read it more and more.
September 3, 2020
A solid 3 stars. Meh. Didnt hate it, didnt love it. Basically I got through the first 10 in the series so I had to finish it. Sometimes its better to read a mediocre book with characters you already know than to try to find a new one and get to know new characters. That's the case here. Most of this one was OK, I really preferred the stories with the ex-husband alive rather than as a ghost.
July 19, 2019
Highly improbable and perhaps not as well written as it might be. This series has gotten long in the tooth. I did, however, enjoy reading it enough to give it 3 stars, and I will finish the series (one more book).
October 27, 2019
This edition of the Take Tiptree series is about a murderer who returns to Eastport after escaping from the Maine state prison. In doing so, he ends up planning his revenge on those who sent him to prison. Things are going on in Jake's household as well. More things than anyone could have planned.
January 14, 2021
This book is a mess and a half, no one seems to have any common sense and Sam, Jake’s son is always so self deprecating that doesn’t follow logic in any world. I don’t understand the slightly paranormal elements that’s are in this series, it’s so waffly, either commit to it or leave it out.
July 20, 2021
I've enjoyed other books by Sarah Graves, but this left me really uninterested. The writing style was jumpy, changing POV, and coupled with an annoying criminal and silly protagonists, I gave up about halfway through.
January 5, 2024
Another winning hit by Ms. Graves. I loved how this book wasn’t placed directly in Eastport. The little details pulled it all together and help guide my through the story while painting a picture in my mind.
April 17, 2024
Couldn't put it down. Prison escapee with revenge on his crazy mind is after Jake and Ellie, and they are in the back of beyond and can't contact anyone for help. Lots of action, both Jake and Ellie are strong and determined, and it's a great read.
May 14, 2017
wasn't much of a "mystery" this time around
July 26, 2017
I think the writing improved over the course of the series, but I miss the insight and development of the main characters.
January 11, 2018
Wanted another Sarah Graves book for the SAC Group discussion. This is a later book in the series but involves most of the main characters. A good read as usual.
April 26, 2018
At this point, I'm about to never venture near Eastport Maine because I swear Jake has more issues than a 12 month subscription of Vogue! How the hell do these things KEEP happening to you?!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 132 reviews