Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree left her high-powered career for a dilapidated fixer-upper and the dream of a quiet existence in the quaint town of Eastport, Maine. But she found that no matter how carefully you remodel your life, murder can take up residence anywhere.
It's Eastport's most notorious landmark: the old Harlequin House. Named for the disgraced physician Chester Harlequin, it was used as a hideout for gunshot gangsters and their molls during Prohibition's heyday. Now fixer-upper enthusiast Jake Tiptree and Harlequin's only living descendant, Ellie White, are refurbishing the mansard-roofed mansion to host the local Historical Society's upcoming gala. But when stripping down old wallpaper reveals a secret door to a room containing not one but two corpses, Jake and Ellie once again find home repair leading to homicide.
One of the bodies is a skeleton dressed in 1920s flapper chic. But the other is that of
real-estate mogul Hector Gosling, and in his pocket is a paper bearing the single word "Guilty." The less-than-scrupulous tycoon has been poisoned, and when it's learned that the offending substance is the poison that Ellie's husband George has been using to kill red ants, he is immediately taken into custody. Then it develops that George had recently accused Gosling of a scheme to scam George's vulnerable old aunt out of her life savings--and George out of his inheritance.
With George held for murder, Jake and a pregnant Ellie swing into action. In between Ellie's Lamaze sessions, baby showers, and CPR classes taught by Jake's ex-husband
Victor, the two amateur sleuths must sift their way through a trail of seemingly contradictory clues. Then another corpse surfaces and suddenly Jake and Ellie realize they must find this killer fast. A clever culprit is not only building an airtight case against Ellie's husband. He--or she--is planning to nail everyone who stands in the way.

"From the Hardcover edition."

When it comes to home repair, Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree is a fervent wielder of power drills and paint brushes. And when catching criminals, she's been known to really bring down the hammer. But when a shocking murder rocks the small town of Eastport, Maine, Jake may be the next victim for whom the bell tolls.
It is nearly midnight when the enormous bell in the belfry of All Faith Chapel--silent for decades--booms forth, startling awake the entire town of Eastport. Upon inspection of the steeple, the police uncover the body of local teenager Karen Hansen, who had climbed the belfry's dark, rickety stairs for a midnight rendezvous. But instead of the promise of an exciting new life, Karen meets her death.
Meanwhile, as an epic nor'easter bears down on the idyllic island town, Jake Tiptree hurries to shore up her ramshackle old house against the big blow. An amateur detective, she has sworn off chasing criminals. But when the news of Karen's murder spreads and much of the evidence points to Jake's likable houseguest, she and her sleuthing partner, Ellie White, get to work.
They discover an unexpected ally in newcomer Lizzie Snow, a woman from "away" who seemed to have blown into town with the nor'easter, and who also seems to know a lot about the mind of a killer. Can Jake and Ellie trust her? As a killer roams free and the townsfolk struggle against the pounding, screaming storm, the resulting tempest of gossip and suspicion rivals anything the Atlantic could brew up--and threatens to keep Jake and Ellie from putting the final nail in this cold-blooded case.
Complete with Home Repair Is Homicide repair tips
Praise for "A Bat in the Belfry"
"Stylishly suspenseful."--"Milwaukee""Journal Sentinel"
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"Nobody else can take a home repair project and turn it into a first-class mystery the way Graves can. It's a top-of-the-line story."--"RT Book Reviews"
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"Graves does the Down East region justice, nailing not only the scents, sounds, sights, and people, but the culture. . . . It doesn't hurt that she's a damn good storyteller, to boot. Her] prose is sharp, smart, and witty."--"Crimespree Magazine
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Praise for Sarah Graves and the Home Repair Is Homicide""series
"Graves's trademarks are edgy, traditional mysteries peppered liberally with humor, and sprinkled with layered, well-written characters."--Julia Spencer-Fleming, "New York Times" bestselling author of "One Was a Soldier"
"Just hearing her list the ways you can kill yourself fixing up an old house . . . is a hoot."--"The New York Times Book Review"
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"What distinguishes the novel are its likable, no-nonsense protagonist-narrator, her references to home repair that the author cleverly fits tongue-and-groove into the story and, especially, the detailed descriptions of the town."--"Los Angeles Times"
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"Graves makes rehabbing shutters and other chores suspenseful."--"The Boston Globe"

"From the Hardcover edition."

Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree traded her power-broker life for a run-down dream house in peaceful Eastport, Maine. But the do-it-yourself enthusiast is learning that no matter how carefully you build your home, murder has a way of slipping in through the cracks....
It's a bright June afternoon and old-house-fixer-upper Jake Tiptree is driving through downeast Maine on an unusual errand. She's getting ready to interview a large, angry man with a criminal history. Jim Diamond may or may not be harassing his ex-wife with life-threatening letters, but Jake promised her new housekeeper, Bella Diamond, she'd look into the matter. An ex-con and a deadbeat, Jim Diamond doesn't have a history of violence...that is, not until Jake arrives at his apartment and discovers that a killer has been there first.
Suddenly Jake and her best friend, Ellie White, find themselves at the center of a murder with too many suspects and too few clues. And as if that's not enough, Jake is now saddled with the manic Bella, whose certainty that she'll be the next victim is fueling a supercompulsive neatness-one that threatens to clean Jake and her long-suffering husband, Wade, out of house and home.
Add to that a moose in her kitchen, a rebellious son with a habit of dumping Miss Right for Miss Wrong, and a troublesome ex of her own, and Jake is already at wit's end. Then she gets word that a horde of her dad's long-lost relatives mean to descend on Eastport, intending to be put up at her far-from-fixed-up fixer-upper.
When the killer does strike again, it's not where Jake expects...and the victim couldn't be more of a surprise. For this is a case bigger than the usual angry--ex-spouse variety, and now thatJake and Ellie have gotten themselves involved, they've each won a special place in a ruthless murderer's master plan of greed, deception, and death. And the prize? A pair of eternally private rooms-six feet under!

"From the Hardcover edition.