ARC Review: Primer and Punishment by Diane Kelly

Primer and Punishment
Author: Diane Kelly
Series: A House Flipper Mystery (Book 5)
Publication: St. Martin's Paperbacks (February 21, 2023)

Description: Primer and Punishment marks the fifth in the delightful cozy mystery series from Diane Kelly set in Nashville, Tennessee.

Whitney Whitaker has a knack for nailing down murderers . . . but this time she might just come unmoored.

Carpenter Whitney Whitaker and her cousin Buck are looking once again to rehab and resell a house, only this particular house is made of fiberglass, floats, and has been dubbed the Skinny Dipper. The old houseboat sure could use some work, but the unusual project has Whitney bubbling with excitement.

The charming and handsome Grant Hardisty lives on the cabin cruiser in the adjacent slip, but the cousins soon learn he’s left a half dozen angry ex-wives in his wake and made enemies of all sorts of unsavory folks. The man is clearly caught in an increasingly dangerous current with no life preserver in sight.

Whitney and Buck are spraying primer on their houseboat when―KABOOM!―Grant’s boat blows sky high with the man himself inside. Detective Collin Flynn has no shortage of suspects, but the waters become muddied when several of them confess to the crime. Is one of those who confessed truly guilty, or are they taking a dive for someone else? When anonymous threats are made against the cousins, Whitney must quickly determine who killed their neighbor at the lake, or she and Buck might also be sunk.

My Thoughts: Whitney Whittaker and her cousin Buck's next rehab project is a houseboat. They've never done one before but think that they can do a quick turnaround. They need something quick because Buck's wedding to Whitney's best friend Colette is coming soon.

While they are working on the houseboat, they meet the guy whose boat is in the next slip. Grant Hardisty seems like a handsome and charming guy who is dealing with an injury to his knee. He has a black lab mix puppy who is a bit too much for him to handle. He also has a string of ex-wives and a number of women he's met on dating apps. Oh, and the couple he cheated out of the boat are also coming around often to try to get their boat back.

When Grant takes his boat out of the slip to grill his dinner and not mess up Whitney and Buck's new paint, his boat explodes. Fire investigators don't think that it was an accident. There are numerous suspects and, oddly, a number of them confess to killing Grant. When one of them confesses to the Nashville Police Department, Whitney's boyfriend Collin is assigned to the case.

Whitney begins looking around because she doesn't believe the confession one of the suspects gives. She liked the woman and didn't want to believe she'd killed her soon-to-be ex. Whitney finds a number of suspicious characters that she feels had a better motive for Grant's death.

This was another fun episode in this contemporary cozy series. 

Favorite Quote:

"We don't know anything about refurbishing a houseboat."

He shrugged. "We never let ignorance stop us before."

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.