ARC Review: The Barn Identity by Diane Kelly

The Barn Identity
Author: Diane Kelly
Series: House-Flipper Mysteries (Book 8)
Publication: Minotaur Books (March 31, 2026)

Description: The eighth in the House-Flipper mystery series set in Nashville, where the real estate market is to die for.

In Nashville, carpenter Whitney Whitaker is ecstatic when she discovers an abandoned barn perfect for her next project. However, since the surrounding former farmland has now developed into a shiny new shopping center, it seems the decrepit antebellum barn that once served as a livery stable should be torn down to make way for something more modern. Even so, Whitney can’t help but think the barn should be preserved. While unproven, it’s rumored the building once served as a hiding place for escaped slaves as part of the Underground Railroad. She convinces her cousin to take a chance on the old property. After all, the barn would make a unique retail space or, with its high ceilings and wide walls, could be turned into an arthouse cinema.

When a local print journalist reporting on the renovation is found dead on the property, investigators suspect he might have been murdered for any one of several exposés he’d published about local politicians, movers, and shakers. Whitney suspects there’s more to the story, and that the journalist’s fate might be tied directly to the stable renovation. Can she solve the murder and bring a killer to justice? Or might this goal be too lofty?

My Thoughts: Whitney Whitaker Flynn and her cousin find themselves renovating an old barn outside of Nashville that was once a stop on the Underground Railroad and a monument to enslaved persons. When a podcaster/journalist is murdered on the site, Whitney is on the case. After all, she was napping in the hayloft while waiting for a meeting with the barn's owner when the man was murdered. 

The suspects could be anyone on the journalists list of articles and podcasts, so Whitney finds herself investigating a megachurch, a vegetarian restaurant, and a rival land developer on her hunt for the killer. All the while, she is nursing her pregnancy and looking forward to her baby's birth.

This was an entertaining cozy mystery. It is the 8th in the House-Flipper series which makes it nice for fans to catch up on the lives of characters from earlier books. 

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