I was happy to find a cozy mystery series featuring gay main characters. In this book, the main characters are two domestic partners, PJ and JP (I’m not kidding), the stars of a renovation TV series focusing on restoring historic homes in the Detroit area. PJ has a background as a writer of YA mysteries and is the main narrator of the book, and JP is an actor, who is often cast as a police officer. So they have a general background that helps them become amateur sleuths. There are also several minor characters who are also gay. So far, so good.

One of the biggest problems I had with the writing was the repetitive descriptions of everyone and everything. I got tired of reading the same phrases over and over again. I got it the first time: the cop is hunky, the older man is handsome, the house is a Tudor style, and so forth. (I read an ARC, so some of this may have been eliminated in the final published version. I hope so.)

In addition to the mystery, there was a funny episode that involved trying to figure out what was causing a putrid smell in the house they were preparing to renovate, and a sweet side plot involving their attempt to adopt a puppy. The author has an obvious fondness for the Detroit area, which lent an air of authenticity to his descriptions.

There’s a lot of potential here for the series to continue and for the main characters to become more filled out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

I'll start with this - I do not nor have I ever watched a house renovation reality show. There, I said it. The closest I can come would be a cozy mystery that involves house flipping. So, when I saw the blurb for Renovated to Death I knew I wouldn't be critical of how the renovation aspect was presented. It sounded like a new take on a cozy mystery and I'm glad I requested a copy. PJ and JP are great characters, the puzzle was complex enough to keep me engaged and I learned a lot about house renovation and reality tv. The only reason I didn't give it five stars was the changes in the point of views. Those usually confuse me and can take me out of the story.
If you have any objections to the depictions of LGBTQIA characters then this mystery is probably one you should skip.
My thanks to the publisher Kensington and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I had a lot of fun in reading this book as I loved the style of writing and the storytelling.
There's plenty of humour, there's an interesting description of the gay community in a Michigan area, and a couple of fleshed out and likeable characters.
To be honest the MCs reminded me a couple of friend of mine who lives in New York and I found that certain mannerism were common to other friends.
This is the promising start of a new series and, as for any new series, the mystery takes sometimes the backseat to the world building.
The author is a talented storyteller and I liked the style of writing and the character development.
I can't wait for the next story as I want to know what will happen to the MCs and Clyde (loved this subplot).
This one is recommended if you want to read a humorous and well written cozy mystery.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Someone has killed Tom Cash, one of the owners of the house that JP and PJ are about to renovate for the home renovation reality series Domestic Partners but who? This is a classic cozy with the benefit of having gay characters in the lead. My quibble with this - why oh why did Polito choose to name his leads PJ and JP? I'm not embarrassed to admit I had trouble keeping them straight (no pun intended). And then to compound that with Tim and Tom? I know, I know, but it's the small things that matter when reading a cozy. I would, however, like to see another book in the series because there's a lot of potential here. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

This was a cute novel. I loved having a predominately gay cast of characters for a cozy mystery. In my mind I wanted to picture Nate and Jeremiah from Hgtv the whole time I read this book. However, PJ and JP seemed underdeveloped so I never grew a strong connection to them.

The writing felt a little forced to me. There were lots of cliche phrases used and slang that just felt out of place and maybe childish? This was a quick, easy to read book that I feel people would enjoy, but I’m not sure I connected enough to read more books in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for granting me a free copy in exchange for my honest review!

Renovated to Death by Frank Anthony Polito 3 stars

This is a first in a series featuring a gay married couple living in the Detroit suburb of Pleasant Woods. P.J Penwell and JP Broadway are the stars and producers of Domestic Partners, a home renovation show. This is second act for both of them since their main careers have stalled – JP was an actor in a long running cop show and PJ is a YA mystery writer. The first season of Domestic Partners featured the renovation of their own home and now they need a new project for their second season. They agree to renovate a local Tudor revival owned by identical twin brothers, but the project takes an unexpected turn when they find the body of one of the brothers in home. When a local realtor and P.J.’s childhood friend is the number one suspect, PJ and JP will have to break out their sleuthing caps to find the killer.

I thought the mystery was slow at times. Some of the comedic elements of the plot did distract from the mystery. The clues on who the real culprit was apparent about 60% into the book; after that the clues about whodunit started to pile up. I didn’t love the book, but it was a pleasant diversion and light reading.

Thank you Netgalley and Kensington Books for this ARC.

This is a cozy whodunnit mystery about 2 reality tv cohost partners. I like this book but some parts were a bit predictable. But I still enjoyed it. I’m looking forward to reading it more in the series.

I was really torn on how many stars to give Renovated to Death by Frank Anthony Polito. I thought it was really well written and enjoyed the detailed descriptions of the various house’s architecture. The brunch scenes had me wanting to join the guys for a bite to eat, and you could feel so much emotion in the dog adoption scenes. But I found myself skimming a lot with this book.

While I did enjoy the detailed descriptions of the houses, some of the scenes just seemed to drag on and on. The chapter with the horrible smell did make me chuckle, it also seemed to be never ending, and unfortunately that wasn’t the only one. I also found myself skimming some of the conversations because physical descriptions were repeated so much; gap in teeth, type of baseball hat, and smoking are just a few that instantly come to mind.

I requested to read an ARC via Netgalley for Renovated to Death because I was happy to see a cozy mystery include gay men as the main characters. While diversity in cozies is happening, I feel like there could be a lot more. I can see some of the more traditional cozy readers not enjoying this book because of the heavier use of sexuality in it. While there is no graphic sex, it does seem to be a more central theme in the book. The campiness and overtly stereotypical way that the gay men were portrayed did get to be a bit much for me after awhile.

As for the whodunnit, which didn’t start until 30% into the story, which made the beginning drag a bit, I found it very easy to figure out because of all the repetition. But since I read a lot of mysteries, other readers may not have such an easy time figuring out what happened.

I would give book two in A Domestic Partners in Crime series a read, especially since this is Polito’s first book and there are always growing pains, but if I found myself skimming again, I probably wouldn’t continue reading the series.

Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC of this book.

I really wanted to like Renovated to Death. The premise sounded interesting, a cozy LGBT mystery set during a home renovation show. The characters fell flat and often felt like harmful stereotypes. I had an issue with the dialogue, it felt very clichéd. The pacing felt off and it was missing actual mystery elements.

Maybe I missed it at the beginning, but I had such an issue trying to figure out why an actor and a writer had their own home renovation show? I just could not connect with the plot from the beginning or really understand or relate to any of the characters.

I think this was a big missed opportunity for queer representation, just write the characters as real people, don't rely on stereotypes.

I love the idea for this book. A queer cozy with male leads? I was so pumped to read it. Unfortunately, the actual book was an utter miss for me. PJ and JP were fine, but the structure of the book was just off. The pacing wasn't great, the whodunit didn't click for me, and the flashes to multiple perspectives didn't work at all. At times the book also felt like an older author trying to project what they thought younger characters would say, which got a bit grating.

This one wasn’t for me. I didn’t connect with the prose style and the solution was obvious. I did enjoy the description of the writer’s process.

It’s a good book but not make me curious whatsoever. It’s definitely felt like watching renovations home and solving mystery at the same time! It’s funny at the certain parts and I’ll say this was fun mystery thriller! Never read this kind of mystery thriller before!

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley #netgalley

I love that this is an lgbtq mystery. I had trouble getting into it but it was a good read.

dnf %4

I couldn't make it through the first chapter. The target audience for this book has to be a elder-millennial gay man who stans harry potter and loves buzzfeed quizzes. the embodiment of that stereotype was every character in the first chapter. Maybe the rest of the book gets better, but I won't be the one finding that out.

*review will no be posted on goodreads or retailers out of respect and because I dnf'd so early. I appreciate the opportunity to read and review this book in advance

Renovated to Death is such a great mystery!!

Bestselling mystery author Peter “PJ” Penwell and actor JP Broadway are enjoying work and life in their sleepy Detroit suburb of Pleasant Woods—until a suspicious death makes an unscripted appearance.

Just as the show is set to start filming, Peter and JP discover Tom Cash dead at the foot of the house’s staircase. And when the police ruling changes from accidental death to homicide, the list of suspects grows fast.

Surprise ending!

Thank you Netgalley for the advance reader copy of Renovated to Death by Frank Anthony Polito in exchange for an honest review. I love watching renovation shows on HGTV and also love murder mysteries, this book was a great combination of both. It was really interesting to read about the couple PJ and JP, and everything that goes into a renovation show. I really liked this book and greatly enjoyed reading it.

Since I love renovating and redecorating my house I knew I would love reading books about the topic. That's where this one comes in! Renovated to Death is a wonderful cozy mystery with fun characters and an engaging plot. I hope the author writes some more books because I'll definitely be reading them!

Renovated to Death by Frank Anthony Pollo is a cozy whodunnit mystery about two reality tv cohost partners, Pete & JP, with a house renovation HGTV show called Domestic Partners, who are also in real life partners. I’ve never requested an arc so fast. I love cozy whodunnits, reality TV & love & this perfectly combined all three! I was ecstatic when I was approved!
Drag Queen Queeraoke sounds incredible & I would love to go! & I have no idea how Terry doesn’t know & love Waterfalls by TLC but I digress.
I found it a bit odd upon discovering the body that the PJ & JP didn’t check for a pulse. I know they didn’t want to contaminate the crime scene but still weird to me. & then the officer arriving on scene didn’t seem to have any urgency at checking on the victim. Maybe that’s just me though & as I’ve never been in said situation, I shall move on.
I also love the Murder She Baked series & I think this book would be a perfect TV movie mystery series…Hallnark/Lifetime (or anybody else), option this please & thank you!!
I will say I found some of the mystery parts predictable but after reading/watching lots of mysteries, that’s not unusual. The ending was a tad underwhelming for me but I don’t think that matters much because what makes this book sparkle is how different it is. This book is unique in that for a cozy mystery, there is a very interesting cast of characters with some much-needed representation in this genre. That’s what makes it special & that, in turn, makes it a great book.
I loved PJ & JP along with all their friends. I think cozy mysteries need more drag queens in general. I feel like this cast of characters in this idyllic little area combined with their reality TV show is the perfect foundation for a great mystery series
Renovated to Death is renovating the genre of cozy mystery with some much needed representation & I cannot wait for the next in the series.
Renovated to Death comes out May 31, 2022.

Massive thanks to NetGalley & Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger warnings: This book mentions &/or contains death, gore, dog death (old age), other animal decay & violence.

Renovated to Death was a perfectly fine mystery story. I know this sounds odd to say, given my rating, but it was. The issue was, in fact, that I’ve read way too many of them, seen too many TV shows that rely on the same trope as here, and so I could see it coming a mile off.

And since I was reading it primarily for the mystery aspect, that made it a little disappointing.

Let me split this into two sections: reason you may want to ignore my review and read it anyway, and reasons I was less than enamoured of it.

The Good

— It’s always great to see gay main characters in mystery novels. I feel like, at least in traditional publishing, that’s an area where LGBT rep is only slowly growing, but this series adds to that area.

— For all that I’ve rated it how I have, it wasn’t a bad read. It was fun, at times even funny, and definitely memorable.

— It has characters who leap off the page, but not in a way that makes them seem caricateurish. They feel very real and are, for the most part, very sympathetic.

The Less Good

— Like I said, I saw the plot twist that revealed the answers to the mystery coming from a ways off. This one is very likely just a me problem, though, as I said. There’s only so many plot twists that can happen, given the set up, and I’ve probably seen most of them done some way or another.

— The mystery didn’t really start until the last 60 pages or so, which felt quite slow to build up to, and then meant it felt a little rushed through to the conclusion. There wasn’t space to do much investigating, and in the end, the answer seemed to come to the mc in a flash of inspiration. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it was almost as if the author couldn’t think of another way for it to be revealed.

However, as I said, I don’t mean for this review to put you off reading the book! It’s, as ever, always entirely likely that you’ll enjoy it more than I did. And, in fact, I hope you do, should you pick it up.

A fun cozy series starter featuring a gay couple (an actor and a writer) hoping to renovate houses in suburban Detroit for an HGTV-like show. I’m interested to see where it goes next!