This was the first book by a new author. All in all it was a good, entertaining read. I hope in future books that the characters and locale will be expounded upon. The mystery itself was well hidden. It had a good flow to it. It was a good addition to the cozy genre.

Super fun new series from this author. Hammers and Homicides centers around Dawna Carpenter, a widowed hardware store owner who talks to ghosts-her best friend growing up was one. Dawna lives in the small town of Pine Bluff which is full of charm, fun (and funny) characters, and is a sleepy quiet place to live until a murder happens at the hardware.

Dawna feels obligated to put on her sleuth pants and solve the crime since it happened at her store. She, along with her daughter set out to uncover the murderer. Her wit and humor move the story along at a nice pace and a thorough look into several red herrings provides a surprising and twisty-turny timeline of events that is both entertaining and suspenseful.

I loved the humor in Charles's writing. I thought character development was thorough and engaging. Dawna is someone I'd totally be friends with. Looking forward to more in this series.

This was a great little cozy mystery. I enjoyed the relationship between Dawna and her adult daughter April, their relationship was so real and funny at times. A murder happens at the hardware store Dawna owns and the action begins. Who did this in her store?! Is she a suspect? What happened to her employee Steve? So many possible suspects. I liked the way she talked to her deceased husband, I could see myself doing that. As expected the characters are told to stay out of investigating and leave it to the police but of course, they don't and it causes more trouble. Is it a little bit of a ghost story? Maybe. A good read. I received this on NetGalley for an honest review.

New author for me. Loved reading this book. Looking forward to the next book in the series. If you haven't read it yet I highly recommend her

This did put me in mind of Kate Carlisle and Juliet Blackwell's books, this was a quick, great read. Very cozy, lol.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the arc! Another great cozy mystery novel. Enjoyed all of the characters! The author did a great job pulling this reader into the story. Will recommend!

I love discovering new cozy authors! Murder in a hardware shop was definitely intriguing and I loved our main characters sleuthing, she did it a lot like I would have. I found this to be entertaining and fast paced and devoured this almost immediately.

This is Book #1 in A Hometown Hardware Mystery series. This was the first book I've read by this author. It did not disappoint. It follows Dawna, an older woman, who owns a hardware store. There is a murder and she teams up with her daughter to investigate it. There is a bit of paranormal thrown in - she senses/sees ghosts - which I wasn't expecting but hopefully in the coming books will expand further. A fun storyline and lots of red herrings to steer you away from the killer....a fun cozy mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

This is a terrific introduction to a new series; there is a touch of the paranormal as well as some unexpected twists in this book. I appreciated how I did not detect the culprit until the end of the book; now that is what I call a good mystery. I am looking forward to reading more in this new series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was an easy, quick, and enjoyable cozy mystery. I liked that Paula wasn’t young in her 20s and she owns a hardware store which are slight differences from the normal cozy mysteries. I like when the MFC works with someone else to solve the mystery, and in this case it is her daughter. They were both not overly suspicious. The paranormal aspect was unexpected but I enjoyed it. It was used for some really sweet moments in this book. I do think it was odd how dismissive she was of the calls from the bank though, I feel like that aspect will be back in the next book which I’m excited to read. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Hammer and Homicide by Paula Charles
Publishing date 16 Jan 2024

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC. I will admit that I have mixed feelings about this book. Just when I would start to lose interest, a paragraph or chapter would suck me back in. There is a touch of paranormal in this book. I'm not sure how I feel about that. It is right on the fence so not sure if future books in this series will explore more of it. Will we get to see Bill's ghost or not?! The mystery was interesting and didn't suspect the murderer at all. I will be looking for more in this series.

Artfully plotted small town cozy.
Dawna runs the family hardware store after her hubby, Bob, of 12 years passes away. Her store shares a restroom with her next door tenant, Darlene Lovelace.
Ms. Charles gives us an eclectic group of characters her quiet employee, brash Darlene, an unethical developer, her kind neighbors and friends, a few gossipy and a sexy young sheriff.
The town is up in arms over a murder, but no one more than Dawna. With a bit of help, she investigates and uncover more dirt than she expected. This book reels you in and it moves right along. I’d recommend to any cozy lover.
I requested and received a NetGalley ARC gratis and offer my opinion in the same.

#HammersandHomicide #NetGalley is the first book I've read by this author.
This is a fantastic beginning to a new series and I love the main character, Dawna.
After her husband's death, Dawna is running the hardware store on her own, while hoping for the opportunity to have her husband's ghost pay her a visit.
When a visitor is found dead, in the bathroom shared of the hardware store, Dawna starts asking questions, trying to piece the clues together.
I felt an immediate connection with Dawna, she's portrayed as a kind, determined, independent woman, and even though she's older, she has a lit of spunk.
This is a series to watch, I'm hoping it continues for a long time.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of this book.

"A Hometown Hardware Mystery" book 1 "Hammers and Homicide" by Paula Charles is a new combo of cozy mystery sub genre. Paranormal home repair/hardware store cozy. Its not super paranormal, just older woman who can sometimes sense/see ghosts. She owns a hardware store and some other buildings as well. I hope we get a bit more hardware store/home diy things in future books. Fore being a cozy there wasn't much info dropping of the main character's career.

As far as the mystery went, I totally forgot that person was a suspect for me right off first meeting. Good on you, Paula Charles, distracting me from the murderer. That's a sign of a good mystery if you can still pull one over on me now, 350+ cozies into my reading history.