This is the first in a new series. Jaime is starting over post divorce from her narcissist ex-husband and horrible ex-FIL. She is left with nothing except the worst most run down broken house that the successful construction and interior design company they ran together. She only got the house as her ex couldn’t sell it and thought she’d fail at the renovation miserably. She had faith in herself and knew she could handle it. Until she finds a dead body hidden in a wall. Yikes! She doesn’t want to wait for the potentially lengthy police investigation so she begins to sleuth around. As she lives in a small town, everyone that has ever come into contact with the victim becomes a suspect. Turns out she is not only good at home renovation and design, but she has some great detective skills as well. Nice cast of characters and a satisfying ending. Looking forward to the next in the series.
Upgraded to 4 stars from what would have been a 3.5 rating if half stars were available

Review: This is a cute cozy mystery, but after listening to a thriller novel I felt this was a little corny. The audio was engaging but the narrated annoyed me often with her dramatic lines.
Recommended For: Cozy mystery fans.

Death by Demo is the first book in the Home Renovation series. Callie Carpenter introduces readers to Jamie, a newly divorced renovation and safety specialist in North Carolina. Jamie’s family and business partners think she’s taking on too much by renovating the house she gained in her divorce. But during a demolition, a body is discovered. Jaime, her ex husband, her new neighbor, and people she’s grown up with are all considered suspects in the murder of the woman found inside Jaime’s walls. Jaime must figure out who’s lying to her and who she can trust before the detective assigned to the case can. Because…..everyone in this small town is VERY nose-er um inquisitive.

I listened to the audio version of this book and Cindy Kay can do no wrong in my eyes. She breathes absolute life into the characters she narrates. I can always grasp a good sense of the cast with her. But in the this book, I’m sure it wasn’t difficult as it’s written with so much charm.

When I read mysteries, I always treat it as a game for myself. Will I be able to figure out who committed the crime? It wasn’t so clear cut in Death by Demo.

I’m excited to read more from this series and learn more about the characters and small town.

Home renovations are always stressful…but nothing can compare to finding a body inside the walls!!

We follow Jamie who is newly divorced and starting over. She is running full steam ahead, channeling all of her frustration into renovating the home she received in the divorce settlement. The issue? Everything comes screeching to a halt when a body is uncovered! Now it’s up to her to sleuth around, clear her name and get this case solved so she can get back to creating the home (and life) of her dreams!

🏚️ Home Renovation
🔍 Cozy Mystery
💀 Body in the Wall
🫶 Family
🐾 Adorable Cat
📚 First in a New Series

Callie Carpenter’s Home Renovation Mystery series is off to an amazing start with Death by Demo! I’m so excited for this series and can’t wait to see what happens next!

Method Read: 🎧
Cindy Kay did an amazing job narrating and bringing the story to life!

Thank you Dreamscape Media for the advanced copy!

Jamie had the perfect life. She and her husband were owners of their own business and had the perfect relationship, or at least that's what Jamie thought. However, Jamie's life was turned upside down when she found him and her husband in bed with another woman. That was the beginning of things going downhill, he took her to the cleaners with the divorce because of a prenuptial agreement and the empire they had built went completely to Henry and Jamie received a run-down house that she is determined to make the best of.
On demo day she took a sledgehammer to the wall and there was a body in the wall. Freaked out she called the police and they shut her out of the house as it was a crime scene Jamie was afraid of going bankrupt, so she decided to dive down the suspect list and find out who killed the woman she found in her wall and get her project back on the right track!
I was given the opportunity to listen to this one by Dreamscape Media and Netgalley and boy was this a treat! Wrapping Christmas presents and listening to this book was just the therapy I needed. I am a huge sucker for cozy mysteries and this one did not disappoint! I loved the storyline and all the characters and I even loved the cat! I also loved the ingenuity of the manner of decomposing the body that was interesting and different! The audiobook was amazing and the narrator was on point! Thank you for the opportunity to listen and review this one!

I can tell already that I'm really going to enjoy this series! This was a fun read and I can't wait to read what happens in the next book. This was my 1st book by Callie Carpenter but will not be my last as I am adding all of her books to my TBR!

#DeathbyDemo
#NetGalley

Jamie just can’t seem to catch a break. Her husband cheated on her, then used their prenup to push her out of the company they’d created together and leave her with nothing in the divorce. Almost nothing that is except for one house that he couldn’t sell and deemed too much of a hassle to renovate. So Jamie decides to renovate it herself. But as she starts doing demolition for the renovation, she discovers a body within the walls. And it turns out to be someone she knew. With the house now considered a crime scene, Jamie is barred from doing any further renovations, so how’s a girl to spend her time? By looking into the murder of course. I really liked the cast of characters, especially Jamie and Demo the cat, and the book features a well developed mystery. This is a promising start for the new Home Renovation Mystery series and I’ll be looking forward to the next one. I’d like to thank Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review an advanced copy of the audio version of Death by Demo.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R28GBZC64V093J/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

Cozy crime fiction is always not a stressful read!

Jaime and her husband Henry have owned a construction company. When Jaime found out Henry cheated on her, she decided the marriage should come to an end.

What left for Jaime was an old house that was disrepair. Even worse, Jaime found a dead body in the wall. The house now became a crime scene. Jaime as the owner of the house, she was going to investigate and catch the murderer with help of her new neighbor - Demo, a cat.

Fast-paced story with lovely characters, surely the cat brighten up the story. Jaime had the potential to be a detective! The speed, tone and intonation of the narrator were perfect. The way she presented which suited the book. I’m looking forward to the next installment of this series.

This is the first book in a new series and one for which I'll be keeping an eye out for further installments.

The MC, Jaime, is newly divorced, but still lives in the same small town as her cheating ex, who also bilked her out of her share of the business they built together in the divorce.

Left without a home, a business or a direction, she sets her sights on renovating the one eyesore her ex-husband left her with. Unbeknownst to her, the house came with a cat and a dead body. So, she fed the cat and reported the body. Soon after, she realizes that the one house she can actually work on is now a crime scene, and the sooner the murder is solved, the sooner she can get back to work!

So she and her best friend start gathering and processing information, collecting and ruling out suspects as they go.

Overall, I enjoyed the characters, the town and the storyline. Nicely done!

Thank you to Callie Carpenter, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

After her cheating ex-husband took everything, including their flipping real estate business, Jamie is trying to pick up the pieces of her heart and life. Her parents keep pushing her to move back in with them and be the trophy daughter they’ve always wanted. Determined to not be the girl who got her where she is now, she picks up a Queen Anne fixer upper. Things only get worse, however, when she finds a dead boy in the wall during demolition. The deceased turns out to be Cilla Price, a person who was 2 years older than Jamie. When Det. Scoles informs her that Cilla was murdered, Jamie decides it’s up to her to solve the case and bring justice to the lady who was always nice to her. With few clues and everyone in town a possible suspect, will Jamie solve the case?

Narrator, Cindy Kay’s pacing is well-suited for the novel. Here voice and intonations, however, make the characters hard to distinguish from each other. The plot is well-developed and engaging. The characters are fairly generic and could use some more personality development, but are endearing and likable. Fans of cozy mysteries, fixer upper novels, and small town settings will want to pick this audiobook up. Recommended for library collections where cozy mystery audiobooks are popular.

Please Note: A copy of this audiobook was given in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own. No other compensation was received.

This is definitely a promising start to a new cozy mystery series. It had all of the normal traits and characters found in this genre. I did like the writing in general. There was enough world-building so that I could picture much of the story in my mind. I liked that the main character didn't go overboard with questioning the authorities efforts in their investigation and that the police didn't totally dismiss any helpful information from our main character. The back story was detailed enough to flesh out all of the characters in the book. Definitely sign me up for the next book in this series!

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for an ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars.
This was a typical cozy mystery that hits all the necessary tropes. It was a quick listen/read with a bit of a lighter feel if you need a break from some deeper/darker mysteries or thrillers. The hook here is a home reconstruction/ construction worker. LOTS of information about wood and tools and home construction, which I found interesting at first, but sort of filler after a while.
I enjoyed the main character. She was likable and capable although at times a bit daft or too trusting. She apparently was with her ex-husband for over 15 years and he is a grade-A d!ckwad. Like was she really that blind and dumb? Everyone says how capable and smart and pretty she is, so I am a little confused why she allowed him to walk all over her and be so mean to her for so long. Seems out of character.
The mystery was okay. The ending wasn't a huge surprise and honestly I didn't really feel overly invested in the victim or who ended up killing her. It was fairly obvious from the beginning, but the path to get there was well written and I like how the clues unraveled.
The audiobook narrator's voice was soothing and easy to listen to. Occasionally the voice was a bit quiet (I was listening in my car) and I had to adjust the volume up and down but that could have been due to road noise. I enjoyed the listening experience.
If you love cozy mysteries, you will absolutely enjoy this story. It hits all the cozy tropes including having an animal, a light potential romantic interest, an amateur sleuth, small town cops that overshare everything, a mean girl that makes the FMCs life miserable, and a satisfying ending. Overall, I enjoyed the story and will probably pick up the second one in the series to see how the story progresses.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an Advanced Reader Copy of this audiobook in return for my honest review.

I saw this book listed with upcoming mysteries and was excited to see it had an audiobook as well. I really liked the characters in the book, especially Jamie as she has gone out on her own after leaving her hatband. In the divorce settlement , she is given this house that is a real fixer upper. Shei is determined to renovate it, flip it and turn a business that was the two of them into a successful one for just her. She fortunately has made some great allies along the way to help this happen.
While starting the renovation, she finds a dead body and soon reali9zes she knows the person. This leads her to try to find out exactly what happened. A good start to a new series and I look forward to the next one.

Much thanks to Callie Carpenter, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to a free eaudiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This book was great! Jaime was likeable and sympathetic, and I loved her conversations with Demo. I enjoyed watching her outsmart her adversaries. Also the lumber kiln was a unique method to me. Not sure Jaime had much chemistry with Mike, but I'm willing to see where it goes. I look forward to the next installment!

Outstanding new cozy mystery to sink your brain into and try to hammer out the villain! Our main character is fresh from a horrible marriage that left her on the verge of broke and with only a broken-down old home that she is eager to start restoring. She's an intelligent, strong women who not only has brains, but the brawn to take on the remodel after spending years building a successful construction company with her ex. One major problem, there is a dead body in the house and now she is on the hunt to find out who put it there so she can get started on her new life! Great character development makes you really dig in and want to help find the killer as well as kick her ex's backside! A small town full of character to keep you excited about who you are going to meet next. I can't wait to see where the author takes this series as the plot was well executed and the mystery was superbly written. The audiobook was even better! The narrator did an fantastic job of connecting the reader/listener to the characters and the storyline making if feel all that much more realistic! I want more and you will too once you read or listen to this book!

This book kept me interested the whole book it was an exciting mystery and I found the content very intriguing I would recommend it to my friends and feel that the recording was very well done

It was a 4 until Chapter 21.

As a fan of HGTV and girl power, I liked the concept of the story. Female in non-traditional field, pulling herself up by her bootstraps after a bad marriage.

I like Jaime. I like the relationship with her best friend Laura. I like how Detective Scoles and Jaime were not constantly at odds with each other. I like Mike. I like the semiconductor subplot, the other smart women, and how it was obvious that King Construction was a success because of Jaime. Customers liked working with her and happy to talk with her after. So with all of the “likes” it seems like the story would have been a shoe-in for a 4 or even 5 rating. That is until chapter 21.

I won’t spoil it for others but I will say that I really wish that a different scenario played out. I can see how it came about and the pieces that would seem to logically fit, but I just didn’t like it. I feel like something different could have been done to show Jaime’s smarts and resourcefulness. There also seemed to be some “words” missing. I listened to that chapter twice and still didn’t get it. Maybe it was just me.

For the ending, I was glad how things turned out. Have a read and see if you agree.

I am looking forward to a second installment of this series (remember all the things I liked) and Jaime’s Home Renovation adventures.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the opportunity to do an early read and share my thoughts on the story.
Happy Reading!

Death by Demo by Callie Carpenter was a delight! I loved this first in the series cozy construction audiobook! Jamie is fresh off a divorce and is trying to renovate her divorce settlement and future income stream when she discovers a body in a wall. This halts her renovation plans and puts her hot on the trail of a murderer so she can get back to design and get justice for the victim.

I like that this book showed Jamie starting over in a very real way. I love how confident and capable she is in the male dominated construction industry. She has a boisterous family and cute small town. What else could I want in a cozy mystery audiobook?

I wasn’t a big fan of this one. It wasn’t necessarily bad, it was just more of a cozy mystery and a step up from Nancy Drew novels. I prefer more of a psychological thriller style of writing and this just wasn’t it. If you enjoy a slower paced, no graphic details, lots of potential suspects, Murder She Wrote vibe, this may be a good match for you.

Narration- the narrator wasn’t really up my alley either. She had a bit of a nasally, whiny voice that I couldn’t get into.

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Small town cozy mystery.
Possible budding romance.
New found cat friend.

It has all the right checks, but I honestly just couldn’t get into it. I felt like this book was very repetitive. The narration in this audiobook is truly what got on my nerves. I really think if I read the physical copy, I would have enjoyed it a lot more! That being said, when the second book of the series comes out, I will 100% read it and not listen to it! I think I’ll enjoy it much more!

To me, it’s worth the read, just not the audio!

2.5 ⭐️ out of 5 for me!