This audio book was great to listen to on my road trip this past week. It had enough suspense to keep my husband and I guessing who the murderer in the story was.
Jaimie and her husband owned a construction and design company. But that ended when she caught him cheating on her. Of course, she had signed a prenup, so she ended up with very little.
The author did a great job of throwing red herrings into the mystery.
This was an excellent start to a new cozy mystery series. The narrator was the perfect choice for this audiobook.
Thank you NetGalley, Callie Carpenter and Dreamscape Media for the copy of Death by Demo.
This is my personal review.

Jaime and her husband run a construction and design company until she discovers his affair. After the divorce she is only left with a historical home in desperate need of repair. Jaime decides that the only way to get on with her life is to restore the house and build her own company. She calls in favors and has the renovation ready to go when with the demolition of the first wall she discovers a dead body. Who is it? How did they get in the wall? The project is on hold until the police figure it out. Jaime does not have time to waste, the renovation and her future hinges on sticking to a tight timeline so Jaime decides to help the police. But the more she discovers the more she questions and the more dangerous it becomes. Can Jaime figure it out before it is too late?

This was an enjoyable cozy mystery. The narrator of the audiobook did a good job and pulled me in to the story and kept me listening. I look forward to more mysteries with Jaime.

I really enjoyed the plot and the characters, and it resolved in a really satisfying way. I appreciated that the main character was dealing with the trauma and abuse she had experienced in her marriage, but is still in the discovery stage of realizing it even happened, watching her find ways she has changed and made herself smaller was heartwrenching yet encouraging. The story gave me Gigi Pandian vibes, but maybe a little less macabre and without a larger overarching mystery.
This was a great little cozy mystery, I'd definitely recommend it.

What a great start to a new series! I loved Jaime – she’s smart, savvy, is in the process of starting her own renovation company so she’s driven and crafty. Aside for one “I just have to check one more thing” moment, I enjoyed everything about this mystery. The setting was quaint and I’m a sucker for home renovation shows and mysteries so this was right up my alley. The mystery itself was well-paced and definitely kept me guessing. Can’t wait to read the next one!

Narration was well done; no issues.

Thank you so much NetGalley for the opportunity to review!

This was a cute comfortable read and I agree with other reviewers that I liked the handling of the ex husband: not overly nasty or bitter. The “twist” felt natural and not contrived.

Jamie Moore has just divorced her husband and because she signed a prenup all she got was a rundown Victorian. She has been staying at her best friend Laura Potter‘s house but when she goes with her lawyer to look at the Victorian she starts to get a certain spark back that she could really fix this place up in the part of her that Henry killed in the divorce sparks back to life but on the first day when she comes to demolish the bad parts of the house the first thing she knocks down is a closet but with the one blow of her hammer the wall just… poof and comes down… Something walls are not supposed to do The other thing walls are not supposed to do is conceal a dead body and that’s exactly what this wall was doing. Before she knows it the police are there with the medical tect and she’s been locked out of her new home and that spark that started the flare dims just a little but then Laura says they should try and solve the crime… Something Jamie is dubious about but having nothing better to do goes along with it. The police find out right away that the dead person was one of Jamie‘s classmates named Silla. She thinks initially it will not be that hard to solve because “who had access to the home?“ But when her new handsome neighbor Mike showed her a Hidden Chi she knows this is going to be a bigger Tess than she thought never wants however did she know just how deadly the task was going to be. I have really started getting into clean cozy mysteries and I really enjoyed this one it was funny Jamie is so sweet and I loved her and Laura’s friendship I loved her parents and really hope her and Mike get together I also love tall she reluctantly loved the homeless cat demo and fed him daily. This was a cute cozy mystery and I cannot wait for the next one I do hope there is a next one. I also hope if they do another that the same narrator does the audiobook she has the perfect voice and can also do character distinction which is awesome she was great did a stellar job I totally and thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook from the story to the narration it was a definite five star experience. I want to thank dreamscape media Net Galley for my free art copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Light, pleasant whodunit. A newly divorced woman took on a house renovation project and the unexpected happened. The host of town residents and family members were colorful and entertaining. The bits about renovation were interesting. This was an entertaining and well-read audiobook.

This was such a quick, wholly enjoyable listen. The narration from Cindy Kay was perfect to capture our protagonist Jamie’s character.

After a brutal divorce, all Jamie gets is a rundown house in the process of a renovation. She is happier without her ex, but she feels lost in life. So, she starts in on the house… but, quickly, a dead body is found and all progress is halted during the investigation.

Now Jamie is determined to figure out what happened. She knows the victim and they were found inside a home that she owns… this is messy! Also, she finds a stray cat, whom she names Demo. He is a constant source of good feels in this book!

There is also a bit of romance wrapped up in here, which I loved. All in all, this was a well paced fun and engaging mystery that I really enjoyed listening to.

⭐️⭐️ 4.25 stars ⭐⭐️

What a fun idea for a cozy mystery! First in a new series by Callie Carpenter, Death by Demo feels just like an episode of Flip or Flop but with a twist. Jaime Moore discovered her husband and partner in King Construction, Henry, had been cheating on her. Since she had signed an ironclad prenuptial agreement, the divorce left her with only a Victorian house in a state of disrepair. But Jaime had hope, feeling the potential of restoring the house to its original glory....that is, until she started demolition and found a body hidden in a wall. That would inevitably delay renovation plans and she just wanted to move on from the divorce and go forward with her life. So she decided to conduct her own DIY investigation which later became a way to get justice for the victim.

I loved how Jaime and her best friend, Laura, worked together with Laura making spreadsheets detailing motives, personalities and alibis for various suspects. Motives for murder could be money, sex or power. But who could have done it? I thought all of the suspects seemed like logical choices so I was completely invested in the story throughout. I had my suspicions but I was ultimately surprised by the ending.

There was plenty of reflection on Jamie's marriage and the way she let Henry run her life but it was great to see her finally acknowledge that and realize she deserved better. I thought Jamie was a strong protagonist except for her out of character foolishness near the end as she did something that could have gotten her in way over her head.

All of the characters were well written and fit flawlessly into the plot. I even liked how Henry's story arc evolved. I loved Jamie's chats with the cat that kept wandering onto her property and it was perfect that she named the cat Demo. I look forward to seeing more of Demo later in the series. I'm also intrigued by Jamie's budding romance and I'm interested to see how it evolves. I initially had my doubts about her romantic interest but I eventually started to warm up to him.

I listened to the audiobook and thought Cindy Kay did a fantastic job voicing all of the characters. I listened mostly at 1.75x and would gladly listen to her again. I think this story could have benefitted from a first person narration instead of third but that's my personal preference. Either way, I definitely want to read or listen to more of this series to indulge my home renovation guilty pleasure.

* Special thanks to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this ALC. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. Available December 5, 2023. *

I really enjoyed this mystery with a little romance. Such a fun town with amazing characters. I was immersed in the story and finished it quickly.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
I loved listening to this audiobook. A lot of likable characters and so much potential for a new series. I loved Jamie’s character and her hard work and dedication to the work she loved even after her divorce.
Another great new cozy mystery series starting off here. I look forward to the next book.
Narrator was great as well.

Death by Demo is a perfect example of a cozy mystery series. With a fun home designer/amateur detective, a supportive best friend, a cute new neighbor, and a nosy cat, this story has good vibes and is a wonderful start to what I hope will become a new favorite series.

Jamie, our protagonist, is a competent, resilient, and resourceful woman, who despite a rocky divorce is determined to move forward with her life. She’s going to renovate the old house her ex left her, convince her parents she doesn’t need to move home, and start a business of her own. She won’t even let a dead body found in the house she’s renovating get in her way! At the encouragement of her best friend, who makes a spreadsheet for her to follow (a woman after my own heart), Jamie sets out to solve this murder to keep her home renovation on track. And while the detective on the case is a good guy, Jamie also gets some help from her next door neighbor, who’s really attractive (unless he’s the murderer!).

All the elements of this novel line up and follow through to create a fun mystery that kept me listening all day long. Cozy mysteries are one of my current favorite genres, and I love when I find a new series to dig into and look forward to. I will definitely be coming back for the second in this series when it comes out!

This is the start to a new cozy mystery series and it was a super fun, light, mystery. I listened to the audiobook and I felt like the narrator did a great job bringing the main character Jaime to life. I thought this book set up a neat idea for a cozy mystery series focused on Jaime, a recently divorced woman who is starting her own business remodeling and restoring homes. Left with nothing but a home deemed too much work to restore Jaime is determined to prove everyone wrong and gets to work, starting with demolishing a wall that isn’t needed and not in her design plans. Unfortunately for her this wall was the final resting place for a body. Determined to help solve the murder so she can get back into her house and get to work she turns her skills to sleuthing (with her best friend’s impressive excel skills). I did think the mystery was pretty easy to solve and I could have shaken Jaime when she chose her hiding place at the end, but I still found it to be a fun story and I would definitely continue in this series.

This was a GREAT story to listen to! AWESOME narration! Great main characters. The plot was easy to find. The story was engaging and easy to follow. Will be purchasing this book. Shout out to Netgalley and publishing for allowing me to listen and review this story.

4 STARS!

I love, love, LOVED this one!! I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was perfect, really added to the book- distinct voices for each character and she helped make the emotion/suspense show throughout the book. This is one of those cozies that immediately draws you in and makes you feel like you know this character even though it’s the first in the series. I listened to it in one afternoon and I cannot wait for more in this series!

'Death by Demo' was a really fun read, with unexpected twists and characters I cared about.

After Jaime catches her husband, Henry, in an affair, she is absolutely shafted in the divorce. All she ends up with is a complete dump of a house - but she's determined to make something of it. Unfortunately, renovations have only just begun when she finds a desiccated human corpse behind a wall!

Jaime is well-developed and lovable. I really enjoy more mature MCs and Jaime is an easy one to like. I also liked the (very) slow burn beginnings of a romance here, and the realistic way in which her recovery from her last relationship is portrayed.

Separately, this is set in North Carolina and, as a former North Carolinian, that was so fun for me! All around, I really enjoyed the book.

Fans of cozy mysteries will enjoy this a lot. I look forward to following along with this series!

Thanks, NetGalley and Crooked Lane, for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.