The old firehouse is a house flippers dream. When Whitney Whitaker and her cousin and partner Buck are awarded the opportunity to improve the building they are thrilled. When they are visited by Joanne, owner of a townhouse in the neighborhood and asked to take on the flipping of the townhome adjacent to hers, Buck and Whitney decide why not. Until that Joanne shows up at the firehouse one day, and collapses at Whitney's feet.

I enjoy a good mystery, but cozy mysteries baffle me. I can never understand why the usually mild mannered title character is determined to solve the murder. Yet I found myself quickly engrossed in this story. The interesting cast of characters kept the story moving. Each chapter provides reason to suspect another character. I found this a quick and entertaining read that provided for satisfying escape for a rainy afternoon.

This series follows Whitney Whitaker and her cousin Buck, who are house flippers in Nashville, TN. In Four-Alarm Homicide they successfully bid on a fire house restoration project and are working to renovate it as a single family home. Whitney is also preparing for her upcoming wedding to her police detective fiance and the firehouse could work as the perfect venue. Things get complicated when their new neighbour suggests they buy the adjoining home to her townhouse to renovate, as it's fallen into neglect since the owner passed. They are able to buy out the family members for the property, but it doesn't go smoothly and soon they have issues with vandalism and harassment for more money. Then one of the neighbours collapses in the fire house and now Whitney must determine what's going on to avoid becoming a suspect or worse the next victim.
I found this cozy entertaining and the twists unexpected. I would recommend this series!

I’m a fan of Diane Kelly, this was my first book in this series and I was not disappointed. I liked it enough that I’m going to go back and read the others in the series. The characters seemed great, I enjoyed the mystery of it all. The pace was good. It was a quick enjoyable read. Thank you to netgalley and st Martin press for a free copy.

Whitney Whitaker and her cousin Buck are house flippers, and they just got their hands on century old fire station in a lovely neighbourhood. As they are starting work some neighbours wander over to get their advise on a house that has been standing empty as the heirs can’t agree on what to do with it. Whitney and Buck agree that it is a perfect house, and are ready to tackle it, but it sadly starts bad as one of the neighbours wanders over and collapses dead in the fire station.
Lovely cozy - I still need to read the previous ones, but it a great read on its own.

This series set in Nashville, Tennessee always presents an interesting mystery and a unique flipping project for Whitney and Buck. This time around they’re rehabbing an old fire station into a single family home, when they’re approached by a neighbor who is concerned about the deteriorating townhouse next to her impacting the structure and value of her portion of the two family building. Whitney and Buck have barely finalized the purchase of the vacant townhouse when drama ensues about who will have the opportunity buy it after the renovation is complete. Needless to say, Whitney now has a murder mystery to solve before she can walk down the aisle to get married. This is an entertaining mystery that offers up plenty of suspects who could have had a reason to want the victim out of the way permanently.

This is the first book I’ve read in this series, and it read fine as a stand-alone. It was an amusing read with lots of twists and turns, interesting characters, and was well written. I enjoyed this book and am looking forward to the next in the series. I received a complimentary copy of this book and chose to write a voluntary, unbiased review.

Another great cozy mystery in the series. I love the characters and the way the story is told from the perspective of different characters including Sawdust. Looking forward to the next adventure. Thanks to NetGalley for the privilege to read and review this book.

Diane Kelly never fails to deliver a solid, entertaining, cozy mystery. Four Alarm Homicide is entertaining with twists and turns that the reader doesn’t see coming.

Whitney and Buck are back at it again and this time they’re flipping our fire station. I have read many books of this series but I will admit I have not read them all. But this one is quite intriguing with turning a Fire Station into a livable home. We can always expect more than just a house renovation when it comes to the series. Not only are they transforming the fire station into something beautiful. They also take on a nearby townhome that has much better days. Soon we realize there seems to be some type of agenda with this townhouse when an elderly lady dies, and Whitney herself becomes a suspect. So we have one crazy mystery. Two renovations, a Murder, all while planning a wedding in between.

The chapters included from the cats point of you are always a highlight and a funny tape to the story

What a fun and instructive cozy mystery, sixth in series, featuring Nashville, TN house-flipping cousins, Whitney Whitaker and Buck Whitaker. How is it that I am just hearing about this fun series now?! This time around they've been awarded the option to renovate and convert an old fire station into a private residence. They've got their schedule set and are well on their way to getting things done in time for Whitney's nuptials. A neighbor around the corner from the station approaches them to ask for professional advice about the neglected adjoining property to her own and wouldn't they consider taking on that project too? Hmmm, what to do? Everything is going according to plan. That is until the neighbor dies in Whitney's arms. Sleuthing Whitney is now on the case.

Although I was familiar with Diane Kelly's Mountain Lodge Mystery series, which I adore, this was my first foray into her House Flipper Mystery series. Ms. Kelly again does not fail to please this reader. Her writing is solid. The characters are well developed. I particularly liked the character strength which Whitney displays yet there is also a tenderness and empathetic nature to her. It's obvious that Ms. Kelly has done her research and the result of which is a fun, informative, and captivating story.

I am grateful to author Diane Kelly and St. Martin's Press for having provided a complimentary e-book through NetGalley. Their generosity, however, has not influenced this review - the words of which are mine alone.


Publisher:‎ St. Martin's Paperbacks
Publication Date: April 23, 2024
No. of pages:‎ 304
ISBN:‎ 978-1250816085

I so enjoyed this mystery. There were so many suspects to choose from and I still didn't guess the right one. Total surprise. Whitney and Buck are going to rehab an old fire station. Whitney is also planning her wedding. Two people come from the neighborhood to ask them about looking at a nearby townhouse. The place has been all but abandoned and it would have to have a lot of work done on it. The people who own it, there are seven of them, can't agree on what to do with it, so they do nothing. Whitney and Buck buy it, but not without some problems. When the woman in the townhouse next door to their townhouse collapses and dies, Whitney starts to investigate. When Whitney is questioned about the woman's murder, she knows she has to get to the bottom of this mystery. Who could it be? She has eliminated all of the people that she had as suspects. What to do?

Being the first I’ve read of this series, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I was hooked from the first chapter. I enjoyed the clues dropped along the way and was surprised by the murderer at the end. Whitney and Buck are house flippers who’ve recently purchased an old fire hall to convert into a home. A neighbor convinces them to buy the townhouse connected to hers and is later murdered. Whitney begins a search for the murderer while continuing to work. Between the people in the neighborhood (the old men were great ) and the family who previously owned the townhouse, there is no shortage of suspects. All this while planning a wedding!

Thank you to St. Martins Press, NetGalley, and author Diane Kelly for the chance to read this cozy mystery. This is Book 6 in the House Flipper series however, I had not read the series before and was pleasantly surprised how fun the story and main characters were to fall in love with. I will definitely be adding the first five to my TBR now because carpenter Whitney Whitaker and her cousin Buck (and her lovable cat Sawdust) stole my heart.
In this book, they are working on renovating a hundred year old firehouse in Nashville’s Germantown neighborhood. While working they are approached by a neighbor who is looking for some advice about the other half of her townhouse. Seems the siblings that inherited it don’t want to have anything to do with it but they don’t want to do anything to it either so it’s deteriorating pulling down the quality of Joanna’s half of the house. It takes some tricky finagling but Whitney and Buck manage finally buy the house and put it on their schedule to renovate. However, there are several people that are wanting to buy the house and when Joanna comes to the firehouse and collapses and doesn’t recover Whitney knows she has to find out who is so desperate for that house that they will kill.
Highly recommend this series especially if you like Kate Carlisle’s Fixer Upper series.

Another cute cozy mystery in the House-Flipper mystery series! Whitney and Buck are renovating an old fire house and a townhouse just around the corner—and they’ve got the neighborhood all atwitter. When one of the neighbors winds up dying, Whitney uses her sleuthing skills to try to solve the case.

Carpenter Whitney Whitaker and her cousin Buck are hot for a historical property that has just come on the market—a fire station in Nashville’s Germantown neighborhood that was built nearly a century ago.

The cousins have just begun the interior demolition work at the fire station when Joanna Hartzell, who lives in a townhouse around the corner, comes by with a plea for help. Joanna owns the right half of her building, which she proudly maintains in perfect condition, while the left side falls into disrepair: the seven adult children who inherited it years ago refuse to lift a finger on repairs. Never one to turn down a challenge, Whitney and Buck manage to acquire the rundown townhouse—though it turns out Joanna is only one of the many neighbors interested in buying the property once they’ve worked their magic.

Then Joanna shows up at the fire station confused and rambling, then collapses, never to recover. Alarm bells go off for Whitney: she suspects something—and someone—evil could be the real cause. Can she and Collin put the clues together and smoke out a killer? (GoodReads)

This is a fun, light novel. The epitome of the cozy mystery. I was worried at about the 75 percentage of the novel. However, the author very quickly squashed the potential cliche.

One thing about Diane Kelly’s novels is that she provides random chapters from the pet’s point of view. It’s a unique feature that I have not read by other cozy mystery authors and makes me enjoy the novel more.

Overall, I rate this novel 4 out of 5 stars.

Four-Alarm Homicide is the next in Diane Kelly's house flipper series of cozy mysteries. This time Whitney and her cousin Buck are flipping an old fire house. The house flipper crew often seems to come across a dead body somewhere. The plot is fast moving with quite a few twists and turns. This is a nice, clean series and a great change of pace from some of the more gruesome mysteries I've been reading.
Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for my review copy of this book.

Four-Alarm Homicide by Diane Kelly is a cozy/mystery read in what appears to be apart of a 6 book series. This was my first time reading a novel by this author and I am quite the fan. Four-Alarm Homicide is the 6th installment of Kelly's "House-Flipper Mystery" series and from my understanding you do not have to read the previous books to read this one as Kelly does a great job providing background details of all the characters in the book and the plot doesn't seem to relate to any of her previous books in the series and was easy to follow. Along with the background details, Kelly does an amazing job at providing descriptions of everything and anything in the book, I felt like I could see everything being described and as if I was right there with the main character. I do have to admit it does start out rather slow and it took some time to get into this book but once I got passed that it really picked up and made it an enjoyable read, I felt like I was watching an HGTV episode starring Whitney and Buck. I also loved reading from the point of view of Whitney's cat, Sawdust, throughout the book. However, one thing I did not like was the ending. It seemed rushed and as if it didn't really tie together. Once you know who does it you're just left sitting there thinking "Really????". Besides that I do recommend checking this book out if you are into cozy, short mystery novels. I would definitely read another one of Kelly's novels, particularly in her "House-Flipper Mystery" series.

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/140903222?shelf=read

Four Alarm Homicide is the sixth entry in this traditional mystery series. Once again, Ms. Kelly tells a good story. Fans of her books will be delighted.

This time, a firehouse in Nashville is a property that is of interest to carpenter Whitney and her cousin Buck. The two are also approached by Joanna who needs some help. When she later seems confused, Whitney and Buck need to figure out what is going on.

Angry neighbors, renovations, murder, a cat…what else could a cozy reader want?

This is an enjoyable entry in the series. Note that the books do not have to be read in order.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this title. All opinions are my own.

This was an enjoyable cozy mystery. Four-Alarm Homicide is book 6 in the House-Flipper Mystery series and can easily be read on its own. I loved the mystery of this book, but it did take a while to get to the mystery as the book started out building the house-flipping scenario as well as focused on the relationships. I appreciated the occasional short chapters from Sawdust’s point of view, since it’s not very often that you get to see a pov from a cat. Overall this was a great read that had me guessing until the end. I definitely recommend checking out this series if you are looking for a cozy mystery.

Thank you @stmartinspress for sending me this copy for an honest review.

An accidental death seems to be murder. Carpenter Whitney Whitaker and her cousin Buck are hot for a historical property that has just come on the market—a fire station in Nashville’s Germantown neighborhood that was built nearly a century ago. She is a suspect. But she didn't do it.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion of this book.

Whitney Whitaker and her cousin Buck flip properties. When an historic firehouse is put up for bid Whitney has visions of a unique home while preserving the outward appearance. When their bid for the property succeeds, they are eager to begin. With the project underway, they are approached by Joanna, an elderly woman who lives around the corner. She lives in a duplex where the other side was abandoned after the owners died. Their heirs have left it to deteriorate and it might be the perfect project for Whitney and Buck. There are a number of neighbors interested in the property, so it would be a quick sale. Shortly after meeting Joanna she dies of a suspected aneurysm while visiting the firehouse. Over dinner with Buck and his pregnant wife the conversation turns to diet. Buck’s wife will not eat fish while pregnant because mercury found in fish could endanger the baby. Discussing the effects of mercury, Whitney begins to suspect that Joanna’s death may have been murder.

Whitney is engaged to Collin, a police detective. Beside the renovation on two property, they are also preparing for their wedding, which is providing challenges of its’ own. Whitney and Buck had to deal with seven heirs who each owned a share of the duplex. Each is in competition to receive the best offer for their share and none are satisfied with the results. Joanna’s son, who has been in trouble in the past, has now come back. Her daughter and her family were also quick to take over Joanna’s property. Whitney, herself, is added to the suspect list since she seemed to know about mercury poisoning. The best way for her to prove her innocence is to solve the murder. I love HGTV and as Diane Kelly describes the changes that Whitney and Buck envision for the firehouse she makes it easy to imagine the beautiful home it will become. With a number of possible suspects and the pressures of both a business and a wedding, the story moves very quickly. Fans of Kate Carlisle’s Fixer Upper series will love Kelly’s House Flipper mystery. I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing this book.