Loose Screw

This was my first time reading a book from the author. Great book! Highly recommend if you like cozy mystery titles.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Backlit PR and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Another addition to the already enjoyable cozy mystery series.

This was a fun cozy mystery that was fast and easy to read. The two main characters are a mother and daughter home renovation team. The story starts off with a very unpopular building inspector found murdered. With a habit of denying almost all the permits that cross his desk, the list of potential suspects is long. Having been denied their own permit by the deceased, the two lend a hand in solving the case.
This book was offered to me for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy.

Loose Screw by Barbara Barrett is the second book in the Nailed It Home Reno Mystery series. I found this to be a rather interesting whodunit. Former homicide detective Rowena "Ro" Summerfield is once again paired up with her former partner Homicide Detective Herc Morgan to investigate a murder. Mortimer Fonseca, was a bit of an odd duck. The motive for his murder is quite interesting. I enjoyed this second installment in the series and look forward to the next book in the series.

This is the second book in the Nailed It Home Reno Mysteries. A fun fast read. Great characters. A solid mystery with an awesome twist you won't see coming. To Summerfield and Herd Morgan are an awesome duo. Thanks#netgalley and #BooklitPR for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are.

I received a free epub copy from NetGalley.

Loose Screw was a fun read with a lot of enjoyable characters. The banter between them was well written and you could feel the camaraderie. The use of Ro, a former detective, as a consultant due to everyone else occupied was a different spin that allowed for a less formal investigative feel.

I liked how the author described how Herc liked to rationalize out his ideas and how he needed to mull over interviews once they had occurred.

The story being told from Ro's perspective was an added benefit to this cozy mystery, with her having a little more background knowledge than a standard main character in cozy mysteries. But you still had that character in Val. The use of them as consultants helped with the tension usually seen between the cops and the main character allowed for the issues with the original detectives to stand out.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel!

I like the story and the characters but there were a few things i had an issue with. I get the whole small-town thing that lets you get away with a lot more when it comes to cozies but I have a difficult time with a police chief appointing a former detective's daughter a detective/consultant position because he's short-staffed and wants to date her. Also, there wasn't any home renovation until the epilogue which seemed thrown in so it could fit into the series. Overall, the writing was good and the story kept my interest but this is a detective story with a little home reno thrown in.

Florida, cozy-mystery, small-business, small-town, renovation, retired-cop, family-dynamics, friction, friendship, murder, murder-investigation, consultant, procedural, law-enforcement, inspector, cat****

Retired from being a homicide detective following a serious work-related back injury, Rowena "Ro" Summerfield is once again working with her former partner Homicide Detective Herc Morgan to investigate a murder. This time her 35 y/o daughter (who is also her business partner) is joining them as a technical consultant. The publisher's blurb is a good intro and no need to repeat. It's pretty good whodunit and I'll be looking forward to next in series. Cat lovers will enjoy the homey interludes.
I requested and received a free e-book copy from Backlit PR via NetGalley. Thank you

Adorable and really engaging cozy mystery! I hope to read more in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Backlit PR for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Princess Fuzzypants here: I enjoyed this second outing much more than the first book in the series. Not that the first one was a flop- far from it. But it seemed the characters started to hit their stride in this one. Valerie, the daughter seems more capable and grounded than she appeared in the first one. I can see why retired cop Ro would partner with her in a renovation business. They are trying to get planning approval for their current project but have come up against an inspector who takes “by the book” to an entirely new level.

Morty is an odd duck, someone who blithely does not realize how many toes he crushes every day. So when he is murdered, disgruntled clients seem a likely source for suspects. Even Ro and Valerie are considered for a brief moment. Then Ro is brought back by the department to work with her former partner, Herc, to discover the murderer. Val wants to help out as a structural consultant and she not only gets the gig, she gets something else as well. When Herc is called away to sort out a mess his current partner has made, Ro and Val become the primary team on Morty’s death. As they investigate, they realize that the two murder cases are actually connected.

It is a good thriller with some interesting characters with depth and it made for an enjoyable read. I am looking forward to future stories. Four purrs and two paws up.

Loose Screw is about a woman in her mid/late 50s who works on home renovation projects, though there isn’t a lot of home renovation talk. Ro, the main character, is a former homicide detective and is asked (once again) to work with her former police partner to solve a murder. It’s a bit odd that the town doesn’t have enough police officers to handle two murder cases at once, and Ro is asked to help. Though, this is a cozy mystery (I read a lot of them) and one has to be flexible in things like this. However, it is taken one step too far when Ro’s daughter wants to officially help the police as a detective and is granted permission by the local police. That was a bit too ridiculous for me. It doesn’t help that I found the daughter (Val) to be very unlikable. Pouting and rolling her eyes, she comes off as extremely immature for being in her mid-30s. I had to skim through many paragraphs in the book, so I could finish it.

The best character in the book is Ro’s old partner, Herc. Though, the poor guy doesn’t get any respect. As for the character Ro, she’s ok as long as her daughter isn’t in the ‘scenes’ with her. Though, I wish Ro was a little more focused on other people in her life, besides just her daughter. For example, she has a family friend that has asked her for help several times and she doesn’t make time (says she’s busy but goes off to miniature golf). Maybe those are hints coming for the next book (Ryder’s story), but it makes her seem self-centered in this book. There isn’t much in the romance department, so if you like a tiny bit of romance in your cozy mysteries, you’re not going to get much of that.

As much as I liked the first book in the series, I struggled with this one. There was a lot of rehashing of the murdered person’s personality. All in all, I just couldn’t find anything to grab my attention, except for the character Herc. I’ve enjoyed the author’s other books (and other series). The writing is good, with good editing. I will give book three a chance, since I enjoyed book one.

Thank you NetGalley and Backlit PR for this ARC. I’m submitting my honest review and opinion. I will post this review to my blog, Goodreads, Bookbub, & Amazon accounts.

This is a cute cozy mystery and I enjoyed reading it.
Rowena is a fun character that I hope I get to know in future books.

I'm loving this series and this second instalment didn't disappoint as it's compelling and entertaining.
The solid mystery kept me guessing and I was glad to catchup with the characters.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Well, I enjoyed the second book in the Nailed It Home Reno series as much as Measure Twice, Murder Once. Cozy mysteries are one of my go-to’s when I want to read something light. Kinda funny when they’re pretty much all surrounded with murder in a small town – usually lots of murders. More murders than you would expect to find in a small town that would make the average resident want to flee. I think it’s that ridiculous concept along with the usual quirky residents that keeps me coming back. 😉

I guess that’s also why the police chief bringing essentially two civilians (even though one of them was a former detective) onto a murder case didn’t even make me blink. I mean, why not?

In Loose Screw, Ro was just as reluctant to help Herc as Val was comfortable with her helping him. The last case didn’t end so well for either Herc or Ro. I think what I like most about this series is the dynamic between the characters. If not for the occasional murder solving, their life would be pretty normal.

As reluctant as Ro was to help Herc again, I’m pretty sure her life as a part-time, unofficial detective isn’t quite over. I’m looking forward to their next adventure. 😉

I thought Loose Screw was a strange title for a book but it turned out to be a lovely mystery and one that I enjoyed. I haven't read this author before but I will certainly be on the lookout for her in the future. 4 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC

Another good mystery in a cozy series. Ro and her daughter work to renovate old homes into new ones. As a former police detective though she can't help but step in and help solve murders. Highly recommend.

Can Rowena juggle her new renovation business with her daughter and getting pulled back into being a detective by her old partner without messing up her relationships with her daughter and her new boyfriend? Read and see...

This is the second edition in the Nailed it Home Reno Mysteries. Mother and daughter home renovations duo Rowena and Valerie have their hands full with clients, building inspectors, and contractors. This time, however, the local inspector is amiss with his own safety standards and winds up dead. The inspector's impractical standards, gruff demeanor, and unusual behavior have not won him many friends around town. Rowena, a former homicide detective, and her daughter Val team up with local police detective to find the killer. This is an interesting who-dunnit with several twists and turns.

Second in the Nailed it Home renovation series but not as good as the first, a very strange notion that an ex police officer would be allowed to investigate a murder that they are closely involved with ,that said still a good cosy read

Ro Summerfield, retired homicide detective, now partner with her daughter Val in a Reno business, is enlisted by her former partner and the police captain to assist in an investigation since there is a staffing shortage. Her daughter is also involved as a consultant. What about their business? Well, since the victim is the building inspector and Ro and Val are on hold until other inspectors can get to their project. So Ro and Val start digging into the victim's life and things are not pretty.

Complications and obstacles abound as more and more issues in the Inspection Office turn up. But is there another reason that he may have been killed?

The twists and turns were intriguing, love the characters.