CORPSE IN THE CRAFTSMAN COTTAGE by Lori Pollard-Johnson

Fiction, Cozy Mystery

4****

Blurb: Thirty-four, newly divorced and parenting two little girls, Jan Weatherly is determined to make it on her own doing what she knows best: do-it-yourself home flipping. With her BFF Pam Bacchus by her side, she purchases their first fixer-upper—a cute Craftsman cottage with quick profit potential in rainy Rainier, Washington. With the first swing of her claw hammer, however, Jan pries back faux cedar paneling and reveals a nude, snow-haired corpse floating in a makeshift aquarium. If that didn’t fully sour their dreams in a plume of formaldehyde-tinged air, Sergeant Daniels arrives and bans the women from the crime scene. Will they continue sleuthing, despite Daniels’s warnings, or simply wait for their dreams of financial independence to fall apart?

Thoughts: This was a different type of cozy mystery. First of all, the main characters—Janny and Pam—are best friends who are both divorced (their exes are also best friends) with kids. They used to work for their exes in their construction company so now, they’re going out on their own and renovating and flipping houses. Unfortunately, while working on their first one, they discover a dead body. Banned from the house by the police, they go about trying to figure out how they’re going to survive with no money coming in and no idea how long it’s going to be until they can get back to work so they can sell the house.

The characters are realistic in that they’re women with kids and real problems. But one of the best characters was the dog Moxie – a hairless Chinese crested dog who isn’t pretty, but who is protective of Janny (her mistress). I may not be a dog person, but even this “cutie” made me go awwww. Meanwhile, their exes are doing things that make the women get even more angry at them (asking Janny’s girls to keep secrets, new truck, new house, new boat, new girlfriend…). Janny finds her backbone and lets hers know exactly how she feels about this. And he agrees! And then there’s the cute Detective Daniel’s. Real people. Real problems.

Recommended.

Disclosure of Material: I received a final and/or advanced reader copy of this book with the hope that I will leave my unbiased opinion. I was not required to leave a review, positive or otherwise, and my opinions are just that… My Opinions. I am posting this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”