FICTION · MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR
Sarah Graves
Sarah Graves is the pen name of American mystery and crime novelist Mary Squibb. Based in New York, her Home Repair is Homicide series follows transplanted New Yorker Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree and her friend Ellie White as they solve murders in Eastport, Maine, all while she repairs her centuries-old house. This series and the author's real-life experience have been featured in The New York Times Home & Garden, USA Today, and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. In 2012, Random House reported that Graves has "more than 1 million copies in print" and her "first ten titles in mass market combined move nearly 3,000 copies per month". In 2015, Graves's second series had its first book published, following ex-Boston homicide detective Lizzie Snow transplanted to Bearkill, Maine.
My house is old, and rambling, and in some disrepair, and I think that it is faintly haunted: a cold spot forming inexplicably on the stairway, a scuttling in the hall.
— from The Dead Cat Bounce
Most acclaimed
Crawlspace
Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree abandoned Wall Street to its bankruptcies and bailouts for a far more rewarding life fixing up an 1823 Federal-style house in Eastport, Maine. But in Sarah Graves's chilling new mystery thriller, Jake discovers that no matter what your address, the most terrifying crimes always hit closest to home.The infamous Dodd murders are hardly among Eastport's proudest legacies. So when bestselling true-crime author Carolyn Rathbone arrives to research the case for a new book, the locals in the seaside town let her know that she's about as welcome as a spoiled clam. But surely no one would harm a crime writer out of a sense of civic pride--or would they?Jake has her own problems, from the mysteries of old-house insulation to an anonymous caller plaguing her with death threats. But with Carolyn's arrival, the slayings of the wealthy Dodd women suddenly go from cold case to hot topic--much to someone's dismay. For Carolyn Rathbone's untimely investigation hasn't only reopened old wounds and stirred up new suspicions; it's unearthed a string of deadly secrets--ones that a cunning killer is grimly determined to rebury right along with Carolyn herself.Suddenly Jake finds herself inescapably targeted by one of the most deranged criminal minds she's ever encountered. For as much as she fights to insulate herself from his grisly compulsions, someone with a taste for terror has already crept closer than she dares to imagine. She'd rather die than lose the home and family she's built--and that suits her nemesis fine, because her death is just exactly what he has planned.From the Hardcover edition.
Unhinged
Once a Wall Street hotshot, Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree chucked it all for a charmingly dilapidated fixer-upper in the tiny town of Eastport, Maine. She was certain she'd left the dangers of city life behind--until she discovered that no place, no matter how idyllic and peaceful it may appear, is safe from murder.UnhingedIt began with the mysterious disappearance of Harriet Hollingsworth--Eastport's snoopiest resident. Everyone is convinced the old busybody bolted out of town to escape her creditor--everyone except Jake and her best friend Ellie who know Harriet would never leave home without her most prized possession. But before Jake and Ellie can persuade police chief Bob Arnold to open an investigation, they'll need to come up with proof more sinister than a pair of abandoned binoculars. Just as Jake starts poking around for clues, things suddenly take a troubling turn for the worse. A suspicious accident nearly kills her teenaged son, Sam, and her husband, Wade, just misses getting his head blown off. Jake is prepared to attribute these incidents to a spate of bad luck--until another "accident" leaves a visitor to Eastport unmistakably dead. Most perplexing, all this mayhem coincides with the unexpected arrival of a man from Jake's past: a former New York City cop. Harry Markle claims he has unintentionally brought an unwelcome guest into Eastport: a crook determined to knock off everyone with ties to Harry. Twenty-four hours ago, Jake's only worry was fixing her broken-down gutters and downspouts before the big storm swept into town. Now, everything seems to be falling apart all around her. Jake knows from experience that the truth is usually as messy and complicated as do-it-yourself remodeling. As it becomes chillingly clear that appearances in this quaint community are more misleading than ever, she'll have to find a way to lure a homicidal maniac into the light--before he nails another victim.From the Hardcover edition.
Wreck the Halls
"The town (Eastport) and its warmly wondrous citizens continue to enchant!"-- Booknews from The Poisoned PenWhen ex--Wall Streeter Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree bought a charming 1823 fixer-upper in tiny Eastport, Maine, she figured she'd also bought herself a tranquil, stress-free life. But Jake soon learned that appearances can be deceiving, and that even small towns have their share of dark secrets -- including murder.Wreck The HallsPeople hardly ever lock their doors in Eastport. So when Jake and her best pal, Ellie, arrive at Faye Anne Carmody's kitchen door, they knock and walk right in. But though Christmas is just two weeks away, what they find is far from festive: a dazed Faye Anne covered with blood, and her no-good husband -- the town butcher, Merle -- nowhere in sight. Nowhere, that is, until Jake discovers his body -- tidily wrapped in his own butcher paper.... It doesn't take long for news of the murder to race through the small town, and just about everyone has a theory about the grisly crime that has robbed Eastport of its least-liked citizen. But while police chief Bob Arnold considers it an open-and-shut case, Jake and Ellie aren't convinced of Faye Anne's guilt. Jake has enough going on in her life without trying to investigate a murder. After all, she's just married her longtime love, Wade, and the pair plan to spend the winter rehabilitating the paint-encrusted windows in Jake's old house. But Jake has to admit that there are a lot of details that don't add up: for example, Faye Anne's complaint that she was being stalked, and blood-splattered evidence at the crime scene that just doesn't make sense. Then there is the diary that Faye Anne's secret, sometime boyfriend claims is hidden somewhere in her house. Could Faye Anne's own journal be the key to unlocking an even more fiendish murder plot, or is her double-crossing lover trying to frame her?When yet another Eastport citizen turns up dead, Jake realizes the murderer's trail began long before the night Merle Carmody died. But what keeps eluding her and Ellie is the motive behind the mystery. The truth is so close, they can almost taste it -- but can they stop the shrewd killer before he chisels another victim's name onto a tombstone?From the Hardcover edition.