Death at a Fixer Upper - A Home Sweet Home Mystery: Review

Real estate agent Sam Turner loves her quaint town of Arlinda, Northern California and is excited to be working at the Home Sweet Home real estate agency. When 13 Aster Lane, an old fixer upper is put on the market, Sam is happy to show it to some interested buyers. There is something hinky going on at 13 Aster Lane, and before long Sam is not only facing eviction, but losing interested buyers as well. Sam is counting on a big sale to help her finance her new home for her and her son Max, now is not the time to be losing buyers or commissions!I read over 600 books a year, but somehow I missed this author Ms. Hobart uses highly descriptive prose, almost to a fault, but she certainly paints vivid pictures, and her dialogues are snappy, quirky and fast paced. Her characters (of which there are almost confusingly many) are complex, and the plot of this delightful tale is fresh and unique. I didn't really feel the love loss between her and her ex (who walked out on her and her young son), nor do I understand the weird supposed relationship with her and her ex-brother-in-law. It wasn't an annoying story, where the main character is a dip, but she clearly makes some odd choices here and there. The son is more of an after thought at times, in my opinion. Death at a Fixer Upper is the first in the Home Sweet Home mystery series. Lastly, there were a few moments in the book where it seemed like it was recapping an earlier book in the series. I was surprised when I found out this was book one. It didn't detract from the story or confuse me however. All in all, I give this book ♥♥♥♥♥♥ (6 of 10) hearts and a "B" grade.  There were some noticeable flaws and I don't know if I'd ever read it again.  However, it was a good one-hit-wonder. I received a free e-copy of this book from the publisher through Net Galley in exchange for a fair and honest review