Book Review: "Eaves of Destruction" by Kate Carlisle
Hi friends,
Another book read and done! This one took me a lot longer than most of my reading for a few reasons. I bought the complete Fixer-Upper Mystery series at the end of last summer, looking for a new group of books to sink my teeth into. After having read Denise Swanson, Lucy Quinn, Ellery Adams, and Jana Deleon, Kate Carlisle's novels seemed right up my alley. I thoroughly enjoyed books 1-3 in her Fixer-Upper series, and now, having completed Eaves of Destruction, I can say that I look forward to what comes next, despite there being a few bumps in the road for me regarding this installment.
In Eaves of Destruction, contractor Shannon Hammer is working on a stunning Victorian home entered in the town's Home and Garden Tour competition. The owners, Petsy and Matthew, are night and day from one another. Matthew is warmhearted and kind, where Petsy is just nasty. I mean, she's so nasty, it made me dislike reading about her. I found myself skimming over her interactions with Shannon and the other construction workers because it was just uncomfortable and unpleasant to read. I'm all for villainizing, but Petsy came off as so unbelievingly awful that it was hard to take her seriously.
The same goes for the murdered man, Joe Scully. Carlisle frequently writes the person who is killed as unlikable. From a story-crafting standpoint, it's easier for the characters to get over their death and approach it from a more logical/investigative standpoint. With Joe Scully's death, it seemed a little "been there, done that," as Carlisle has taken this route before. However, the mystery that unfolds in anything but ordinary. With a ton of avenues to follow and too many theories to count flying around, Shannon and Mac approach their investigating with inappropriate comedic undertones, seeming very unlike their characters in the previous books. Shannon's reasons for investigating were a bit too forced; I didn't really buy that she was vested in the case. At the killer's revelation, my head was shaking in disbelief, mostly because I was a bit disappointed by how anti-climatic it all ended up being.
The thing I enjoy most about Carlisle's writing is the descriptions of Lighthouse Cove and the people. I missed Shannon relying on her friends to help her dig up dirt. Newcomer Amanda is enjoyable and likable enough; I look forward to seeing how her story plays out. It seemed that Mac magically had contacts everywhere that could get Shannon the information she needed, so the days of the ladies getting together and drumming up suspects and theories seem to be taking a back seat to Shannon and Mac. While they are cute together with their banter, their relationship lacks chemistry. It seems the police Chief Eric and Shannon have more heat in a few sentences than she and Mac do in the entire book. I've been rooting for Mac all along...it just seems as though someone has thrown a bucket of ice-cold water on their fire.
I know I've spent a majority of this review criticizing Eaves of Destruction, but I guess I had such high hopes for it. This book took me over a month to read, which hardly ever happens. It's been pushed aside by other books that have come on my radar (as you can tell from my previous reviews), and I just never felt a connection with the story to really hook me in. I'll give it 4 out of 7 crowns, but with the affirmation that I am already looking forward to Book 6. I hope Carlisle brings a breath of fresh air to Lighthouse Cove because the characters she's developed are too good to gather dust on my bookshelf for long.
Arms around,
S.B.
