The audio book narrators accent gets annoying after a while but it’s an ALRIGHT cozy mystery.

DNF. There are seemingly random chapters from the cat's point of view. I didn't see the point of those.

The first in a delightful new cozy mystery series by Diane Kelly Dead as a Door Knocker is a total winner with terrific characters and a cute as can be cat named Sawdust. I like that Whitney Whitaker is a woman in a male dominated field who holds her own and is comfortable in her own skin. I truly enjoyed this and look forward to future installments.

Whitney Whitaker knows what hard work means. Studying for her real estate exam, working as a property manager, and putting in extra hours at her cousin's woodworking company, she doesn't have time for murder. But when her cat's curiosity leads her to a dead body in the flower bed of a property Whitney is planning to flip, she has to add detective work to her to-do list.

This book is charming. One of its engaging attributes is the inclusion of chapters told from Sawdust 's perspective. In addition, it has all the hallmarks of a good cozy with quirky characters and good humor.

Can't wait to read the rest of the series!

I really liked this one. Has two POV from Whitney and her cat, Sawdust. Weird. Never read a book with a cat POV. I don’t think it was necessary and honestly couldn’t probably be removed. But it also doesn’t impede the flow of the story. A few funny moments that will probably continue into the next books while the characters build their relationship. Definitely continuing this series but not right away. I still have a stack of other library book to read. But I will get to it. I will add this series to my own collection.

Come read with me!

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Good story line, interesting characters. Set up well for book 2. Really enjoyed hearing the cat's comments throughout the book :) Whitney is nice -- not sure how much I care about her yet; her cousin is great and I like her friend Colette -- we'll see how book 2 is ...

Nebraska Library Commission Book Club Spotlight - October 25th, 2023

With Halloween a week away, I love to enjoy the spookier books in our collection. But what’s great about Halloween is that there are so many ways for readers to enjoy the season without getting too scared. So, for the scaredy cats this Halloween Season, we’ll be looking at Dead as a Door Knocker by author Diane Kelly. Kelly is a prolific, cozy mystery writer, having (accidentally) worked with white-collar criminals in her former work as a tax advisor and decided to author the criminals herself rather than working with them. She has been awarded the Golden Heart Award from the Romance Writers of America and a Reviewers’ Choice Award.


In the first installment in the House-Flipper Mystery series, we meet 20-something Whitney Whitaker, a property manager living in her parents’ (renovated) pool house with big dreams and a small cat named Sawdust. When a property goes up for sale by the cheapskate Rick Dunaway, Whitney snatches up the deal, thinking it was too good to be true. But she gets more than she bargained for when Rick’s body shows up in her flower bed a few days later! With the help of her best friend Collette, cousin Buck, and Nashville's newest homicide detective, Collin Flynn, Whitney sets out to catch the killer with her life and the house’s market value on the line.

“Are you going to buy the murder house?”
- Diane Kelly

With brief mentions of blood, peril, and, of course, a body, Dead as a Door Knocker is driven by its characters and their relationships, not a murderous fiend. As we tick through the list of potential suspects, there are plenty of stops along the way into the world of house-flipping, rentals, and kitty shenanigans. Cozy mysteries like Dead as a Door Knocker let the more squeamish in your book club groups enjoy the fun of solving a good mystery without all the blood and gore getting in the way.


* Not included in Spotlight:

I’m happy that some people liked this book. However, I did not. There were some honest-to-God, good spots, and funny lines- but when the murder doesn’t happen until you’re a third into the book, we need to edit it down. And I didn’t lose any context by skipping through because the characters loved reiterating what had already happened. It just kept dragging on and on. The language was very basic and seemed goofy and points too. The best (and only) character arc is the cat’s. And I admit- the excellent cover pulled me in. I’m sure with a better editor, I wouldn’t mind it at all tbh- I liked the bones of the mystery

This is the first thing I have read by this author and thought it was a solid start to a new series. I'm a fan of the fixer upper, flipper, home improvement shows on cable so this book appealed to me for that reason. The characters were likable and while not a cat person, I enjoyed the brief chapters giving a glimpse of life from Sawdust's perspective. The mystery was pretty well crafted. I thought the pace was a bit slow and it took awhile to set up the mystery. I did enjoy the story and would be open to reading more in the series.

I voluntarily read a digital ARC provided to me through Netgalley.

Gut Instinct Rating: 4.5
Characters: 3.75
Believability: 5
Uniqueness: 4.75
Writing Style: 4.5
Excitement Factor: 4.5
Story Line: 4
Title Relevance: 5
Artwork Relevance: 5
Overall: 4.56