I grabbed my purse, my tool belt, and the bright yellow hard hat I'd adorned with a chain of daisy decals.

This is the first book in the House-Flipper Mystery series. I really enjoy the other series the [a:Diane Kelly|1178445|Diane Kelly|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1410483837p2/1178445.jpg] writes so I had high hopes for this one. It did not disappoint.

Whitney Whitaker works with her uncle's woodworking company along side her cousins, Buck and Owen. She is also the property manager for Home&Hearth Realty. Whitney has to remove a group of college boys from a rental property which results in threats from one of them. The property owner offers to sell the house to Whitney at a reduced price for her to renovate and sell, hopefully with her new upcoming real estate license. Whitney brings her cousin Buck in as a co-owner when she is unable to get a loan on her own. After an inspection by a well known home inspector, Whitney decides to spend the night in the house. A surprise fire brings to light some shady dealings between the inspector and the seller. A death creates chaos that Whitney hopes to get to the bottom of.

I really enjoyed the characters in this book. I particularly loved Whitney's cat, Sawdust. I loved his take on the automatic vacuum and the smoke detectors. I'm glad he had a playmate in Whitney's mom's Boston Terrier, Yin-Yang. The characters are well written and feel like someone you know. I always appreciate that in a book.

There were a number of red herrings to have you suspect various people. Of course the police focus on Whitney. This is Detective Collin Flynn's first homicide investigation and he wants to tie everything you as soon as possible. I had my suspicions soon after a character was introduced. It was satisfying to know that I was correct.

Very nice start to the series. I look forward to the next book