Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Haunted to Death by Frank Anthony Polito Series: Domestic Partners in Crime #3
Published by Kensington Books on August 20, 2024
Genres: Mystery
Pages: 311
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
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Kicking off season three of their hit reality TV show Domestic Partners is a home renovation project with an irresistible hook. Woods Hall is a lavish 1913 manor home in the Detroit suburb of Pleasant Woods, once belonging to the town’s founding family. It also comes with its own ghost.
Twenty-five years ago during a Halloween night party, automotive heiress and beauty queen Emma Wheeler-Woods, wearing a white Princess Diana wedding gown as a costume, fell from a third-floor balcony to her death. Or was she pushed?
Fiona Forrest recently inherited the home after learning she was Emma’s daughter, and she and her fiancé have hired the Domestic Partners to restore the family property to its original splendor. But ghostly sightings, injured crew, secret passageways, locked rooms, and sabotage beg the Is the place actually haunted? And perhaps more practically, was Fiona’s mother murdered?
A home restoration project for a reality TV home renovation pair of guys coupled in career and life just got spooky when they learn of the death there and the seeming haunting events that are occurring in the present. Frank Anthony Polito’s Domestic Partners in Crime series is new to me, but the setting of my home stomping grounds, historic home restoration, and the paranormal vibes in a cozy mystery were too tantalizing to pass up.
Haunted to Death is the third of this paranormal cozy mystery series. I had no trouble reading it as a standalone as the partnership was all settled as was their work and the mystery was standalone.
Peter and JP have a Reality TV show called Domestic Partners where they renovate homes around the Detroit area. They get offered the intriguing job of restoring a 1913 estate of a popular singer who recently learned she’s the heiress. The home has a dark history with a death occurring there during a Halloween party back in the nineties. Accident or murder? No one knows, but Peter and JP need to figure it out quick if they want a successful reno and show.
Haunted to Death was a slow go for the start. At first, I was into the book with the details about the characters, their show, the area, their cute rescue dogs, and their new project. But the details just kept a’comin’ shall we say that it slogged down the pace. I started skimming and considered stopping, but then about the second half things finally got going. Mystery was at the forefront and still all the good extras with it.
But, while it didn’t grab me at first, it did give me all for which I was hoping- Detroit area love aboundeth, home reno descriptions galore, cute pets, community of people and solid romantic and work partnership, and an intriguing historical, haunted house. Halloween vibes and the fall were fabulous. I’d be interested in trying out the other books in the series. As to recommends, this is for those who enjoy strong and diverse LGBT+ rep, coziest of cozy tone, home reno description, pets, and a mystery percolating in the background then coming to the forefront.
As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing.Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators.Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance.Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.
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- Darcy’s Struggle by Kelly Dean Jolley #KellyDeanJolley @MerytonPress #KindleUnlimited @sophiarose1816 - September 25, 2024
Slow starts are never good…I usually end up DNFing books when it drags too long. But I’m glad the second half was better. It’s a fun premise.
It was a close call. I was fascinated by the details about the historical home project and their friends and life, but also just wanted the plot to get going with the mystery.
I had a similar experience with the first book seemed slow and some things a bit too quirky for me. I loved the HGTV aspect and the LGBTQ diversity.
Good to know that the writing style is the same for the backlist books, too. I’ll have to check the library for them.
These sound good. At least it was good even though it started slow.
Yes, finishing strong and being interesting along the way makes up for slow starts. 🙂
I love old historic homes! The renovations look so amazing when done right, but takes heaps of money, so it’s nice to do it vicariously through fiction and have a tantalizing murder mystery on top. Sounds like a fun story despite some pacing issues.
Same here! I can watch those shows or read about it in a magazine and appreciate the work that isn’t a real stress or problem for me. 🙂 You’d probably really enjoy these because the details about the renovations is interesting.