Hammers and Homicide by Paula Charles

Item: Hammers and Homicide
Rating: 5
Author: BaronessMom

Posted December 4, 2023 by BaronessMom in Mystery, Paranormal, Review, Series / 0 Comments

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Hammers and Homicide

by Paula Charles

Series: Hometown Hardware Mystery #1
Series Rating:

Published by Crooked Lane Books on January 16, 2024
Setting: Oregon
Genres: Cozy Crafts and Hobbies Mystery
Format: Hardcover, Kindle
Source: NetGalley
Goodreads
Bookhype
BookBub
Storygraph
Get Your Copy at: Amazon

Perfect for fans of Kate Carlisle and Victoria Gilbert, when a body is found in a hardware store, will Dawna Carpenter’s sleuthing measure up to find the killer?

Recent sexagenarian widow Dawna Carpenter thought running her own hardware store after the death of her husband was hard enough. With her adult daughter, April, moving back into town, and Darlene, the annoying boutique owner next door to her shop poking around, Dawna has her hands full. But when she finds a dead man in the bathroom of her store, with a framing hammer by his side, she’s in way over her head.

The victim, Warren Highcastle, was a land developer who was looking to purchase the old theater in town to build a new hotel. Dawna and April, worried about the implications of the crime scene at the hardware store, put themselves on the case. They soon learn that Warren had made quite a few enemies in his short amount of time in town. As the suspect list starts growing, so too do the threats against Dawna and April. Can Dawna and April nail the killer before they strike again?

Hammers and Homicide by Paula Charles is a well-written mystery with a touch of paranormal.

Will Dawna figure out who is killing people at her hardware store before the culprit comes after her?

Dawna Carpenter

Our sleuth is Dawna Carpenter, a recent widow, small business owner, and prominent citizen in town. Dawna is upset by the recent murders in her hardware store and town. Then, when her longtime friend is arrested for the deed, Dawna is asked to figure out whodunit. With the help of her daughter, April, they get down to questioning their friends and neighbors.

I like Dawna. She misses her husband and talks to his spirit, or perhaps she needs to fill the silence without him there. Either way, she believes he is there and can hear her. It is sweet that she cares about him so much. Dawna has a good business, but like any small town, it is hard to compete with the big box stores in the next town. She and April are working on a plan to improve the store. However, there may be a kink that Dawna isn’t aware of yet. I would be friends with Dawna and April if they were real.

The Mystery

Ms. Charles got me. I thought I had figured it out, but it was someone that I dismissed due to lack of access. Anyway, someone is killing people at the hardware store—first a customer and then an employee. What is the motive, though? So, the initial guy wasn’t the nicest or even good, but to murder him seems a bit extreme. However, there are many things that only a few people know, even in small towns. I felt the mystery was well written, with clues that were obvious once I knew who the culprit was.

I enjoyed the town and townsfolk. The concert was cool, I am not a big Johnny Cash fan so, I probably wouldn’t have gone.

Five Stars

I was highly entertained by Dawna and her friends. My rating for Hammers and Homicide by Paula Charles is five stars. I highly recommend this book to all you cozy mystery readers. It is definitely worth the time.

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Hammers and Homicide by Paula Charles.

Until the next time,

Baroness’ Book Trove is an Amazon, Books A Million, and Barnes and Noble affiliate, meaning that if you click on a link that takes you to one of those retailers and purchase something, this blog gets a tiny percentage back. Mainly, this helps with the cost of the website and a few giveaways.

About Paula Charles

Writer, Reader, Dreamer

Always an avid reader, I came to this writing journey later than many. A local genealogical library offered a workshop on writing family stories, so I signed up, wrote a few short stories and was hooked. Cozy mysteries were always my go-to when I needed an escape, so I decided to see if I had what it takes. At the age of 55, I signed my first contract. And a week later, I signed my second. It’s never too late!

I grew up in a small, Pacific Northwest town that instilled a lifelong love of small towns and country living, along with a deep love for pie, family history, and the possibility of ghosts. My grandfather was a building contractor and together my grandparents owned and operated a hardware store and lumberyard in my hometown. I spent many hours as a kid tagging along with Grandma in the store. Now I’ve turned those memories into my first cozy mystery series. Hammers and Homicide will be coming from Crooked Lane Books in January, 2024.

Today, my husband and I live on a small hobby farm in SE Washington. Watching the antics of our silly goats in the barnyard inspired my Zen Goat cozy mystery series. An Escape Goat is written under my pen name of Janna Rollins and will be coming from Level Best Books in March, 2024.

When I’m not writing or reading, I love to bake, garden, and spend time with the grandkids, (who are growing up way to fast!)

(Taken from Author’s website)

Reading this book contributed to these challenges: