Flip That Haunted House

Haunted Renovation Mystery #1

by Rose Pressey Betancourt

Alabama Hargrove has a new, sure-fire, money-making scheme up her sleeve: house flipper. So what if she knows zilch about renovating homes--how hard can it be?

Tougher than she thought when she discovers ghosts inhabiting the run-down
mansion and the corpse of the previous owner. Oh yeah, and now the local sheriff thinks Alabama is the killer.

Holy house rehab, what's next? Reed O'Hara, the sexy know-it-all next door neighbor that's what. Alabama is hell-bent on proving she can handle the fixer-upper. Plus, unravel the mystery and find the killer. But if she's not careful, she may end up in the house forever…

Genres: Paranormal, Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Ghosts, Paranormal Romance, Romance, Fantasy

251 pages, Nook

First published October 10, 2011

About the author

Rose Pressey Betancourt is a USA Today Bestselling author. She enjoys writing quirky and fun novels with a paranormal twist. The paranormal has always captured her interest. The thought of finding answers to the unexplained fascinates her.

When she's not writing quirky and fun mysteries, she loves eating cupcakes with sprinkles, reading, spending time with family, and listening to oldies from the fifties.

Rose lives in the beautiful commonwealth of Kentucky.

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I purchased this book on the kindle, I did not get this for free. I didn't really enjoy this book too much, there were only a few parts that were cute. Also nothing was really funny, and a lot of it was boring.

This could probably have been a really good paranormal mystery with a good editor. Instead it was I'm assuming self published, and really lacks in several areas. The writing is pretty immature, and lacks the guidance of a qualified editor. There were many time I had to flip back to the previous page to make sure that I hadn't missed anything. Its really annoying when books don't flow correctly and you frequently have to flip back. Also there were quite a few errors gramattically, and/or words left out of sentences.

There also could have been some more world building, surrounding descriptions, and better characterisations. More background on all the characters would really help get a handle on them. I also didn't like how the main character rambled around the book with no real purpose just going with her whims. Mysteries are solved on clues not by fate and there were no clues as to the killer in this book. The killer is just served up to us in the end, and it seemed to put together.

Maybe with an editor this could have been a series I would have really loved. I guess if there is an editor she needs to be replaced. I won't be reading this series any more and I might not read the few of her other firsts I already bought. life is too short to waste on bad books no matter how short they are!

[Di · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as part of #Book1CoziesClub

I really enjoyed this book. It was right down my alley with the mix of paranormal along side amateur sleuthing. I laughed out loud a few times and really enjoyed the progression of the story. Especially loved the fact that there is no love triangle!

I also purchased the narration from Audible and enjoyed that presentation. Will definitely be reading more of this author's work and definitely recommend this title.

[Bekki · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was absolutely terrible. I could barely finish it. I thought the characters were stupid and uninteresting. The editing was deplorable. This book was rife with grammatical errors.

[Toni · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

This is the first book in the Haunted Renovation mystery series by Rose Pressey.

I thought this was pretty good. It did give me pause in the beginning since you can almost see the trainwreck about to happen when Alabama Hargrove buys that old Victorian house that is haunted by a real ghost!

Although, this does still need a lot of work in the editing department, the book did keep me entertained. I wasn’t quite sure why ‘Bama kept pushing away the cute next door neighbor and then immediately gets swindled out of $200 by a man claiming to be a fix-it guy.

The mystery was okay and I liked the parts where she interacted with the ghostly resident. I still feel like this needs a lot of work but it did make me curious about book number two and I have already purchased it.

If you want to read a good cozy mystery, definitely check this one out. You won’t be disappointed.

[Lori · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the description of the house and the cutie neighbor. However, I am not lured into the other characters. I have one more in the series, I will see if it gets better.

[Adrienne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not sure the age group of the reviewers of this book, but it must be a group of young adults and/or pre teens. The author chose to make this story a whirlwind of drama more suited for pre teens to read than adults. Alabama buys an old historic house, one that is haunted. Her idea is to flip the house, when she goes to get the key from the former owner she finds him dead in his office. Off we go on a course of Alabama drooling over the handy man, gossip in the small town, ghost investigators in the old house and the police. She investigates the death of the former owner, a missing friend, the death of the original owner and on it goes. Not worth the time unless you are in to high drama and remembering your high school years.

[Missy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first book of this particular author that I have read. I liked the book so much I bought the second book in the series and finished it as well.

What I loved: The lead female was a hoot and so was her crazy mother. It was so easy to envision both of them with the well thought out character descriptions.
I loved the flow/pacing of the plot.
The secondary characters and ghosts were humorous and well thought out.
I was not left second-guessing or wondering anything once I read the whole book.
It was not too long. I read this book in one sitting.

What I do not like: Hmm, hard to say unless maybe that I do not like the fact that I do not have all her books yet.

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice, fun, cozy mystery with a lot of interesting characters. Not a lot on the work of doing, but lots about the ghosts and the murder that Alabama happened upon and the scare tactics used on her. All in all, a light, relaxing read that I was fortunate to get as Whispersyync on the cheap. The narrator did really well, but I'm one of those who needs to hear it at a faster speed.

[Sandra Holladay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I debated between giving this story two or three stars and finally decided on a low three. I can’t stand the main character, Alabama. Her internal dialogue sounds more like a scattered teen with no life experience than she does an adult. Oh, wait, this is the girl who can’t keep a job (all self-employed I might add) because she can’t seem to focus long enough to succeed. Of course, it might help if she actually figured out what needed to be done prior to jumping in feet first.

She buys a house to flip it even though she has no money and no experience, but she has watched a lot of HGTV—gee, it can’t be too hard can it? But she doesn’t want help because they would probably get all the credit and she wants to prove she can do this on her own (then why hire help???).

She almost witnesses a murder, finds the body, somebody tries to run over her then run her off the road. She starts to go into panic mode just thinking about it, then says she can’t live her life afraid. Fine. But then worries about everyone she meets and everywhere she goes. She’s extremely paranoid, but goes into situations all the while thinking these people are going to kill her. Listening to her internal dialogue makes you want to slap her. You would think she epitomizes ditzy blonde.

The dead guy’s widow wants Alabama to redecorate one of the rooms in her house (another of Alabama’s failed self-employment ventures). She gets a vague idea what the woman wants, takes some measurements, doesn’t give an estimate or get a maximum amount the widow is willing to pay, then gets out as fast as she can, because the widow might be the killer and Alabama doesn’t want to die.

She’s attracted to her handyman neighbor (drooling a lot actually because he is such a ‘hottie’) but refuses his help because he is so distracting. She gets an estimate for helping with the house, but we don’t know anything about that estimate. Then she has someone else come look at the house for an estimate and gives him money for supplies without getting that estimate or anything in writing, despite the fact she finds him ‘creepy’. That isn’t distracting? She also leaves him alone inside the house where her purse is and when she goes to get money is surprised because she thought she had more money.

Alabama witnesses scenes where she feels the killer is around. Her internal dialogue goes all nutso and the suspense builds (at least in her mind). The author does a good suspense build up, unfortunately the scene doesn’t require nearly that much drama so it’s kind of wasted.

Spoiler Alert: Her friend Carolyn is kidnapped, but even after the rescue we never find out why the killer kidnapped her.

Finally, there is the editing, or lack thereof. I can forgive a few editing errors, after all it isn’t easy to catch everything. But too often I had to stop and read a sentence once or twice more to understand it because of extra words thrown in or left out or the sentence structure wasn’t quite right. (Chapter 42; “Alabama, it’s Frank.” Dreaded filled his voice.)

I already have the next book in the series, so I may read it at some later date. Too many other (good) books to read right now.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This cozy had everything. Current murder, past murder and a little romance. Alabama Hargrove, yes that is her name, has taken on several projects never to finish them but this time she is determine to renovate this old house dating back to the 1800s. The problem is she doesn't know anything about renovating a house but that doesn't stop her especially since this one is haunted and that intrigues her. And if that is not enough, when she goes to the previous owners office to pick up her key she finds him dead and she becomes one of many suspects. And then the ghost that still lives at the house won't leave her alone until she finds an item that explains everything about why he is still there. The favorite part about this book is the characters. There are so many quirky characters that I don't know which one I like the best and some great funny lines and actions that will have you cracking up. The writing keeps the book moving along smoothly from one event to another. Oh and did I mention the good looking hunk that lives next door and in the renovating business. Looking forward to the next book in the series.

[Starla · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had to read this book when I saw who wrote it and the title. I know anything Rose Pressey writes is great and I love all of the flipping house shows on HGTV so I just knew I would enjoy this story. Well let me tell you, this story was even better than the shows. Not only does Ms. Pressey describe her characters so you feel like you know them but I was able to imagine this house and all of the problems with it. Then comes a gorgeous neighbor contractor to assist in flipping this house. Well the shows on tv do not have that to offer. Plus add in a mystery that I didn't see coming. This book has it all. Loved it. Can't wait for the next book.

[Tari · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really hilarious in places and I got the biggest kick out of Alabama's mama and her crazy outfits. I liked these main characters a lot, had no idea who the killer was and thought the showdown was a good one. I borrowed this book from KU but was glad to see that I somehow already own the second book, so I'll be reading that eventually. I hope Alabama's story is wrapped up in that book, since it was from 2013, and I have a feeling the author might be done with the series.

[BobaFett114 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute mystery

Alabama buys a haunted house to renovate, but she forgot to get a key from the owner. When she goes to his office, she finds him dead. Now she's a murder suspect, she has an annoying handyman next door, the ghosts keep making noises and she thinks someone is trying to kill her. Alabama is a loveable character!

[Tatenisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

She bought a haunted house to flip and she is a ghost hunter. This book started off slow and got a little better. She found someone dead and the town gossip kept her up to date on what the police were doing because they were not paying her any attention and didn't seem to care about her or solving the case. There are a lot of crazy and strange characters involved in this story.

[Yvonne Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another good one.

I really enjoy Rose Presley 's writing. Her books are always good. She is a very talented story teller. This book was a little creepy at times (ghost stories are you know) but always entertaining.

[Joyce Gutierrez · Rating 1 out of 5]

not impressed

A story that could be told in one chapter was dragged out to …how many pages in this book

Repetitive sentences, he’s a hunk. We get it

Read first and last chapters. You’ve read the book. Disappointing

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book starts off with an interesting premise, namely, a gal buying an old haunted house that she intends to flip as one of her latest money-making schemes. Add in a hunky next-door neighbor that practically has her fanning herself in true Southern Belle fashion after just one look, and those two things alone could have made for a cute and interesting story. A short ways into it, however, Alabama becomes an almost-witness to a murder, and the whole thing becomes more of a murder mystery from then on. With this addition, the whole thing becomes slightly confused with various happenings related to the murder and the stalker that Alabama seems to have acquired interspersed with bits about the house and her odd relationship, if you can call it that, with Reed (the hunky next-door neighbor).

The murder mystery storyline itself is handled fairly well I think, with plenty of clues strewn about for the reader (and Alabama) to sort through in trying to figure out whodunnit. While I had my suspicions about the identity of the murderer fairly early on, I never was very sure as there was no conclusive evidence in any direction, so the final reveal still came as a bit of a surprise. The reveal scene, while weighed down with a bit of superfluous wackiness, was done well too, with the whole thing playing out just like the ending of a (somewhat cheesy) TV murder mystery show in a way that can't help but have you shaking your head at least a little bit with amusement.

I was disappointed that the scenes having to do with the haunted house ended up seeming almost like more of an aside to the murder mystery plot since the title seemed to indicate that the house and its story, along with Alabama's adventures in trying to fix it up to flip it, would be the focal point of the book, or at least one of the main focal points. Instead, Alabama hardly seems to spend very much time there at all. We do eventually learn who the ghost is, and why he's there, but then that whole story comes to a relatively abrupt conclusion in the space of a few pages without there ever having been a whole lot of substance to it aside from a few scenes where that plot was advanced.

Many of the relationships that Alabama has with others in the book don't seem to make a lot of sense, starting with her relationship with Reed. Despite the fact that she's undeniably attracted to him from first sight, she also fairly inexplicably takes a fairly instant and unreasonable dislike to him. It's hinted that it's not really anything personal against Reed necessarily, more just a byproduct of her attitude toward men in general after a bad relationship in the past with someone. The ex-boyfriend is mentioned a few times throughout the book in an unfavorable manner, but we never get the story of what happened there, so we're left rather bewildered as to what happened that's influencing her reactions to Reed so much. Another relationship that was a bit bewildering, to me at least, was the way she apparently became bosom buddies with Suzie, the owner of a new boutique, after only one conversation with the woman, during which the Suzie was friendly, but also mostly just businesslike and somewhat standoffish. Alabama buys a few candles from her, compliments her on the store, getting a warm response, then suddenly the next day the two are confidantes and Alabama's talking (to the reader) about Suzie as being the Gossip Queen of the town in a manner that's more like she'd know the woman and her reputation all her life instead of having just met her. She also becomes fairly instant friends with Carolyn, who she meets at Suzie's store, and while there isn't much explanation given as to why that happens, it does seem fairly natural at least. As Alabama herself says later on in the book, sometimes you just click with a person right away and become good friends after only a brief acquaintance.

The final main negative point to this book is that on my copy of the Kindle edition at least, there were jarring formatting issues throughout. Granted, this is likely just a byproduct of conversion to the Kindle format from whatever format the ebook was in originally, but it could certainly have benefitted from someone spending a bit of time to clean up the formatting afterwards (if such is even possible with the Kindle format - I'm not sure). There were also several textual errors that I noticed throughout the work, from typos, poor word choice, omitted words and phrases, or the wrong form of a word being used (singular instead of plural form, or vice versa, for example). This, combined with the formatting issues, left the impression with me that the work could have benefitted from more polishing work. Or at least a bit more careful proofreading.

Negative points aside, the book had its charm and I will likely check out other works by this author. For those looking for a quirky, relatively light read, this book might suit you, particularly if you enjoy eccentric characters (this book has plenty of them), a mystery with a bit of slightly-comedic edge of the seat suspense, a dash of the paranormal, and a sprinkling of sexual/romantic tension thrown in for good measure

[Darlena D Doak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rose is great.

This is another win for Me Pressey. It has style. And as always has the humor the I have come to know with her.

[Kathryn A Schauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review

I think this is a good read full of believable characters and a little romance thrown in for good measure. I enjoyed reading it and can’t wait for the next installment!

[Nanc · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun who-dun-it by Rose Pressey. Entertaining and exciting.

[betty a brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Story of house flipping

Interesting story of insecure girl flipping a haunted house,solving new murder as well
As the reason why house was haunted and solving that.

[Justin Price · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun story

Interesting characters. Fun and witty, I enjoy all of this writers books this one is older she does have fun mysteries and once you start you can't put them down.

[Darinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first book in the Haunted Renovation Mystery series. Delightful paranormal cozy mystery. Light and fun.

[Rhonda Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun, Fun, Fun

I read book 2 first since it was on sale. Then had to go get book one. I enjoyed this series tremendously. I hope there will be more.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story!

Good researching old houses with ghost and murders! You will love how Alabama solves the age one murder and frees the ghost!

[Anita Clay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alabama Hargrove has switched careers so many times; everyone automatically thinks her new adventure into flipping houses for profit is bound to fail. Alabama is determined to prove everyone wrong. What she doesn’t count on is the hot guy next door, Reed O’Hara, a ghost who inhabits the house and a sheriff who just doesn’t like her. Her best friend, Lacey, gets pulled into her new adventure. When Alabama gets accused of murdering the man she just bought the house from, she digs in to prove to everyone she can fix the house and solve the mystery of who killed the man.

This book is very funny and I laughed at loud many times. I love the humorous banter between her friend and the hot Reed O’Hara. You will enjoy the book and you will find you have a lighter heart after you finish.

[Tess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alabama Hargrove cannot seem to successfully finish any venture she begins – now she has decided to try her hand at restoring an old house for a quick resale, she’s seen a few episodes on home repair – How hard could it be, right?

She buys the house and when she goes to pick up the keys, finds the previous owner, murdered! It gets worse, the sheriff doesn’t like her, either and is looking at her as a suspect!
‘Bama gets taken for a chunk of money when she tries to hire a shady carpenter but luckily she meets the hottie next door with a hammer who happens to be a contractor and he comes to her rescue.

Odd things begin to happen in her new house – some ghostly spooky and some just plain scary – the killer is after her! With the help of her mother, Lacey, Reed and his Aunt – Alabama solves not one but two murders –

Another fun, witty, easy read by Rose Pressey.

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to like it, but I find I have trouble connecting with most of this authors characters. In this one, the girl is doing stupid things that the rest of her inner thoughts make me believe she is too smart to actually do.

She dislikes the love interest too much for his minor infractions, but when she finally succumbs it is too fast. There are also multiple editing problems that are so elementary and frequent that I feel I paid too much, even though typos usually rarely bother me.

There is also too much going on that is unrelated. One mystery would have been enough, but instead there are multiple and they all fall short of satisfying. This author has potential, but I think her mysteries need a bit more brewing time.

But honestly, if the main character hadn't come off as a flakey ditz for most of the story, I probably wouldn't have minded the other weaknesses.

[Sassy Beta Reading & Review · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book but I had a really hard time getting into it. I had to set it down for a while and read another book and come back to it, but still had a hard time with it. I want to read the next in the series but I am too scared to spend the 4 dollars on it afraid that I will be disappointed with it as well. I love this author but I am thankful I only paid 99 cents for this book. Keeping finger crossed the the next book will be better. Sorry Rose! I still love most of your work!

[Roberta · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a true summer read. Easy, light, entertaining, romance and ghosts. What more could a girl ask for.

Alabama Hargrove (yes Alabama is her name) is going to renovate a house, a house that just happens to have a couple of ghosts, a cute guy next door who is a know-it-all contractor - Oh - and she is the prime suspect in the murder of the previous owner.

Alabama doesn't know anything about renovation, or ghost hunting and certainly doesn't want to end up as one but as the prime suspect in the murder Alabama is going to have to learn it all and quickly.