Trap Door

Home Repair Is Homicide #10

by Sarah Graves

When Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree left behind her high-powered, high-risk career on Wall Street for the charming town of Eastport, Maine, she expected a quiet life spent fixing up her 1823 Federal-style house. But there are skeletons in her closet that may prove beyond repair...Suddenly the perils of the stock market pale in comparison to the murder, mayhem, and mystery of remodeling.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Audiobook, Cozy, Mystery Thriller, Paranormal

256 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Sarah Graves lives with her husband John, a musician and luthier, and their black Labrador Retriever in a house very much like the one Jacobia Tiptree is remodeling in Eastport, Maine. When she's not writing Jake's adventures, Sarah works with her husband on the house and she plays the 5-string banjo.

Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Linda Baker · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I am still enjoying this series for it's characters and setting, Trap Door was just ok for me. Jake strays into "too stupid to live" category a few times too often. The notion of her going to talk to a hit man to persuade him into not killing her old friend Jemmy was too far-fetched for me. And I really miss Victor, the nutso ex-husband now that I have gotten more background on him. That being said, I will be dipping into the next book in the series soon. The idea of a mysterious book buried in the foundation of Jake's old house is intriguing to say the least!

[Cyndi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I blame the major problem with the downfall of these books on George R. R. Martin. Because of Game of Thrones, and how wonderful those books are, writers think they can kill off major characters. Stop the Madness! Most of the time a better story line for these characters could be explored. But, not in hauntings! Are you kidding me? I'm done with these books.

[Avid Series Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Trap Door by Sarah Graves is the tenth book of the Home Repair is Homicide mystery series set in contemporary Maine. Jacobia "Jake" Tiptree and her mariner husband Wade live in an historic 1823 Federal-style home that keeps Jake perpetually busy with home repair. No problem; she learns how to tackle each task - usually the hard way!

Jake vastly prefers her reinvented life in Maine to her former high pressure financial power broker career in Manhattan. Fleeing her former life (and unfaithful neurosurgeon first husband) to Maine with her son was exactly what she needed to bring happiness into her life. With all manner of complications, of course. Jake and her stalwart best friend Ellie face whatever dangers lurk, whether it's Jake's deteriorating roof or sleuthing for a murderer.

This installment of the mystery series has frequent plot twists, many characters and side plots. Jake feels reluctantly compelled to help someone from her past, who tells her he's a hit man target. She allows him to stay in a cabin in the woods, and tries to investigate whatever is going on. A young man apparently commits suicide, but Jake suspects murder. She and Ellie travel into Canada to research his life.

Attempts on both Jake's and her son's lives don't stop Jake and Ellie from sleuthing. Neither do guard dogs. Eventually...Jakes stages a scene which forces a confession (followed by more plot twists than perhaps would be needed?) Victor haunting Jake's house is new and unresolved.

Another side plot is the discovery of a (100-year-old?) book in her cellar, with Jake's name in it. Chapters telling of Jake's adventures alternate with letters between book scholars about the book. That side plot goes nowhere. An obituary of one scholar finishes off the book (without explaining anything).

I like the series - have read them all in order - and will continue, but I don't recommend this one. There are too many loose ends from the side plots, and the main mystery is not compelling.

[Emmalynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

A long story only to have it end like that! Now we have ghost hauntings 🙄

[Tina · Rating 2 out of 5]

A murder in the small town of Eastport Maine is big deal and so is main character Jake and her tool belt. Jake is a fixer upper and former financial wiz kid from New York with a penchant for nosing into local crime with her gal pal Ellie and a few other local characters. Kind of a cozy mystery and kind of not with an ex-husbands ghost floating around.

Enough synopsis, this is my first book by Sarah Graves starting with book 10 in the series. Probably would have been best to start closer to the beginning of the series, but alas, I did not. I’m sure there are some background elements missing for me. So, I won’t be able to compare Trap Door to Sarah Graves previous installments, but I sure hope they are better than Trap Door. It was easy to read, but sometimes difficult because Jake would be carrying on a conversation and daydreaming about rusty nails in the same breath. I’m not sure if this is the way Jake speaks in the previous 9 novels, but I found it annoying. The book seemed choppy and didn’t flow. The characters flat.

My rating: 2.5 stars. Trap Door is an okay novel and I might go back and read the first book to see how it compares to the writing in this novel at some point.

[Deb Van Iderstine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Both this book and its predecessor are 3.5, just shy of 4. Jake has begun to grapple with some of the demons in her history, some of which are likely to be at the root of certain personality issues I've seen more than one fellow reader bothered by. But that history hides more than one dragon yet to slay, and I find her flaws a plus in the credibility ledger. One doesn't emerge from such a troubled background unscarred, so we shouldn't expect her to do so. So as she searches for answers to the suicide-or was it?-of a local youth about to be sentenced for stalking the daughter of a well-to-do newcomer to the island, echoes from her past continue to complicate matters, particularly since that newcomer is a former client whom Jake knows to be a professional killer. Stir in the appearance of an old friend/fugitive/target of the aforementioned hit man, and matters quickly complicate themselves in any number of ways.

[Cozy Reader Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit more "Agatha Christie" like in the telling of this one. More plotting and gathering to reveal information. It was a good story. I bounced back and forth thinking I knew who the killer was but settled on who it was just before the reveal.

The home repair tips that were random and took up a couple paragraphs at the end of the occasional chapter in the last couple books have evolved. They are now "Tiptree's Tips", a couple short sentences, still random information and at the beginning of each chapter. Really unnecessary page filler in how little they really relevant to the book or helpful really.

[Sonya Schnare · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of this series. However, Trap Door was a tad bit too convoluted, in my opinion. I loved the subplot to set up the next book, however. And I did like there being a ghost of Victor in the story. The story made Jemmy seem different than he appeared to be in earlier titles. Though Jacobia not realizing he was a sociopath in the earlier book does help explain Jacobia's more innocent take on his character back then versus what Jemmy was really revealed to be like now. This book was a good read, as always, but the plot was not really believable.

[Elizabeth Graf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jake old friend Jemmy has come to town. only problem is the hitman who is after him Henderson. happens to live in Eastport as well. Henderson however has another problem of how the body of the boy who liked his daughter ended up dead hanging in his barn.

Jake and Ellie set out to find truth. meanwhile, the old book Jake found in the last story is being analyzed and hopefully we will know about what was found in the next story. what is up with Victor ghost showing up.

[Charlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jacobia is distressed by her son's inability to stop drinking, but doesn't know what to do. He doesn't either. Then she spots a man walking downtown, Jemmy, an acquaintance from her old life in New York, and worries that whatever he is hiding from is going to involve her somehow. She is right. Now she is caught between a known hired killer who has moved to town and is after Jemmy, and Jemmy, who wants her help and once saved her life.

[Debra B · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book, but I was confused about the rare book Jake sends for evaluation. What was the outcome or is that something for a future book? I had the sense the experts were debating what to disclose to her but the book never gets into that ... it simply ends with an obit of one of the experts.

[Ricki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jakes past may be catching p with her...Not only has her best wise guy friend from her past, Jemmy, shown up in Eastport, but a hired killer with Jemmy's death on his mind has relocated to Eastport from NYC. Not sure what her ex-husband Victor's ghost has to do with things, or the mysterious book, but I guess all will become clear in future books....Fun ti read!

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure how I feel about this book.

To be fair, it's not a good/bad thing -- I'd say this book is good and definitely worth reading. It was just far more difficult, in many ways, than Graves' prior books. On the bright side, I can request the next in the series and, hopefully, find out if there are any significant consequences -- which I will, very soon.

Damn.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This started off well - readable and interesting (prolog) then the writing style totally changed as the body of the book started. As I was reading I found parts vague and like I shul d have already known something, so when I checked this was part of a series and I hadn't read the earlier books to give me the background for this one. I struggled to finish this book.

[Paige Albert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t know it was part of a series when it started so the letters and emails between Dave and Horace still make no sense to me. The beginning seemed well written, but then she repeated the same sentence structure. She would start a new paragraph with a fragmented segment and it got old quickly. The ending did not seem believable and felt like a long drawn out story for not a great payoff.

[Rachael Barbour · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this book. Unfortunately the case made no mention that it was #10 in a series. That said, I thought the central story was well done, but the old nook in the cellar and the dead husband's ghost made no sense at all. Perhaps if I had read the other books in the series I would have rated it higher.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set off the coast of Maine, the saga of Jacobia continues as she and her friend work on solving a supposed murder that could involve someone she used to know. It's a tricky plot and an enjoyable afternoon read.

[Carolyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

The mystery itself was good but the added parts about the book found in her basement made no sense, had nothing to do with the story and had no conclusion. If this were the first book by Sarah Graves I were to read, I would say 'no more'.

[Ewa · Rating 1 out of 5]

To be honest I was really disappointed. I was hoping for a light funny cozy, but this is a real strange book. It's hard to read, there is a lot of mob, hitman and so on - nothing light and cozy about it. I don't like any characters and there were much too many descriptions of repairing house.

[Peg · Rating 3 out of 5]

The usual easy and fast reading in this series. Not particularly memorable but I’ll read the next novel in a few months probably. Good to take you into another world without making the reader work hard.

[Peter Barr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sarah Graves mysteries tend to have a darker edge to them. This one is no different as a young man is hung and the heroine, Jake Tiptree, does not believe it is suicide. Also, her mentor is hunted by a mob hit man and shows up unexpectedly. It's pretty good story with a lot going on.

[SD · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating: 2.5

I didn’t get into this one as much as others. I’d figured out who, but not the why. Some favorite characters were not in much and the story seems to drag. It almost felt like a 1/2 book setting things up for another book.

Not-so-Happy Reading

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jacobia Tiptree sees her ex-husband’s ghost on a regular basis. The mysterious book found in her basement makes problems for the company Jacobia hired to research the book. The murder is suspicious and crazy from the start. It was okay, but I don’t know how quickly I will start the next book.

[Tina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh.

[boogleloo · Rating 5 out of 5]

AB

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man it hurts about Sam! I'm not sure where the series will go from here, there's a few hints but I'm not sure I'm feeling it.

[Krystle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good one! I'm not sure just yet how I feel about the supernatural element, but we'll see how it goes.

[Danielle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't even finish this book because the sentence fragments are driving me crazy.

[Elaine C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Early book. Borrowed from library as e-audio.

[Stacey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stopped