A BAT IN THE BELFRY is part of the Home Repair is
Homicide series, which is set
in coastal Maine. A teenaged girl climbs a derelict bell
tower at night for a bet, and someone hiding at the top
kills her. The townsfolk are astonished to hear the bell
ringing after many years, and the police hurry to
investigate. Jacobia Tiptree, known as Jake, moved to
Moose Island to escape an ex-husband - who promptly
followed her - and ever since has been repairing a fixer-
upper house and helping to solve murders. But maybe this
case is beyond her skills.
A BAT IN THE BELFRY provides handy tips like, hold tiny
nails steady with a needle-nose pliers while tapping them
in. It's hard to understand why exactly a divorcee with a
young son bought a three-story and attic house with forty-
eight windows, in need of much work. The heating bills
alone must be enormous. But by now Jake has made progress,
remarried, and her son, in his twenties, has a friend
called Chip to visit for a few days. Chip is a researcher
while his girlfriend writes up crime, and Chip happens to
be out for a walk at night when the old bell is heard
ringing. Lizzie Snow who has just arrived on the island is
looking for a missing child, and she tells police that Chip
was at the crime scene. Conflicted between helping the
police and protecting her guest, Jake just has to get
involved, against her better judgement.
Like all the fictional small towns with soaring murder
rates, everyone knows everyone in the Moose Island
community and where hunting and fishing are part of getting
the groceries, weapons abound. In this tale by Sarah Graves
a weather alert is issued and a storm rolls off the sea,
replacing the usual fog, with spray surging over the
harbour walls as hail pelts Jake while the wind buffets her
sideways. Between the weather and the large cast of
characters, most of whom are new to the scene, there is
plenty to occupy the reader. Jake also has a plumbing
emergency to keep her on her toes, and it's possible that a
colony of carpenter ants are making the bell tower weak
enough to collapse in the gale. But that's all part of the
fun. And we get told that a sticking wooden window sash
will move easily if the channel is sprayed with furniture
polish.
A BAT IN THE BELFRY is not so cosy as some crime
novels, more amateur sleuth and with plentiful location
detail to interest even the most jaded reader.
When it comes to home repair, Jacobia “Jake” Tiptree is a
fervent wielder of power drills and paint brushes. And when
catching criminals, she’s been known to really bring down
the hammer. But when a shocking murder rocks the small town
of Eastport, Maine, Jake may be the next victim for whom the
bell tolls.
It is nearly midnight when the enormous bell in the belfry
of All Faith Chapel—silent for decades—booms forth,
startling awake the entire town of Eastport. Upon inspection
of the steeple, the police uncover the body of local
teenager Karen Hansen, who had climbed the belfry’s dark,
rickety stairs for a midnight rendezvous. But instead of the
promise of an exciting new life, Karen meets her death.
Meanwhile, as an epic nor’easter bears down on the idyllic
island town, Jake Tiptree hurries to shore up her ramshackle
old house against the big blow. An amateur detective, she
has sworn off chasing criminals. But when the news of
Karen’s murder spreads and much of the evidence points to
Jake’s likable houseguest, she and her sleuthing partner,
Ellie White, get to work.
They discover an unexpected ally in newcomer Lizzie Snow, a
woman from “away” who seemed to have blown into town with
the nor’easter, and who also seems to know a lot about the
mind of a killer. Can Jake and Ellie trust her? As a killer
roams free and the townsfolk struggle against the pounding,
screaming storm, the resulting tempest of gossip and
suspicion rivals anything the Atlantic could brew up—and
threatens to keep Jake and Ellie from putting the final nail
in this cold-blooded case.
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