{"id":26677,"date":"2020-12-01T08:11:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-01T13:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/?p=26677"},"modified":"2022-10-11T16:57:25","modified_gmt":"2022-10-11T16:57:25","slug":"review-premeditated-mortar-by-kate-carlisle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2020\/12\/01\/review-premeditated-mortar-by-kate-carlisle\/","title":{"rendered":"Review \u2764\ufe0f Premeditated Mortar by Kate Carlisle"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--themify_builder_content-->\n<div id=\"themify_builder_content-26677\" data-postid=\"26677\" class=\"themify_builder_content themify_builder_content-26677 themify_builder tf_clear\">\n    \t\t\t<!-- module_row -->\n\t<div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_row themify_builder_row tb_bbbcac8 tb_first tf_w tf_clearfix\">\n\t    \t\t\t<div class=\"row_inner gutter-narrow col_align_top tb_col_count_2 tf_box tf_rel\">\n\t\t            <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col3-1 tb_49667e8 first\">\n                                                        <div class=\"tb-column-inner tf_box tf_w\">\n                        <!-- module image -->\n<div  class=\"module module-image tb_7036296 rounded drop-shadow customBorderRad_top image-center auto_fullwidth tf_mw\" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div class=\"image-wrap tf_rel tf_mw\">\n\t\t    <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/premeditated-mortar-kate-carlisle.jpg?w=640\" title=\"Review \u2764\ufe0f Premeditated Mortar by Kate Carlisle\" alt=\"Review \u2764\ufe0f Premeditated Mortar by Kate Carlisle\">\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<!-- \/image-wrap -->\n    \n    \t<\/div>\n<!-- \/module image --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_a1982ef customBorderRad_bottom repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Shannon Hammer is about to embark on one of the biggest projects of her career. Her best friend Jane Hennessey has purchased one wing of the Gables, formerly the old state insane asylum, located on a bucolic hillside two miles northeast of Lighthouse Cove. Jane plans to turn her section into a small luxury hotel complete with twenty ocean-view rooms, a spa, and a restaurant.<\/span><br \/><br \/><span style=\"color: #ffffff;\">Shannon is raring to get started on the enormous project and is shocked when a group of unruly protesters shows up at the groundbreaking ceremony and wreaks havoc. She\u2019s even more freaked-out when someone pushes her into a pit of bricks in a closed-off room of the asylum. Despite her close call, Shannon wants nothing more than to get back to work . . . until she finds a body not far from where she was pushed. Now Shannon is determined to get to the bottom of the goings-on at the Gables even if it kills her. . . .<\/span><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->                    <\/div>\n                            <\/div>\n                        <div  data-lazy=\"1\" class=\"module_column tb-column col3-2 tb_23787e9 last\">\n                                                        <div class=\"tb-column-inner tf_box tf_w\">\n                        <!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_2d1ea91  repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-25879 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/smitten-top-pick-banner-1.png?resize=296%2C72\" alt=\"\" width=\"296\" height=\"72\" \/><\/p><hr \/><p><strong><br \/>Release Date:<\/strong> Dec 1, 2020<br \/><strong>Series:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>A Fixer Upper Mystery<br \/><\/em><strong>Book:\u00a0<\/strong>8<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong>\u00a0Penguin Group<br \/><strong>Imprint:<\/strong>\u00a0Berkley<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong> $7.99<\/p><hr \/><p><br \/><br \/><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Contractor <strong>Shannon Hammer<\/strong> is working with a good friend on a huge project that would convert part of a former mental hospital into a beautiful hotel, spa, and restaurant. Rachel Powers, a local developer, wants Shannon\u2019s boyfriend, a successful crime novelist, to invest in the overall retail project. Mac is intrigued by the project, but others in town are not so enthusiastic. Protests against the development start and quickly get out of hand. When a murderer strikes, Shannon and Mac search for clues to catch a killer and prevent another death.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This book is the eight book in the \u201c<em>Fixer-Upper Series<\/em>\u201d. Although I\u2019ve seen some of the Hallmark movies based on these characters, this is the first book in the series I\u2019ve read. I found the book to be fast-paced fun and it didn\u2019t matter that I hadn\u2019t read any of the prior books. Shannon is smart, hard-working, and a loving daughter, sister, and friend. I love the chemistry between her and her boyfriend, Mac, and their banter is fun to read. I really like the fact they work together to investigate the crime and actually report the clues they find to the local police chief who is their friend and is a competent investigator.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The setting adds to the mood of the book. It&#8217;s creepy and described so well, I could picture the mental institution the way it would have been years before. The scary backdrop adds to the suspense of what the killer might do next. One of the villains is very over-the-top, but most of the book is realistic which adds to the tension. I had some ideas about the solution but wasn\u2019t able to guess the whole story behind the crimes. Likable main characters who all get along, a unique setting, and an interesting plot all come together to make <strong>Premeditated Mortar<\/strong> an excellent mystery. I hope the series continues and in the meantime, I plan to go back and read some of the earlier books I missed in this series.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>~ Christine<\/em><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text --><!-- module text -->\n<div  class=\"module module-text tb_eb0616c customBorderRad repeat \" data-lazy=\"1\">\n        <div  class=\"tb_text_wrap\">\n    <p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3llpeXi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon<\/a><\/span><span class=\"s2\">\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/books.apple.com\/us\/book\/premeditated-mortar\/id1501107729?itsct=books_toolbox&amp;itscg=30200&amp;at=11l88k&amp;ct=books_premeditated_mortar&amp;ls=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">iBooks<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/premeditated-mortar-kate-carlisle\/1136586769?ean=9781984804426\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">B&amp;N<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kobo.com\/us\/en\/ebook\/premeditated-mortar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">Kobo<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/books\/details\/Kate_Carlisle_Premeditated_Mortar?id=x6LTDwAAQBAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"s3\">Google Play<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- \/module text -->                    <\/div>\n                            <\/div>\n            \t    <\/div>\n\t    <!-- \/row_inner -->\n\t<\/div>\n\t<!-- \/module_row -->\n\t<\/div>\n<!--\/themify_builder_content-->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Shannon Hammer is about to embark on one of the biggest projects of her career. Her best friend Jane Hennessey has purchased one wing of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26678,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[83,89,128,48],"tags":[153,223,367,404,405,485],"class_list":["post-26677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-berkley","category-christine","category-penguin-group","category-reviews","tag-4-5-stars","tag-cozy-mystery","tag-mystery","tag-recommend","tag-recommended-reads","tag-top-picks"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Review \u2764\ufe0f Premeditated Mortar by Kate Carlisle - Smitten by Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2020\/12\/01\/review-premeditated-mortar-by-kate-carlisle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review \u2764\ufe0f Premeditated Mortar by Kate Carlisle - Smitten by Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Shannon Hammer is about to embark on one of the biggest projects of her career. Her best friend Jane Hennessey has purchased one wing of [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2020\/12\/01\/review-premeditated-mortar-by-kate-carlisle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Smitten by Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-12-01T13:11:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-10-11T16:57:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"beverley\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"beverley\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/01\\\/review-premeditated-mortar-by-kate-carlisle\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/01\\\/review-premeditated-mortar-by-kate-carlisle\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"beverley\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/5a4181aeb9cd5641e30023b9b4d3e00d\"},\"headline\":\"Review \u2764\ufe0f Premeditated Mortar by Kate Carlisle\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-12-01T13:11:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-10-11T16:57:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/01\\\/review-premeditated-mortar-by-kate-carlisle\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":532,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/01\\\/review-premeditated-mortar-by-kate-carlisle\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"keywords\":[\"4.5 Stars\",\"cozy mystery\",\"Mystery\",\"recommend\",\"Recommended Reads\",\"top picks\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Berkley\",\"Christine\",\"Penguin Group\",\"Reviews\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/01\\\/review-premeditated-mortar-by-kate-carlisle\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/01\\\/review-premeditated-mortar-by-kate-carlisle\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smittenbybooks.com\\\/blog\\\/2020\\\/12\\\/01\\\/review-premeditated-mortar-by-kate-carlisle\\\/\",\"name\":\"Review \u2764\ufe0f Premeditated Mortar by Kate Carlisle - 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Her best friend Jane Hennessey has purchased one wing of the Gables, formerly the old state insane asylum, located on a bucolic hillside two miles northeast of Lighthouse Cove. Jane plans to turn her section into a small luxury hotel complete with twenty ocean-view rooms, a spa, and a restaurant.<br \/><br \/>Shannon is raring to get started on the enormous project and is shocked when a group of unruly protesters shows up at the groundbreaking ceremony and wreaks havoc. She\u2019s even more freaked-out when someone pushes her into a pit of bricks in a closed-off room of the asylum. Despite her close call, Shannon wants nothing more than to get back to work . . . until she finds a body not far from where she was pushed. Now Shannon is determined to get to the bottom of the goings-on at the Gables even if it kills her. . . .<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/smitten-top-pick-banner-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"296\" height=\"72\" \/><\/p><hr \/><p><strong><br \/>Release Date:<\/strong> Dec 1, 2020<br \/><strong>Series:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>A Fixer Upper Mystery<br \/><\/em><strong>Book:\u00a0<\/strong>8<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong>\u00a0Penguin Group<br \/><strong>Imprint:<\/strong>\u00a0Berkley<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong> $7.99<\/p><hr \/><p><br \/><br \/><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Contractor <strong>Shannon Hammer<\/strong> is working with a good friend on a huge project that would convert part of a former mental hospital into a beautiful hotel, spa, and restaurant. Rachel Powers, a local developer, wants Shannon\u2019s boyfriend, a successful crime novelist, to invest in the overall retail project. Mac is intrigued by the project, but others in town are not so enthusiastic. Protests against the development start and quickly get out of hand. When a murderer strikes, Shannon and Mac search for clues to catch a killer and prevent another death.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This book is the eight book in the \u201c<em>Fixer-Upper Series<\/em>\u201d. Although I\u2019ve seen some of the Hallmark movies based on these characters, this is the first book in the series I\u2019ve read. I found the book to be fast-paced fun and it didn\u2019t matter that I hadn\u2019t read any of the prior books. Shannon is smart, hard-working, and a loving daughter, sister, and friend. I love the chemistry between her and her boyfriend, Mac, and their banter is fun to read. I really like the fact they work together to investigate the crime and actually report the clues they find to the local police chief who is their friend and is a competent investigator.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The setting adds to the mood of the book. It's creepy and described so well, I could picture the mental institution the way it would have been years before. The scary backdrop adds to the suspense of what the killer might do next. One of the villains is very over-the-top, but most of the book is realistic which adds to the tension. I had some ideas about the solution but wasn\u2019t able to guess the whole story behind the crimes. Likable main characters who all get along, a unique setting, and an interesting plot all come together to make <strong>Premeditated Mortar<\/strong> an excellent mystery. I hope the series continues and in the meantime, I plan to go back and read some of the earlier books I missed in this series.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>~ Christine<\/em><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3llpeXi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/books.apple.com\/us\/book\/premeditated-mortar\/id1501107729?itsct=books_toolbox&amp;itscg=30200&amp;at=11l88k&amp;ct=books_premeditated_mortar&amp;ls=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">iBooks<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/premeditated-mortar-kate-carlisle\/1136586769?ean=9781984804426\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">B&amp;N<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kobo.com\/us\/en\/ebook\/premeditated-mortar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kobo<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/books\/details\/Kate_Carlisle_Premeditated_Mortar?id=x6LTDwAAQBAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google Play<\/a><\/strong><\/p>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26677"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26677\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}