Shannon Hammer is back, for her biggest renovation project yet. The Gables is a historic multi-building complex that used to be a mental institute. Now a new group of investors has bought it and plans to turn it into luxury stores, restaurants, and a hotel and spa. And building seven has been leased by Shannon’s friend Jane, who plans to turn it into a 5-star hotel. The renovation will take about a year, with Shannon and her crew transforming the neglected building into a gorgeous place for tourists, with huge windows showing off the beach views.

But not everyone is happy about the Gables being transformed. Just as the Gables’ spokeswoman, Rachel Powers, holds a press conference announcing the new plans, a group of protestors shows up and disrupts the announcements with shouts of, “Burn it down!” Shannon is upset about the disruption, but she’s also really excited about getting to work. She has hired an extra-large crew, and they are ready to get started with the cleanup and stripping all the old paint and wallpaper from the walls.

Then Shannon’s crew finds a hidden brick wall. As she goes to investigate it, someone suddenly appears behind her and pushes her into a pile of bricks. She loses consciousness for a few minutes, but she is okay, aside from a nasty scratch and a pounding headache. She can’t figure out who would have any reason to hurt her, but she wonders if that had something to do with the protestors. Could someone be trying to stop them from renovating the Gables? Shannon shakes off her concerns and keeps working.

Until she finds the body.

A murder at the Gables means that there is definitely more going on than a simple renovation. With the help of the local police and her novelist boyfriend Mac, Shannon tries to find out the secrets of the Gables and why someone is so desperate to stop the work. But will she be able to find her answers and keep everyone alive, or will the Gables take another victim?

Premeditated Mortar is number 8 in Kate Carlisle’s Fixer-Upper Mystery series. Contractor Shannon Hammer keeps up her renovation business with her pink tools and hard hat and her dedication to professionalism.

I have been a fan of this series for several years now, and while the mysteries are always well written, Premeditated Mortar was not as meaty as some of these books have been. There was more relationship talk than talk of the crimes, and most of the investigation took place online. It was still an enjoyable read, but the murder mystery seemed to take a back seat to everything else, so it wasn’t as much of an escape as I was hoping for.

Egalleys for Premeditated Mortar were provided by Berkley Publishing Group through NetGalley, with many thanks.