Aunt Inga, an aunt Avery remembers meeting once, has asked Avery to come to Maine so she can tell Avery some secrets that Inga must unburden herself from before she dies.  Avery is planning on not going but Philippe seems very anxious for her to go, something that should have been Avery’s first clue. Avery decides to go to Maine; upon arrival she learns that her aunt has died two days earlier and that Avery is now the sole heir. 

When Avery returns to Manhattan and finds Philippe entertaining their young receptionist in his apartment, she makes a decision to renovate Aunt Inga’s house while subletting her apartment for the summer. Arriving back in Maine, Avery finds someone is not happy with her decision and has thrown a temper tantrum in Avery’s kitchen with her dishes. 

Avery quickly makes friends with bed and breakfast owner Karen, a good choice as Karen’s boyfriend is the local police chief.  Karen recommends Avery hire handyman Derek Ellis, who has an odd temperament, but is very good at what he does, and is very easy on the eyes. 

As Avery and Derek begin to renovate the house and sort through Aunt Inga’s possessions, Avery finds several valuable antiques (that are promptly stolen from her home) and evidence that Aunt Inga may have been involved in some robberies years before.  Not convinced that Aunt Inga’s death was an accident, Avery begins to look into her family history, where she is surprised to learn all the connections to the present and to people who would like Avery to just disappear.

Fatal Fixer Upper is a strong debut mystery.  At first, readers may think Avery a bit daft, as she has complete faith in Philippe, but once she is on her own in Maine, she quickly becomes very self-sufficient, and self-reliant.  The flirtation between Avery and Derek is fun, though both are reserved, each for their own reasons.  The historical research Avery must do to solve her aunt’s murder is interesting and though there are several viable suspects, it is pretty easy to figure and the final scene is predictable. 

Do-it-yourselfers will find much to enjoy in the first of this new series.                                                    

--Jennifer Monahan Winberry