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Jacobia 'Jake' Tiptree lives in Maine, fixing up her house that was built in the 1800s. Though her life has been getting better, things are still difficult. She is haunted by her past as a legit Wall Street investment broker for organized crime men, her son's problem drinking is getting worse, and the ghost – literally – of her recently deceased first husband is appearing in her home. From out of the blue, Jemmy Wechsler shows up in town. When Jake was a teen and had run away from home, Jemmy had helped Jake to be safe while she was on the streets. Jemmy tells her that he is on an old hit list and that Walter Henderson, who has moved to Jake's town, Eastport, has vowed to kill him. He asks Jake if she knows of a place he can hide while he figures out a way to stop Henderson from fulfilling the contract. Because he pretty much saved her life by setting her on the right path, Jake feels indebted and sets him up in an old rundown house she and her business partner Ellie are rebuilding. Jake wants to find a nonviolent way to settle this affair and keep everyone alive and healthy. On top of that, her housekeeper has asked her to look into the case of a local young man that's gone missing. When Jake finds out that the young man was involved with Walter Henderson's daughter, she sees a way to tie the missing person in with the problem of the hit, so she and Ellie go to Henderson's house to look around. Once there, they find the body of the young man, hanging in the barn. Though the police rule the death a suicide, Jake doesn't believe it and decides to investigate. Although she knows it's deadly dangerous to anger a professional hitman, Jake hopes that getting to the truth of Henderson's involvement in the death might just clear up Jemmy's problem too. TRAP DOOR is a good solid mystery. It's worked out well and the solution is nicely done. I enjoyed it a lot. The continued appearance of the immensely likeable secondary characters in this series helps make this a good cozy. The book feels like a place the reader wants to visit again and again. There's a secondary plot about a book found buried on her basement that's carried over from the last installment of the series. I certainly hope that there is a big payoff in this storyline since its been dragged out through two books already. If you're a fan of Jake Tiptree and her Home Repair is Homicide mystery series, TRAP DOOR will be a welcome addition to your reading list. It might not stand that well on its own as a first look at the series, but it is a solid mystery.
Reviewed by A. L. Katz, January 2007
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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