Homicide by Hammer — Barbara Barrett

All Rowena Summerfield is seeking is a sense of accomplishment as she and her thirty-five-year old daughter, Valerie, build their fledgling home reno business. However, circumstances and her former partner keep pulling her back to investigating homicides. But as she approaches her sixth decade, she discovers she's no longer the physically fit young woman she once was, especially after a near fatal auto accident injured her back, prompting her to seek early retirement. Chasing murderers proves not only challenging mentally, but it also takes its toll on her relationship with Val and the new love in her life. Can she continue to juggle the new with the old and maintain her balance? Join Ro in this new cozy series as she struggles to nail down the challenges of both worlds.Rowena Summerfield is so close to finishing the renovation of boyfriend Chuck's wine bar, she can practically taste the champagne. But the project she's doing with her daughter and partner in Nailed It Home Renos screeches to a halt when murder claims the brother of the wine consultant.Once again, the Shasta Police Department drafts Ro to return to her role as homicide detective and help her old partner Herc find the killer. But uncorking the mystery proves challenging given the small pool of suspects, most of them artists like the victim. Before Ro can sip success, she must also deal with a missing-persons case—her construction supervisor's sister—and sort out her feelings for Chuck as their relationship warms up. Why would someone want to murder a loner whose career was just beginning to soar? And why would the benefactor who commissioned his new piece remain incognito? A palette of clues obscures the meaning of the murder, and Ro and her friends will have to strip away perplexing and dangerous layers to find the truth.