Renovated to Death

March 1, 2022

Peter Penwell and J. P. Broadway are used to finding odd things in the homes they renovate for Domestic Partners, the TV show they cohost, but this is the first time the two men (partners on screen and off) have ever found a dead body. While the local police believe that Tom Cash fell down the stairs, Peter isn't convinced Tom's death was an accident. Using his experiences authoring a teen mystery series and with some help from J. P., who once played a cop on TV, Peter sets out to find the killer. Playwright and novelist Polito's (Drama Queers!) new series is built on a solid foundation that consists of an eclectic cast of characters (including a police detective whose professional cluelessness rivals that of Sheriff Amos Tupper from Murder She Wrote), a close-knit community setting in the form of a posh suburb of Detroit, and a leisurely paced plot with a killer twist. VERDICT Not since Sarah Graves's Jake Tiptree mysteries has home remodeling been so deadly entertaining.--John Charles

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March 15, 2022
Polito debuts a cozy featuring a gay couple who get entangled in a murder. Following the success of their HGTV show, in which they renovated their Craftsman in the upscale Detroit suburb of Pleasant Woods, mystery author Peter "PJ" Penwell and his life partner, actor JP Broadway, are looking for another house to renovate. Their eyes fall on an untouched Tudor Revival that's the former family home of twins Tom and Terry Cash, who have very different ideas about the place's future. Tom wants to renovate and sell it; Terry wants to keep it a shrine to their parents. The house needs a lot of work, but the boys are game even after Tom's found dead at the bottom of the rickety staircase. Detective Nick Paczki, who dated PJ's sister in high school, can't believe anyone would be murdered in Pleasant Woods, so he's ready to write it off as an accident; PJ has a feeling there's more than meets the eye here. Though their detective experience has been limited to the mysteries PJ's written and the cop JP's played on TV, they decide to do a little investigating. The twins are 50, but Tom, who was well known for dumping his lovers when they hit 30, left behind two unhappy past lovers and his current lover, who was fearful of the same fate. As if that weren't enough, the large outstanding debt on his bar, where Terry's the bouncer, provides plenty of suspects for the inquisitive duo to vet. The quirky, humorous drama queens and jealous lovers more than make up for the so-so mystery.

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April 18, 2022
This sprightly cozy from Lambda Award winner Polito (Drama Queers!), a series launch, introduces writer PJ Penwell, a self-described “gay millennial” suffering “from a self-inflicted Peter Pan syndrome,” and his partner, JP Broadway, an actor best known for playing a detective on TV. The couple have moved from New York City to the sleepy Detroit suburb of Pleasant Woods, where they host Domestic Partners, a home improvement TV reality show. They’re in desperate need of a house to restore for their second season when Tom Cash, the owner of a gay-friendly tavern, offers to let them do up his parents’ home, which has been sitting empty for years. When PJ and JP stop by to look the place over, they find Tom dead at the foot of the stairs. Was it an accident, or was it murder? The subsequent sleuthing takes a back seat to such matters as the various characters’ busy romantic lives and the leads’ desire to adopt a puppy. Some crackerjack renovation tips, including the proper procedure for refinishing woodwork, will appeal to DIY enthusiasts. Mystery readers, though, may feel shortchanged.