As much as I love murder mysteries, they can often become banal after you consume too many of them. You find yourself going down pathways almost from the introduction as you test each character in the cast against all possible outcomes. When you throw in a fantasy element it can balance this against your inner detective ruining the story, because with the fantastical almost any new motive and method comes into action. Erin Beaty has a strong writing style that should support this young adult fantasy mystery, and the excerpt seems intriguing. I haven't seen many builder main characters, usually they are either the stereotypical princess, warrior solder, or starving waif who's actually a huntress/blacksmith/spellcaster.