Review and Giveaway: Taken In

Taken In (Southern Sewing Circle - Book 9) by Elizabeth Lynn Casey

Publication Date: 08/05/2014
Publisher: Penguin Group
Imprint: Berkley Prime Crime
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Pages: 304
ISBN-10: 0425257851
ISBN-13: 978-0425257852

(Received for an honest review from Berkley Prime Crime)

Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Indiebound

Elizabeth Lynn Casey on the WEB: website, blog, twitter, facebook, goodreads

Books in the series: 

Southern Sewing Circle

1. Sew Deadly
2. Death Threads
3. Pinned For Murder
4. Deadly Notions
5. Dangerous Alterations
6. Reap What You Sew
7. Let It Sew
8. Remnants of Murder
9. Taken In

Coverart: Click the Image for a larger, clearer view of the covers in this series.

Excerpt from, Taken In, courtesy of the author's website.

Synopsis:

When a trip to the Big Apple ends in murder, the sewing circle searches for a killer who’s rotten to the core. . .
 
Winning an appearance on a top-rated, New York based morning show means the trip of a lifetime for librarian Tori Sinclair and the Sweet Briar Ladies Society Sewing Circle. Anxious to experience Manhattan with her friends, Tori is less than excited when fellow member Dixie Dunn opts to use the vacation as an opportunity to rendezvous with a man she met online.
 
Still, Tori never imagined her friend would be taken in by a con man specializing in scamming vulnerable older women—or that Dixie would be arrested for his murder.
 
Now, as the sewing circle goes up against Gotham’s elite to prove Dixie’s innocence, they will have to unravel tangled secrets and alibis, patch together a mess of clues, and put a clever killer in the city’s hottest spotlight . . .

Thoughts:

Taken In is the ninth book in Elizabeth Lynn Casey's Southern Sewing Circle series. This series focuses on a group of ladies that could not be more different from each other, but all have a love for sewing and solving mysteries. Casey uses humor, originality and a lot of interesting clues to keep her readers coming back for more. Taken In may be book nine in the series, but it is certainly no stopping place. From Sweet Briar to the Big Apple, these ladies are taking over! A great addition to the series!

What I liked:

There is something about a group of ladies getting together to do a project, whether it is sewing, quilting, canning, cooking, crafting, reading or anything in between that builds camaraderie and relationships. One of my favorite parts of the Southern Sewing Circle series is the friendships that develop between these women. When you start a group like this, you really don't know what you are going to get and that's the best part. There is so much diversity in this group of characters. You have big age differences, different ethnic groups, varied personalities. It just gives an author so much to work with and I think Elizabeth Lynn Casey really uses this to her advantage, especially in her latest book, Taken In.

Because of the diversity of the group, Casey is able to take her characters into so many different directions. This time in Taken In readers get to see how the ladies fare in a different environment. The sewing circle is taking on the big city, as they go to New York to tape an appearance on a talk show. I love the fact Casey often uses common things and current situations in her books and the talk show angle was perfect, as well as, the internet dating scene which is also a big part of this mystery. Both were great ideas and very well executed.

Dixie is quickly thrown in jail for the murder of a man she met on the internet, whom she found out was a con man preying on elderly women. Tori and the other gals are quick to come to her defense and to start sorting out the clues that might lead to the killer. The mystery was interesting and there were a lot of possibilities where suspects were concerned. I thought Casey did a fantastic job of not only making the mystery compelling and intriguing, but also making this one funny. There was so much humor and that just added to it's overall enjoyment. 

Bottom Line: 

I think this is one was a very well written addition to the series. It not only made me laugh, but it made me think. I didn't put it together to quickly and was surprised at the end. I loved the change of locale for the ladies, but I did miss Sweet Briar. There just wasn't anything not to like!

Taken In is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.

I'm giving this one 5 out of 5 apples from my book bag!

About the Author:

Elizabeth Lynn Casey is the author of the bestselling Southern Sewing Circle Mysteries.

Giveaway Details:

The publisher is sponsoring a giveaway for one copy of Taken In by Elizabeth Lynn Casey.

~ You must be an email subscriber to participate.
~ US addresses only.
~ The deadline to enter this giveaway is Midnight EST, September 8th.

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