Quilt or Innocence
(Southern Quilting Mystery Series - Book 1) by Elizabeth Craig
Publication Date: June 5, 2012
Publisher: Penguin USA
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Pages: Paperback, 304pp.
ISBN-13: 978-0451237330
ISBN: 0451237331
(Received for an honest review from Obsidian Mystery)
Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, Indiebound
Excerpt from Quilt or Innocence
Synopsis:
Retired folk art curator Beatrice Coleman knows everything there is to
know about quilts, except how to make them. But with her recent move to
Dappled Hills, North Carolina, she's learning all sorts of new
things--including how to solve a murder.
As the newest member of the Village Quilters Guild, Beatrice has a
lot of gossip to catch up on—especially with the Patchwork Cottage quilt
shop about to close. It seems that Judith, the landlord everyone loves
to hate, wants to raise the rent, despite being a quilter herself…
But when Judith is found dead, the harmless gossip becomes an
intricate patchwork of mischievous motives. And it’s up to Beatrice’s
expert eye to decipher the pattern and catch the killer, before her life
gets sewn up for good.
Thoughts:
The first book in the Southern Quilting mystery series by Elizabeth Craig is a delightful romp in the country for a one-time city dweller. Quilt or Innocence is a cozy on a mission! Folk art curator, Beatrice is about to learn to quilt and solve murders at the same time, no less. With lots of Southern charm and plenty of suspects this murder mystery is a great new addition to the sub-genre that readers will love.
Both of my grandmothers were avid quilters. As a little girl I used to love to watch them cut the fabrics and sew the quilt-tops and finally do the actual quilting. They would often work on quilts together, one stitching on one corner of the quilt and the other on another corner. They chatted and talked about what was going on in the families, from who was having a new baby to who was getting married. It was an enjoyable time and one of my fondest memories of them. Elizabeth Craig's new book, Quilt or Innocence certainly made me nostalgic for that more simple time in my life.
Dappled Hills, North Carolina reminded me of Mayberry. It was quaint and crime free on the surface, but when you got to digging there was a lot going on in this little town. It might have been relatively tame before, but now there is murder afoot. I liked the town and it's people. Some of them were a bit out there, like Meadow, the police chiefs wife and some there were just plain mean like Judith. But all of them had very distinct personalities. Craig did a great job of giving each character their own story and way of looking at the world. I thought she did an amazing job of showing the stark differences between the women of Dappled Hills and Beatrice who comes to them from Atlanta.
Beatrice is a great heroine for a lot of reasons. Her career has centered around Folk Art for many years as a former curator of a folk art museum. But knowing "about" quilts is not the same as knowing how to make one. I loved the fact that Beatrice seems so out of her element in this small town. She has her daughter Piper there, but I doesn't seem to realize that it would be possible to make other friends here. I liked the fact that seemed surprised that she had anything in common with these women and that she wanted to help them. She is the perfect amateur sleuth. She understands patterns and ways of doing things, that help to figure out suspects and motives that other might never have thought of. I can't wait to read more about her in subsequent books in this series.
I think Elizabeth Craig is on to something with this one. It's a great start to a new cozy series. I enjoyed the characters and thought the mystery itself was clever and full of surprises. The secondary characters were certainly memorable and I really enjoyed Meadow's eccentric outlook on life. The police chief seems to have his heart in the right place when it comes to crime, now he just needs to get his head to follow. Beatrice is a great amateur sleuth with and I can't wait to see how she acclimates to the country. This is a great new series that cozy fans won't want to miss!
Both of my grandmothers were avid quilters. As a little girl I used to love to watch them cut the fabrics and sew the quilt-tops and finally do the actual quilting. They would often work on quilts together, one stitching on one corner of the quilt and the other on another corner. They chatted and talked about what was going on in the families, from who was having a new baby to who was getting married. It was an enjoyable time and one of my fondest memories of them. Elizabeth Craig's new book, Quilt or Innocence certainly made me nostalgic for that more simple time in my life.
Dappled Hills, North Carolina reminded me of Mayberry. It was quaint and crime free on the surface, but when you got to digging there was a lot going on in this little town. It might have been relatively tame before, but now there is murder afoot. I liked the town and it's people. Some of them were a bit out there, like Meadow, the police chiefs wife and some there were just plain mean like Judith. But all of them had very distinct personalities. Craig did a great job of giving each character their own story and way of looking at the world. I thought she did an amazing job of showing the stark differences between the women of Dappled Hills and Beatrice who comes to them from Atlanta.
Beatrice is a great heroine for a lot of reasons. Her career has centered around Folk Art for many years as a former curator of a folk art museum. But knowing "about" quilts is not the same as knowing how to make one. I loved the fact that Beatrice seems so out of her element in this small town. She has her daughter Piper there, but I doesn't seem to realize that it would be possible to make other friends here. I liked the fact that seemed surprised that she had anything in common with these women and that she wanted to help them. She is the perfect amateur sleuth. She understands patterns and ways of doing things, that help to figure out suspects and motives that other might never have thought of. I can't wait to read more about her in subsequent books in this series.
I think Elizabeth Craig is on to something with this one. It's a great start to a new cozy series. I enjoyed the characters and thought the mystery itself was clever and full of surprises. The secondary characters were certainly memorable and I really enjoyed Meadow's eccentric outlook on life. The police chief seems to have his heart in the right place when it comes to crime, now he just needs to get his head to follow. Beatrice is a great amateur sleuth with and I can't wait to see how she acclimates to the country. This is a great new series that cozy fans won't want to miss!
Quilt or Innocence is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.
I'm giving this one 5 out of 5 apples from my book bag!
Elizabeth writes the Memphis Barbeque series for Penguin/Berkley (as
Riley Adams), the Southern Quilting mysteries (2012) for Penguin/NAL,
and the Myrtle Clover series for Midnight Ink. She blogs daily at
Mystery Writing is Murder, which was named by Writer's Digest as one of
the 101 Best Websites for Writers for 2010 and 2011.
As the mother of two, Elizabeth writes on the run as she juggles duties as Girl Scout leader, referees play dates, drives carpools, and is dragged along as a hostage/chaperone on field trips.
As the mother of two, Elizabeth writes on the run as she juggles duties as Girl Scout leader, referees play dates, drives carpools, and is dragged along as a hostage/chaperone on field trips.
GIVEAWAY DETAILS
The publisher is sponsoring a giveaway of one copy of Quilt or Innocence by Elizabeth Craig.
~You must be a GFC follow or an E-mail subscriber to participate.
~U.S. addresses only.
~Deadline to enter this giveaway is Midnight EST June 20th.
1. Please leave a comment in appreciation to the author on this post, not the form.
2.Please fill out the FORM.
19 comments:
Love this title! Can't wait to get it and read it.
wfnren(at)aol(dot)com
love getting 'in' from the beginning of a new series!!
thank you for the giveaway!!!
I can't quilt but do appreciate the talented people who make these beautiful works of art. Looking forward to another great series from Elizabeth!
kpbarnett1941[at]aol.com
Can't quilt or even really sew but this book just sounds so good.
I am not entering the contest to win as I prebought the book.
good luck to all.
My BFF Dru is a quilter, I can't sew anything more then a button. I enjoy the setting though and the mystery. I am also a huge fan of the BBQ series and own 2 of them.
My mother used to go to quilting bees. She didn't learn how to do it but stuck around for the conversations. I have gone to a lot of quilt shows but would to have some hands on teaching. I do have a lap quilt that I embriodered that it ready for quilting. I am hoping to find someone to instruct me. I am like the protangonists, I know a lot about different quilt patterns and their history and I am retired!
Would love to read this quilting mystery.
CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com
I love to quilt when I have time. I also enjoy reading mysteries so I would really like to win this book. Thanks for the chance to win
Quilt or Innocence sounds like a great book. Please enter me in this contest. Thank you for the opportunity to win.
Quilting and reading mysteries are 2 of my favorite things.
Theresa N
weceno(at)yahoo(dot)com
I wish I could Quilt so the next best thing would be reading a cozy called Quilt or Innocence!
I have a friend that quilts so I would be able to picture her as I read this book.
suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com
My mom was a quilter and made gorgeous quilts! This book sounds really good and I'd love to read it.
mlawson17 at hotmail dot com
This sounds like an interesting book.
It sounds like she's set the stage for a great series of books.
lkish77123 at gmail dot com
I have seen this book in my local B&N and thought that it looked interesting, especially since I am a quilter. However, I never buy a book until I have read a few reviews first so I would love to win a copy of it.
Can't wait to read it. Thanks.
Cute cover art, quilting, and 5 out of 5 rating - great!
I love the title! Thanks for the giveaway!
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