Quilt Or Innocence by Elizabeth Craig

I enjoy thrillers and chillers, but there’s just something about a cozy murder mystery with a theme that always draws me back.

Born and raised a Southern, when that theme involves quilting it brings back memories of my childhood. Throw in a murder mystery and a cast of zany characters and you have the makings of a fun read.

QUILT OR INNOCENCE by Elizabeth Craig fits this bill perfectly.

Retired art museum curator Beatrice Coleman moves to the quiet town of Dappled Hills, N.C., to be near her daughter, Piper. Leaving the big city of Atlanta behind, Beatrice soon learns life is much different in a small mountain village.

Knowing all there is to know about quilts, except how to make them, Beatrice quickly finds herself a member of the Village Quilters Guild. Just when she’s catching up on the local gossip Judith, the landlord of the Patchwork Cottage quilt shop, is found dead. It seems everyone loved to hate her. Now Beatrice has to use her expert eye to catch the killer.

Author Elizabeth Craig has captured the essence of a small town with its zany characters, quirky ways, endless gossip, and helpful neighbors. Beatrice Coleman is a mature protagonist with a fun personality. The cast of supporting characters are unique and well-developed creating a neighborhood that is realistic and caring with an odd ball or two for fun.

The action is fast-pace with twists and turns and a long list of suspects that will keep you guessing until the last stitch. Like Beatrice, you don’t have to know how to quilt to enjoy this delightful book.

QUILT OR INNOCENCE is the first installment in the Southern Quilting Mystery series and gets the series off to a great start. The book also includes quilting tips and yummy recipes. In addition, readers have a sneak peek at the next installment in the series scheduled for release in early 2013.  

Quilt Or Innocence by Elizabeth Craig, A Southern Quilting Mystery, Obsidian, @2012, ISBN: 978-0451237330, Paperback, 304 Pages 

FTC Full Disclosure - This book was sent to me by the publisher in hopes I would review it. However, receiving the complimentary copy did not influence my review.

 

Do you enjoy cozies with a theme? What is your favorite theme or do you have several? Thanks as always for stopping by. Remember to be safe and happy celebrating the holiday this week.

Crazy Cozy Blogfest

Today is the Crazy Cozy Blogfest, sponsored by Hart Johnson and Elizabeth Spann Craig, to celebrate the release of their new cozy mysteries and have a fun promotion for their fellow bloggers.

The idea was to think of the craziest, zaniest set-up for a cozy mystery you could strictly for entertainment value. Participants were asked to come up with a wacky theme, a zany sleuth, a crazy setting, and write it up in 150 to 250 words.

First, let me tell you about Hart and Elizabeth’s new releases and then I’ll share my try at the blogfest.

The Azalea Assault by Alyse Carlson (aka Hart Johnson)

Cam Harris loves her job as public relations manager for the Roanoke Garden Society. It allows her to combine her three loves, spinning the press, showing off her favorite town, and promoting her favorite activity. 

She's just achieved a huge coup by enlisting Garden Delights, the country's premiere gardening magazine, to feature the exquisite garden of RGS founder, Neil Patrick. She's even managed to enlist world-famous photographer Jean-Jacques Georges. 

Unfortunately, Jean-Jacques is a first-rate cad—insulting the RGS members and gardening, goosing every woman in the room, and drinking like a lush. It is hardly a surprise when he turns up dead. But when Cam's brother-in-law is accused and her sister begs her to solve the crime, that is when things really get prickly.

Alyse Carlson is the pen name for Hart Johnson who writes books from her bathtub. By day she is an academic researcher at a large midwestern university. She lives with her husband, two teenage children and two fur balls. The dust bunnies don't count. This is her first published book.

For more on Alyse/Hart, visit her website Confessions of a Watery Tart.

Quilt or Innocence by Elizabeth Craig

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.

Elizabeth Spann Craig 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. 

Now for my entry into this fun blogfest.

Hi was busy picking up worms from the freshly turned soil when her Husky began digging feverishly nearby.

“Slow down Traveler. You’ll make the worms leave and I’ll never find them,” Hi scolded lightly.

Just then Hi noticed fingertips barely visible in the dirt where Traveler was. “Traveler halt!” Hi commanded and the dog instantly stopped as he was trained.

This was not good. Hi could just hear her best friend Jeremiah ‘Jed’ Flagstaff, sheriff of their small Tennessee town. “Sally Higginbottom what have you gotten herself into now? Don’t you have enough to do running your bait store, you got to dig up a dead body with your worms? I don’t think a dead body will catch fish.”

Pulling off her gloves, Hi reached in the back pocket of her jeans for her cellphone. She’d call Jed directly no need for a 911 operator. This body didn’t need emergency help anymore.

Standing up, Hi motioned for Traveler to follow as she walked to her Jeep. Hearing Jed’s gruff, “Yeah, talk,” Hi felt safer.

“Jed, just listen. Traveler found a body while we were digging for worms on the old Johnson place just south of town. Looks like it’s fresh so I’d appreciate it if you’d leave your scolding till later and just get here as soon as you can.”

“Get in your car. Lock the doors. I’m on my way,” was all he said.

Grandpa Jesup didn’t raise a fool, 50-year-old Hi did as she was told.

Did you enter the blogfest? Be sure to stop by all the participants of the blogfest for some amazing and hilarious entries. Thanks so much for stopping by today.