A Crafter Quilts a Crime
A Handcrafted Mystery
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- $22.99
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- $22.99
Publisher Description
Perfect for fans of Betty Hechtman and Maggie Sefton, Holly Quinn's third Handcrafted mystery aspires to wrap you in its warmth.
Community Craft proprietor Sammy Kane must piece together a patchwork of clues when a "live" mannequin ends up stone-cold dead.
Snowcapped pines and glittery dusted sidewalks adorn tranquil Heartsford, Wisconsin, while residents cuddle beneath heirloom quilts in front of cozy wood fires. But come the next day, the below-zero temperatures won't keep the locals away from Heartsford's annual Fire & Ice event. To boost customer traffic at Community Craft's one-night-only sale, Samantha "Sammy" Kane persuades a few of the craftspeople who sell their wares at the store to participate in a live mannequin window display contest.
Local quilter Wanda Wadsworth emerges as a favorite to win the contest, as she manages to not move a muscle for an unusual amount of time. Onlookers outside the window try everything to get her to crack--tapping on the glass and making funny faces--but nothing disrupts Wanda's stillness. When the eagle-eyed spectators realize Wanda isn't breathing, a blanket of grief and fear descends upon the wintry town.
Detective Liam Nash can't seem to piece the clues together. Fortunately, Sammy's cousin, Heidi, and her sister, Ellie, are on hand to reconvene their detective team, S.H.E. They set out to solve Wanda's untimely death before the case grows as icy as a sub-zero Wisconsin winter. But they are all too aware that the killer is too close for comfort.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Quinn's energetic third Handcrafted mystery (after 2019's A Crafter Hooks a Killer) opens on a January night in Heartsford, Wis., during the annual Fire and Ice event, when all the stores stay open until midnight. This year, Samantha "Sammy" Kane, owner of Community Craft, is holding a live mannequin contest in her shop window, but her plans go seriously awry when her first "mannequin," Wanda Wadsworth, quietly dies in the display window, holding a quilt in her lap. Det. Liam Nash, the aloof widower whom Sammy really wants to know better, is on the case. But when Sammy, her cousin Heidi, and sister, Ellie, pay a condolence call on Wanda's brother, Jackson, and notice that the design painted on his barn matches one of the blocks on Wanda's quilt, they decide this is a case for S.H.E., the detective agency the three women formed in childhood. With a charming small-town setting, recipes, a crosswise romance, plucky amateur sleuths who can't resist getting involved, and a lovable pooch, this book is just the ticket for lovers of crafting cozies.
Customer Reviews
I am thoroughly enjoying this series
Once again, Sammy and her S.H.E. Squad are up to their eyebrows in trouble, and this time it might mean the end of everything. I am thoroughly enjoying this series. It’s sweet and funny, filled with dramatic tension and awe-worthy small-town moments. This story had so many wonderfully diverting twists, I never saw the ending coming – I was completely surprised by the villain. And as frustrating as the dynamic between Sammy and Liam is to me, I love watching the friction between them. Their chemistry is palpable, and it hurt my heart to see the distance between them in this book. I also think it’s wonderfully appropriate that while I read this book, I’m surrounded by my own blizzard-y weather after several weeks that made us all wonder if spring would make an extra early appearance. This is kind of important to me, because the weather’s almost a character of its own in this story. (And anyone who’s ever survived a northern “prairie” winter can attest that winter weather is an entity all of its own.) Already I’m looking forward to seeing what’s in store for Heartsford next after they dig themselves out from beneath this storm.
I received a complimentary advanced copy of this book through NetGalley.