Friday, February 14, 2020

Book Review and Giveaway - A Crafter Quilts a Crime: A Handcrafted Mystery by Holly Quinn

My Review
Sammy Kane runs a craft store in a small town in Wisconsin. During the annual Fire and Ice event, she has the fun idea to have crafters pose as live mannequins in her store window. This is a great idea until one of the mannequins dies unexpectedly! When suspicion falls upon her brother-in-law, Sammy works with her cousin Heidi and sister Ellie to solve the crime.

This is the third book in the Handcrafted Mystery series. I have read all the books, and love this series. I really enjoy the craft store setting. I feel like I learn about different crafts in each book.  A Crafter Quilts a Crime focuses on quilting, and there were some interesting details about the quilting group working together.

I also enjoy the amateur detective group of S.H.E. - Sammy, Heidi, and Ellie. They have loved mysteries since they were young girls, and they have a talent for working together to solve real life crimes too! Sammy gets into some real jeopardy in this book and there are even a few scary pages for her dog Bara.

I like Sammy's slow moving relationship with police detective Liam. Her detecting causes some real conflict in the early stages of their relationship in this book. Liam is an interesting character with a complex backstory. Holly Quinn has a real gift for character development.

The mystery was fast paced and the clues were interesting. I solved it early on but enjoyed watching the S.H.E. team work together.

I recommend A Crafter Quilts a Crime (and the Handcrafted Mystery series) for fans of cozy mysteries, and especially for anyone who is interested in crafting and small town settings. You will really enjoy this series!

Book Synopsis

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.


Author Bio
Holly Quinn has published two stand-alone fiction novels in another persona. She graduated from Carroll University in Wisconsin with a Bachelor of Science in business and a minor in marketing. This is her second Handcrafted mystery. Visit her @ www.authorhollyquinn.com

Author Links
Website – www.authorhollyquinn.com
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/HollyQuinnbooks/
GoodReads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7940795.Holly_Quinn

Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N – BAM – IndieBound – Powell’s Books – Walmart 

Giveaway  

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

2 comments:

Author Holly Quinn said...

Thanks for hosting me today! :)

Gkathgoldin@yahoo.com said...

Loving these interesting interview/reviews. I find out little bits more each time. Fun fun. So quilting and Wisconsin and Fabulously magnificent cover that anyone CAN literally frame and look at for ages..or over breakfast..Bahaahaa so much going on.
The Birdhouse 🐦has been very good bringing the BEST reviews to my attention. I love to LOVE cozy mysteries.
I just Love some facts that it is in a Small Midwest town, (for me Wisc -having lived in several locations and having family still there) but I am in deep South. Also the cozy factor of Quilting.
I see it is a series?ohhh so I will NEED more?
Dreaming dreaming ALWAYS.. :+)
Thank YOU for bringing to me the BEST reviews of the BEST books. Blessings to YOU
Gkathgoldin@yahoo.com