quilting friends – Cuddle Up With a Cozy Mystery

A Bias for Murder–review

August 13, 2019 Tari Hann

This is the third book in the revised cover/title series Queen Bees Quilt Shop. The original title was “Murder on a Starry Night”, but it’s kind of cool to actually see that title quoted toward the end of the book. I noticed a couple of inconsistencies and thought it was just me, but in an Amazon review, I saw that someone else noticed it too. It’s nothing major. There’s a reference to an Esther, which I assume is Eleanor, one of the regulars. Then Po’s husband’s name became Bruce for some odd reason. The previous two books had him as Scott, and when I checked the copy I have of “Murder on a Starry Night,” he was called Sam in that one! Oh well, just little things I notice, but they don’t take anything away from the story line. I was just happy to find the assurance that I wasn’t dreaming about Scott becoming Bruce 😉

My Goodreads review:

A Bias for Murder by Sally Goldenbaum

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The quilters got a large commission in this book when the twin sister of a recently murdered beloved local scholar arrived in town. She didn’t leave the best impression on people and shocked the town when she announced that she was opening a B&B in her family’s mansion. The Queen Bee Quilt Shop quilters were happy to take on the task of making eight quilts to go in eight of the rooms of the B&B. In the meantime, a killer was lurking out there someplace, and Po & Crew knew that they’d be investigating.

Somehow this book seemed to move a lot slower than the previous two. The story was good, and we got the usual camaraderie of the ladies and their friends. I always love it when Po has Sunday dinner at her house for her friends. It give them a chance to talk about the case and pick any brains, but PJ wasn’t even working the case this time which seemed a little odd. All in all, I did like it and the showdown was exciting. As it turned out, the town had a couple of new people to call friends. Now I’m wondering if the original fourth book in this series is going to be redone. I know this author’s name isn’t on it, and I’m not sure if the name Marnette Falley is a pen name for her or not. I at least have a copy of the original fourth book called “Dog-Gone Murder”, so I intend to read it and see if any closure was brought to this series that ended. I have two couples in mind that I would like to see happily ever afters for! 😉

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A Thread of Darkness–review

August 9, 2019 Tari Hann

This is the second book in the recently re-edited Queen Bees Quilt Shop by Sally Goldenbaum, and I am really loving these characters! If you like the author’s Seaside Knitters series or any of those that feature a group of crafting women who make pretty good sleuths, then you’ll like this series too. It’s not quite as long as the Seaside Knitters books, but there is just as much love and caring going on with the characters. The ladies were making a quilt for their dear friend Jacques who just opened a French restaurant and whose specialty was bouillabaisse.

My Goodreads review:

A Thread of Darkness by Sally Goldenbaum

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another awesome book in this series! I’ve only met these characters twice now, but I feel like they’re old friends, especially Po and Kate…and PJ of course! This was an intriguing murder mystery dealing eventually with deep pockets that hid something that happened long ago. I wasn’t sure who the killer was this time until Po started getting ideas. I had some thoughts, but they weren’t the right guesses. I do love how all these friends work together to help each other and truly care about their other friends and community. It’s nice to read a mystery that has just a little more than the mystery and solution–it lets you in on who these people are. Until next time, Crestwood KS!

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A Patchwork of Clues–review

June 15, 2019 Tari Hann

This is the first book in the newly re-edited, renamed series and retitled book series now called Queen Bees Quilt Shop by Sally Goldenbaum who also writes the Seaside Knitters series, which is a long-running series. I hadn’t realized when I first pre-ordered the book that it was a reprint of the original which was Murders on Elderberry Road, but a friend on Goodreads had let me know about that. I was sad for the author when I saw that someone on Amazon had given a 1-star review just for that reason. I mean who does that? It’s not really fair. I wouldn’t think of lowering the stars I gave the original title to anything less. It was just as good the second time!

I’m anxious to read the next books as they come out. I know they’re not nearly as long as Seaside Knitters, but they portray just as much camaraderie and love of family as Seaside does.

My Goodreads review:

A Patchwork of Clues by Sally Goldenbaum

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Much like the ladies in the Seaside Knitters in this author’s other series, this is another awesome group of women who have each others’ backs no matter what. It doesn’t hurt that they all seem to like a good mystery as well. It seemed like a larger group of characters to get to know, but by the end of the book I definitely knew that Po as the unspoken leader of the group was my favorite. She had an amazing sense of family and loved to surround herself with her friends whom she considered to be like family.

The oldest member, Eleanor Canterbury really cracked me up! She was sharp, spunky, and even though she came from money, she’s as down-to-earth as the rest of the friends. I honestly had no idea who the killer was until the clues started coming, and the showdown was great! I’m glad that these books were given a face lift, as the new covers are super attractive and fun! And I do like the updated titles as well.

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Murders on Elderberry Road –review

March 11, 2019March 11, 2019 Tari Hann

This is the first book in a series that started in 2003, and written by author Sally Goldenbaum. Most cozy fans know her from her Seaside Knitters series. I had seen on Amazon (I think) that she was continuing this series, much like she did with Seaside Knitters Society. There are already three books up for preordering. You can see the titles on Cozy-Mystery.com’s Sally Goldenbaum page.

NEW INFO: Red-faced moment but I’ll own up to my goof: I just found out from a friend and blogger that it looks like the originals are being reworked into Kindle copies with new titles and covers, but basically the same story. Good news is if you’ve not read the old ones or don’t own them, just go order the Kindle copies with new, updated covers. I won’t cancel my preorders, but I wish I hadn’t ordered used copies of the old paperbacks now. Oh well, I hadn’t read the first book when I saw the synopsis for the revamped first book. And…right on the Amazon page, it states what the previous title was. ::face palm::

I love that in both series she writes about a group of women who are all different ages but brought together by the camaraderie of an activity they like, in this case it’s quilting. Her little character descriptions before the story starts are interesting and I always think they’re helpful. I’m hoping to get caught up before the new books start releasing in June, July and August.

My Goodreads review:

Murders on Elderberry Road by Sally Goldenbaum

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I noticed online (now I forget where, possibly shopping Amazon) that the author is continuing this series as Queen Bee Quilt Shop, so I knew I wanted to make an attempt to read the older books first. I happened to have this one in my TBR and was very happy to find that it’s much like her Seaside Knitters series, meaning that there’s a group of awesome friends of all ages who get together and quilt, hence the Quilting Bees.

I really enjoyed getting to know all these characters. There were little pencil-looking sketches of each of the eight members of the quilting bee shown at the front of the book, much like the author does with her character list in the other series, only with a drawing and short description. I always like to read through those, and even though eight seems like a lot in a group, by the end of the book, I felt like I knew most of them fairly well, as well as some of the town members. My favorite character of course was Po, since she was like a mom to the younger members and the story does seem to center more around her. I love her sense of family and wanting her friends around her as much as possible. Eleanor Canterbury was the oldest member and I got a kick out of her. She came from old money and some might have thought she’d be snooty, but she was ready with the rest of them to get the case solved–and to perfect her quilting.

This book wasn’t as long as the typical Seaside Knitters book, but it was definitely as thought-provoking and not just about the mystery. It was also about the people themselves. The showdown of this book was epic, and I liked the epilogue that tied everything up in a neat package. I found the rest of the series and will be starting them soon, hopefully before the new books start.

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