Knot What It Seams: A Southern Quilting Mystery

This second novel in the series known as 'A Southern Quilting Mystery,' was a treat. Not only did the murder mystery remain in the main view of the reader throughout, often the novel had me laughing out loud.Retired Art Folk museum docent, Beatrice Coleman has moved to Dappled Hills, North Carolina to be nearer her only daughter and to learn how to 'retire.' In the first novel we are introduced to Beatrice's neighbor, Meadow Downey, a quilter. Although Beatrice had many dealing with quilters and their remarkable art projects, she herself, had never tried to quilt. Meadow, with her well intentioned pushing soon has Beatrice working on learning the art as a member of the 'Village Quilting' guild. In fact the town seems divided into the two active quilting groups, The Cut-Ups, and the Village Quilters.In this novel, we find membership is declining as all clubs experience. This will not do for Meadow and she begins a campaign to find new members worthy of joining the guild. Meadow's eye falls upon the local mail carrier, Jo Paxton, and it doesn't hurt that Jo is also a quilting judge. Beatrice is not so comfortable with the choice of new member as she experiences arguments, threats, and the fact that Jo was 'asked' to leave the 'Cut-Ups.' Then the unthinkable occurs...death. During a monster rain storm, Jo's mail truck careens off the mountain road and Jo is killed. We soon learn, to the dismay of Police Chief, Ramsay Downey, Meadow's husband who would rather read Thoreau than solve crimes, it is a case of murder!I really enjoyed Beatrice's mental dialog, and her deductive reasoning of the crime. I felt as though I was a house guest being allowed to follow each step of the journey with Beatrice. The ending was a great chase scene and I really laughed as the killer was brought to justice.I'm eager to read the next novel which Obsidian tempts us with a taste of after the novel ends. It comes out in late 2013. Don't miss it...unfortunately, no title is given yet. Enjoy this series.

This book was better in that it kept me guessing. I like Beatrice, our main character. She's pretty savvy and amazingly patient with Meadow and her silly ways.

Great for ME days. Sit out side, sweet tea, radio on, her entire series is GREAT. Love that characters say, really what we would think in the same situation. Funny, under the breath, not always PC, always more than one 'villian' and leaves you guessing till the end. Humor, suspense and happy endings. Can't wait for another.........

This is the second volume in a multi-volume quilter's mystery series. It is well written and holds attention. The ending caught me off guard; it didn't see that one coming! I recommend this series.

It was a good Book Knot what what it seams keep you readng and looking for the next oneA very good read I love it and look for more by the writer

Another murder in this small NC community? Yep, and another member of the quilting community! Although it seemed odd, Craig wove it into a logical and realistically plausible story. I look forward to reading the next one in the series...can I guess who'll be found dead this time?

I find a couple of the characters really annoying, but I keep coming back. The stories themselves are pretty good. And, I like that the main character, Beatrice, is more mature (age wise) than characters in so many other books of this type.

Having read the first one of this series; Quilt or Innocence; I loved going forward with these characters. What a diverse mix of quilting ladies. I thought I knew who did it, but was really surprised in the end. Miss Sissy "takes the cake". Just love that gal.Pure reading enjoyment. Can't wait for the next one. Keep writing, Elizabeth!

This is a good read. The characters are more complex than Quilt or Innocence and I found that I really couldn't work out 'who dune it' until the end. The cranky Sissy is featured strongly in the book and I still dislike this character, but I am more fond of Meadow. The character of Ramsey, the police chief, is drawn out more and the 'family' of friends and neighbours is developing. I do hope that there is a third book in this series.

I really enjoyed this book and as I got into it couldn't put it down. It was in a good setting with believable characters and I liked the writing style. A comfortable and entertaining read.

Excellent. Well worth reading

Enjoyed the story , I like hearing stories from different parts of the United States, very light reading and probably a little far fetched but will probably read the next one.

I love everything that Elizabeth Craig write, I almost read all her books, she is a fantastic writer. Can't wait for her next book.