In the second installment of the Southern Quilting
Mystery series, the two
quilting groups in the small town of Dappled Hills, North
Carolina, are vying
for members. More specifically, the Village Quilters, has a
dwindling
membership, while the rival Cut-Ups quilting guild enjoys a
more robust
roster of quilters. Meadow Downey, the leader of the
Village Quilters has
decided to actively recruit members and she does so with the
blessing of
friend and co-Village Quilter member, Beatrice Coleman.
However, when
Meadow sets her sights on Jo Paxton, Beatrice wonders
whether Meadow has
made a wise decision.
Jo is the local mail carrier who also frequently judges
local quilting shows and
she has a penchant for attracting trouble. Jo is not the
most tactful person,
quilters question her objectivity in judging, and the only
person who seems to
get along with her is the town's eccentric elderly woman who
believes that Jo
visits her daily (when Jo delivers the mail).
When Jo is killed in a car accident that police later deem
to be not-so-
accidental, Meadow is sure one of the Cut-Ups wants to
eliminate the Village
Quilters. Beatrice, however, believes that someone was
targeting Jo
specifically. But she had made so many enemies, it seems
nearly impossible
to narrow the suspect list. Once Beatrice starts piecing
together the clues,
she uncovers more motives than she initially thought
possible, including
blackmail! And when one of the suspects ends up dead,
Beatrice knows she
needs to step up the investigation.
The mystery was interesting and intriguing, although it was
never quite clear
to me why Beatrice got involved in the investigation. In
most cosies, the
amateur detective is either accused or a close friend is,
but that was never the
case here; it's true that the local detective was more
interested in reading
Thoreau than in investigating, but it was never explained
why Beatrice was
sleuthing around. However, the way the mystery unfolded as
far as clues and
time made sense, and the reveal of the culprit was rather
delicious.
Unfortunately, most of the characters were difficult to
like. Beatrice is likeable
enough, and she is clearly meant to be the central figure,
but Meadow is
extremely unlikeable and her personality overtakes every
scene. If Beatrice
were able to stand up to her, there could be some potential
for comedy, but
instead, Beatrice comes across as a doormat, which doesn't
work well when
she's supposed to also be the person solving mysteries when
the authorities
are unable to. Likewise, it seemed that most of the
characters spent more
time trying to tolerate each other than they did sharing
their craft together
and enjoying each other's company, which is what most
crafting groups do, at
least when they meet.
If some simple tweaks in character development were made, I
think this series
has a lot of potential. As is, however, the story telling
must be much stronger
to overcome characters who are memorable for all the wrong
reasons.
When former folk art curator Beatrice Coleman retired to
Dappled Hills, North Carolina, for peace and quiet and
quilting, she never expected that murder would disturb the
peace... Dwindling membership has the Village Quilters
hanging by a thread, and group leader Meadow Downey is
desperate to recruit some new folks. With Beatrice’s
blessing, she attempts to weave frequent quilt show judge Jo
Paxton into their fold. As the town’s irascible mail
carrier, Jo delivers trouble wherever she goes. And with all
that mail at her fingertips, she knows everyone’s business.
Soon Beatrice wonders if they’ve made the right choice.
After a car accident sends Jo to meet her Maker, it’s
discovered someone tampered with her brakes. Meadow believes
someone’s out to eradicate the Village Quilters, but
Beatrice isn’t so sure. Now she and her fellow quilters will
have to piece together the clues, or a deadly killer might
strike again.… Includes quilting tips and recipes!
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