Quilt store owner Dewey Pellicano is desperately trying to
save the store she inherited from her mother last year. Once
a thriving business, Quilter Paradiso hasn't changed with
the times and business is down. The twentieth anniversary
sale is coming up and Dewey plans to launch a special line
of exclusive quilting patterns and an online store. If the
anniversary sale doesn't go well it could be the end of
Quilter Paradiso.
When a man is murdered in the alley behind her store, Dewey
is afraid negative publicity will doom the sale less than a
week away. She assists the San Jose PD as best she can, all
the while prepping for the big event. She's not helped by
her stubborn and backstabbing sister-in-law Kym, who resents
the fact Dewey inherited the store instead of her. Kym seems
to delight in throwing a wrench in all of Dewey's plans,
even as she professes to only be trying to help. But Dewey
can't fire family, right?
The police seem to be stumped for clues in the murder, so
Dewey does her own investigating. With the help of the
Stitch 'n' Bitchers and the store staff, she eventually
figures out the victim's identity. A rift between two of the
quilt club members distracts Dewey from both the murder and
the sale. Will she be able to mend the rift, find the killer
and come to an understanding with Kym before the sale? And
before the killer strikes again?
The murder takes a back seat much of the time to the quilt
store business. OLD MAID'S PUZZLE is a light cozy mystery.
Fans of the recent trend of craft cozies should enjoy Ms.
Thayer's second quilting mystery. Some may find the
continuing antagonism of Kym to be annoying after a while,
just as I did. Readers will eagerly await the next book in
the series to see how things go after the surprising
conclusion of this book.
Thirty-year-old techie Dewey Pellicano is trying to make
a go of Quilter Paradiso, the quilt shop she inherited from
her mother. But she's facing a patchwork of problems—fierce
competition, an uncooperative employee (who also happens to
be Dewey's sister-in-law) and, oh yes, a dead body in the
alley.
Dewey pins her hopes on the store's huge 20th
anniversary sale and appearance on national television. With
the help of her smolderingly hot detective boyfriend Buster
Healy, can Dewey save her shop and find the killer?
Praise for Terri Thayer's Wild Goose
Chase
"Cutting-edge
drama deftly sliced to reveal the sass beneath the surface
of the quilting business." —Margaret Miller, author of
AnglePlay Blocks
"Put down your piecework, brew
yourself a
cup o'Joe, fill up a snack bowl, and laze around the yard
this spring with this amusing quilt-themed mystery." —Mark
Lipinski's Quilter's Home Magazine