Welcome back to Tinker’s Cove, Maine. Lucy Stone and her friends are excited about the new community center’s grand opening, featuring a quilt show. Reporter and feature writer Lucy is looking forward to crafting a nice story about the opening event, but little does she know that trouble is brewing, and she’ll soon be writing about dismembered body parts and missing employees in the 30th Lucy Stone Mystery, PATCHWORK QUILT MURDER.

Darleen Busby-Platt has returned to Tinker’s Cove to care for her elderly mother and become the director of the new community center. With a long list of impressive qualifications, Darleen snags a large salary, which doesn’t go over well with other town employees. Darleen is also less than professional when yelling at janitor Tim Stillings. Tim is Pam and Ted Stillings’ adult son who recently returned home after having some difficulties. When Darleen embarks on a two-week vacation and Tim goes missing, Lucy doesn’t know what to think. When body parts start showing up all over town, Lucy fears the worst. As Lucy begins to investigate, she soon realizes Darleen is not who she claims to be, and others in town are hiding secrets as well. Can Lucy find the killer, restore peace to Tinker’s Cove, and file the biggest story of her career?

Lucy Stone is a fan-favorite cozy character, and PATCHWORK QUILT MURDER is sure to please readers of this long-running mystery series set in Maine. Lucy has come a long way—over thirty books—from raising her young children to navigating life as an empty nester with her husband Bill. Yet, Lucy has always been up for a good mystery, and readers can always rely on getting treated to a slice of East Coast living along with pertinent relatable themes. In this installment, Lucy deals with the emotions of losing her faithful dog, Libby and trying to find the right words to console her friend Pam, who is dealing with her adult son’s mental struggles. The mystery is very intriguing, a little darker than usual, and has several twists and turns all the way to the end. The clues are laid out effectively, and the suspense of not knowing Tim’s involvement keeps the tension high. With a heinous crime, missing employees, stolen antiques, and issues such as mental illness, dementia, environmental awareness, and persevering friendships, a PATCHWORK QUILT MURDER will delight readers and keep things humming along nicely in Tinker’s Cove.