The Christmas Quilt

Patchwork #17

by Kelly Ann Riley

Mystery

Genres: Mystery, Christmas, Cozy Mystery, Christian Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Christian

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Loraine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A string of thefts plagues Maple HIll, and the temporary Police Chief first looks at Sarah Hart's granddaughters and 3 of their friends. Sarah knows there is no way the twins would commit petty theft, so she knows it's time to put her thinking cap on and figure out who is hitting the small businesses in Maple Hill. At the same time, she is trying to make a Christmas quilt for her best friend Martha from a daily email instruction pattern, but something on the instructions each day just doesn't make sense. Can Sarah figure the answers to both of the mysteries?

Enjoyable book from an older Guideposts mystery series.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sarah sees an internet site that posts parts of a quilt pattern daily promising if you follow them you will have a quilt done by Christmas. There are many typos and an odd pattern of numbers at the bottom. At the same time several stores are having things shoplifted, when a woman is suspected of doing the shoplifing, Sarah is sure she didn't do it. She suspects the new man in town who is selling security systems.

[Denise Mullins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lazily paced cozy set in New England during the holidays in which self-styled detective (aka busy-body) Sarah attempts to solve a series of burglaries occurring in the village. While I suffered silently through the frequent allusions of kind, generous citizens who donate to various charitable endeavors and frequent humming along with spiritually uplifting holiday hymns, I found Sarah's chronic turning of the other cheek when confronted with some truly nasty individuals intolerable. Truth be told, the villains were, by far, the most interesting characters, although they were all very one-dimensional.
Moreover after enduring nearly 300 pages of a meandering minor mystery-which was sinfully obvious to figure out- the final two pages tumbled into a chaotic jumble that left many issues unresolved. Overall, a reading experience that was definitely unsatisfying.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

So a little over a year ago, I ordered a Twelve Days of Christmas picture book from Amazon and received this book instead. It looked interesting enough so I decided to keep it (and reorder the picture book) and made it my Christmas read for this past Christmas (per tradition, I got way too busy during December to do much reading, so didn't finish it until January). Since I was going in blind with this book, I wasn't sure what to expect but was pleasantly surprised! The main character of the series is Sarah, a widow in her sixties who, when she's not working at her quilt restoration business, solves mysteries in her small, New England town. In this particular mystery, someone is shoplifting from the local shops at Christmas time and after her twin granddaughters are falsely accused, Sarah sets out to find the actual culprit. Overall, the book was a fun, cozy read (though the ending was a little rushed) and it was nice to have a mystery that didn't involve a murder (I mean, I like a good murder mystery as much as the next person, but it's nice to have some variety every now and then). Oh and the cover! How could I forget the cover? All the books in this series feature cover art that are meant to look like quilts. It's adorable and definitely helps set the mood for the story.

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cozy shoplifting mystery set at Christmas. A lot of character names are tossed out right at the beginning of the book for no reason so don't bother trying to remember them.

The first couple of books that I read in this series won me over with the quilting references, most especially Family Patterns. In The Christmas Quilt, readers are told that Sarah is working on a Christmas quilt but it's the blog where Sarah gets the sewing directions that figures in the mystery, not the quilt.

In-law conflicts figure into this story as Maggie's parents visit from California for the holidays. Sarah's "second chance at love" romance with Liam continues, slowly. Sarah's granddaughters are 13 now with the problems that brings with it. There is less praying than in some of the earlier books. I almost never guess who done it but I had the mystery figured out by chapter 5.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is number 17 from a series, but the first one I've read. It's well-written, aside from the storm of names you get at the beginning. Story-wise, it was a little too easy to find out how information was being transferred while the main character didn't see it immediately (only at the end), but the main thief was kept well in between at least two possible other likely suspects. Can't really say much bad about this, but I'm not convinced it's series-worthy. It's a nice holiday read, but I won't be looking for these books specifically unless they're on sale in a thrift store.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book for many reasons. I love beautiful quilts and my sister is a quilter so I thought of her as I read about the mystery Christmas quilt that Sarah was making. I enjoy mysteries and so this part of the book was enjoyable as well. I thought I might have figured out the "who done it", but I was wrong. LOL I also enjoy reading seasonal books and reading about the Christmas events was also enjoyable.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice cozy mystery with older ladies solving issues and showing friendships.

[Linda Spyhalski · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good Christmas read!

[Jessica Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book kept me engaged.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun series.

[Diane Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great light mystery by and author I had not read before... Good characters.. lots of villains to choose from....

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A blog with a Mystery Christmas Quilt interests Sarah as she is looking for a gift for her friend Martha.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sort of blah although I must admit I didn't pick the culprit until the second chapter.