A Patchwork of Poison

A Quilt Detective Mystery #1

by Karen Lowe

The antique quilt was exquisitely embroidered with flowers and leaves. A labour of love, Bronwen thought. Until she discovered a darker purpose to the quilt's design.

A Patchwork of Poison introduces textile artist, Bronwen Jones, working on her art quilts for an upcoming exhibition near her south Shropshire home. Sixteen year old Cat asks Bron's help in uncovering the history of her heritage quilt, and the rumoured lost inheritance. But when Cat disappears and a schoolfriend is found murdered, Bron discovers the thread that links past and present, and the deadly secret the quilt conceals.

Genres: Quilting

238 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 4, 2012

About the author

Swansea born, where my mum's family live, we moved to Shropshire, my father's home county, when I was five. I studied English, French & German for a BA, University of London, and worked as a secretary in the West End until moving back to Shropshire to bring up a family. I have written for children, with stories broadcast on BBC TV's Playschool, and published three collections of crossword books before turning to crime. I have now published two novels, Death in the Physic Garden and Death in the Winter Garden, which feature my garden designer heroine, Fern Green, and are set in Shropshire and the Welsh borders. As well as my passion for gardening, I love crafts of all sorts, and I create templates for use with the Craft Robo and Cameo electronic cutters. Having rediscovered patchwork and quilting, I have a new series of cozy crime fiction, The Quilt Detective. Patchwork of Poison is the first in the series, with Motif for Murder due for publication shortly.

Reviews

[Kath Middleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a delightful story which includes many of my favourite things - patchwork and quilting, family history, botany and a murder mystery. I've done all of them except murder! Bronwen, a quilt artist, is giving a lecture when a young girl, Cat, brings her a quilt which belonged to her great, great grandma. She wants to sell it and use the proceeds to leave home. Bron and Cat together start to research the family and to remove the hexagonal papers over which the quilt is formed. These are re-used letters and diary pages. Through these means we move back and forward in time and, like making a quilt, we piece together evidence to produce a whole fabric of history. In the meantime, a modern murder is committed and Bronwen, now settled in detective mode, has her suspicions.

Karen Lowe re-creates a past in which a young girl in a financially secure position tries to push the limits of acceptability to rid herself of an unwelcome new governess; she creates a present in which a young girl is in danger. Her writing is immediate and believable and we care about them both. I enjoyed this book very much and read it in 24 hours. I loved Karen's two earlier books so I knew I was in for a treat.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apparently, I read and rated this book in 2015 , as well as just finished reading it yesterday. It was a bit lackluster on both readings I guess, since I don't remember reading it previously.
It was obvious to me that the author is not a quilter. At first I assumed the British made a quilt differently than we do, but I think the author is NOT a quilter at all. She speaks of cutting the fabric into squares and attaching the hexagonal papers, which were made from pages of her diary, to it. Next, she tells of binding it and giving the quilt to her previous nanny.
Towards the end, the nanny's descendants are removing those papers and reading them. The thing is, the papers are not left in the quilt, you'd never be able to wash it and now, there are various shapes, not just hexagons.
All in all, this book just left me confused.....

[Kelly Callaghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

What my friend would call 'an airport read', I nevertheless enjoyed this book. With just over 200 pages and a mystery to keep the pages turning, I read it in almost one sitting. Cat, short for Caitlin, wants to sell a family quilt and we learn of the making of the quilt and the present day detective work.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting British crafting mystery which is pure comfort/holiday reading written intelligently.