Murder by Gravity: The Coffin Quilt

Theo and Tony Abernathy Mystery #6

by Barbara Graham

Snow before Halloween shocks the residents of tiny Park County‚ Tennessee. While dealing with a multitude of minor issues‚ Sheriff Tony Abernathy is contacted by a charter pilot who claims his passenger jumped‚ without a parachute‚ into the most remote spot in the county. After riding mules into the wilderness to collect the body‚ Tony and his deputy must travel to North Carolina‚ in a blizzard‚ to notify the widow. Problems multiply. Tony's wife‚ Theo‚ is shocked to see a woman at the grocery store with a knife embedded in her back. Then a priceless quilt is stolen.



As the sheriff‚ Tony hates Halloween. Even so‚ he never expected a valuable coffin‚ and the body inside‚ to go missing.

Genres: Mystery

290 pages, Hardcover

First published December 17, 2014

About the author

I grew up in the Texas Panhandle, except for a time while my dad was in the Navy and we lived in San Diego and Pearl Harbor. After college, in Denver, having been convinced by a professor that writing was not something I ought to pursue, I decided on a whim to move to New Orleans. Later I moved to East Tennessee to see what that was like. During those years I worked in the travel industry. After marrying, I returned to the Denver area and eventually my husband and I moved to Wyoming. I love it here and intend to stay until I am put away.

During all those years, I knew I had to write and managed to create the requisite number of unpublishable/unreadable novels before finally selling Murder by Serpents: The Mystery Quilt to Five Star/Gale.

Reviews

[Sara Bartlett · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked up this book due to the Goodreads rating. I just can't believe the reviews. This book has no consistent thread! It opens with bones found in a cellar, then we don't hear another word about the bones until the last page. No mystery. Then a man falls from an airplane. But there are all these side stories... a homeless man with a dog, build up to a fight - over nothing then that thread ends. Then there is a woman with a knife in her back while grocery shopping! Mystery? No, that thread is dropped, never developed. Then threatening notes to a woman getting married...no big deal there, no mystery, it's dropped. Then the last two pages it ends! What a mess! It amazes me that some of these authors are published! I checked out another Brabara Graham novel at the library but it's going back unopened. I finished reading the book thinking somehow it had to get better, it never did.

[Kris Ankeny · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel embarrassed that I actually read this book. Many sub stories, some of which are never resolved and none add to the plot of the main story. And the ridiculous names that maybe a fourth grader might come up with. The dead man is Franklin Cashdollar, there are sisters named Pansy Flowers Millsap and Blossum Petals Flowers, a game warden named Hairy Rags and relatives of the sheriff named Tiberius and Calpurnia. Maybe the author should stick with quilting?

[Adair · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read several of hers since I found the first one in a quilt shop in a small town in WY. The personalities are both real and funny I might even know a few of them even though we live nowhere near their TN town. I also really enjoy the mystery quilt in each book Title are somewhat tongue in cheek

[Shauna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was much better than book 5. It’s Halloween and there are coffins, candy, murder and mayhem on the agenda. Somehow it all seems like part of the way of life in this rural county.

[Wilma Zeedijk-Keijsers · Rating 1 out of 5]

silly character names. no story line. goes from one thing to another. quit reading it 6 chapters in. not intriguing at all. don't waste your time

[Grey853 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tony is the sheriff of a small town and his wife Theo runs a quilt shop. They have four small children.

This is supposed to be a cozy mystery because it's sold as one, what with the quilting angle and all. However, it doesn't read like one. The only real quilting going on is the actual pattern that's given for the Coffin quilt throughout, which is separate from the actual story. It really seems like a regular mystery to me because the majority of it is told from Tony's point of view as sheriff.

There are three main mysteries: Four very old skeletons are found in the basement of a local renter, a woman is shopping with a knife in her back, and a man jumps out of an airplane with no parachute.

That last mystery is the one that takes up most of the story. Why would the guy fall out of the plane? Did he jump, was he pushed, what's the situation?

All three are solved with in few pages of one another, which seemed a little rushed.

It's not a bad book. It just had potential to be more. I wanted to see more about Theo and less about Tony since it's marketed as a "quilt" mystery. Still, it was worth reading.

[Lisa Cobb Sabatini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Barbara Graham's Murder by Gravity: The Coffin Quilt has everything that readers of cozy mysteries want. Small town Silersville, Tennessee has plenty of quirky citizens and uncommon happenings. Like a body falling from the sky. Other occurrences include the discovery of human bones in a basement, a woman walking around the grocery store with a knife in her back, the theft of a valuable quilt, and the theft of a coffin with . . . contents. Tony Abernathy, the antacid chewing sheriff, is tasked with taking care of the citizens and solving the crimes. His wife, Theo, who owns the quilt shop in town, finds herself involved in some of Tony's cases, especially as she searches for the quilt that was stolen from her shop.
Murder by Gravity is fun and the whodunit is well plotted. For quilters, a pattern is included. Full of meddlesome and peculiar characters, humorous scenes, and lovable protagonists, Barbara Graham's Quilted Mysteries series is one readers will want to curl up with again and again.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Halloween, and there's a lot going on in little Park county. Sheriff Tony Abernathy is trying to find out how the body of the mayor's brother ended up falling from a small plane into a remote forest; his wife Theo is stunned by seeing a woman walking through the supermarket with a knife in her back; someone has stolen a coffin, complete with body; and Theo's been tipped off that someone of malicious intent is investigating the local underground railroad for abused women and children. And that's not even touching on the threatening notes being sent to Tony's favorite baker, soon to be a bride. Not all the loose ends are tied up, but that gives us something to look forward to in Graham's next book.

[Sandybear76 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book in this series. Tony, the local sheriff, and Theo, his wife and local quilt shop owner, help each other solve mysteries around their town/county. The book has several mysteries going on and you might think that the author has forget to solve 1 or 2 of them. The book is comfortably told in the voices of both Theo and Tony without confusion.

Snow has come early to Silersville, TN with a big snow before Halloween. Tony receives an odd call from a pilot, who explains that his passenger jumped out of his plane and landed, dead, in a snow-filled clearing.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The titles of Barbara Graham’s books always make me chuckle. They are most appropriate, though I don’t usually understand them until the end of the book. I really loved this book. The interwoven tales of the county are seamless. Tony and Theo’s lives continue to develop along with the lives of the other characters. Some things are shocking, some are hilarious, some are heartbreaking, some are heartwarming, but they are never dull. I love this series and highly recommend it.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is 5th in a series about Sheriff Tony Abernathy and his wife Theo who owns a quilt shop. Theo is at a grocery store when she sees a lady in front of her with a knife sticking out of her back, then a priceless quilt is taken from her store and her husband is busy trying to figure out why a man would jump off the wing of a plane to his death. An enjoyable book

[Val · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE THESE BOOKS!!! Every page is a adventure, and every person is a kooky character. Tony is probably never going to get his book wrote and Theo will probably never get a chance to relax but they take what life and their crazy families, friends and community throw at them in stride. I'm so thankful to have found these books!

[Shirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good mystery.

[Alice · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cozy
Quick read

last of series, but I'm not interested enough in the characters to go back and read the others.

Quilt inclusion also not enough to go back and read the others.