Murder By Kindness: The Gift Quilt

Theo and Tony Abernathy Mystery #7

by Barbara Graham

The residents of tiny Park County, Tennessee plan to celebrate Valentine's Day in style with a community fund raiser. Sheriff Tony Abernathy's dream of a crime free county explodes, along with an illegal still. An underage driver, bar fights and the arrival of a popular young movie star with his entourage promises to keep his small staff busy.
Theo, Tony's wife, is pulled away from her quilt shop by a phone call. Her best friend Nina is out of town and water is pouring from her house and over her ex-husband's corpse.
The county chaos increases with another suspicious death, the arrival of some extra wives, exploding stills and Cupid leaving a trail of paper hearts.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

429 pages, Paperback

First published November 18, 2015

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

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a quilter, but I love this series. In this particular book, there are several "laugh out loud" moments.

[Patrizia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Il libro all'inizio è molto lento, ma migliora dopo che viene trovato il primo cadavere. E', comunque, confusionario e l'autrice compie un grosso errore quando fa notificare allo sceriffo per due volte la morte di un'anziana ai "nipotastri", con tempi e modalità diverse ovviamente. Inoltre, fra le altre cose, resta irrisolta la questione degli incendi alle distillerie clandestine: forse doveva essere risolta in un volume successivo che non è mai uscito, ma resta il dissapunto di non conoscere il colpevole. Più in genere, c'è troppa carne al fuoco con alcuni aspetti che restano senza risposte.

[Susan Earle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy this series and would hope there would be more. A visit to East Tennessee is always a treat.

[Shauna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hate that this series appears to be over. I have enjoyed my time with Tony, Theo, Wade, Ruth Ann and the crowd in Park County, Tennessee.

[Sherry Mackay · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh dear. sooo bad Ridiculous characters and plot. So poorly written. Chuck it away!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sheriff Tony Abernathy has two mysterious deaths on his hands. The body that his wife, quilt-shop owner Theo, discovers at her best friend's house is Nina's ex-husband, and there are too many suspects to count, including Theo. The other body is an active elderly woman beloved by almost everyone. Of course, there are other things going on or it wouldn't be Park County. There's a woman riding around in a chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce claiming to be the Grand Duchess. There's the man whose ear is bitten off in a barroom fight that no one will explain. There's an arrogant young movie star complete with entourage renting a cabin. Someone is burning down stills, which may create a fire hazard. And that's before Tony's mother breaks her arm and hip while hiking. All the pieces aren't picked up, but maybe they'll be taken care of in the next book. This may be a bit more scattered than is usual for this author, but it's all still delightful reading.

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was kindof a wandering tale about a woman with 4 children, including twins, who owns a quilt shop in a small town in Tennessee. This story had two unrelated murders along with various other crimes (her husband is with the police). I found the story unrealistic (ok that's a given with this genre!!) but so far unrealistic as to not be enjoyable. For starters 4 kids with 2 year old twins, owning and running a quilt shop without losing her mind -- totally unrealistic!!!

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book from an outstanding series! I just discovered this author and have read all the available books. It details life in a small town in Tennessee right by the Smokies. The Sheriff Tony and his wife Theo, who owns a quilting shop, are the main protagonists. I simply love them both and their senses of humor. I can hardly wait for the next installment which will probably be a year or so. I highly recommend this series.

[Diane Aleman]

Not worth your time.

This book was very disappointing. I am not sure where the author got the title, as I read nothing about a gift quilt. The story line is all over with little connections. It bounces around so much that I wanted to make my head spin.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book I have read by this author. Plan to read more in the series. Easy read - at times a few too many characters to keep track of but all in all a good book.

[Amy Anton · Rating 2 out of 5]

kind of ridiculous, then just stopped

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read, I think I'll try to read a few more of these mysteries

[Marie McCaulley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertainment

Book did not flow. It was cute but disjointed. Characters were not well developed. More in depth research or less sub plots would help

[Val · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great crime filled adventure for Tony and Theo. I've come to really love these characters and the tiny town.