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Eastover Treasures
When Aury and her fellow quilters uncover clues to a potential fortune, will they be able to untangle the mystery in time to save Eastover Retreat Center from financial ruin? During their annual quilt retreat, gale force winds trap the ladies in a boarded-up manor house. Inside, the sewing sisters discover the diaries of the mistress of Eastover Plantation written during the Civil War and clues she left behind which started as a treasure hunt for her children. Following the clues, Aury takes a journey she never expected. As she works closely with the owner of the retreat center, they dig up more than treasure when they follow the trail through history. Will it be enough to save Eastover and preserve the history of the plantation? This story does not contain any graphic violence, language, or sexual encounters.
258 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 22, 2021
5 people are currently reading
16 people want to read
About the author
Dawn Brotherton
27 books31 followersDawn Brotherton is an award-winning author and featured speaker at writing and publishing seminars. When it comes to exceptional writing, she draws on her experience as a colonel retired from the US Air Force as well as a softball coach. Her variety of interests has led to a variety of genres including mystery, romance, middle grade and nonfiction. Her next book will involve quilting, one of her most recent hobbies.
Dawn and her husband have wisely invested in their daughters’ college educations, hoping the girls will pick out a nice retirement home for them someday.
Keep in touch with Dawn via the web:
Website: https://www.dawnbrothertonauthor.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DawnBrothert...
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/dawnbrother...
Dawn and her husband have wisely invested in their daughters’ college educations, hoping the girls will pick out a nice retirement home for them someday.
Keep in touch with Dawn via the web:
Website: https://www.dawnbrothertonauthor.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DawnBrothert...
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/dawnbrother...
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 19, 2021
I thought this book was great. I couldn’t help but read it cover to cover. There was just enough mystery, history, suspense and even a hint of romance to keep me enchanted till the end. If you are looking for a light read that’s totally entertaining, this is the book for you. I’m not a quilter but I found the parts pertaining to the retreat enlightening. Great book definitely worth the read.
July 3, 2021
A unique read. I enjoyed the cozy, quilting retreat and the idea of discovering clues to a treasure hunt while trapped during a storm. A little slow on the pacing for me, but overall, a solid read if you like cozy mysteries.
The writing was well done, and I enjoyed the dual timeline POV. It definitely made me invest in the treasure hunt in a deeper and more meaningful way.
I didn't connect with all of the characters as well as I'd hoped, but I liked Aury and her determination to keep uncovering clues. She was my favorite!
Thank you to the author for providing me with an early copy. All thoughts & opinions are entirely my own.
The writing was well done, and I enjoyed the dual timeline POV. It definitely made me invest in the treasure hunt in a deeper and more meaningful way.
I didn't connect with all of the characters as well as I'd hoped, but I liked Aury and her determination to keep uncovering clues. She was my favorite!
Thank you to the author for providing me with an early copy. All thoughts & opinions are entirely my own.
February 19, 2024
I quite enjoyed this. Enjoyed the dual past and present storyline as the present worked to unravel the past. I live near the Surry/ Williamsburg VA setting which was fun too. Hoping there are more books.
June 23, 2021
One Sentence Summary: When Aury and her fellow quilters take shelter in an abandoned manor during a storm, they discover a treasure hunt dating back to the Civil War that might actually lead to real treasure.
Overall
Eastover Treasures is definitely not your standard sort of mystery. For one, there's no crime that needs to be solved. For another, since there's no crime, there's no bad guy and, thus, no real tension or thriller-like experience. It's not quite a cozy, either, but I think that's part of it's charm. This is, pure and simple, a treasure hunt. There are definitely stakes at play, but the following of clues and puzzling each one out as well as untangling the mystery of the first owners, what happened to them, and how they're related to the present owner were at the forefront. This is perfect for readers wanting to dip their toe into mysteries and for those who want a fun story without all the drama and tension.
Extended Thoughts
An avid quilter, Aury arranges a retreat for herself and her fellow quilters at the Eastover Retreat Center. Unfortunately, partway through their week-long retreat, a storm heads their way, stranding those who didn't leave early. With trees falling into the center, they decide to take shelter in the boarded up manor on the estate, only to uncover a diary kept by the first woman of the manor and the treasure hunt she sent her children on to keep them occupied during the days of the Civil War.
They follow the first clue, which leads them to another. And then another. When the storm clears and the women are able to get home, Aury and the owner, Scott, take up the hunt. At the same time, Scott is busy tallying up the damage and finding out if he'll even be able to keep the family property. The treasure, if it's exists, would go a long way to help.
Set in Virginia along the James River, Eastover Treasures proved to be a surprisingly fun and easy read twining history and the present day to create a treasure hunt. It seemed a little outlandish to think a treasure hidden during the Civil War might still be hidden on a property that had been passed down through the generations, but, that aside, it was fun to follow the clues with Aury and Scott.
I really enjoyed exploring the property and it's history. It seemed a lot of it had been overgrown, which created some interesting challenges for the treasure hunters, but I loved the flipping back and forth in time, getting to see how the first owners built the manor and gardens and rest of the grounds and how the passage of time affected all of it. It felt both serene and bursting at the seams with history.
There are several flashes back to the Civil War years, though I wish there had been more and they had been more fleshed out and longer. While I appreciated that they touched on what life had been like during that time and were full of lifelike hardships and fear, sometimes they felt a little irrelevant, like they were more focused on the feelings of the family and not on how the past really gave rise to the treasure hunt. Overall, I wish they had been more detailed, longer, and more focused on bridging past and present.
The genealogy was fun to follow. It was a sort of treasure hunt on it's own, with Aury, Scott, and Aury's grandmother tracing back from Scott and forward from Mary Townsend, the first mistress of Eastover Manor. When that piece of the story started heating up, the flashes to the past felt more relevant. It was also just a lot of fun to learn the history of a family and what happened to them.
The treasure hunt, though, was first and foremost, though it was lovely to see how the genealogy tied into it. There were so many clues that really were puzzles for Aury and Scott, and me, so I loved getting to read about how they solved them and all the footwork it required to figure out what the property had been like generations before, as well as what some of the clues could possibly have been referencing. As I mentioned, there's no villain, no real tension, but always wondering if this clue might be the one to lead them to any treasure gave it a shadow of tension. There were times when I thought some shadowy figure would pop out and drop a surprise on them, but Eastover Treasures really is, at it's heart, a treasure hunt.
Aury and Scott could not have been better treasure hunting partners. They're not exactly young, but I loved the zest they had for following the clues, for discovering more about the property and Scott's family. They worked brilliantly together and seemed to be having such a good time working together. The romance is very light and predictable, but very natural and realistic.
I do wish there had been more quilting going on, more about how quilting is done, but the focus is on the hunt and the quilting retreat was a good excuse. It did play a nice role in the story, but was, overall, smaller than I expected. Initially, I wasn't sure who was going to be taking part, so was worried I'd have to keep track of over a dozen ladies who blurred together in the first few pages, so I was really delighted by how the whole story unfolded, even if it was quite different from how I expected.
Eastover Treasures isn't your traditional kind of mystery, cozy or otherwise. Since it doesn't involve an actual crime, I was able to just focus on the treasure hunt and the history, which worked really well together. This is a delightful, quick, easy read that's more about following clues and history to help a family.
Thank you to Dawn Brotherton for a review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.
Overall
Eastover Treasures is definitely not your standard sort of mystery. For one, there's no crime that needs to be solved. For another, since there's no crime, there's no bad guy and, thus, no real tension or thriller-like experience. It's not quite a cozy, either, but I think that's part of it's charm. This is, pure and simple, a treasure hunt. There are definitely stakes at play, but the following of clues and puzzling each one out as well as untangling the mystery of the first owners, what happened to them, and how they're related to the present owner were at the forefront. This is perfect for readers wanting to dip their toe into mysteries and for those who want a fun story without all the drama and tension.
Extended Thoughts
An avid quilter, Aury arranges a retreat for herself and her fellow quilters at the Eastover Retreat Center. Unfortunately, partway through their week-long retreat, a storm heads their way, stranding those who didn't leave early. With trees falling into the center, they decide to take shelter in the boarded up manor on the estate, only to uncover a diary kept by the first woman of the manor and the treasure hunt she sent her children on to keep them occupied during the days of the Civil War.
They follow the first clue, which leads them to another. And then another. When the storm clears and the women are able to get home, Aury and the owner, Scott, take up the hunt. At the same time, Scott is busy tallying up the damage and finding out if he'll even be able to keep the family property. The treasure, if it's exists, would go a long way to help.
Set in Virginia along the James River, Eastover Treasures proved to be a surprisingly fun and easy read twining history and the present day to create a treasure hunt. It seemed a little outlandish to think a treasure hidden during the Civil War might still be hidden on a property that had been passed down through the generations, but, that aside, it was fun to follow the clues with Aury and Scott.
I really enjoyed exploring the property and it's history. It seemed a lot of it had been overgrown, which created some interesting challenges for the treasure hunters, but I loved the flipping back and forth in time, getting to see how the first owners built the manor and gardens and rest of the grounds and how the passage of time affected all of it. It felt both serene and bursting at the seams with history.
There are several flashes back to the Civil War years, though I wish there had been more and they had been more fleshed out and longer. While I appreciated that they touched on what life had been like during that time and were full of lifelike hardships and fear, sometimes they felt a little irrelevant, like they were more focused on the feelings of the family and not on how the past really gave rise to the treasure hunt. Overall, I wish they had been more detailed, longer, and more focused on bridging past and present.
The genealogy was fun to follow. It was a sort of treasure hunt on it's own, with Aury, Scott, and Aury's grandmother tracing back from Scott and forward from Mary Townsend, the first mistress of Eastover Manor. When that piece of the story started heating up, the flashes to the past felt more relevant. It was also just a lot of fun to learn the history of a family and what happened to them.
The treasure hunt, though, was first and foremost, though it was lovely to see how the genealogy tied into it. There were so many clues that really were puzzles for Aury and Scott, and me, so I loved getting to read about how they solved them and all the footwork it required to figure out what the property had been like generations before, as well as what some of the clues could possibly have been referencing. As I mentioned, there's no villain, no real tension, but always wondering if this clue might be the one to lead them to any treasure gave it a shadow of tension. There were times when I thought some shadowy figure would pop out and drop a surprise on them, but Eastover Treasures really is, at it's heart, a treasure hunt.
Aury and Scott could not have been better treasure hunting partners. They're not exactly young, but I loved the zest they had for following the clues, for discovering more about the property and Scott's family. They worked brilliantly together and seemed to be having such a good time working together. The romance is very light and predictable, but very natural and realistic.
I do wish there had been more quilting going on, more about how quilting is done, but the focus is on the hunt and the quilting retreat was a good excuse. It did play a nice role in the story, but was, overall, smaller than I expected. Initially, I wasn't sure who was going to be taking part, so was worried I'd have to keep track of over a dozen ladies who blurred together in the first few pages, so I was really delighted by how the whole story unfolded, even if it was quite different from how I expected.
Eastover Treasures isn't your traditional kind of mystery, cozy or otherwise. Since it doesn't involve an actual crime, I was able to just focus on the treasure hunt and the history, which worked really well together. This is a delightful, quick, easy read that's more about following clues and history to help a family.
Thank you to Dawn Brotherton for a review copy. All opinions expressed are my own.
August 17, 2021
I am such a sucker for a good historical fiction book. Throw in a little romance in there and I’m totally sold lol
This book is unique and I’ve never read anything like it before. It was the perfect mix of mystery, romance, and even humor! I was so glued to the pages, and I loved the treasure hunt aspect of the book because it kept me on my toes and also made me wonder what the next clue was going to be!
I definitely recommend reading if you’re an avid casual reader looking for another story to get lost in!
This book is unique and I’ve never read anything like it before. It was the perfect mix of mystery, romance, and even humor! I was so glued to the pages, and I loved the treasure hunt aspect of the book because it kept me on my toes and also made me wonder what the next clue was going to be!
I definitely recommend reading if you’re an avid casual reader looking for another story to get lost in!
May 9, 2023
Unlike most mysteries this one is not primarily concerned with a dead body. It is centered around a treasure hunt. When Aury and her quilting group are holding their annual get together to work on their quilts interrupted a hurricane hits the place they are staying. Mostly felling trees no one is hurt but the damage created forces them to leave their rooms and go to the sturdier but boarded up old manor house on the property. While there they stumble upon a treasure hunt made by the woman who lived at the house, during the Civil War, for her children. One clue leads to the location of another clue and the women wonder what the mother could have hidden away. The story goes back and forth between modern day and the 1860s so even though the quilters never get the whole story the reader does in this nice cozy read.
August 3, 2025
🧬🧬🧬🧬 🧬
I met Dawn Brotherton at a farmers market and she was SO kind and has so many things to share!
Eastover Treasures is the first book in a cozy mystery series; no sex, no murder, no abuse-this would typically be a HUGE turn off for me but I promised to give her a chance. Albeit not having those things, it was really good and captured my attention. It was also a quick read and had short chapters which helped. It dove into genealogy, which I always have found so fascinating, especially because things were so different generations ago. This book reminds me of a sweet read that I wish I could share with my sweet Grammie. We would’ve really enjoyed to read this one together. I recommend to those that have a sweet Grammie that is the reason for your reading addiction as was mine. I also recommend for younger audiences, since it’s a cleaner read. I recommend to anyone that needs something lighter for a change. I’m moving to #2…….
A book about a group of ladies on a quilting retreat. Bad weather rolls in and they go searching for cover. They come across a beautiful old vacant house. It’s full of warm quilts and so many old books. One book is from so many years ago and seems to be someone’s journal. After diving a little bit deeper, they find themselves on a treasure hunt from back during the war. What could they find? Is the treasure still there?
I met Dawn Brotherton at a farmers market and she was SO kind and has so many things to share!
Eastover Treasures is the first book in a cozy mystery series; no sex, no murder, no abuse-this would typically be a HUGE turn off for me but I promised to give her a chance. Albeit not having those things, it was really good and captured my attention. It was also a quick read and had short chapters which helped. It dove into genealogy, which I always have found so fascinating, especially because things were so different generations ago. This book reminds me of a sweet read that I wish I could share with my sweet Grammie. We would’ve really enjoyed to read this one together. I recommend to those that have a sweet Grammie that is the reason for your reading addiction as was mine. I also recommend for younger audiences, since it’s a cleaner read. I recommend to anyone that needs something lighter for a change. I’m moving to #2…….
A book about a group of ladies on a quilting retreat. Bad weather rolls in and they go searching for cover. They come across a beautiful old vacant house. It’s full of warm quilts and so many old books. One book is from so many years ago and seems to be someone’s journal. After diving a little bit deeper, they find themselves on a treasure hunt from back during the war. What could they find? Is the treasure still there?
January 24, 2023
I began reading this book some time ago, and it got misplaced in a bag and I just recently found it again. I enjoyed the story - especially what I assume to be a good bit of history surrounding Eastover. Being from Virginia, AND being a quiltaholic in the nearby area (Gloucester)…I feel certain I know who a couple of those ladies are! The voices are dead on for a couple of them. It was a quick read…and anyone that loves historical books AND quilting will probably enjoy it.
November 1, 2021
Delightful! I thoroughly enjoyed the storyline of quilters getting stranded at a remote retreat during a severe storm, and the unfolding of the treasure hunt based on clues from an old diary found in the Manor House. The story goes back and forth, between the civil war and present, adding a layer of history to the mystery. I loved it!
August 13, 2025
This was a refreshingly light read, perfect for a plane trip. I have met the author personally and I have been at scrapbooking retreats at the former Eastover Retreat Center. Descriptions of familiar places made the dual storyline all the more intriguing. I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews