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Stitches In Crime #4
Counted Corpse
The truth shall set her free, but not if someone wants her dead first.
Business has been good for historian Paisley Sutton, but when she goes into her own church parish house to salvage some of the early 20th century fixtures before the building is demolished, she uncovers far more than vintage cabinets. Once the women from church hear about the secrets Paisley is uncovering, they are bound and determined to reveal the truth and unmask a murderer in the process.
Will Paisley and her friends uncover the truth before the cover-up kills them all?
Business has been good for historian Paisley Sutton, but when she goes into her own church parish house to salvage some of the early 20th century fixtures before the building is demolished, she uncovers far more than vintage cabinets. Once the women from church hear about the secrets Paisley is uncovering, they are bound and determined to reveal the truth and unmask a murderer in the process.
Will Paisley and her friends uncover the truth before the cover-up kills them all?
196 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 25, 2021
114 people are currently reading
231 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews
December 20, 2022
A fun audiobook even though it focused on serious social issues. I have never heard of the Monacan native Indians and initially thought it was the American narrator’s accent and that she was saying Mohican, however google came to my assistance. This tribe are known for their agricultural skills, their tribal land is Bear Mountain, Amherst Count but as with all indigenous people, experienced great persecution. The second story thread was also historical and concerned the slave trade. There was mystery, intrigue and eventually the resolution of a cold case murder.
August 18, 2021
I received a free copy of this book from the author and voluntarily reviewed it.
This is such a good cozy mystery series and I excitedly dived into this latest book. Counted Corpse is another great read in this series. I liked how this is mystery is strongly tied in the past and there is a lot that the main character has to uncover. I also like reading about the daily life things. Something about this series just really works for me. This one kept me reading and eager to discover more.
When Paisley is salvaging an old church building she finds the diary of a women who lived there. In the diaries they read that something is buried underneath the church. What follows is an interesting mystery about what happened to the women whose diaries she found, as well as what's buried under the church. Next to that Paisley dives into some research about the past of some families who live there. I liked the mystery, there are plenty if discoveries along the way and I liked feeling like we got a better understanding of what happened and the people who lived here in the past the further I got in the book. I also like how respectfully Paisley handles everything she comes across. This has been a theme over the course of the series. There are some difficult truths and secrets she unearths in this book.
I did struggle a few times keeping track of who is who. There are new characters Paisley meets and then there is the research she's doing about their family which involves four different families and their family members that are by now dead. And it was hard to keep everything straight, especially when all these families are tied together in some ways and some speculations turn to truths and other things change based on what they discover. It was really interesting and I liked how this mystery was so strongly tied in the past, but it could be a tad hard to follow at times. I felt the ending was a bit weak and I wasn't quite sure what to think of it. I felt that the motive for the past and the current events felt a bit off and the last part felt a bit rushed. I also was left with some questions, but maybe I missed something as it was at times hard to keep track of everything.
I really like Paisley as a character. From the way she handles these mysteries to how she interacts with other people. How she's always willing to help to her love for research and stories. I also like how she interacts with her son and the other characters close to her. They really form a tight group and I like how her friends and family are always willing to help. It really is a joy reading about her. I also like her romance with the detective and seeing how it keeps progressing even though they're a couple now.
To summarize: This was another great read in this series. I like how fresh these mysteries feel and the way they often tie in with the past is fascinating. I liked following Paisley along as she gets involved into another mystery. There is quite a lot of research and digging into the past in this one, it was very interesting to follow along and see what they discover. Although at times I had trouble remember who was who as there are a lot of characters both in the present and those in the past and the way they are all tied together. I really liked how this mystery progressed and the way frequently new pieces of information got discovered, it felt like the mystery was constantly moving forward. I did think the ending was a bit abrupt and I didn't really understand why some characters did certain things. Paisley is a great main character and I like reading about her and seeing the way she interacts with those around her and treats everyone with respect. This continues to be an awesome series and is one of my favorite cozie series by now.
This is such a good cozy mystery series and I excitedly dived into this latest book. Counted Corpse is another great read in this series. I liked how this is mystery is strongly tied in the past and there is a lot that the main character has to uncover. I also like reading about the daily life things. Something about this series just really works for me. This one kept me reading and eager to discover more.
When Paisley is salvaging an old church building she finds the diary of a women who lived there. In the diaries they read that something is buried underneath the church. What follows is an interesting mystery about what happened to the women whose diaries she found, as well as what's buried under the church. Next to that Paisley dives into some research about the past of some families who live there. I liked the mystery, there are plenty if discoveries along the way and I liked feeling like we got a better understanding of what happened and the people who lived here in the past the further I got in the book. I also like how respectfully Paisley handles everything she comes across. This has been a theme over the course of the series. There are some difficult truths and secrets she unearths in this book.
I did struggle a few times keeping track of who is who. There are new characters Paisley meets and then there is the research she's doing about their family which involves four different families and their family members that are by now dead. And it was hard to keep everything straight, especially when all these families are tied together in some ways and some speculations turn to truths and other things change based on what they discover. It was really interesting and I liked how this mystery was so strongly tied in the past, but it could be a tad hard to follow at times. I felt the ending was a bit weak and I wasn't quite sure what to think of it. I felt that the motive for the past and the current events felt a bit off and the last part felt a bit rushed. I also was left with some questions, but maybe I missed something as it was at times hard to keep track of everything.
I really like Paisley as a character. From the way she handles these mysteries to how she interacts with other people. How she's always willing to help to her love for research and stories. I also like how she interacts with her son and the other characters close to her. They really form a tight group and I like how her friends and family are always willing to help. It really is a joy reading about her. I also like her romance with the detective and seeing how it keeps progressing even though they're a couple now.
To summarize: This was another great read in this series. I like how fresh these mysteries feel and the way they often tie in with the past is fascinating. I liked following Paisley along as she gets involved into another mystery. There is quite a lot of research and digging into the past in this one, it was very interesting to follow along and see what they discover. Although at times I had trouble remember who was who as there are a lot of characters both in the present and those in the past and the way they are all tied together. I really liked how this mystery progressed and the way frequently new pieces of information got discovered, it felt like the mystery was constantly moving forward. I did think the ending was a bit abrupt and I didn't really understand why some characters did certain things. Paisley is a great main character and I like reading about her and seeing the way she interacts with those around her and treats everyone with respect. This continues to be an awesome series and is one of my favorite cozie series by now.
October 16, 2021
I've read all the books in this series which are available, now I have to wait for the next one to be released in a few weeks! Good thing the latest book in ACF Bookens other great series, St Marins cozy mystery series has just been released.
Paisley Sutton is a single Mum to Sawyer, she has her own business in architectural salvage with an interest in local history and the genealogy which accompanies it, and she's in a relationship with the towns' Sheriff, Santiago Shifflett. She has a great circle of friends including Best Friend, Mika (owner of the yarn store); Mary (local church historian); Mrs Stephenson (retired accountant and Mika's part-time assistant) and Saul (Mika's Uncle and owner of the local demolition team, also Paisleys right hand man). Each of these people play a key role in solving this, and other mysteries.
The Bethel Church is being extended, by way of demolishing the Manse next to it; as Paisley is a member of the congregation, she is asked if she'll salvage 3 or 4 key items for the Church, the rest she can have. Whilst doing this, she and Mary find a stack of hidden journals which point to the fact the Manse may well be built on a Monacan burial site.
If the journals are true, it becomes imperative that the site needs protection as it will need excavating by archaeologists. When it's discovered that the author of the journals died suddenly, is there a murder to solve too?
As the story progresses, we find out more about the plantation houses in the town, and the people who own, and who work in them. Additionally, by way of the genealogy Paisley does, we find how several families are linked generations before, which present day members of those families know nothing about. It's as much of a history book as a cozy mystery.
I thoroughly and completely enjoyed this book, each book in this series betters the last and I'm so looking forward to the next one.
Whilst each book is a standalone mystery, the books are best read in order to preserve continuity of the characters.
If you like this series then I highly recommended the St Marins cozy mystery series by the same author.
Paisley Sutton is a single Mum to Sawyer, she has her own business in architectural salvage with an interest in local history and the genealogy which accompanies it, and she's in a relationship with the towns' Sheriff, Santiago Shifflett. She has a great circle of friends including Best Friend, Mika (owner of the yarn store); Mary (local church historian); Mrs Stephenson (retired accountant and Mika's part-time assistant) and Saul (Mika's Uncle and owner of the local demolition team, also Paisleys right hand man). Each of these people play a key role in solving this, and other mysteries.
The Bethel Church is being extended, by way of demolishing the Manse next to it; as Paisley is a member of the congregation, she is asked if she'll salvage 3 or 4 key items for the Church, the rest she can have. Whilst doing this, she and Mary find a stack of hidden journals which point to the fact the Manse may well be built on a Monacan burial site.
If the journals are true, it becomes imperative that the site needs protection as it will need excavating by archaeologists. When it's discovered that the author of the journals died suddenly, is there a murder to solve too?
As the story progresses, we find out more about the plantation houses in the town, and the people who own, and who work in them. Additionally, by way of the genealogy Paisley does, we find how several families are linked generations before, which present day members of those families know nothing about. It's as much of a history book as a cozy mystery.
I thoroughly and completely enjoyed this book, each book in this series betters the last and I'm so looking forward to the next one.
Whilst each book is a standalone mystery, the books are best read in order to preserve continuity of the characters.
If you like this series then I highly recommended the St Marins cozy mystery series by the same author.
August 31, 2021
Paisley Sutton and her friend Mary Johnson, members of Bethel Church are at the 100 year old home of one of the former pastors of the historical black church. Paisley has a salvage company and they are dismantling the inside of the house for items the church wants to keep for the new addition they plan to build on the land. The demolition crew is coming the following week to take down the building. Paisley and Mary decide to check out the basement and make sure there is nothing there. They discover a storage room beneath the stairs and inside they found several shelves containing the diaries of the pastor's wife. Mary reads a few pages and realizes that the pastor's wife believed that the house was built on an old Native American burial ground and since she died the day she had written that she was going to talk to the church elders, they feel she had probably been murdered to prevent her talking. This new development this will halt the demolition proceedings, so they contact Paisley boyfriend Sheriff Santiago and Mary arranges to meet with the chuch elders to advise them of the find. Paisley calls Saul and tells him that have to halt the demolition until they find out if it is the site of a burial ground. Soon, the Chief of the local Monacan Indian tribe is advised as well a professor at UVA college and a representative of the DAR. Paisley starts to research the ancestors of the people who sold the land to the church for $1.00, making it a non-profit organization. The more she and her friends delve into the history the more they realize that the lives of the Plantation owners and their slaves are closely entwined. Was the pastor's wife murdered and if so by who?
I am voluntarily reviewing this book after receiving it free from the author.
I am voluntarily reviewing this book after receiving it free from the author.
September 9, 2021
Paisley Sutton and her friend Mary come across several old journals as they make a final walk through a manse that is about to be demolished. The contents of those journals leads to the mystery surrounding a death nearly 100 years earlier. It also lead to many questions about the land the manse was built on and the family histories of several people in the town. Not to mention that the manse may have been built on an indigenous burial site. Paisley begins to research the circumstances and the people involved in this history to find out who killed the woman who wrote the journals and why.
A slightly different take on the usual mystery as this tends to be more historic but it raises a lot of interesting and also heartbreaking truths of history involving the black and indigenous communities over the last 150 or so years.
I'd like to have given this a full 5 stars but I came across a few places where the wrong characters name was used, a couple of spelling errors and a bit of confusing sequence near the end. It was still an interesting read but I can only give this 4 stars.
A slightly different take on the usual mystery as this tends to be more historic but it raises a lot of interesting and also heartbreaking truths of history involving the black and indigenous communities over the last 150 or so years.
I'd like to have given this a full 5 stars but I came across a few places where the wrong characters name was used, a couple of spelling errors and a bit of confusing sequence near the end. It was still an interesting read but I can only give this 4 stars.
January 13, 2025
Interesting story with complicated family tree made more complicated by clear errors in editing (in my edition). Some names switched (e,g, at one place "Saul" when it should have been"Saw" and mixing up "Nick" and "Levi"). Because the family tree was complicated it became more challenging when it seemed to me that the men in one line were given different numbers in different places (#3, #5 etc.). Nevertheless, Bookens does a interesting job in her books at addressing social issues and she did that here. The reasons behind actions weren't always clear and led to surprising twists. As others had said for her books, there is a fair amount of time spent on child caring, but I actually enjoy the supportive relationships in the book. Many caring people helping Paisley and each other.
August 5, 2021
The best novel yet! A fascinating insight into the lives of slaves and how actions from the past have consequences in the present. Written with her usual compassion, Ms. Bookens brings family history alive and shows how families can be connected without their knowledge. There is also the fact that some people want their history to be suppressed and will go to any lengths to cover up both good and bad events. Highly recommended, even to those who have not read the previous books in this series. A must read. Put it on your list folks!
September 7, 2021
Fun read
Love this book. This ancestral search for truth is woven into the everyday life of Paisley, a single Mom trying to make sense of the world around her. Uncovering one clue after another she unravels the mysteries hidden in generations past with the help of her local sheriff boyfriend, irrepressible young son Sawyer and a rich cast of characters. This Book 4 in what will be a 6 book series had me falling in love even deeper with the characters and I can’t wait for Book 5!
Love this book. This ancestral search for truth is woven into the everyday life of Paisley, a single Mom trying to make sense of the world around her. Uncovering one clue after another she unravels the mysteries hidden in generations past with the help of her local sheriff boyfriend, irrepressible young son Sawyer and a rich cast of characters. This Book 4 in what will be a 6 book series had me falling in love even deeper with the characters and I can’t wait for Book 5!
July 30, 2021
Ms. Bookens puts a lot of research into her novels and this fact turns a cozy mystery into a more serious and compelling novel - and none more so than Counted Corpse. Enlightening information about slavery in Virginia and the many steps it takes for Paisley and friends to unravel the story of one valiant woman from the past to bring the present lives of many into the open. A WOW of a book.
Superbly written and Very Highly Recommended.
Superbly written and Very Highly Recommended.
August 5, 2021
Paisley is salvaging items from her own church before a building is demolished. A hidden door leads to old diaries that might detail a hidden burial ground. Research ensues and leads to a lot more than first expected. A lot of this book is about researching the history of the town, the church, and its people and slavery from over 100 years ago, and how people were treated. If you like historical information and research, this book is for you.
August 9, 2021
I thoroughly loved this story! Its familiar characters, along with some new ones, pull us back into Paisley's world of architectural salvage. The intricate plot is full of great twists and turns that kept me reading well past bedtime. I simply couldn't put it down!
I voluntarily read an Advance Reader Copy of this excellent book and highly recommend it to anyone who loves a great story. I can't wait for release day to get a copy of my own!
I voluntarily read an Advance Reader Copy of this excellent book and highly recommend it to anyone who loves a great story. I can't wait for release day to get a copy of my own!
November 3, 2021
Paisley and her friend Mary discover journals written by the pastor's wife 100 years ago. The pastor's wife had discovered a secret and the day she was going to tell the secret, she died. This book is very interesting. Paisley and her friends research the genealogy of the church members as they unravel the secrets. I recommend this book to anyone and I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
I received a free copy of this book.
I received a free copy of this book.
August 6, 2021
This is different than the other books that I've read by this author, but just as good. Paisley didn't find a dead body as soon as she started salvaging. You never know what Paisley might find. When you read this story, you can imagine yourself being there.
I received an ARC, and this is my honest opinion.
I received an ARC, and this is my honest opinion.
August 19, 2023
Paisley is salvaging the parish home of her local African-American community church when she sees a series of diaries that hunt to a buried past. Stories of hidden Native American burial grounds, former slave owning plantation workings, and a family that loved one another despite societies expectations are unraveled in this book.
Definitely my favorite of the series - 4/5
Definitely my favorite of the series - 4/5
August 3, 2021
I received a free advance review copy of this book and am voluntarily providing my honest review. WOW, Bookens just keeps getting better and better. Paisley has a new salvage job that leads to uncovering secrets that have been buried for years. I really liked this book and recommend it.
August 28, 2021
I like that this is a historical mystery rather than having the main character find another dead body in a building she’s salvaging. It made the story feel fresh and I enjoyed how everyone pitched in to help with the research. An engrossing story with well written characters.
September 19, 2021
Uncovering the truth of the past
I love history and this story was about the past and secrets that still were part of the present.
Uncovering diaries written by a past pastor's wife and what she knew about the people of the community lead to her death. All the talk about families and family trees makes me what to research my family. What secrets does the family trees of the town hold and why does it still need to be protected.
I love history and this story was about the past and secrets that still were part of the present.
Uncovering diaries written by a past pastor's wife and what she knew about the people of the community lead to her death. All the talk about families and family trees makes me what to research my family. What secrets does the family trees of the town hold and why does it still need to be protected.
October 17, 2021
Great series. If you enjoy reading about people their histories mysteries and great characters then
If you love people and their histories this is a great series. The characters are I detest
this is the series for you. Fun read. !oved it!
If you love people and their histories this is a great series. The characters are I detest
this is the series for you. Fun read. !oved it!
September 16, 2022
Salvage your way into a great cozy
Booker's choice of centering her mysteries around Paisley Sutton's salvage business just opens a world of possibilities. The multi generation, multi cultural mysteries in this novel are entertaining and offer glimpse of worlds past.
Booker's choice of centering her mysteries around Paisley Sutton's salvage business just opens a world of possibilities. The multi generation, multi cultural mysteries in this novel are entertaining and offer glimpse of worlds past.
August 24, 2025
complicated read
Enjoyed this book mostly but did find it to be a bit complicated. All the family tree issues were so intertwined it was hard to keep straight. Kinda exhausting to read
Enjoyed this book mostly but did find it to be a bit complicated. All the family tree issues were so intertwined it was hard to keep straight. Kinda exhausting to read
August 26, 2021
I really enjoy this series and I love all the history things that I learn as well. A great read.
August 26, 2021
I loved this book. It had just the right amount of everything for a great cozy mystery. The characters, the town and the mysteries were wonderful to visit.
August 26, 2021
I loved this book and the characters. Even though I was given a copy of this book by the author, it in no way influenced my opinion and this is my honest review.
September 14, 2021
The history and genealogy described are extremely interesting. The friendships described even more so. I highly recommend this book.
September 17, 2021
A book of mysterious secrets & forgotten history surrounding racism. have rated a strong 4 if the Native American aspect didn’t feel cast aside.
May 28, 2022
Meh. The story doesn’t make sense. Also, nobody is this nice and a whole town is ESPECIALLY not.
August 8, 2022
The Basement Book
Loved the twists and turns. Since I’m a Native, It was good to see them involved. Would have liked to hear more.
Loved the twists and turns. Since I’m a Native, It was good to see them involved. Would have liked to hear more.
December 21, 2022
Wonderful
I love these books. The completely different story lines and the interesting history without going into too much detail. Great!!
I love these books. The completely different story lines and the interesting history without going into too much detail. Great!!
May 1, 2023
I love the history that they bring into these books but I also like when the mystery is a little creepier and scary like book 1.
September 6, 2023
Okay, but she's getting kind of preachy.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 40 reviews