Murder by Artifact: The Murder Quilt

Theo and Tony Abernathy Mystery #2

by Barbara Graham

A sweltering heat wave strieks the Smoky Mountains and combines with cold cases of murder, producing work Sheriff Tony Abernathy doesn't want. He discovers evil in his little county. No one is safe. As he and his tiny force dig into the facts, the pieces don't fit.

Lawn ornaments vanish each night.

An anonymous person mails Tony notes and newspaper clippings about people who disappeared twenty years ago. Baffled, Tony finds himself pulled in many directions, including Ohio, searching for answers.

His wife Theo takes time from designing a new mystery quilt to examine the "murder quilt," an antique donated to the new folk museum.

Following the tangled threads of cold cases and new ones, Tony learns the power of history. A single quilt has links to tow murdered women. Tony finds more questions than answers. Why was Queen Doreen, the mayor's unpopular wife, at the museum after closing? Who used an antique flax hackle to killer her?

Juggling diverse cases while dealing with the crotchety, cantankerous, adoring and dangerous residents of his small county sends Tony in search of antacides and leaves him little time to watch his children play baseball. Just when it looks like he has things under control, they get worse.

Murder by Artifact is an entetaining small town mystery-pieced together with oddball characters.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction

309 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

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

[Joy Gerbode · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a typical "cozy" mystery ... it's a bit on the gruesome side and leans more toward a thriller, but not quite there either. I wasn't really enjoying the book, until an very unexpected twist made it all suddenly quite interesting. Although I didn't care for the depth of the mystery, it was very easy to read and certainly kept me interested.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Small-county sheriff Tony Abernathy is mildly concerned with the theft of lawn ornaments plaguing his town when he starts to receive anonymous letters that may be connected with some old bones recently found. What he finds out about the letters shocks him, but he doesn't have tine to work on that case long before a more current murder occurs, a murder that takes a bizarre and revealing new turn at the victim's funeral. Meanwhile, Tony's wife, quilt shop owner Theo, is disturbed by the friendly advances of a high school acquaintance, a woman who seems to be privy to a joke that Theo can't recognize.

[Georgiann Hennelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun mystery about a small town. County sheriff Tony Abernathy is mildly concerned about the theft of lawn ornaments. When he starts to recieve anonymous letters about some old bones, recently found. What he finds out about the letters shocks him. But than another murder occurs. Mean while , Tony,s wife, Theo is disturbed by the friendly advances of a high school acquaintance, a women who seems to be privy to a joke. That Theo doesn,t understand.

[Alicia Olson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main characters Tony and Theo are husband and wife. Their names are similar and for me, it was confusing sometimes tk tell who was narrating. The story was hard to get into. Neither the characters nor the writing were very exciting to me. I wouldn't read this author again, as it's not my style.

[Val · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't forget to breathe. Seriously, I was edge of the seat, holding my breath and giving the you try to talk to me while I'm reading and your toast look during almost the entire book. (Even though I read this book 2 years ago its like reading it for the first time.)

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read….tho it is set in Tennessee during a heat wave…and we are in the middle of a heat wave! Some great plot points and twists…now I need the first one to read! I’ll read more books by the author…

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

A light mystery set in a small town of interesting characters.

[Val · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVED IT!!😍 I haven't laughed this hard in a long time😂 serious at times but it was GREAT!

[Gale Penton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am really loving this series. The characters are very colorful. It gripped me from the start

[Rosemarie Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great easy read, love the town characters

[Dawn Fortenberry · Rating 4 out of 5]

a very interesting cozy mystery. read it all in one day! :)

[Johnna · Rating 4 out of 5]

happened upon this book at a yardsale and was really surprised.....It is very good!

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I picked it up based on recommendations from DorothyL and the fact that the author lives in Wyoming, which is right next door. I'll admit I was expecting a series set in this area (lots of quilters here) but I'm okay with the Smokey Mountains.

Tony Abernathy is the Sheriff and Theo is his wife. He works on the crimes and she does the quilting. When the two collide, murder becomes tightly entangled with their life on an all too personal level.

There were plenty of twists and turns while Tony tries to solve the murder. Theo is confronted by someone she didn't much care for in her childhood and is busy running her quilting shop and raising her pair of boys. Tony has a large family, all of whom seem to play a part in the weaving of this tale.

The setting was marvelous and the characters all seemed to step off the pages fully developed. I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 3 stars are an average. I would have given the story and writing style 1 star, but a "mystery" quilt pattern was included in the book, unbeknownst to me! I decided to give the quilt a try and it turned out great, very easy and fast, like 1 day fast. For that, it would have received 5 stars, but the story was abysmal.

Back story...the main character is a quilter and her husband is the police chief. He is asking questions of a suspect and wants to know why the suspect was out of town. She says, "I'm taking private quilting lessons from a woman over there." He says, "Why not have my wife teach you?" She says, "It's a matter of pride. I want to be an accomplished quilter before I ask if I can join your wife's quilting group. Your wife is my quilting goddess. I'm not fit to share the air she breathes."

That was the best and pretty much only good part of the book.

[Lynda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried really hard to like this book but it was no use. It had a good premise - small town policeman married to a quilter in charge of a small local museum (sounds like a takeoff on the Bennie Harper series by Earlene Fowler). There were too many silly characters and situations to allow the reader to care about the murder. Not worth the time reading.

[Maggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quilter Theo and her sheriff husband Tony are initially stumped by the death of the mayor's unpopular wife. As they work out the details, a chilling picture forms and the killer comes after Theo. This delightful cozy is set in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. Author Barbara Graham has captured the essence of a small town, a good cop, and an unsinkable sleuth.

[Linda Smatzny · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the second book in the Quilted Mystery series. In this book,Sheriff Tony Abernathy, is trying to solve several different cases. One case ends up having his wife kidnapped and left for dead before Tony finds her and sets a trap to catch the murderer. This book is really about Tony & his work. Theo who owns a quilt shop is not the main focus. Easy read.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A small Tennessee town has a nice quilt shop. The owner, Theo is married to the Sheriff. Theo had found a skeleton in the park, but no one new who was missing.
Sheriff gets odd msgs start to arrive at the Sheriffs department, the msg there is more! And off the mystery goes, who is dead, where are they and who dun it.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book and want to read the rest of her series. The characters are so real that I feel like they are my friends. Tony and Theo have a great relationship. Their extended family is fun, too. The plot was intricate and fast paced. I liked the humor, too. I need that in most books that I read.

[Mascanlon · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Graham's quirky second quilting mystery to feature Sheriff Marc Antony Tony Abernathy (after 2007's Murder by Serpents), what appears to be the stabbed corpse of Queen Doreen, the despised wife of the mayor of Silersville, Tenn., turns up under a murder quilt (an antique quilt with bloodstains

[Bonnie Drummond · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one was really great to read Barbara Graham did a wonderful job in writing this series. Miser By Artifact:Murder Quilt Mystery book#2 in the series Theo and Tony Abernathy Mystery was a mix of fast pace and middle frustration as to know who killed who.

[Barb · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun cozy mystery with characters you could meet in many small towns!

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, another great Shelton story!!

[Susan Earle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Read it all in one day. Nice balance of tension and humour.

[Katie Sunsdahl · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is the second book I have read by her- really enjoy the books

[Chickenlips422 · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a good read.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

a little surprise at chapter 17

[Cita Zelenak]

Like the small town mystery.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick read, fun concept. Loved the references to places and things I am so fammiliar with