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Quilting Cozy Mysteries…November 9, 2007
Quilting has become a very popular theme in cozy mysteries, and rightfully so! Many more people are now enjoying quilting as a favorite hobby, and even more are reading cozy mysteries!
Isabella Alan (aka Amanda Flower) writes the Amish Quilt Shop Mystery Series. Angela Braddock inherits the quilt shop and sleuths, as well.
Lizbie Brown writes the Elizabeth Blair Mystery Series, which is set in Bath, England… where Brown resides.
Vannetta Chapman writes the Shipshewana Mystery Series, starring the owner of a quilt shop, set in the Amish Indiana town of Shipshewana.
The Elm Creek Quilts Series is not a mystery series but it is very popular with quilters, as well as non-quilters! This series is written by Jennifer Chiaverini. Chiaverini also has accompanying instructional books that feature the quilts in the novels.
Elizabeth Craig (aka Riley Adams & Elizabeth Spann Craig) writes the Southern Quilting Mystery Series, which is set in North Carolina.
Earlene Fowler writes the Benni Harper Mystery Series. Each of the novels is named after a different quilt pattern.
Sara Hoskinson Frommer writes the Joan Spencer Mystery Series. While the series is not a quilting mystery series, the second book in the series is called Buried in Quilts.
Sally Goldenbaum writes the Queen Bees Quilt Mystery Series AND the Seaside Knitters Mystery Series which is set in a Massachusetts coastal town.
Mary Marks writes the Martha Rose Quilting Mystery Series, which features a plus-sized quilter in California.
Clare O’Donohue writes the Someday Quilts Mystery Series. O’Donohue is an ex-journalist and writing teacher who has worked for the HGTV network on the “Simply Quilts” show. She mixes quilting with romance and mystery.
The Patchwork Mystery Series is a Guidepost mystery series which will have, as its sleuth, a woman who is good with the needle AND who is good at solving mysteries.
Emilie Richards writes the Ministry is Murder Mystery Series. She also writes a non-mystery series which is called the Shenandoah Valley Series. The novels in this quilting series are named after different quilting patterns, and they have accompanying books that Leisure Arts publishes which actually have the directions for the quilts featured in the Shenandoah Valley Series. I think that’s very clever…. and only wish that I quilted!
Arlene Sachitano writes the Harriet Truman Loose Threads Mystery Series. Harriet inherits a quilting shop…
Terri Thayer writes the Quilting Mystery Series, which features a computer technician who inherits a quilt shop.
Vineyard Quilt Mystery Series: This no-profanity series is set in Missouri and is published by the Annie’s Crafts Company. Several authors write this series.
October 18, 2007
This entry includes the mystery books whose authors include some type of needlework as a theme:
Barbara Bretton: Chloe Hobbs’ Paranormal Mystery Series… Chloe is one half sorceress and owns the Sticks & Strings Knitting Shop in Vermont…
Janet Bolin: Threadville Mystery Series… Willow owns a “high-tech” embroidery shop…
Anne Canadeo: Black Sheep Knitting Mystery Series… Maggie Messina owns the Black Sheep Knitting Shop in Massachusetts. (Canadeo co-authors the Cape Light Series with Thomas Kinkade.)
Elizabeth Lynn Casey (aka Laura Bradford): Southern Sewing Circle Mystery Series… Tori Sinclair is a librarian/sleuth who is also a member of the Sewing Circle in South Carolina…
Monica Ferris writes the Needlecraft Mystery Series. Betsy Devonshire inherits the Crewel World needlework/yarn shop. Not only does she have to learn about needlework from the ground up, she also has to solve mysteries. I love that Ferris’s books are usually stocked in needlepoint shops where needle-pointers can be introduced to cozy mysteries!
Sally Goldenbaum has the Seaside Knitters Mystery Series, in which Izzy Chambers owns the Seaside Knitting Studio in Massachusetts… where she not only sells beautiful yarn… but also sleuths.
Betty Hechtman writes the Crochet Mystery Series, and is herself hooked on Crocheting. And, for those crocheters out there… She even includes a crochet pattern in each of her mysteries! Hechtman also writes the Yarn Retreat Mystery Series, which features a dessert chef who inherits a yarn retreat business.
Kate Jacobs is a New York Times bestselling author who writes a non-mystery series called the Friday Night Knitting Club, which features a yarn shop owner and her knitting circle.
Mary Kruger is another author who sets her cozy mystery series amongst the world of deeply hued yarns…. Ari Evans owns the Ariadne’s Web knitting shop in this cozy series.
Amanda Lee (aka Ruth Glick & Rebecca York) writes the Embroidery Mystery Series which takes place in Oregon, and features the owner of the embroidery shop. As Glick she writes cookbooks, specializing in cuisine for Diabetics. As York she writes the paranormal Moon Series.
Molly MacRae writes the Haunted Yarn Shop Mystery Series. The sleuth inherits her grandmother’s wool shop, and an unexpected ghost.
Jaime Marsman: Crabapple Yarns Mystery Series
Carol Ann Martin writes the Weaving Mystery Series. Della Wright teaches weaving in a shop she owns.
Cate Price write the Deadly Notions Mystery Series. Daisy Buchanan is a retired teacher who currently manages the Great Notion Sewing and Antiques Shop in a quaint town in Pennsylvania.
Does the House of Lambspun sound like a yarn shop to you? It should! It is the name of the shop where Maggie Sefton‘s cozy mystery sleuth (Kelly Flynn) learns how to knit.
One of the site’s readers (a very helpful librarian, Janet) told me about a new cozy mystery series that should be out pretty soon: Betty Hechtman‘s series is a cozy crochet mystery. (I have her listed above.)
And, as Janet reminded me…. Miss Marple knits!
The Annie’s Attic Mystery Series is a series of mysteries that feature a woman crocheter who has inherited her grandmother’s old home, and who ends up finding all sorts of puzzling items in the attic, which then lead her to solve different mysteries with the help of her friends.