Book Review: QUILTING CALAMITY - A Quilting Cozy Mystery by Kathryn Mykel

About the Book (from Amazon)

Can Alex untangle the knots before she’s keeled? After the death of her beloved grandmother, Alex Bailey’s life is left in tatters. As she struggles to stitch things back together, she takes solace in one final gift—a cruise—booked before the quilting matriarch's death. 

To weave the quilting community back together, Alex convinces her friends on Spruce Street to join her on the cruise. With all hands on deck, a mysterious quilt, and an unknown destination, she must trust that everything will go according to plan. Until a death onboard the Tranquility puts a wrinkle in Alex’s idyllic quilting vacation. 

Unraveling the mysterious threads that surround the young man’s death, Alex must determine if it's a terrible accident or death by design. Determined to catch the culprit, she loosens the knot of suspicion and provides the bait needed to hook a ruthless killer.

Will Alex be able to follow the pattern and untangle this nautical mystery before there's a storm at sea? 

Review 

Alex isn't too sure about the whole cruise idea but that was what her grandmother (Nona) dictated in death. Nona's best friend, Betty, has all the directions. Only they didn't include a murder on the cruise or indicate who the quilt named "Henrietta" was to go to or what the keys left behind opened. A murder, keys, and a quilt, not to mention the one they're all working on.

The story is well-written and the characters, especially Alex, are likable and down to earth. There are multiple mysteries and although Alex is supposed to be in charge, she doesn't have a clue what Nona had planned. Hopefully, not the murder. The pace is quick and there are times Alex doubts what's happening with no logical explanation.  

This is the second in the series and the first I've read. I enjoyed it, but I think I'd have had a better understanding if I read the first one, first. There are unanswered questions left at the end, though the major issues are addressed. I suspect these and other mysteries are answered in the later books. 

The Quilting Cozy Mysteries

Sewing Suspicion

Quilting Calamity

Pressing Matters

Treading Trouble

Stitching Concerns*

* Available for pre-order; releases August 17, 2023

About the Author 

Inspired by the laugh-out-loud and fanciful aspects of cozies, Kathryn Mykel aims to write lighthearted, humorous mysteries that play on her passion for the craft of quilting. She’s an avid quilter, born and raised in a small New England town. 

For more fun content and new releases go to: www.authorkathrynmykel.com          

Also on:

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/AuthorKathrynMykel Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorkathrynmykel

Blog Tour: KNOT OF THIS WORLD A Quilting Mystery Book 8 by Mary Marks

Synopsis

Quilter Martha Rose must patch together the clues to solve the murder of a cult leader in the California mountains . . .

Has Martha’s fellow quilter and dear friend Birdie Watson become unraveled? Birdie and her new husband have decided to join the Mystical Feather Society, a spiritist group living on a commune in the mountains of Ojai, California. Before her free-spirited friend makes a huge mistake, Martha organizes a surprise visit to check out the commune. While white-robed members conduct a séance in a glass yurt, their leader—Royal St. Germain—is nowhere to be found . . . until, that is, Martha and her friends discover him shot in their Winnebago. Now Martha must track down the killer and debunk the cult—before it's bye bye Birdie . . .

Review

Quilting and sleuthing abound in this cozy mystery with Martha Rose the lead. She has plenty of help with her friends, her fiancé, Crusher, and her FBI friend, John Smith. Old friends are about to give up all their worldly positions and be spirited away to an isolated mountainside. It's rumored that others have gone there, but were never heard from again. She asks her friend, Pauline, a psychic, and another psychic to come with them as they go check out the place. Her intent is to convince her friends, Birdie and Den not to be lured in. A murder does that for her.

There are twists and turns, a lesson in Tarot reading, interpreting aura color, and dealing with police who want nothing to do with psychics. Birdie and Den discover friends from years gone at another commune and extend the welcome mat for them and others who now have nothing. There are many surprises and twists, with things and people not always as they appear. 

This is well-written, with interesting and likable characters. This is the 8th in the Quilting Mystery series, but can easily be read as a stand-alone.  There are mentions of previous homicide investigations Martha has been part of, but only in passing and they don't affect this mystery. If you like cozy mystery, you'll enjoy it. If you like psychics and tarot cards, even better.

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book in the hopes that I would post an honest review. This has not affected the content of my review in any way.

About the Author

Born and raised in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, Mary Marks earned a B.A. in Anthropology from UCLA and an M.A. in Public Administration from the American Jewish University in Los Angeles. In 2004 she enrolled in the UCLA Extension Writers Program. Her first novel, Forget Me Knot, was a finalist in a national writing competition in 2011. She is currently a reviewer of cozy mysteries for The New York Journal of Books at www.nyjournalofbooks.com.
Author Links

Kensington: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781496720511/knot-of-this-world/
Website: https://marymarksmysteries.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mmarks2013

Purchase Links 

Amazon - B&N - Kobo - Google Play - IndieBound 

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