Book Review: Death Among the Doilies by Mollie Cox Bryan

For thirty-something blogger Cora Chevalier, small-town Indigo Gap, North Carolina, seems like the perfect place to reinvent her life. Shedding a stressful past as a counselor for a women’s shelter, Cora is pouring all her talents—and most of her savings—into a craft retreat business, with help from close pal and resident potter Jane Starr. Between transforming her Victorian estate into a crafter’s paradise and babysitting Jane’s daughter, the new entrepreneur has no time for distractions. Especially rumors about the murder of a local school librarian . . .

But when Jane’s fingerprints match those found at the grisly crime scene, Cora not only worries about her friend, but her own reputation. With angry townsfolk eager for justice and both Jane’s innocence and the retreat at risk, she must rely on her creative chops to unlace the truth behind the beloved librarian’s disturbing demise. Because if the killer’s patterns aren’t pinned, Cora’s handiwork could end up in stitches . . .[summary via Amazon]

In the first book in the Cora Crafts Mystery, Cora Chevalier is setting up for her first craft retreat. This go awry when her best friend, Jane Starr, is accused of murdering the school librarian, Sarah Waters. Cora knows gentle Jane couldn’t possibly have murdered Sarah, and sets about trying to find out the real killer.

This is the second “crafting-themed retreat” mystery series I’ve read, and where the other one fell flat for me, this one was an absolute home run.

I quickly got engrossed in Cora’s back story, where she was a social worker at a women’s shelter, and that is where she met Jane. When the anxiety of the job became too much for Cora, she turned to crafting and blogging about crafting. In my own personal life of sewing, knitting and crocheting, I see this so often, and I’m glad to see this mentioned in the story. Crafting really helps us get through so much, and keeps our hands busy! Jane refers to Cora as a “creative warrior” and I absolutely love this phrase. It perfectly describes many group of crafters, both in the book and in my own crafting circles. We are all crafty warriors!

The mystery was very detailed. I liked that as I delved further into the mystery, I learned more about Cora, Jane and Ruby, who is a herbalist and lives with Cora and Jane. We also learn about other residents of Indigo Gap, and it gave me a feeling that I absolutely can’t wait to visit again.

Death Among the Doilies was such a great debut in the Cora Crafts Mysteries. I can’t wait to return to Indigo Gap, and pick up with the lives (and adventures) of Cora, Jane and Ruby.