In Heartsford, Wisconsin, townsfolk are getting ready for the annual winter festival, the Fire & Ice event. However, the evening turns deadly when local quilter, Wanda Wadsworth, is discovered dead in Sammy Kane's shop, Community Craft. Together with her sister, Ellie, and cousin, Heidi, Sammy decides their detective trio (named S.H.E.) must put their heads together to solve the crime!

Oh, how much I loved A Crafter Quilts a Crime! This was my first trip to Heartsford, Wisconsin, but it most certainly won't be my last. Heartsford is full of the cozy town charm, that all cozy mystery readers love. I quickly became smitten with the cutesy-named shops and their occupants. However, one step inside Community Crafts and my crafty soul was singing for joy! I loved the mix of crafts and the community atmosphere, and I could just imagine myself sitting down with my quilting and ready to listen to all the gossip.

Of course the real reason we pick up cozy mysteries is for the mystery... and this one left me absolutely stumped! I couldn't figure out who would want Wanda dead. She seemed sweet enough, if a bit of a "health nut", and certainly not someone I'd pick for an early grave! When the final denouement was unravelled I let out a little gasp!

With a charming town and a thrilling page-turner of a mystery, A Crafter Quilts a Crime was a 5-star read for me. I leapt into this series with this book, and I didn't feel lost at all. I liked that I was able to dive right in. By the end of the book I felt like I need more of the S.H.E. gang and will definitely be reading their earlier adventures.

A Crafter Quilts a Crime is recommended for fans of "crafty" cozies and those that are looking for a good mystery to read by the fire in these chilly February days!

This is the 3rd installment of the Handcrafted Mystery series. Sammy Kane runs the Community Craft shop in Heartsford Wisconsin and the town is gearing up for their Fire and Ice event in January which brings everyone into town for shopping and a giant bonfire. To draw attention to her store, Sammy has come up with the idea to have a “live” mannequin in her store window and each person has to sit in the window for 20 minutes and the best mannequin is voted on by the public. Sammy’s cousin Heidi is the first up and dresses up in an ice queen costume and is great. Wanda a regular quilter in the store is up next but is a little under the weather but sits on a seat with a quilt on her lap. As people are outside checking the store window they are in awe that she has not moved at all. Heidi notices her lips are blue and immediately calls 911 and starts CPR (Heidi is a nurse). Wanda does not make it and at first everyone assumes she must have had a heart attack. Wanda’s husband is missing and it is learned she died of poisoning. Sammy finds a weird quote hidden in the quilt Wanda was holding and can’t figure out what it means. The ladies decide to visit Wanda’s brother Jackson on his farm to offer condolences and to deliver a casserole when Jackson receives a ransom note for Marty. They promise not to tell the police but they give him 24 hours to figure out what to do. The ladies decide they are going to break into Wanda and Marty’s house to see if there is anything in there to help clear Randy (Ellie’s husband) and the realtor on the house. Detective Nash has indicated that he is going to be brought in for questioning. Detective Nash warns Sammy to stay away from it but Ellie is determined to clear her husband. After the S.H.E’s (Sammy, Heidi and Ellie) barely escape getting caught at the house both Detective Nash and Officer Tim (Heidi’s boyfriend) arrive at Sammy’s house. They tell them what they know about the kidnapping and Nash gives Sammy a real hard time and Tim breaks up with Heidi. The FBI are called in for the kidnapping and Sammy really needs to stay out of it or risk getting arrested. Another snowstorm comes in and Sammy decides to close the store and head home and work on the quilt angle when she sees Marty at his house. She stops to talk to him and he kidnaps her. Fortunately the S.H.E’s eventually find her the next day and Sammy fills in Detective Nash and Tim on everything that happened. This is a good solid cozy and you think you have figured it out then another clue takes you in another direction. I really like the characters and I am glad Sammy and Liam finally get their stuff together. I hope there are more in this series.

Dollycas's Thoughts 

Welcome to winter in Wisconsin and the fictional town of Heartford where the residents are celebrating with the annual Fire & Ice event. The shops are open late and the evening will conclude with a giant bonfire.  Sammy Kane wants her shop Community Craft to really stand out and bring in the customers so she has asked a few of her crafters to take part in a "live" mannequin contest. The front window is all decked out and ready for the crafters to take a starring role.

Wanda Wadsworth is ready to shine, she even brought one of her quilts to feature. She immediately captures the attention of the audience as she remains completely frozen in her pose as people do their darndest to disrupt her performance. When someone suddenly notices Wanda's lips turning blue people jump into action but it is too late. Then when police try to notify the husband of her passing they find the man is missing.

Detective Liam Nash warns Sammy to stay out of the case but soon she, her cousin, Heidi, and her sister, Ellie, the ladies of S.H.E. are bustling around in the cold and snow trying to find the killer. Things start to heat up as the killer is close on their tail.

_____

This is such a fun series. I have come to think of the main characters as friends and they have their share of strife this time as they don their Nancy Drew hats to try to find who killed their friend. These characters are relatable and believable and continue to evolve over the course of the story. I do like the way the girls work together and that they each have their own strengths. All the characters presented in the story are well crafted but again the four-legged one steals my heart.

The story is very fast-paced with plenty of twists. Sammy's drive for the truth gets her in trouble making for some very tense moments. There is a nice blend of daily life with the mystery and a real community feel over the whole book. I liked the way the crafting group came together with an idea to remember and honor the friend they had lost. What I really enjoyed most was something people see all over the state of Wisconsin have a new purpose when it comes to solving the mystery.

As a Wisconsin resident, Holly Quinn really brought a real Wisconsin winter to this story. The frigid cold, the blowing, and drifting snow. Waiting for the roads to get plowed noting that for some it can be a long wait. Also showing that snow is not the be-all and end-all. After being cooped up with kids after a snow day, moms will plow through the snow themselves to get to a craft meeting to converse with adults, drink hot chocolate that may include alcohol, and nosh on homemade treats for a few hours before heading back to fray at home ready for anything.

I do love the way this author tells a story. A Crafter Quilts a Crime is quite entertaining and checks all my cozy boxes. I truly can't for the next book!

I have read book two (A Crafter Hooks a Killer) in this fabulous cozy mystery series, so I was absolutely delighted to be given the opportunity to read this third book - A Crafter Quilts a Crime. Just like book two, it has a little bit of everything on offer - a quaint setting in a quiet(?!) village, a cute craft shop, a knitting shop, and a bakery selling delicious cakes, cookies and hot chocolate. Perfect.

I loved the story-line -the plot was so engaging, the pacing was perfect and I was totally engrossed from the first few pages. For anyone starting the ‘Handcrafted Mystery’ series from book three, it shouldn't be a problem as plenty of back-story is given where needed and this did not interrupt the flow of the mystery.

The writing style of Holly Quinn is great for me! There is a good combination of descriptive passages to dialogue. The characters are all very interesting with their own personalities and foibles. My favourites are the protagonist, Sammy and the handsome detective, Liam Nash, with his smouldering, chocolate-brown eyes. Sammy herself comes across as fun-loving, effervescent and very down-to-earth and it was marvellous to be back in her hometown of Heartsford, Wisconsin, even though a murder had just taken place and it was freezing cold and snowing.

There is a good mix of general village life to the mystery and I was with Sammy all the way, as well as Heidi, and her sister, Ellie, who have reconvened their detective team, S.H.E. as they tried to figure out the identity of the perpetrator. I remained in the dark until the very exciting and fulfilling ending.

I will be reading book one in the series - A Crafter Knits a Clue - as soon as I get the opportunity.

If cozies are one of your genres of choice, you really must read A Crafter Quilts a Crime.

A Crafter Quilts a Crime by Holly Quinn is such an incredible mystery filled with family love, town pride, and revenge.

Will S.H.E. figure out what happened to Wanda before they share her fate?

Sammy owns the Community Craft Store. One of her live window mannequins dies during the town's Fire and Ice Festival, which leaves Sammy at a loss and her curious nature in overdrive. So, she invokes the powers of S.H.E. to figure out what happened to Wanda and where is Wanda's husband Marty.

In this installment, there are some substantial personal changes for Samantha, Heidi, and Ellie. I don't want to spoil anything, but...Yay! It doesn't matter what the girls get into; they always have each other's back. You can see how much they love each other. However, these girls continually manage to get themselves into trouble. I know they don't go looking for dead bodies, but the girls find them just the same.

Mystery
A friend dies, and her husband is missing, a coincidence, or did he kill his wife? And where is the husband? These are the questions that Sammy, Heidi, and Ellie are trying to figure out. So, I caught on to the why in the story, but I got the culprit wrong. I suggest you pay attention to the clues as Ms. Quinn is a sneaky one.

5 Stars
I have to say that I enjoy this series. Sammy has a wealth of love, compassion, and curiosity. Heidi is a secret store of knowledge into the workings of the local farmers, and her loyalty to her cousins is magnificent. Ellie brings the level head, the voice of reason that Sammy lacks. The three of them compliment each other wonderfully. The mysteries that Ms. Quinn brings to life are so inventive, true to human nature, with a shocking amount of real-life issues added in for good measure. Therefore, my rating is five stars. I highly recommend this book and the first two in the series too.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Great Escapes Book Tours. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of A Crafter Quilts a Crime by Holly Quinn.

This Guest Review is for Baroness' Book Trove.

Until the next time,
~Jen

If you would like to see other reviews like this one, check out BaronessBookTrove.com.

I didn't really like this book. I felt that while the story was okay there needed to be more editing. There was too much extraneous information. I have a policy of not reviewing books that I don't like on my blog. I know how much work the author went to writing the book and I don't feel right shooting down their hard work. but I think this book is a stinker. And I am a sucker for a good cozy mystery.

What starts out as a fun, living mannequin competition during the winter Fire and Ice Festival, soon turns deadly as Sammy discovers her fellow crafter dead in the window display. The S.H.E's (Sammy, Heidi and Ellie) take it upon themselves to uncover who is behind it.

As a huge fan of cozy mysteries I always feel they are better understood if you start from book one and work your way through. I believe that to be true in this case. As a stand alone, it was a good mystery, but I felt like I was the odd one out at the party knowing there was some backstory with the SHE"s that I was missing.

The mystery itself was very well written with a list of suspects that kept me guessing up until the end. I did think Sammy was a little over the top with some of her sleuthing, but not enough to deter me from digging into this series further.

Overall, I would recommend cozying up on a weekend and diving into this series. I'm really looking forward to where this series goes.

Sammy's great idea to have mannequins in the window of her shop goes awry when Wanda, a quilter, is found dead there with a quilt in her rapidly bluing hands (well, cold hands). Sammy, Heidi, and Ellie, who have termed themselves SHE since childhood, are on the case because while the first thought is that Wanda had a heart attack, she was actually murdered. Cozy readers know that Wanda is not as well loved as was widely believed and that the suspect list is long. Sammy sometimes does inappropriate things and she and Nash have an equal amount of annoyance with each other because of it. It's well paced, the mystery is just twisty enough, and the characters are nicely done. Athough I'd read the earlier books in this series, I think this would be fine as a standalone. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Oh- and there are recipes!

I received this book from Netgalley for review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
This is a delightful cozy mystery. S. H. E. are cousins and they formed a group as children which bonded them as family, friends and now amateur investigators. Sammy owns the local craft store. When a local quilter is discovered deceased in her window display the game is afoot. Romance will have to take a back seat when death propagates further crimes and family ties are strained to the breaking point.
I enjoyed this mystery, which was a quick read. I look forward to reading more in her series in the future.

Holly Quinn has done it again, another page turner of a book that leaves you wanting more and more!

It is the new year, the excitement of Christmas is over and people are planning to hunker down and keep warm, but there is one thing that most will come out for and that is the Fire and Ice festival, the shops stay open late, people wander round drinking warm (and in some cases spiked!) drinks and enjoy good food and a bonfire, oh and all the shops try to outdo each other with window displays that are festive and fun! This year Sammy and the team from the Community Craft shop are doing a live mannequin, whereby different craftspeople will spend 20 minutes at a time pretending to be shop mannequins - so not moving is the name of the game! It is all going well until Wanda, a local yoga teacher and quilter, ends up not as a live mannequin but a dead one! When they find out she was poisoned then the S.H.E team spring into action, only to have it back fire rather spectacularly!

Now can Sammy, Heidi and Ellie mend fences, build bridges and find out whodunnit or is this one case they can't crack?

When a local quilter dies in her shop, Sammy and her sisters are determined to find the killer. The writing is skillful, the plot is tight and multi-layered, and the characters are well developed and believable. It was an enjoyable read and I’m looking forward to reading more of this author’s work. I received this book free and chose to make a voluntary, unbiased review.

It's winter in Heartsford, Wisconsin, and Sammy Kane is preparing for the annual Fire and Ice event with a live mannequin window display contest at her store, Community Craft. When a member of the quilt group dies during the contest, and her husband goes missing, Sammy, her sister Ellie, and her cousin Heidi work together to find the culprit.

I found this book to be an entertaining and fun read. I enjoyed the author's writing style and the cozy winter setting. The relationship between Sammy, Ellie, and Heidi was heartwarming. They were very loyal to each other, and I liked their interactions. I have mixed feelings about Sammy. She came across as pushy and selfish. Her careless sleuthing and willingness to obstruct justice rubbed me the wrong way. But she did own up to her mistakes in the end, so I will give her character a second chance. Ellie and Heidi were both likable characters and in my opinion, more interesting than Sammy. The murder mystery had plenty of suspects to choose from and I actually guessed the real culprit halfway through the story, but the author provided plenty of red herrings to make me second guess myself.
I definitely recommend this book. It's the perfect winter cozy and will make you want to curl up on your sofa with a blanket and a cup of hot cocoa.

I received an ARC from Crooked Lane Books through NetGalley. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Sammy Kane is a magnet for dead bodies it seems.  When her long-time friend and fellow crafter, Wanda, dies in her storefront window, she's both rocked to her core and intrigued.  As I know from previous novels, once Sammy's interest is piqued, there's no stopping her snooping!

And that's immediately when the trouble starts.  Previously, Detective Liam Nash tolerated Sammy's interference in his cases, however, his good nature has seemed to waned.  On one hand, this is a more dangerous case than the prior ones, on the other, Sammy puts herself, her sister, and her cousin into some sketchy situations as well.  I'm honestly surprised Liam didn't toss her into the clink by the end of the book.  

Despite Sammy's over-the-top sleuthing in this novel, it was the best in the series so far.  The end was probably my favorite part because Sammy finally gets something she's been wanting from the beginning, but I'm going to keep my lips sealed about that.   

After a shaky start, the Handcrafted Mysteries series has really come into its own.  Each installment gets better, the characters become more well-rounded, and the mysteries are more intricate.  Makes me even more eager to see what Sammy and her S.H.E. cohorts get up to in the next novel.

This is book 3 in the Handcrafted Mystery series. It can be read as a stand alone. Set in Wisconsin after Christmas, the small town has one last festival so residents can hibernate till spring. Sammy runs a craft shop in Heartsford and comes up with a mannequin contest for her front window. The town folk vote and winner wins a gift card for the shop. When Wanda dies in the window, it's not good news for Sammy's shop. A good cozy that's an easy read. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Another excellent edition to a wonderful series! Full of twists and turns that leaves you wanting more and enjoying each moment until the end when the killer is caught!

*I received a free copy of this novel from NetGalley for my honest review.*

Sammy is the owner of Community Craft in Heartsford, WI and came up with a live mannequin display for the Fire & Ice event in January. Everyone seems crazy about the idea so Sammy is pleased until the second live mannequin, Wanda, dies in the window. And then Wanda's husband goes missing and someone receives a ransom note for his return. The SHEs set off to clear Ellie's husband's name and to find out what is really going on.

This was my first time reading Holly Quinn and the Handcrafted Mystery series. Since this wasn't the first in the series, I wonder if I would've found it more enjoyable if I had read from the beginning. I felt that there were things that I would've known if I had read the first books - ie who was Brenda and why is everyone acting like Detective Nash is "back?" Also, there were times where Sammy seemed to be badgering people with questions and, when the next person got a chance to speak, they wouldn't answer or wouldn't answer everything. I'm on the fence about going back and reading the other books in the series.

Review posted in Goodreads.
Will post in Amazon when book is released.

Another murder mystery for SHE gals to try to solve even if detective Liam doesn't want their help. Lots of twist that will keep you guessing. You'll enjoy the quilting and food along the way.

This was another great read with the members of the S.H.E. amateur detective team. This was a well-written and evenly paced drama that held my attention from the beginning. A live mannequin. . . what a concept and to discover that said live mannequin is dead. . . that’s where the adventure starts in this tightly woven and well-crafted mystery that had me immersed in all aspects as suspects became evident and clues pointing here and there ready to exposed the killer. The author did a great job in staging this tale with enough intrigue to keep me devouring every dialogue and interaction. When I thought I had a handle on the person responsible, the author changed direction and boy did I miss that one. There was a tense moment with our heroine, but all was good and that’s where the pacing picked up a notch as everything came to fruition and the killer’s identity was revealed. I also liked how the book ended with new opportunities for Sammy. Overall, this was both pleasantly appealing and entertaining and I look forward to more exploits with Sammy and her friends.

Best one yet! Like a roller coaster, this story plunges you into a murder right off the bat and then twists and turns you through the suspects. No one would have expected the local yoga instructor to drop dead, and in a display window no less during the Fire and Ice event. Plus there is the S.H.E. girls who are ready to rumble when it looks like Emily's husband is a suspect. Of course Detective Nash repeatedly asks them to step back and let him do his job to the point where their friction is almost as apparent as their attraction. I really enjoy reading about how close the three ladies are and how they have each others' backs no matter what. Last but not least I can't wait to make meatball soup and crustless quiche and am so glad that the author included these recipes. If I was a quilter I am sure that I would enjoy the Patched Flight lap quilt pattern.

Sammy, owner of Community Crafts, is very excited about the special exhibit she has thought of for <i>Fire and Ice</i> the first big event of the new year in Heartsford. Live mannequins are going to sit in her window display. Her excitement is quickly quelled when Wanda dies while sitting in the window.

It turns out Wanda was poisoned and when Wanda’s husband Marty disappears, Sammy, her sister Ellie and cousin Heidi can’t help but investigate. Particularly after Ellie’s husband becomes a person of interest.

So far so good, but it was a struggle to get through this story.

I don’t care much for Sammy as a person. She rambles on when she asks a question (how is anyone going to be able to answer you if you don’t pause long enough for them to speak) and I particularly don’t care about her opinion her sister should get a dog for her son. That particularly rubbed me the wrong way. I also don’t like how she coerces her sister and cousin to do things: “You want [his] blood on your hands[?]” “Do you want to get thrown in the slammer next to your husband?”

Actually, everyone is stupidly interrupting with “I don’t understand” statements, rather than let a person who understand the situation explain. This book is rather short, but could have been even shorter if people didn’t voice their ignorance so much.

What made this story laughable was when Sammy <spoiler> gets kidnapped. The kidnapper first puts her in the backseat and ties her to the headrest. Later, he tie-wraps her wrists together and undoes her tie to the headrest. While he is in the driver’s seat driving the car. Through the snow. Then, when the kidnapper has both hands on the wheel and eyes on the road (presumably) he crashes into a snowbank.</spoiler>

I nearly did not finish this story, when even the detective asks a barrage of questions rather than let a person explain. But I’m glad I decided to read till the end. Because it explained how Wanda was killed. <spoiler>Wanda, who is many times described as being a vegan and sticking strictly to her vegan diet, was killed eating some poisoned honey. That would have never happened if she really was a strict vegan.</spoiler>

1.5 stars rounded down to 1 for method of murder.