I found it heartwarming that the book was symbolic of how Christ is the missing piece in our lives. I love a good cozy mystery and I devoured this series.

The book contains four stories that center around a jigsaw puzzle event — a ‘50s jigsaw party (Elvis Has Left the Building), the North Dakota state jigsaw championship (The Puzzle King), a mystery jigsaw puzzle weekend held at a bed and breakfast (A Puzzling Weekend), and an annual jigsaw puzzle show (Puzzle Me This)..

The cozies each contained a lesson that made the cozy a delightful read. If you love puzzles and cozies you will love these books. I received a complimentary copy and all opinions expressed are my own.

I am very happy to see that the cozy mystery world is coming more diverse. I don't think that was such a difficult leap for cozy mystery fans as we are a friendly and welcoming bunch in general, at least in my experience. In this book, A Killing in Costumes by Zac Bissonnette, the two main characters fit in the "diverse" category because they are gay. Jay and Cindy were once married as well as were successful actors and singers. They divorced amicably when they began to question their sexual identity. Their coming out and divorce shattered their show biz careers but their friendship weathered it all. Many years later, Jay and Cindy begin a new venture together. They sell movie memorabilia through their store Hooray for Hollywood. Jay and Cindy are drawn into competition with another agency when elderly movie star Yana Tosh decides to sell her massive costume collection. When the competing agent ends up dead and a police detective pegs Jay and Cindy are prime suspects, the two friends must prove their innocence and save their store. The book is well written, with a twisty plot and likable characters. Although it is one of the first mainstream cozies to feature LGBTQ+ main characters, you need not fear sharing this book with your grandmother. There are no bedroom scenes or shocking displays of affection. Cindy and Jay are not outdated stereotypes but well-developed characters with many facets to their personalities. If reading a book with LGBTQ+ main characters feels a bit out of your comfort zone, A Killing in Costumes could be a good place to start.

** “We all have missing pieces. That’s part of the adventure of being a Christian. We have to learn to trust God to see what we can’t see. He’s working things out behind the scenes, even when we can’t see it.” **

Authors Cynthia Hickey, Linda Baten Johnson, Teresa Ives Lilly and Janice Thompson have joined forces to offer “Missing Pieces,” featuring four “Puzzling Cozy Mysteries.”

All four stories revolve around a jigsaw puzzle event — a ‘50s jigsaw party (“Elvis Has Left the Building”), the North Dakota state jigsaw championship (“The Puzzle King”), a mystery jigsaw puzzle weekend held at a bed and breakfast (“A Puzzling Weekend”), and an annual jigsaw puzzle show (“Puzzle Me This”).

Each story features the main female character solving a murder that occurs at their event. Filled with fun that will keep readers guessing, each author manages to throw in some good lessons in addition to their mystery, like giving up gossip; God can take away overwhelming fear; we should wait for God to put together the puzzle pieces of our lives; we all have a purpose and a plan; and the power of prayer (“Praying kept my mind from dwelling on the what-ifs that would choke me if I allowed them to”).

“Missing Pieces,” which is due out May 30, is a fun read for fans of jigsaw puzzles, mysteries, especially cozy mysteries, as well as stories with plucky female characters.

Five stars out of five.

Barbour Fiction provided this complimentary copy through NetGalley for my honest, unbiased review.

Each of these four novellas feature puzzles and murders. The story's all revolve around putting puzzles together, or selling boxes of puzzles, and each is unique, with different characters and culprits, but all keep you guessing, and page turning for answers!

You can sit down and read one, and then save the next, or if you are like me you won't be able to stop at one!

Fun summer reads to enjoy!

I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Barbour, and was not required to give a positive review.

"Missing Pieces" is a collection of 4 short story cozy mysteries. They contained no sex or bad language. Unfortunately, there wasn't a smart heroine in the bunch and most of the stories weren't very realistic.

"Elvis Has Left the Building" seemed like a parody mocking cozy mysteries since it was illogical and unrealistic. The department's newest patrol officer was sent to do crowd control at the jigsaw puzzle event. He apparently always had evidence collection bags on his person, was then assigned to solve the murder case, and soon was helping Cee Cee break into a suspect's house in search of evidence. Earlier, Cee Cee was the one to point out to him that the puzzle in front of them was the missing puzzle, then they ran off to investigate the death scream. The officer/ex-boyfriend promptly accused her of killing the victim because there's a dark hair (like hers) on this guy that she had talked to several times throughout the night. He also accused her of stealing the puzzle. And he's the romantic interest. That's not romantic, in my opinion. 1 star.

"The Puzzle King" had some interesting information about jigsaw puzzle competitions woven into the story. I strongly suspected whodunit from the moment the murder was discovered. The sheriff in charge of the investigation basically accused Jane of murder before they even knew it was murder, all because Jane had given him some coffee. Despite several people warning Jane not to be alone with any of the suspects, what does she do? And once she finally figured out who the murderer was, she still did several very stupid things (to increase the suspense, I guess). Jane was always dense, asking again for information she'd already been told or genuinely thinking that rules didn't apply to her. It was hard to respect her as a sleuth. Still, it wasn't a bad story. 3 stars.

"A Puzzling Weekend" at least reads like a genuine cozy right down to the cute dogs that help solve whodunit. The heroine secretly likes the handsome detective, who goes to her church. Though she's obviously framed for the murder, he believed that she was innocent because he'd previously observed her character and genuine Christianity. He accepted any gossip she overheard but warned her to be careful and let him do the actual interviews and such. Of course, she had to push it but got a confession. I guessed whodunit even before the murder happened, though. 3.75 stars.

"Mystery at the Jigsaw Swap" is a "bumbling detective" type mystery that's meant to be funny but was just painful for me to read. (I've never enjoyed bumbling detectives.) Mariah didn't think she was good at detective work and just thinking about who was where when her puzzle was stolen gave her a headache. She felt like a loser and failure, but solving the mystery made her feel more like a success. She seemed a little out of touch with reality, like thinking the detective might be mutually attracted to her while she's standing there covered with garbage and stink from a dumpster dive. Or that the police should delay their arrest until she could be there to watch. Mariah solved the mystery by overhearing clues and suspecting and then eliminating all of the suspects until the solution was obvious even to her. 2 stars.

I was really excited for this one, as someone who loves cozy mysteries and doesn't often see many within the Christian fiction genre. However, even with how much I was looking forward to reading it, I still ended up being blown away by just how amazing this lovely collection truly was. It's a wonderful, well crafted cozy mystery novella collection, and each title definitely kept me guessing right through until the end.

Each story features a jigsaw puzzle theme, and I was impressed with how each individual author made their story unique from the others, while still incorporating jigsaw puzzles as a big piece of the mystery.

I wasn't expecting each of the stories to be so well put together, especially the mysteries, considering each author only had a novella word count to work within. However, I ended up being pleasantly surprised, and really ended up enjoying the mysteries, the settings, and the three dimensional characters who all drew me right into their stories.

If I had to pick a favorite, it definitely would have been Teresa Ives Lilly's contribution, but I wholeheartedly enjoyed each one, and I hope Barbour plans to publish more like these in the future.

Final Rating: 5/5.

If you love cozy mysteries, jigsaw puzzles, and Christian fiction, then definitely go ahead and pick up this lovely and quirky novella collection, as I can guarantee you won't be disappointed.

Thanks so much to Barbour for allowing me to advance read and review this one!

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary advance reader copy of this novel from the publisher (Barbour) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3.5 stars

This is a collection of short cozy mysteries with jigsaw puzzle events providing the backdrop for each mystery. Each novelette provides interesting characters, quirky circumstances, and colourful illustrations of the jigsaw world.

Each story features a murder of someone participating in a jigsaw puzzle event – a puzzle party, a competition, a weekend getaway, and a puzzle swap.

Some stories are more engaging than others, but they are all light reads (as much as a cozy murder mystery story can be).

A fun collection, just in time for summer reading.

I received an ecopy from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

Missing Pieces is four stories that revolve around jigsaw puzzles. They are each by a different author giving them a very unique feel. Each is a murder mystery so along with puzzling you have a mystery to solve.
Elvis Has Left the Building by Cynthia Hickey we have an Elvis impersonator who is not well liked so there are multiple suspects when he is killed during a performance at puzzle contest.
The Puzzle King by Linda Baten Johnson brings us to another puzzle competition. The King of finishing puzzles first is murdered. Dies someone want to take over his title or is something else afoot?
A Puzzling Weekend byTeresa Ives Lilly is another puzzle contest with a twist. It is being held at the local bed and breakfast where the contestants are staying even though they are all local, or at least used to be, so most know each other well. When the cook hired for the weekend turns up dead and it must be one of them the police get a surprise helper to solve the mystery.
Puzzle Me This by Janice Thompson is a bit different as this is a show where vendors are selling puzzles. Mariah has an antique puzzle for sale that has been in her family for years. One of the vendors who is under cutting everyone’s prices is murdered and Mariah’s puzzle is missing. Will the police solve the case before the puzzle is sold on the Internet?
I enjoyed each one of these stories and it would be hard to pick a favorite as they are well written and kept me engaged in reading from beginning to end. I give it a solid 5 of 5 stars!
I received an advance copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

a fun collection of 4 short stories with the theme of jigsaw puzzles within the cozy mysteries. An Elvis impersonator, a fairgrounds, and so on provide a fun atmosphere. Being from the Fargo area it was fun to see one about that too. Good stories, but could be longer. Would recommend.