I am so delighted today to provide a review for you at my blog stop for Assault and Beadery by Mollie Cox Bryan on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour. Scroll down the page to enter this exclusive Giveaway!
Assault and Beadery (A Cora Crafts Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
4th in Series
Kensington (September 25, 2018)
Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages
ISBN-10: 1496716442
ISBN-13: 978-1496716446
Digital ASIN: B078QM4V66
All of Cora Chevalier’s dreams are coming true. Since moving to Indigo Gap, North Carolina, the busy crafting maven has been blessed with a great boyfriend, a lovely home, and a booming craft retreat business. But on the eve of her first Crafty Mom’s Escape Weekend, tragedy strikes again in Indigo Gap. This time, it’s curtains for Stan Herald, the disagreeable director of the local theater group, who’s murdered on the opening night of their new production. Worse, Cora’s friend Zee is accused of the crime.
Cora is determined to prove her friend’s innocence, but Zee’s mysterious past is making that difficult. And with a list of suspects longer than a double spool of satin cording, getting a bead on the real culprit won’t be easy. With her friends Jane and Ruby at her side, Cora must string together the clues and solve Stan’s murder before the killer gives an encore performance.
Includes crafting tips!
Once again, my first experience with the author and the series. This being the fourth in the series, however, is not a real problem as it could easily function as a standalone, characters and location are well developed.
Indigo Gap is described as a small mountain community and tourist destination offering beautiful scenery, quaint B&B’s, cafes, and streets all named in exotic blue colors. As I viewed Cora, Jane, and Ruby, partners in the Kildare House in Indigo Gap, NC, it seems to me Jane is the stronger and would be prime protagonist, although it appears that Cora is supposed to be primary lead. Cora lives in the attic apartment of the historic Victorian home of Irish immigrants and former forest barons with her cat, Luna. Jane and her young daughter, London, live in the carriage house adjacent, although for this special retreat weekend, their third, the little girl is away visiting grandparents.
They fill their investment by holding specialized retreats, this one with special guest leader, Lena, who will introduce projects in beading (including French beads, clay beads, and rose beads) along with other crafting ideas involving felting and author cards. The home is apparently enormous and in addition to the bedrooms have rooms specifically designed and dedicated for specific crafts. The description of the home had me wishing I could take a tour! That is, until you get to the kitchen, which in their rehab process was put on the back-burner (a serious no-no in rehabbing). The retreat has invited moms to a special after-summer getaway and respite from their children and they’ve ended up with an eclectic group of women, some preferring to knit. (I’d love to know how much they paid and what it included!)
In addition to preparing to receive their guests, they got involved with the local community playhouse and helped to paint backgrounds for the production slated to open. Unfortunately, the director is found deceased on the stage and their B&B neighbor and friend Zee found beside him with a bloody knife. They know Zee couldn’t have done it, but how well do they know her–really?
I had these observations: I appreciated the atmosphere of the little town, the pride of the locals in their community, and even some of the (over) descriptive instructions of the projects. The protagonists had made major changes in their lives and appear to be conquering difficult histories. The projects, many with detailed instructions given at the back of the book, take up a lot of the narrative. However, Cora emerges as a rather weak-kneed protagonist fighting panic attacks, revisiting situations, and conversations once too often. They tended to call their officer friend, Detective Brodsky–a lot–no secrets–nothing held back there! He’s married, but Cora has a boyfriend who is always among the missing except for one sneaky night (huh?). The weekend retreat seemed to last more than a Saturday/Sunday, there was a lot of free time where the girls could go sleuthing, and no one ever fixed a meal. (Lots of restaurant referrals.)
It is cozy paced and well-plotted, just a little slow for me. Red herrings are thrown in, then dissed, and the antagonist was not a surprise. The craft moms are all aware of what is going on and no one seems to slow their attendance in the next class or appear concerned over whether or not the antagonist is someone in their midst.
I was given this download by the publisher and NetGalley for this book tour and greatly appreciated the opportunity to read and review. Recommended for any heavy into crafting, particularly beading, or for someone you know would appreciate those hints and ideas–a little mystery with the craft projects!
Enter here for your chance at winning one of three (3) print copies of Assault and Beadery (U.S. only). Rafflecopter giveaway
Mollie Cox Bryan is the author of the Cumberland Creek Scrapbooking mystery series and the Cora Crafts mystery series. She is also author of two cookbooks, the regional bestseller Mrs. Rowe’s Little Book of Southern Pies and Mrs. Rowe’s Restaurant Cookbook: A Lifetime of Recipes from the Shenandoah Valley. An award-winning journalist and poet, she currently blogs, cooks, and scrapbooks in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia with her husband and two daughters. Scrapbook of Secrets was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel. Visit her on the web at molliecoxbryan.com.
Author Links:
Website – http://molliecoxbryan.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/molliecoxbryanauthor
Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/molliecoxbryan/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/molliecoxbryan?lang=en
Purchase Links – Amazon B&N IndieBound Kobo BookBub
Thank you for visiting my stop on the tour and please visit the other stops listed below!
Tour Participants:
September 25 – The Power of Words = REVIEW
September 25 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – GUEST POST
September 25 – Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers -SPOTLIGHT
September 26 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
September 26 – 3 Partners in Shopping, Nana, Mommy, & Sissy, Too! – SPOTLIGHT
September 26 – Devilishly Delicious Book Reviews – REVIEW
September 27 – The Self-Rescue Princess – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
September 27 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW
September 28 – T’s Stuff – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
September 28 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST
September 29 – A Holland Reads – REVIEW
September 29 – MJB Reviewers – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
September 30 – cherylbbookblog – REVIEW, RECIPE
September 30 – Mallory Heart’s Cozies – REVIEW
October 1 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW
October 1 – Varietats – GUEST POST
October 2 – Rosepoint Publishing – REVIEW
October 2 – Mystery Thrillers and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
October 3 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
October 3 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
October 4 – Valerie’s Musings – GUEST POST
October 4 – I’m All About Books – SPOTLIGHT
October 5 – A Blue Million Books – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
October 5 – Island Confidential – SPOTLIGHT
October 6 – Community Bookstop – REVIEW
October 6 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW
October 7 – The Montana Bookaholic – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST
October 7 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT
October 8 – Here’s How It Happened – SPOTLIGHT
October 8 – StoreyBook Reviews – SPOTLIGHT/RECIPE 
Thanks to Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this cozy mystery!
©2018 V Williams 
Title: Open Your Eyes by Paula Daly
What a delightful and unique cozy mystery! Of course, I always enjoy a paranormal twist to the plot and this one proved a distinctive one at that. Apparently a 1940’s PI Jack Shepard was killed in the very bookstore in which the widowed protagonist Penelope Thornton-McClure joined her Aunt Sadie as co-owner. Jack Shepard totally exudes the part of a “hard-boiled” private investigator replete with period vernacular. I’ve discussed the “hard-boiled” genre previously that incorporates the noir element to novels popular in the late forties and fifties. It’s easy to conjure Humphrey Bogart in the part, though perhaps Jack has been tempered just a tad by Penelope (Pen) as she introduces her modern-day sensitivities to Jack.
Title: High Crimes (The Georgia Davis PI Series #5) by Libby Fischer Hellman
Title: Malice by Jennifer Jaynes 
(From Goodreads Author page) 
Rosepoint Publishing 