Let It Sew: Southern Sewing Circle Mysteries

By: Elizabeth Lynn Casey
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: November 2012
ISBN: 978-0425251713
Reviewed by: Deb Fowler
Review Date: December 2102

When Victoria Sinclair left Chicago, she found herself lovingly wrapped up in the folds of the Sweet Briar Ladies Sewing Circle. In retrospect it was a good thing wedding bells hadn’t rung for Tori because her ex-fiancé could sing “Your Cheatin’ Heart” with the best of them. In a closet with another woman. Granted, she was on Dixie Dunn’s I-detest-you list when she took over her job as head librarian, but the animosity soon passed when Dixie realized retirement was inevitable. Sweet Briar, South Carolina held an even sweeter surprise for her and that was Milo Wentworth, her new fiancé. Christmas was coming right up and Tori would be strung out straight preparing for the Holiday Book Extravaganza.

“You,” Tori blurted out at Leona, "volunteered me for the Christmas committee?" When Kelly Sue had passed, her dearly beloved husband, Councilman Avery Jordan, hooked up with a “little hussy” on the Internet who took over Louise’s spot on the committee. Maime Wellington, who was “built like a pit bull,” was planning on tossing out every traditional celebration Sweet Briar ever had. The committee discussion was quickly tabled when it became known that Charlotte Devereaux, the founder of the sewing circle had died. Her husband, Parker, had left her after fifty-five years of wedded bliss for another woman and never returned. It looked like Sweet Briar had a few little secrets hidden behind its walls. Maybe a lot of them.

Alzheimer’s had apparently stolen Charlotte away, but her caretaker, Frieda Taylor, wasn’t so sure. There were those lucid moments and those incessant, repetitive drawings. Upon closer look at one, shock hit Tori like a ton of bricks when she saw “sticks lying crisscross beside a familiar tree.” Was there something or someone buried in front of the Sweet Briar Public Library? Instead of sewing, the women were about to get stitches in their sides when they decided to figure out just what Charlotte wanted them to find buried under that tree. “So,” asked Chief Granderson, “what made you start digging tonight?” It looked like Parker never did leave town after all, but why had Charlotte lied to everyone all those years?

Tori Sinclair was going to have to use a lot more than Yankee charm to unravel Parker’s murder. This is one cozy murder mystery that wasn’t giving up clues easily. Every time I thought Tori slammed dunked her clues and had the whodunit under wraps, doubt began to creep in. Obvious suspects suddenly became debatable as she uncovered little bits of information. The web of intrigue grew deeper as things such as embezzlement, infidelity, long-lost love, and insane jealousies came to light. The sewing circle’s Southern belles could rival “Steel Magnolias” any day. “Are we hoping to get to China?” No, but if you want to dig into a great little cozy mystery, this is the perfect place to start!

Quill says: If you like your cozy mysteries with a plot loaded with southern style secrets, Let It Sew won't disappoint!