{I've Been Reading} A Glimmer of a Clue

 

 A Glimmer of a Clue by Daryl Wood Gerber

The second book in the Fairy Garden mystery series is filled with  fairies and plants and lots of fun atmosphere...and an extremely competitive pickleball player who winds up stabbed to death with a letter opener from one of Courtney's fairy gardens. I actually enjoyed this one more than the first book, but I couldn't tell you whether that's because it's a better mystery or because I've had some time to get used to the idea of actual sparkly fairies in a cozy mystery. It's a fun read and if you're curious about making a fairy garden it will give you lots of ideas. 

Draw and Order by Cheryl Hollon

Miranda Trent makes her living leading cultural excursions that pair outdoor painting lessons with traditionally distilled moonshine and local cuisine. Her day trip with the Risky Business Adventurers is cut short by the discovery of skeletal remains near the trailhead and Miranda is afraid that the bones belong to her missing cousin. The second Paint & Shine mystery is almost as fun as the first. The discovery of the skeleton and the events that follow are wonderfully atmospheric and creepy. If there's anything I dislike about the book it's Miranda's constantly voiced opinion that men don't like taking orders from women. I think it's more than possible that the ones she's having trouble with are just jerks.... I'll be looking forward to the next book in the series.  

 

Her Last Holiday by C. L. Taylor 

Two years ago Fran's sister, Jenna, vanished at a Soul Shrink wellness retreat. Now self help guru Tom Wade has been released from prison and Fran is signing up for his first retreat, determined to find out what  he's been hiding. Two guests died in the sweat lodge, but Jenna's body was never found. Fran and her family want answers. 

I had a hard time keeping track of the complicated web of relationships. There are a lot of characters,   both in the past and the present. Fran is using an alias, so when other characters are referring to her, she's got a different name...and it gets more confusing than that, but I don't want to risk spoilers. For me, the most intriguing part was Tom's relationship with his wife. I found myself more interested in the future of Soul Shrink than in what happened to Jenna. 

Disclosure -- The publisher provided me with an advance review copy. This post contains affiliate links. 

Lovebirds

I finished a thing! With all the stitching I've done over the past few months, there haven't been many finishes because most of my current projects are HUGE. 

Who would have guessed that I could have so much fun stitching with just one color? 

 

This is Lovebirds by Autumn Lane Stitchery, from the February 2021 issue of Just Cross Stitch. The pattern calls for pink fabric, which looks absolutely lovely, but I had a piece of blue aida from the thrift store and it contrasted well with the white, so that's what I used. I stitched with three strands of floss so that the stitching would stand out more against the background fabric and there's a bit of backstitching in a matching shade of blue that adds some delicate detailed touches.  

Our wedding date is hidden in that bottom flower, just the month and day. This isn't a wedding sampler, because I didn't want this project to be the wedding sampler forever and ever...its just a little piece to commemorate thirty years of marriage. 

{I've Been Reading} Tell Me When You Feel Something

 

 

 Tell Me When You Feel Something by Vicki Grant

This one starts with a tragedy and then reveals the events that led up to the night of  the party. Viv and her friends work at the local med school as simulated patients. Before each shift, they study scripts and are made as if they have different diseases or injuries. Under all of that makeup, Viv is concealing real symptoms and hurtling towards the night where she'll overdose at a party. There's video of Viv swallowing the pill, along with a roomful of witnesses. But no one has any idea where she got the drugs or if her overdose was deliberate. After a slow start, this one really picks up speed and by the end I was filled with mounting dread. 

{I've Been Reading} The Hive

 

The Hive by Gregg Olsen

A murder investigation leads to Marnie Spellman, the founder of a cult like cosmetics empire. Marnie claims that when she was a child, a swarm of bees lifted her into the air and spoke to her. That miraculous encounter led her to create her company and surround herself with a closely guarded inner circle of confidantes. This book sounded right up my alley, but I had a hard time slogging through it. Marnie and the bees are introduced in a brief prologue, then we don't hear anything else about her backstory until nearly a quarter of the way through the book...and that story is what made me pick it up in the first place. There's a lot of other stuff going on and eventually most of it ties together, but I didn't enjoy this one.  

Disclosure -- The publisher provided me with an advance review copy. This post contains affiliate links. 

Let's Make Baby Quilts! {June 2021}

Let's Make Baby Quilts Linky Party Rules:  Link directly to your post or specific Flickr photo. Your post can be about a baby quilt that's finished, or in progress, or you can be writing about what you have planned,  as long as it's about baby quilts. You're welcome to link to baby quilt posts that aren't brand new, but please don't submit the same post or picture more than once. I'd love it if you linked back to my site, either with a text link or the Let's Make Baby Quilts! button.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter