{I've Been Reading} Quilty as Charged

 Quilty as Charged by Maggie Bailey 

Lydia Barnes is counting on her first sewing retreat as a way to turn things around for her sewing shop, Measure Twice. The first weekend is a sort of trial run, with friends and regular customers in attendance. She's encouraged them all to leave their devices at home so when the owner of the mountain cabin is found murdered and an unexpected storm knocks out the power and phone lines they're all stranded with a killer. 

It took me a while to warm up to this one. There's a lot of sewing jargon, which would be right up my alley if it was the kind of sewing that I do, but I didn't recogize a single pattern or fabric line. They're making quilted jackets, but thankfully they're quilting their own fabric instead of using cutter quilts. (Yes, I would've been upset about fictional characters making fictional projects and destroying quilts that never actually existed. I'm like that.) 

Once the murder happened it got a lot more interesting. Everyone seemed to have a possible reason to want the victim dead. The way that Lydia eventually figured out who did was was satisfying. I haven't read the first book in the series, but the resolution left me wanting to visit these characters again. 

The Man in my Attic by Robin Mahle

What makes this domestic  thriller so unique is that you go into it with a pretty clear idea of what's happening. There is a man hiding in the family's attic and you know who it is and what he's already done. You know what secrets the husband and wife have been hiding from one another. Their little boy tells them about "Billy," his friend in the walls. It's just a matter of waiting to see what will finally happen. It's fast paced and suspenseful. If I have any complaint it's that there are SO many characters telling the story. I found myself flipping back to see whose point of view I was reading. 

Disclosure -- The publisher provided me with an advance review copy.