I’m not really a busy body, I’m a quilter.
I work in my grandmother’s quilt shop, Someday Quilts, and I take art classes. I have my boyfriend, Jesse, his daughter Allie, and the ladies of the Someday quilt group to keep me busy. You would think that’s enough, right? Well, somehow I’ve gotten this reputation for sticking my nose in where it doesn’t belong. I was complaining to our town’s librarian, Dru Ann Love, about it the other day. She looked up from the latest James Patterson to point out that it wasn’t an entirely unfair characterization. Dru Ann likes murder as much as I do, but she keeps it fictional. I would too, if dead bodies didn’t keep turning up all around me. And as far as sticking my nose into it, well, I have my reasons.
First of all, I don’t like to see bad things happen and do nothing. My grandmother, Eleanor, bakes a pie or offers a donation. That’s her way of helping. I ask questions. I look around, and sometimes, I even break into places, though I don’t like Jesse to know that. He’s the town’s chief of police, and prefers me to stay out of trouble.
But mainly, I stick my nose in because I’m good at figuring out who did it. And I think it’s because murder, to me, is a lot like quilting. To a non-quilter, a quilt is just a pretty pattern with nice fabrics cut up and sewn back together. Looks like a lot of work, maybe even looks impossibly difficult. But to me, a quilt is a logical series of decisions, usually with a plan in mind. Just like a murder. Most quilters can look at someone else’s finished piece and figure out how it was put together. That’s what I do with a murder. I look until I figure it out.
And what am I looking for? In even the most perfect looking quilt, there are mistakes. No matter how careful or experienced the maker, every quilt has small errors – corners that don’t quite match, a stitch that’s bigger than the rest.
If I wanted to find the mistakes in a quilt I would start at the top and stare at every square inch until I found them. I don’t, of course, because that would be rude. But when someone is a killer, I don’t care about being rude. I start at the top and keep looking. And eventually I find the mistake. And once I find that, I’ve got the killer. And, as much as I hate being thought of as the town busybody, I do like knowing that with my help Archers Rest is staying the nice, quiet town it was when I moved in a year ago.
Except, of course, for all the murders.
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You can read more about Nell in THE DEVIL’S PUZZLE, the just released fourth book in the “Someday Quilts” mystery series. The first book in the series is THE LOVER’S KNOT.
Clare O’Donohue is the author of four Someday Quilts Mysteries, as well as Missing Persons; the first in the Kate Conway series. She is also a freelance television producer, and has worked on shows for The History Channel, Food Network, truTV and more. She lives near Chicago, IL. Visit Clare at http://clareodonohue.com
Books are available at retail and online booksellers.
** Clare has generously offered to give away one set (that’s 4 books) of her Someday Quilts mystery series. To enter, leave a comment with a valid e-mail address in the comment box. Please break it up using (at) and (dot), like domain(at)host(dot)com. One entry per person and this is open to anyone with a U.S. mailing address. Contest ends on October 4th at 6pm EST. The winner will be chosen using a random number generator and will be notified by e-mail and has 2 days to respond. Book will be shipped directly from the author. **
My to read list just keeps on growing. thanks for all the wonderful books
jplungas at gmail dot com
Another new to me series…. thanks for sharing!
afarage(at)earthlink(dot)net
My Grandmother taught me how to quilt, so reading about other people who love to quilt would be great, plus a little murder thrown in, and you have a really good combination. Sounds like some wonderful books.
TerryParrish 2010 (at) hotmail (dot) com
Wait, Dru Ann reads James Patterson? I love this series and already own it, so no need to sign me up for the drawing. Keep on trucking, Clare!
LOL Jess!
I love this series!
Just want you to know that as soon as I get over my agoraphobia, I will be making a trip to the library to meet you Dru Ann. I am sure you will lead me to some wonderful reading.
Nell and her friends are leading me out to a new life!
Mary Shipman
majik47(at) hotmail(dot)com
I definitely have to look for your name in the book when I start reading it.
Love the series. And Dru Ann love that you are now a librarian.
nbl1050(at)yahoo(dot)com
thanks
Looks like a great series! Another for the TBR list.
summergal05(at)gmail(dot)com
Can’t wait to read YOUR book, Dru. It seems so long ago that your name was chosen.
tonya@urbatsch.com
A librarian..sweet!
idlivru1(at)gmail(dot)com
What a wonderful series. I would love to read it and get to know Nell and her world. Thank you for bringing it to my attention today and for the awesome giveaway opportunity.
dz59001[at]gmail[dot]com
The books sound great.
I would love to win a set of quilting mysteries—that would really keep me happily reading for quite some time.
suefarrell(dot)farrell(at)gmail(dot)com
My posts seems to just keep disappearing—so I’ll try again. I’d really like to win this set of quilting books.
suefarrell(dot)farrell(at)gmail(dot)com
I can’t wait to read all of your new book!
Chrysta, please try again. you must enter your email address in the comment box.
I will always remember the quilting my mom and dad did together. My dad did beautiful quilting. Wish they were still here to make quilts for me now.
What a wonderful give-away! Thanks!
gdcleanfun (at) gmail (dot) com
I love mystery books and I love to quilt so this series looks like a must have for me. aurorawoods(at)sbcglobal(dot)net
Would love to own all 4 books!
Tarajo(at) sknab(dot) com
I love a good mystery and love quilts and the stories that revolve around them… would love to own your books.
Joyce, please try again. You must enter your email address in the comment box.
You have to leave your email address to be included in the drawing.
I posted the link for this on my FB page and my blog page. Got feedback that when comments were posted here the email addy did not show up, Dru.
Mary,
I just checked my setting and it appears to be fine. I tried to find the link on your blog, but I couldn’t find it.
http://oldentimes.wordpress.com/2011/09/29/take-a-chance-you-might-win-all-four-of-the-someday-quilts-books/ here is my blog post link Dru Ann. Chrysta and Joyce Scaggs were the ones who had trouble with getting their emails on here.
Mary, I went to your site, clicked on the link and it bought me back here. If you don’t have a wordpress account, then you have to select guest and you should be able to enter your email address.
I already have an entry in Dru, mine worked fine to get my email on. it is two others that didn’t work for. I have emailed them to come back and try again. I am not putting the email on other posts, I don’t want to ‘cheat’ on the giveaway.
PS I hope you like my character. 😉
thanks for another giveaway and your
reviews plunges at gmail dot com
Thanks for the giveaway Dru. Love this series.
kelley.dworaczyk@gmail.com
Contest is now closed
Congratulations to our winner: Tonya!
Thanks to Clare AND to Dru. I can’t wait to get my hands on these books – and see Dru in print. : ).