A Crafter Quilts a Crime by Holly Quinn is the third book in the “Handcrafted” cozy mystery series. Publisher: Crooked Lane Books, coming February 11, 2020.

Community Craft proprietor Sammy Kane must piece together a patchwork of clues when a “live” mannequin ends up stone-cold dead.

Snowcapped pines and glittery dusted sidewalks adorn tranquil Heartsford, Wisconsin, while residents cuddle beneath heirloom quilts in front of cozy wood fires. But come the next day, the below-zero temperatures won’t keep the locals away from Heartsford’s annual Fire & Ice event. To boost customer traffic at Community Craft’s one-night-only sale, Samantha “Sammy” Kane persuades a few of the craftspeople who sell their wares at the store to participate in a live mannequin window display contest.

Local quilter Wanda Wadsworth emerges as a favorite to win the contest, as she manages to not move a muscle for an unusual amount of time. Onlookers outside the window try everything to get her to crack–tapping on the glass and making funny faces–but nothing disrupts Wanda’s stillness. When the eagle-eyed spectators realize Wanda isn’t breathing, a blanket of grief and fear descends upon the wintry town.

Detective Liam Nash can’t seem to piece the clues together. Fortunately, Sammy’s cousin, Heidi, and her sister, Ellie, are on hand to reconvene their detective team, S.H.E. They set out to solve Wanda’s untimely death before the case grows as icy as a sub-zero Wisconsin winter. But they are all too aware that the killer is too close for comfort.

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This was another great read with the members of the S.H.E. amateur detective team. This was a well-written and evenly paced drama that held my attention from the beginning. A live mannequin. . . what a concept and to discover that said live mannequin is dead. . . that’s where the adventure starts in this tightly woven and well-crafted mystery that had me immersed in all aspects as suspects became evident and clues pointing here and there ready to exposed the killer. The author did a great job in staging this tale with enough intrigue to keep me devouring every dialogue and interaction. When I thought I had a handle on the person responsible, the author changed direction and boy did I miss that one. There was a tense moment with our heroine, but all was good and that’s where the pacing picked up a notch as everything came to fruition and the killer’s identity was revealed. I also liked how the book ended with new opportunities for Sammy. Overall, this was both pleasantly appealing and entertaining and I look forward to more exploits with Sammy and her friends.

Also bonus to me, personally, was the note in the acknowledgement section.

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FTC Full Disclosure – I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.