Murder by Music

September 1, 2011

The beautiful Smoky Mountains provide the background for a series of ugly murders.

Theo Abernathy is a quilt-store owner married to Tony, Sheriff of Park County, Tenn. Heavily pregnant with twins, she's looking forward to a quilting retreat at The Lodge, a nearby hotel with stunning views and a relaxing atmosphere. But her plans are derailed when she spots the body of haughty embroidery expert Scarlet LaFleur, a member of the area's famous floral-named family. Scarlet did not plunge to her death over a temporary railing, as Theo first assumed, but was strangled with a mandolin wire. Tony's already had his hands full with the death of the local loan shark, petty theft and the rifle-wielding crazies who've been shooting up road signs. His problems only increase with the murder of famous singer Elf, who came to town for her son's wedding, by the same means as her sister Scarlet. Confined to a wheelchair until she delivers her twins, Theo still keeps busy making wedding quilts, listening to local gossip for tidbits to help Tony and pondering who could be killing off members of the Flower family.

Once more Graham (Murder by Artifact, 2009, etc.) offers a cluttered mystery whose best features are Tony, Theo and the obligatory instructions for a mystery quilt.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

September 15, 2011
Nestled against the Smoky Mountains, tiny Park County, Tennessee, has just one town, Silersville. But in the week before Halloween, Sheriff Tony Abernathy faces an overwhelming body count. First, the local loan shark turns up dead. Then Tony's wife, Theo, owner of the quilt shop, despite having promised no dead bodies before leaving to set up for the annual quilters' retreat at the nearby mountaintop hotel, wakes during the night to find the tangled body of Scarlet LaFleur, who is a special guest at the retreat. Before the week is out, there are three more deaths to investigate. While Sheriff Tony questions the townspeople and checks the forensics, Theo just listensto the family reminiscences at the weddings and funerals during the week, to the gossip and speculation at her quilt shop, to the stories of some of the colorful characters so typical of small-town Appalachia. Good quilter that she is, she pieces it together. For readers less skilled than Theo, there are instructions for making a mystery quilt.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)