Monthly Archives: April 2023

The Sequinned Cape Murders

Cozy Craft Mysteries can be read in any order. A funny whodunnit series, full of charming characters and mysteries that will keep you guessing to the very end.

Things are going great for Penny Slipper. Running a sewing shop in the middle of the English countryside is like a dream come true and she’s got her colourful cousin Izzy and her corgi, Monty, to keep her entertained.

Her grandma’s eightieth birthday is coming up soon and Penny and Izzy are busier than ever, making fancy dress costumes for the party guests.

However, Penny’s dream life is thrown into chaos when a murdered woman is found in the bathroom of her cosy flat above the shop. With the doors and the windows all locked, no one can understand how this mystery corpse got there.

But things take a further sinister turn when a local shopkeeper is also killed. There’s a murderer on the loose and no one is safe!

Can Penny and Izzy uncover the answers and unmask the criminal in their midst?

If your ideal book features mystery, friendship, cute romance, even cuter animals, crafting and a big slice of birthday cake then this is the book for you.

Purchase Links

Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BH16G6V8

Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BH16G6V8

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My Review

Thanks to Rachel for organising this blog tour and to the author for my copy of this book.

In this Cozy Craft mystery, Penny gets home from a trip to London to find a dead woman on the loo and an incriminating note from Izzy. Meanwhile the stitch and natter group must be dealt with and a water leak controlled. The police are eventually called when Izzy returns and the pair realise there was a bit of a misunderstanding. It seems the building was locked up tight, and they have nothing worth stealing, so why was the woman on the toilet? How did she get in and who killed her?

Since they can’t stay in the shop, Penny and Monty go to stay with Izzy and her parents. They have a small house and a surprisingly large garden, but Monty doesn’t like the upheaval and starts misbehaving. Izzy meets a potential boyfriend when she finds a way to deal with Monty’s outbursts.

Nanna Lem is having a birthday party and Izzy’s dad, Terry King wants an Elvis costume. Everyone else wants costumes too, so Penny devises a ‘family discount’ chart to help Izzy say no to cousins who expect freebees. To get some inspiration, the pair visit a neighbour who specialises in musical memorabilia. He has just the thing to inspire them.

Eventually, Penny, Izzy and Monty get back in the shop but there’s an awful mess and Aubrey has to do an assessment for the insurance company, while Darren the plumber suggests a cheeky fiddle. There’s a couple of questionable characters hanging about outside, and Stuart Dinktrout starts moaning about the fabric of the building.

Izzy and Penny do some sleuthing and both have realisations about the crime as the man down the road is found dead on a golf course. The police are rather annoyed by Izzy and Penny.

At Nanna Lem’s party, the criminals are revealed, the hows and whys are answered, and there’s an Elvis competition. Izzy invites her dog trainer to the party while Penny is still torn between Aubrey and Oscar.

This is the third book in the series and once again we find the creative pair getting into and out of some odd situations; the dead woman on the loo is just the start of it. We meet some of Izzy and Penny’s other family and learn more about Nanna Lem’s past. Izzy is clearly from a highly creative family, but you wouldn’t want to live next door to them. Penny and her Aunt Pat seem like the sensible ones.

Penny’s dilemma about how to start a relationship is understandable. Oscar is very forthright about his feelings but is fine with friendship; Aubrey says lovely things but doesn’t ask directly, leaving Penny confused about both of them. She could carry on with both of them as friends, or one friend and one boyfriend. Can’t see why she can’t have two boyfriends, personally, so long as everyone knows and consents to it.

Monty once again points the reader in the right direction and I think he’s a useful doggy ex machina, as well as a fun character. Dogs are always a good excuse for wondering about places you’re not meant to. Or just generally wandering about. (Yes, I am using the correct wondering and wandering – thing about it).

The reality of small towns – knowing everyone and being distantly related to half of the long-term residents, bossy town officials, gossip and nosiness – is admirably demonstrated, as is the reality of being a creative sector professional; everyone thinks they can ask for something for free because they know you but don’t actually value your time, skills or the materials costs. I totally understand the frustrations of being asked to ‘rustle up’ something that’ll take days to make and cost a fortune, by people who want it for free. If I make you something as a gift that’s one thing, but I’m charging for my time and materials otherwise.

I can see Penny and Izzy building an investigative relationship with DS Chang, the police officer who has turned up in all three books so far. He’s not imposing on the plot much at the moment, but his appearances have become more important in this novel. Tariq the enthusiastic young journalist is another character I can see being important as part of their ‘famous five sleuthing’ as Aubrey puts it at one point in the story, as a recorder of events, especially with his camera.

The Cozy Crafts Mysteries have fairly straightforward plots, set in a familiar setting, just like many Golden Age crime novels, especially Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple novels. They have red herrings and quirky main characters, with the police only tangentially involved. From me this is not a criticism – I enjoy Miss Marple stories, and I like the modern cosy mystery that has evolved from the same tradition. These ones are easy to read and entertaining. You’re halfway through before you know it.

Need the odd bit of editing though. I noticed a few mis-used words and a chapter change that wasn’t formatted correctly.

Right, on to number 4 – The Swan Dress Murder, which I have already started reading.

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Giveaway Prize – The Wonderland Murders, a cross stitch book, a floral notepad, a note writing set and a grass bunny.

https://kingsumo.com/g/h1kxu9/prize-for-cozy-mysteries-blog-tour

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Author Bio – Millie Ravensworth writes the Cozy Craft Mystery series of books. Her love of murder mysteries and passion for dressmaking made her want to write books full of quirky characters and unbelievable murders. Millie lives in central England where children and pets are something of a distraction from the serious business of writing, although dog walking is always a good time to plot the next book. 

Social Media Links –

https://www.facebook.com/MillieRavensworth

Tweets by MillieRavensews

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