The Painted Lobster Murders
A quirky and funny series for fans of a good mystery and compelling characters. Can you solve the crime before our dressmaking duo?
Penny Slipper runs a sewing shop in the beautiful market town of Framlingham and she’s got her wild and creative cousin, Izzy, to help with the latest dressmaking project.
A classic car weekend is coming to town and stylish Fliss Starling wants an outfit that will match her husband’s elegant vintage car.
When one of Fliss’s house guests is murdered by a masked intruder, Penny and Izzy have a deadly mystery to solve (as well as a dress to make!). With the aid of a cheeky little corgi dog and handyman Aubrey, they begin to search out the clues to this motor-related murder.
But fingers are soon pointing at Penny and Izzy when the intruder’s mask appears to have come from their own shop! And rival shop owner, Carmella, would be delighted to see them take the blame.
Can Penny and Izzy stitch the pieces of this puzzle together and find the guilty culprit?
If you enjoy fast-paced mysteries, charming country towns and characters who you want to spend hours with then you’re going to love the Cozy Craft Mystery series.
Start your next murder mystery adventure today!
Purchase Links
Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0BH14F2P5
Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BH14F2P5
My Review
Thanks to Rachel for organising this tour and to the author(S) for sending me a copy of this book.
Second one in the Cozy Craft Mysteries series. Penny and Izzy have a last -minute commission for a truly unique garment for a wealthy resident of the manor house just out of town, Fliss, 1930s style beach pyjamas with a painted lobster on the leg. With less than a week to go before the ‘famous’ Framlingham Classic Car Show, the pair have to rustle up a toile each, learn to paint lobsters and then make the final outfit. Staying with Fliss and Will, her husband, at the Grange just out of town are Jacqui, a widow, George, a handsy older man and widower, and Carmella and Frank, married couple.
Before the big event, however, Fliss’ houseguest, George is murdered in the garage at the Grange and his dog, Monty, comes to the shop for help. Monty is named after Jacqui’s late husband Monty, who died in a car crash many years before on another Classic Car Weekend. George’s wife, Gertie, was with him at the time.
Whispers abound of a BoJo look-alike lurking in a field, children wearing cheap Halloween masks keep scaring adults, and then Will, Fliss’ husband, goes missing after leaving his car in Fram for the car show.
Penny has a dating dilemma, and Nanna Lem’s hat is seen out dancing. What on earth is going on in Fram?
I got into this one fairly quickly, although the blurb about Carmella, trying to blame Penny and Issy for George’s murder put me off for a while. Then I got anxious that I wouldn’t get all my reviews done in time (last week of April and first week of May I have three reviews each week and most of them are chunky books), and started reading it in earnest.
The mysteries are all sort of small things that add up into one big thing. Nanna Lem drops clues early on, but doesn’t add to them until later, leading Penny and Issy to believe one rumour, and then another rumour (shared by Carmella) backs it up. The red herrings are drop all over the place. The significance of the scarecrow and Jacqui’s reaction to seeing Issy in its jacket become clear at the end, but I picked up on the fact that it was important at the time.
I loved the comparison of the scarecrow to BoJo. Scarecrows are much more useful than that lying bag of wind, however.
The development of Penny and Aubrey’s relationship, still at a very nascent stage, is realistic and so is Issy’s teasing. The relationship between Penny and Issy continues to strengthen, as they learn their parts in running Cosy Crafts and teach each other different skills. Penny is torn between staying with her family and moving back to London, where she’s still paying rent. I think she makes the right decision in the end. It’s very narratively satisfying.
The descriptions of Framlingham and the surrounding countryside are very vivid and I enjoyed them, although I’ve never knowingly been to Suffolk, it sounds a lot like Lincolnshire. Old towns, fields of crops, pigs, manor houses and a scattering of wealthy people who think they’re better than everyone else.
This book is a fun way to spend an afternoon, with quirky characters and a lovely setting.
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
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
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