LET'S GET COZY: QUILT OR INNOCENCE - A PREVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

 GIVEAWAY ENDED
QUILT OR INNOCENCE

A Southern Quilting Mystery
First in a New Series!

BY ELIZABETH CRAIG

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Retired folk art curator Beatrice Coleman knows everything there is to know about quilts, except how to make them. But with her recent move to Dapple Hills, North Carolina, she’s learning all sorts of new things—including how to solve a murder…

As the newest member of the Village Quilters Guild, Beatrice has a lot of gossip to catch up on—especially with the Patchwork Cottage quilt shop about to close. It seems that Judith, the landlord everyone loves to hate, wants to raise the rent, despite being a quilter herself…

But when Judith is found dead, the harmless gossip becomes an intricate patchwork of mischievous motives. And it’s up to Beatrice’s expert eye to decipher the pattern and catch the killer, before her life gets sewn up for good. Includes quilting tips!

AN EXCERPT FROM QUILT OR INNOCENCE:

Chapter 1

“I’ve come to rescue you,” said the wild-looking woman at Beatrice’s front door.

Beatrice, a recently retired art museum curator, gaped at the woman, completely flabbergasted. She certainly didn’t need rescuing. In fact, she’d just brewed a relaxing cup of herbal tea to celebrate the fact that there were only ten more moving boxes to unpack in her new cottage.

Besides, who’d want to be rescued by this woman, even if rescuing were in order? She looked like she needed rescuing herself . . . with her brightly colored, mismatched clothes and disorganized gray braid hanging to her waist. Beatrice made up her mind to briskly and firmly shut the door and try out the new bolts and chains and the alarm system . . . but then the woman held out her hand.

“I’m Meadow. Your next-door neighbor. Welcome to Dappled Hills!”

Beatrice managed a smile and a handshake. She’d wondered who lived in the odd converted barn next to her country cottage.....

TO FINISH READING this excerpt, visit the Penguin Publishing website HERE.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Elizabeth Spann Craig: Elizabeth writes the Memphis Barbeque series for Penguin/Berkley (as Riley Adams), the Southern Quilting mysteries (2012) for Penguin/NAL, and the Myrtle Clover series for Midnight Ink. She blogs daily at Mystery Writing is Murder, which was named by Writer's Digest as one of the 101 Best Websites for Writers for 2010 and 2011. 

As the mother of two, Elizabeth writes on the run as she juggles duties as Girl Scout leader, referees play dates, drives carpools, and is dragged along as a hostage/chaperone on field trips. 

TO READ MORE about Author Elizabeth Craig, visit her website "Bio" HERE.

 A WELCOME LETTER FROM THE AUTHOR IN THE RECENT BERKLEY PRIME CRIME OBSIDIAN MYSTERY NEWSLETTER: 

A Letter from Elizabeth Craig

Dear Reader,

There’s just something about the mountains of North Carolina that recharges you.

My family and I love visiting Blowing Rock, North Carolina, to escape from our busy lives in the suburbs of Charlotte. There we eat at amazing restaurants, polish off our meal with dessert at the ice cream parlor, shop, and hike up trails to feast our eyes on the Blue Ridge mountains’ beautiful vistas.

I decided to base my Southern Quilting mysteries in a town very much like Blowing Rock—the fictional Dappled Hills, North Carolina. The first book, QUILT OR INNOCENCE, releases June 5th.

Dappled Hills, like Blowing Rock, is a very peaceful place. And my protagonist, Beatrice Coleman, is a woman who needs to spend some time relaxing...she has a tough time sitting still. She’s worked at a fast-pace for years as the curator for a folk art museum in Atlanta, and now she’s come to a screeching stop with her retirement. She thought she’d love the slow pace of retirement...and the slow pace of Dappled Hills. But it’s more of an adjustment than she thought. She’s surprised that she almost misses the sounds of the city...and perhaps the comfort of her familiar routine.

Fortunately, there’s an instant distraction. Non-quilter Beatrice is somehow drafted into the Village Quilters guild and finds that quilting and the eccentric women in the guild help keep things in Dappled Hills interesting. Beatrice learns that quilting isn’t the staid activity she’d always suspected it might be—and that the quilters are warmly welcoming and love sharing craft tips (quilting tips are included in the book).

One of Beatrice’s neighbors is a fabulous—and generous—cook who loves bringing Beatrice a little Southern comfort in the form of mouth-watering meals (recipes are also included). This is a good thing, since Beatrice has fallen out of the habit of cooking—it’s not quite as much fun cooking for one.

Another of Beatrice’s new neighbors goes beyond eccentric and into the realm of decidedly unpleasant. She’s quickly dispatched by someone with murderous intent...and Beatrice finds herself drawn into the investigation. She’d just started to relax and enjoy her life in the small town—and now she’s ready to restore life in the village to its gentle pace.

Welcome to Dappled Hills, North Carolina. Hope you’ll enjoy your stay.

Elizabeth Craig

elizabethspanncraig.com 

SOME OTHER BOOKS BY ELIZABETH CRAIG:                                

                  

                  

                

GIVEAWAY

THANKS TO KAYLEIGH AND FRIENDS AT

OBSIDIAN AND PENGUIN BOOKS,

I HAVE ONE COPY FROM THIS NEW

MYSTERY SERIES, QUILT OR INNOCENCE,

TO GIVE AWAY TO A LUCKY FOLLOWER

 
--U.S. RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES
---INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
IN CASE YOU WIN!
--ALL COMMENTS MUST BE SEPARATE TO 
COUNT AS MORE THAN ONE!

HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: COMMENT ON WHAT WHAT YOU READ ABOVE ABOUT QUILT OR INNOCENCE THAT MADE YOU WANT TO WIN THIS BOOK, AND DON'T FORGET YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG AND/OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND COME BACK HERE AND LEAVE ME YOUR LINK

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FIND INTERESTING AT ELIZABETH CRAIG'S WEBSITE HERE 

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ONE WAY YOU FOLLOW MY BLOG. IF YOU FOLLOW MORE THAN ONE WAY, YOU CAN COMMENT SEPARATELY AND EACH WILL COUNT AS AN ENTRY

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON A CURRENT GIVEAWAY THAT YOU HAVE ENTERED ON MY BLOG. IF YOU ENTERED MORE THAN ONE, YOU MAY COMMENT SEPARATELY FOR EACH TO RECEIVE MORE ENTRIES

 

GIVEAWAY ENDS AT

6 PM, EST, JULY 12

   GOOD LUCK!