Assault and Beadery

Welcome back to Indigo Gap, NC where a new craft retreat is planned at Kildare House! This is a pleasant novel with appealing characters, a complex mystery, and various interesting crafts to learn, this time beading. Cora, Jane, and Ruby are beginning their third retreat at Kildare House, this time for moms to celebrate their children returning to school. The “Crafty Moms’ Escape Weekend” includes at least two moms away from their child(ren) for the first time. Cora and Jane have been best friends since meeting in their former careers and are now business partners in the historic Kildare Mansion nestled in the North Carolina mountains. Ruby has lived in the gardener’s cottage for many years. She is a respected herbalist, and many crafts she teaches include artistic uses of herbs. Cora has a successful craft blog, and Jane creates and sells pottery from her studio in the carriage house. Roni, one of the crafters, miscalculated her driving time and arrives a day early for the retreat. Lena, the guest instructor, will arrive the next morning, while most of the retreaters will come in the next afternoon or evening. Zee, a friend of Cora and Jane, is the musical director for the community theater productions, and owner of The Blue Note, a local B & B. Maisy, one of the local gossips and a stage mom at the theater, calls Ruby shortly after Ruby’s attorney son goes to the police department to meet a new client. Unfortunately, the new client is Zee, accused of killing the obnoxious play director, Stan. He was found dead in the theater and Zee was next to him, unconscious, clutching the murder weapon. This will not be as relaxing of a retreat as hoped for, as many demands are made on the partners’ time, especially when Zee hopes for help finding who murdered Stan. When Cora finds a valuable piece of evidence in the trash at Kildare house, she wonders if she is responsible for bringing a killer into the house. She learns more about their guests and hopes to find the bad gal before anyone gets hurt. Each of the ladies has valuable experience, sharing their crafting talents to teach or learn how to make beads for use in jewelry, fiber, or metal arts. Some retreaters arrive in pairs, having been friends for a long time, and a few come alone. Cora is adept at drawing some of the ladies out and learning more about them, including their families and what crafts they enjoy. They are well defined as evidenced by actions and realistic conversations. The mystery is what really makes this novel. While there are elements included that, to me, are a departure from a traditional cozy and discouraging for me to find, the murder and limited evidence make for an intriguing puzzle. It seemed as if there were many pieces, none of which fit together with the others. I was impressed with how Cora works it out, to the chagrin of Detective Brodsky, even though it is a bit unrealistic that she is the only one tripping over important clues. I had several potential suspects on my list, but at the end of the story, I was surprised by the final twist of events showing the real killer, and why. If one enjoys mysteries that include crafts, small towns, and challenging murders, I recommend it. Instructions for some of the beads are included. I received a copy of this book from the publisher, and this is my honest review.

Assault and Beadery by Mollie Cox Bryan is the fourth book in A Cora Crafts Mystery series. Cora Chevalier and Jane Starr are touching up the sets for IndigoArts production of Fiddler on the Roof which begins that evening. They then hurry home to make sure all preparations are complete for their Crafty Mom’s Escape Weekend which begins the next day. Cora is surprised when she gets a call from Zee Mancini, musical director for IndigoArts, later that evening. Stan Herald, the play’s director, was found murdered on the stage with an unconscious Zee beside him. Cora knows that Zee did not commit the crime. She teams up with Jane and Cora to dig into Stan’s life looking for alternate suspects. The ladies need to string together the clues to get a bead on the killer. It would help if Zee was not so mysterious about her past. In between talking with their suspects, the ladies need to teach their classes and make sure their guests have a pleasant crafting weekend. Can they wrap up the case before the killer strikes again? Assault and Beadery may be the fourth book in the series, but it can be read alone. The author provides the background on the main characters and how the retreat came to exist. The current crafting retreat, Mom’s Escape Weekend, is for mother’s whose children just went back to school. It is a chance for them to get away, relax and learn some new skills. Beading is the focus of the weekend. French beading, making rose beads, polymer clay beads, wet felting, knotting and artist trading cards are a few of the crafts described in the book. Instructions for different crafts are included at the end of the book. I like that crafting is featured in this series (many cozy mysteries used to feature crafts). The crafty fun is described with delightful details. If not for the pesky murder, I would love to be a guest at this retreat. I still do not understand why they do not employ a cook for their retreats instead of using a caterer. The retreaters could bound over delectable dinners. Indigo Gap sounds like a charming town. There are a variety of shops that I would enjoy browsing. I like how the shops and streets have blue themed names. I have still not taken a liking to Cora. This series would have benefited from a different main character. Cora with her anxiety issues and panic attacks make her unappealing. It is mentioned frequently throughout the story with it becoming an issue near the end for Cora. Panic attacks are a serious issue and the author has shown how Cora tries to cope without resorting to medication. However, reading is supposed to be relaxing and Cora gives me anxious and uncomfortable. Cora is not the right person to be the main character who investigates crime which puts in her situations that exacerbate her condition. The whodunit has a variety of suspects and misdirection to confuse the reader. Readers will have no problem untangling the clues and identifying the killer. It was fun to have the characters from A Cumberland Creek Mystery series visit Indigo Gap. The pace is a little slower in Assault and Beadery and there is mild foul language along with copious amounts of alcohol (these ladies let loose while Cora was out of the house). Join Cora, Jane and Ruby in Indigo Gap for crafts, creativity and killing.