Welcome to the first in the Apron Shop mystery series by Elizabeth Penney, set in the quaint village of Blueberry Cove, Maine where an expert seamstress turned amateur sleuth is getting measured for murder. . . Iris Buckley is sew ready for a change. After the death of her beloved grandfather, Iris decides to stay in her Maine hometown to help out her widowed grandmother, Anne–and bring her … grandmother, Anne–and bring her online hand-made apron designs to real-time retail life. Her and Anne’s shop, Ruffles & Bows, is set to include all the latest and vintage linen fashions, a studio for sewing groups and classes, and a friendly orange cat. The only thing that they were not planning to have on the property? A skeleton in the basement
Anne recognizes the remains of an old friend, and when a second body shows up in the apron shop–this time their corrupt landlord, whom Anne had been feuding with for decades–she becomes a prime suspect. Now, it’s up to Iris to help clear her name. Enlisting the help of her old high-school crush Ian Stewart who, like certain fabrics, has only gotten better-looking with age and her plucky BFF Madison Morris, Iris must piece together an investigation to find out who the real killer is. . .and find a way to keep her brand-new business from being scrapped in the process.
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Overall I enjoyed reading this cozy. This is the first book in the series. Iris and her Grandmother are getting ready to open her vintage linen and sewing shop on Main Street in Blueberry Cove before the Tourist season starts. While fixing up the building they discover a body hidden in the wall. Her Grandmother recognizes the body and they both set out to solve the decades old murder. While sleuthing another murder occurs in the shop and her grandmother is the prime suspect. I liked the small town and the characters. The mysteries were good and there were enough suspects to make it interesting. I liked it that even though Iris is investigating on her own she did keep the police informed. The book was a very fast read. I look for word to reading the next book in the series. Enjoy
This is a great start to a series. The characters are delightful and relatable. I love the strong loving relationship between Iris and her grandmother. The mystery is well-paced and plotted. I am looking forward to the development of the characters and the series.
All thoughts and opinions are my own, and in no way have I been influenced by anyone.
When I saw this book, I immediately thought of my friend who sews aprons. Also quilts and now masks. I pictured her in a store like this with her grandmother. I love the setting and the characters. Good story.
After the passing of her grandfather, Iris Buckley decides to make her online business one with a storefront and open up a business with her grandmother Anne in their hometown in Maine. The downtown is undergoing a revitalization of sorts, and a lot of work still needs to be done before the store opens. After Iris stumbles down some unsafe basement stairs and unearths a decades old skeleton, the fun begins. Anne recognizes that the skeleton may belong to a young woman named Star, who disappeared in the early 70’s. There were a handful of commune types areas nearby and many people adopted different names to be free of their past life. The investigation into the cold case of who Star was and how she died was well done. Plenty happens in the present time too, as Iris’s grandmother Anne is both a suspect and eye witness to the time. Pretty good overall.
Hems and Homicide is the first in the new “Apron Shop” series by Elizabeth Penney. It’s a delightful start to a series that I hope lasts a good long time.
The series takes place in Blueberry Cove, ME and features Iris Buckley, who has moved back home to live with her grandmother, Anne. Iris has a very successful online shop selling vintage aprons and linens and is planning on opening a brick-and-mortar store, called Ruffles and Bows, in downtown Blueberry Cove. Things hit a snag when, during the cleaning out of the basement, a skeleton is discovered, which turns out to be an old friend of Anne’s who disappeared during the summer of 1972. After a second body turns up in the shop with Iris’s vintage apron wrapped around its neck, Iris investigates in the hope of clearing her name and being able to open her shop.
Iris is an extremely likable protagonist. She’s smart and sensible, and also has a vulnerable side. Author Elizabeth Penney has given Iris three women friends – Madison, a designer who is helping with decorating Ruffles and Bows; Sophie, owner of the Belgian Bean, a restaurant in town, and Bella, owner of a boutique. At several points in the story, the women gather over glasses of wine and food to offer support and friendship. Iris’ grandmother, Anne, also has several friends. I found the combination of Anne’s point of view, with its knowledge of the town’s past, and Iris and her friends’ view of the present, to be skillful and quite enjoyable.
Interwoven with the mystery are multiple scenes of Iris (often accompanied by Madison) scouting antique shops and secondhand stores for furniture to use for displays at Ruffles and Bows. Iris also finds some vintage linens to sell in her new shop. The furnishings and linens are so vividly described that I had no trouble picturing them. Blueberry Cove sounds like a cozy small town, and one that I would love to visit.
The mystery was engaging, also blending the present and past quite skillfully. I didn’t guess who the murderer was, and there was one red herring that turned out to have a very interesting conclusion.
I highly recommend this series to anyone who loves reading about small towns, friendship, and sewing and vintage items. I am eagerly awaiting the next installment in the series, Thread and Dead, coming in August of 2020.
Hems And Homicide is the first book in the Apron Shop series.
Iris Buckley has returned to Blueberry Cove, Maine to help her Grandma Anne settle her grandfather’s estate. Iris decides to take her online business of hand made aprons and open a shop, along with Grandma Anne, selling aprons and the latest and vintage linens. They have rented a storefront from Elliot Parker, who has been badgering the family for years about purchasing some of their property.
The store needs some renovations before opening and Ian Stewart, a flame from Iris’s high school days, has agreed to help get the shop into shape. As Iris is going down the stairs to the basement she falls and dislodges some shelves along a basement wall. The wall behind the shelved crumbles, revealing a skull, further looking discovers the rest of the body. When Grandma Anne comes to see what happened, she identifies the remains as those Star Moonshine, who disappeared some 43 years ago, by the scarf that is with the body. Since Anne was acquainted with Star before she disappeared, Anne will become a suspect, along with four or five of her other friends. When Parker is found murdered Anne becomes the prime suspect.
Iris will call on her BFF, Madison, and Ian to help her find the killer.
This is an exciting new and exciting series with a cast of believable and enjoyable characters. Looking forward to future books to learn more about Blueberry Cove and its residents.
Welcome to Blueberry Cove, Maine and its new store, Ruffles and Bows. Sounds innocent enough, run by Anne and her granddaughter, Iris. Iris had come back home when her grandfather fell ill and she decided to stay after he died, taking her online fabric business to a bricks and mortar location.She and her grandmother plan to teach classes, sell fabrics and the hand made aprons. All of their plans depend upon some renovating. The bump in the road comes in two forms – both dead ones. They are a skeleton found in the basement, a missing person known to Anne, dating back to the 70’s. The other is their landlord, a man who Anne disliked and was trying to halt the opening of their store. With ties to both deaths, Anne becomes a prime suspect. Iris knows that her grandmother is innocent and wonders if the two crimes are somehow connected. If the killer isn’t caught all of their plans are in the dust bin and Anne will spend her last days behind bars.
I enjoyed getting to know Iris and Anne, spending time in Blueberry Cove and the various residents. It brought to mind a time when my grandmother showed me how to make an apron, one that I still have more than a few decades later. Not the homicide part, though. The only blood spilled was when I kept poking my fingers with the straight pins.
The setting and the mystery were very well crafted and there were enough twists, turns and red herrings to keep me guessing to the final reveal. Now that I know Elizabeth Penney has written other cozy mysteries I will be playing catch up while I wait for the next mystery with Iris and Anne.
After her grandfather’s death, Iris Buckley moves back to the quaint village of Blueberry Cove, Maine to help her widowed grandmother Anne. Iris has an online apron business and with her grandmother’s support, decides to open a storefront. While renovations are going on, she finds the skeletal remains of her grandmother’s friend Star who disappeared in the 70s. Then a few days later, a man is found dead in their store. There seems to be a connection between the two murders and Iris is determined to get to the bottom of it.
Hems and Homicide is an enjoyable new cozy mystery series. It has a delightful cast of characters, a charming small-town setting with a rich history, and two intriguing murder mysteries. The plot is engaging, well-paced, and has plenty of suspects to keep you guessing. Iris and her grandmother were likable characters and I loved their strong bond with each other. If you like vintage clothing and historic towns, then this is the perfect cozy for you. This is a promising start to a new series and I look forward to the second book.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was a solid start to a new series by author Elizabeth Penny. I liked that the premise/theme was unique with the main characters opening a vintage linen shop in their hometown. I enjoyed the relationship between Iris and her grandmother and thought it was well crafted. Iris is also surrounded by three of her best girlfriends, with each one having a different personality the complements each other and completes the group. Where I wasn’t wowed was with the mystery. I thought the author did a good job of crafting the mystery with a murder that happened in the past with many of the suspects still living in town. Throw in jealousy and some red herrings and it had promise. I was a bit thrown by how soon Iris began receiving threats when she hadn’t even really begun any type of investigating at that point. I didn’t feel like Iris did really any type of sleuthing that warranted the threats. Overall, the pace of the story moved along nicely, the characters were fun and engaging, and the mystery showed promise.
I voluntarily read a digital ARC provided to me by the publisher through Netgalley.
HEMS & HOMICIDE by Elizabeth Penney is a well-written cozy mystery. It is book one in the Apron Shop series.
This story takes place in and around Blueberry Cove, Maine. Iris Buckley moved back to her home town when her grandfather was ill. With his death, she decides to stay home and she and her grandmother Anne decide to open a local store Ruffles and Bows to complement Iris’ online retail endeavor. She sells hand-made aprons and they are adding hand-made and vintage linens to the inventory for the store. While starting the retail space renovation a skeleton is found in the basement. Anne recognizes a scarf on the skeleton that belonged to an old friend. When a second body shows up in the store, Anne becomes a prime suspect.
Iris and Anne are both likeable characters and the secondary characters enhance the story and add depth to the story. The author did a great job in depicting the small town atmosphere without making the situations feel contrived. There are plenty of red herrings in the story line along with a fast pace. It was certainly an entertaining read. This book contains plenty of themes ranging from murder, family relationships, romantic relationships, small towns, business start-ups, friendship, and much more.
I recommend this book to those that enjoy cozy mysteries with a hint of romance. I look forward to reading the next book in this series. I also want to check out this author’s other series.
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press and Elizabeth Penney for a digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley and the opportunity to provide an honest review. Opinions are mine alone and are not biased in any way.
cozy-mystery, amateur-sleuth, family-dynamics, friendship, small-business, small-town, Maine, murder, law-enforcement
How have I missed this very good author? !
If you like reading about vintage clothing, interactions between family and friends, and small towns, you’ll really like this book. But if you want a well done cozy mystery you’ll be over the moon with this one! The landlord for the building Iris and Grammie are fixing up for their new small business is a lawsuit waiting to happen and few people like or trust him, but he’s not the first body. The first body is a skeleton of a woman murdered and concealed in a basement wall in 1972! Excellent easily believable characters and situations make this well plotted whodunit with enough suspects to please all of us. LOVED it!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from St Martin’s Press via NetGalley. Thank you!
Hems and Homicide by Elizabeth Penney is an entertaining new entry into the cozy mystery genre. Ms. Penney has developed a lovely small town setting in Blueberry Cove, Maine and a new venue by setting this mystery around a apron and vintage linens shop.
Iris Buckley and her grandmother, Anne Buckley, are very likable characters and I enjoyed getting to know them throughout the story. The secondary characters were also likable and helped to develop Iris more for the reader. The plot is quickly paced and well crafted as the clues and red herrings kept me on my toes trying to piece together if the two murders were connected. I was thrown off a couple of times while reading when there was a change of scene that was not clearly defined; but this could have been a formatting error. All in all this was a lovely afternoon read and I look forward to more in this series.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley. All of the above opinions are my own.
Hems and Homicide is a well developed story. Elizabeth Penney provides her readers with a book including support of family and friends and a mystery too. The plot is fast-paced and will keep your attention. Iris Buckley and her grandmother, Anne Buckley, have a bond that we all would love to have with our grandmother. This bond is even stronger since the death of Anne’s husband and Iris’s grandfather. Iris has returned to Blueberry Cove to help her grand mother. She has a business established on-line selling vintage linens and with support of her Grandmother, plans to open a store front, Hems and Bows, that will also sell vintage linens. While refurbishing the store-front the electric goes out requiring a trip to the basement to check out the fuse box. Iris walks into a spider web causing her to fall the rest of the way down the steps. A skull. is found buried behind the wall. You will feel the small town appeal and also family and friend relationship with a touch of budding romances.