From the author of Kindle Unlimited All-Star winner Sweet Hollow Women comes a novel for fans of Liane Moriarty’s Big Little Lies and Elin Hilderbrand’s Summerland about the secrets that hide in the shadows of even the most ordinary-seeming lives.~ 2013 ~Idyllic Port Elspeth, Connecticut is rocked by tragedy. Shortly after their high school graduation, Evangeline Maddingly, daughter of one of the … graduation, Evangeline Maddingly, daughter of one of the town’s wealthiest old-money families, and Oliver Prescott, son of one of the town’s wealthiest new-money families, are found dead in an isolated cabin in the woods outside of town. The circumstances surrounding their untimely deaths are murky at best, thanks in large part to a sweeping effort from those in power to shut down any negative publicity that could harm the reputation of the pristine, oceanside community.
~ Five years later ~
A small group of strangers gathers to create jewelry for one of Port Elspeth’s many fundraisers. Before long, friendships are forming and old secrets are being revealed. Along with discovering how to make a perfect pair of chandelier earrings or cabochon necklace, these unlikely sleuths find themselves at the heart of solving the murders that took place half a decade earlier.
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This special book club edition includes a list of discussion questions at the back of the book.
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Praise for The Port Elspeth Jewelry Making Club:
“I loved this book! It is in my opinion one of those perfect summer reads! It has been one of the highlights of my current reads whether for pleasure or review. It was exactly what I needed to have read.”
— Whitney of Honestly Austen book blog
“FIVE BOUNDLESS STARS
This book was excellent. It is a book that grabs you. It was full of drama and mystery. … I picked it up and couldn’t put it down. I just wanted more. It was written in a very well detailed and enthralling.”
— Stormi of Boundless Book Reviews
“Tierney-Bedord crafts a tightly woven plot that drops hints about the true identity of the killer in a masterful way that reminds me of Gillian Flynn’s writing. The twists in this novel are fabulous!”
— Valerie Biel, author of the Circle of Nine series
“Everything stops when Author Bedord has a new release. And you’ll want to grab her latest book, too.”
— Jena C. Henry, author of The Golden Age of Charli series
”…I recommend this book for anyone that likes chick-lit with a brain, mystery, and contemporary settings.”
–Hardly A. Goddess book blog
“The mystery of this book was also wonderful as it left you both laughing, worried and just wanting to turn the page to another leading to another chapter and another until you finish the book.”
–Hufflepuff Nerdette book blog
“Holly Tierney-Bedord, a gifted story-teller, has given us yet another gem!”
–Geralyn Corcillo, author of Queen of the Universe and Catch a Falling Star
“This was the perfect cozy murder mystery book and I enjoyed every word of it.”
–Books in the Skye book blog
“There really is something for everyone at Port Elspeth, which is why it was more than deserving of the five stars I’ve given it.”
–Sara Steven of Chick Lit Central
“A cross between Jessica Fletcher and the Desperate Housewives … I’m so glad I read this book; packed with fun and mystery, this has turned me into a fan of this author’s work!”
–Grace J. Reviewerlady, book blogger
“I loved this novel.”
–The Haunted Reading Room
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The Port Elspeth Jewelry Making Club made the Chick Lit Central ‘Favorites of 2018’ list.
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The Port Elspeth Jewelry Making Club is a romantic suspense novel by Holly Tierney – Bedford. The story is about a group of women who decide to get together once a week to make jewelry for a charity event sponsored by the Port Elspeth Women’s Club. The group is the idea of Cadence Sommerset, who with her husband, Dave, just recently moved to Port Elspeth from Springwater, Arkansas, and they are trying to start over. Cadence is an introvert and is starting the group to try to make new friends and to try to fit in. She and Dave have been married for four years and Dave wants to start a family as soon as possible, since Cadence is 34 and he is 37. What Dave doesn’t know is that Cadence haa been secretly taking birth control pills for years. Cadence has posted a message in the local community’s media site to try to start the jewelry making group.
Vivienne Van Heusen – Prescott and her 16 year old daughter, Olivia, decide to join the jewelry making club to make new friends. Vivienne is an extremely self centered, narcissistic person, and all she cares about is trying to get back into the Port Elspeth Women’s Club, and the good graces of Port Elspeth’s snobby founding families’ descendants. Vivienne’s son, Oliver, and his girlfriend, Evangeline Maddingly had been killed in a “ murder – suicide” tragedy five years earlier, and since that time Vivienne and her family have been shunned by the entire Port Elspeth community. Vivienne constantly gives her daughter, Olivia a hard time, threatening her with being grounded if she does anything that Vivienne may not like. Olivia’s father, Neil is a sweet man though, but he is hardly ever at home due to his work. Vivienne even admits to herself that she should never have had kids.
Audra Fleming is an art teacher at an elementary school in Middleford which is a community about 30 minutes from Port Elspeth. Audra lives in a small apartment in Port Elspeth, is single, is in her twenties, and has a history of making jewelry. One of her work associates has told Audra about the jewelry making group since it sounds like something that Audra might be interested in doing. Audra decides to join the group so that she can have more contact with adults.
Pearl Quincy has lived in Port Elspeth for seventy years, and has been married and widowed four times. Her daughter, Margo has just moved back in with her mom after living in Paris for ten years. Margo returned after her four year relationship with her girlfriend, Lisette had “gone stale”. The mother and daughter join the group to make friends and because Margo is “artsy”, according to her mother.
The group has their meetings on Tuesday evenings at Cadence’s home, and the first meeting is on February 20th, 2018. After Vivienne and Olivia arrive Vivienne starts asking Cadence about who else will be at the meetings, especially wanting to know if any of the snobby Port Elspeth family would be there. This conversation is extremely embarrassing to Olivia, and she asks her mother to please stop grilling Cadence. Vivienne makes Cadence nervous since she gives her the impression of being rather “tightly wound”; Olivia, Audra, Pearl, and Margo feel that Cadence is being very pleasant. Audra takes the lead as the jewelry making teacher, since she has the most experience making jewelry. She tells the group that it’s not hard at all to make jewelry. Audra demonstrates by taking a few minutes to make a pair of earrings, and everyone is impressed. Margo offers to design the logo for the group that would be tagged to each piece of jewelry. Vivienne insists that they have to have the very best booth at the Charity auction, and that if they didn’t understand why it’s because they weren’t from Port Elspeth, and everything has to be done just right. When Vivienne finds out that Margo is a lesbian, she grabs Olivia and she makes up an excuse about why they suddenly need to leave. Olivia likes the group and wants to stay, and is shocked when her mother says that she “suddenly remembered that they have somewhere else where they have to be”. After Vivienne and Olivia leave, Pearl starts to talk with the other group members about Vivienne and her family’s history in Port Elspeth. Pearl tries to explain that Vivienne has been through a lot after the deaths of her son, Oliver and his girlfriend, Evangeline Maddingly five years ago, and that everyone basically assumed that Oliver had killed Evangeline and then himself. The Coroner had basically said that there was nothing to pursue, and after that Vivienne, her husband, Neil, and Olivia had all been shunned by Port Elspeth society. That night, since it was getting late and Cadence’s husband, Dave has sent a very rude text to Cadence’s cell phone that everyone accidentally sees, and then he asks if the group of losers were finished yet because he wants to come upstairs. At that the ladies decide that the meeting is over, and Pearl promises to tell more of the story at the next meeting.
The next day Audra goes to work and asks her work friend, Sandra about the Port Elspeth tragedy. When Sandra refuses to tell her version of the story, Audra tells the version that she has heard the night before. When Sandra hears this version of the story she volunteers that she has heard that three people had been killed, not two! She also says that Evangeline is not the victim, and that everything that happened is her fault! Sandra refuses to say anything else about the tragedy since she feels that it’s wrong to speak of the dead like this”. After that Audra decides that she is determined to find out what really happened.
I loved this book! Holly Tierney-Bedford wrote some incredible characters who all had amazing back stories. I could not put the book down because I couldn’t wait to find out what really happened with the Port Elspeth Tragedy. The twists and turns in the story were always surprising! This is just a great book! I had never read any books by this author before, but I will be seeking them out now, and I highly recommend this book to everyone!
Really enjoyed this book.
The characters and the plot were both delightful and realistic. It was a quick read and lots of fun!
The Port Elspeth Jewelry Making Club by Holly Tierney-Bedord is mystery at it’s best.
Is a jewelry making club really solving an old case of murder?
We follow the ladies of The Port Elspeth Jewelry Making Club as they gossip and discuss things that used to be in Port Elspeth’s past. The group is made up of ladies from different classes, backgrounds, and ages. They plan to make jewelry and then sell it at the Women’s Club fundraiser. However, things get a little off course, and making jewelry becomes the last thing the ladies are worried about.
There is Candance, new to town, and the group’s founder, Pearl, and Margo, mother ad daughter both single at the moment. Then we have Audra, the art teacher from the next town over, followed by Vivienne, an ex-socialite and Oliva, her sixteen-year-old daughter. Once they meet for the first time, their lives begin to intertwine. As they become friends, they help each other through some hard times and significant life challenges.
The Mystery
Our group of ladies discusses an old case where two high school seniors from prominent families are involved in a murder-suicide about five years earlier. The kicker is that the young man involved is Vivienne’s son. So, the other ladies sit and gossip, discretely asking questions and getting information from people they know. It’s funny how it plays out, and I honestly fell for the most obvious red herring. I was positive that I knew who did it. However, I was so wrong.
The Narrator
Connie Shabshab does a fantastic job. I love the voice that she uses for Vivienne. I was immediately able to picture Vivienne perfectly in my head. Ms. Shabshab keeps your attention as she adds the perfect amount of drama to the story.
Five Stars
So, between Ms. Tierney-Bedord and Ms. Shabshab, this story ultimately came to life. I was engrossed and entertained. It is such a fabulous mystery. Therefore, I am rating it with five stars. I look forward to Ms. Tierney-Bedord’s next book, In the Heart of Windy Pines. I highly recommend the Audible book or the kindle edition.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the author. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this audiobook review of The Port Elspeth Jewelry Making Club by Holly Tierney-Bedord.
This Guest Review is for Baroness’ Book Trove.
Until the next time,
~Jen
If you would like to see other reviews like this one, check out BaronessBookTrove.com.
I really enjoyed this book. Listening to the Audio was great! The narrator did a good job with the voices. The story, wow. Who would have though a group as mixed as this would be so good together! I loved them.
In the Heart of Windy Pines #3 – I do not know where I found this book but it turned out to be a sample. I would have enjoyed reading this but it is hard to do with a one chapter sample. The story started off well and Myrtle the innkeeper was a trip. 3*
UPDATE Dec. 16, 2019: I found a copy on Booksprout and decided to read it. Both the mobi and epub files had formatting problems; the title and author’s name headers and page numbers were mixed in with the body. Changing formatting in my app did not solve the problem. Added to the fact, there are more problems with the body, an enter stroke after every single word in sentences.
Where Mistletoe Manor was actually worth reading, this book is not. The writing style follows more along Port Elspeth instead of Manor. I read four chapters and could not skim the rest. The writing was not up to par. I have several other books by this author that I will delete. One OK out of three does not encourage me to continue. The newest book should always be an improvement over the previous books; it is called learning the craft of writing. The sample and this book did not match. I change my rating from three to one star. I found this book on Booksprout. 1*
Murder at Mistletoe Manor #1 – This is my first read by this author and I am surprised. The writing and the storylines are better than I expected. The main characters work well together. The innkeeper is a bit smart mouthed to her guests but she and Myrtle are a perfect fit. The murderer is easy to figure out but the story is still interesting. 3*
The Port Elspeth Jewelry Making Club – I had two of the three recommended books to read before In the Heart of Windy Pines, spoilers. This book is not worth skimming, which I did for most of it. The book is silly, boring and rambles on forever, the characters are flat, the dialogues are stupid, and the writing style is vastly different from Mistletoe Manor, which had no profanity. The lesbian relationship is too heavily stressed given the storylines; guess the author wanted to be exceptionally PC. The murderer is easy to figure out. The cover of the book is nice, the reason the book interested me. This is a fine example of “don’t judge the book by its cover”. 1*
Didn’t have many original ideas. Every home the children ended up in except one was cruel beyond belief.
Things aren’t what they seem as the rich apire to local aristocracy and the middle class is shunned as unworthy, all while uncovering a long simmering mystery. Murder or misfortune? The outcome is unsurprisingly shocking.
An entertaining read, and although everything isn’t happily ever after, there was a good ending
After the introductory chapters on the characters, I lost interest. These were not characters that appealed to me so I didn’t waste my time any longer.
The Port Elspeth Jewelry Making Club by Holly Tierney-Bedford starts hauntingly with what can only be a murder in progress, then jumps to five years later or the present-day where Cadence Sommerset is prepping an invitation to join her jewelry making group to help with fundraising for Port Elspeth. The ladies who respond to Cadence become the major players in this well thought out and intriguing novel, and you become invested in the lives of Cadence; Audra, the Pre-K thru 4th Grade art teacher from Middleford; Pearl and her daughter Margo, who’s just returned to town after ten years in Paris; Vivienne Van Heusen-Prescott, who was once part of the snobbishly elite social upper class of Port Elspeth, and her daughter, Olivia, who’s in high school at Port Elspeth.
Though there are several characters in this novel that are despicable, the friendships between the ladies in the jewelry making group and the growth of their friendship and their determination to rise above the limits of the snobbish attitudes of the elite powers-that-be remind us all of the truly important things in life, and the cover-up of a five-year-old murder should not be a benefit available to the wealthy.
This was my first novel by Tierney-Bedford, and I already have Sweet Hollow Women which I’m planning to read next. I hope there are no characters even similar to the particular teacher and psychopath in this one.
This was a good book but disturbing to me. One of the central characters was very abusive and that is not something I enjoy reading. I was able to figure out ‘who done it’ way too early. You might enjoy it, but I did not.
Engaging beach read, with some interesting twists.
I didn’t like this, too much jumping around
Great story
I didn’t finish it because because I didn’t like it
Great beach read. A bit predictable.
I think this story is movie rights worthy. I hope to see it on the big screen.
I love this author! She develops her characters so well, you can almost feel what they’re feeling and understand their motivations. Great story, great characters!
This was a good read, it was an easy read and kept my attention, I would recommend it to others