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    Hems and Homicide
    Hems and Homicide
    Hems and Homicide
    Audiobook7 hours

    Hems and Homicide

    Written by Elizabeth Penney

    Narrated by Kim Niemi

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Welcome to 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 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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateDec 31, 2019
    ISBN9781541431331
    Hems and Homicide
    Author

    Elizabeth Penney

    ELIZABETH PENNEY is the author of more than two dozen cozy mysteries, including the Apron Shop series. The first in the Cambridge Bookshop series, Chapter and Curse, was a 2022 Mary Higgins Clark Award nominee. Elizabeth spent her early years in England and France and now lives in the White Mountains of New Hampshire, where she pens novels and tries to grow things.

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    Reviews for Hems and Homicide

    4/5

    29 ratings4 reviews

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    • 4/5
      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 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.
    • 3/5
      Hems and Homicide by Elizabeth PenneyBook #1: Apron Shop SeriesSource: NetGalley and St. Martin’s PressRating: 2½/5 stars**MINI-REVIEW**The Bottom Line: Well, based on the overall rating on Goodreads, I am most decidedly in the minority on this one! When reading a new book, I need to feel like the characters are robust and real, the setting is realistic, and the plot is plausible. Unfortunately, I found none of that in this book. Quite frankly, if it weren’t for the synopsis on Goodreads, I wouldn’t be able to tell you much about this book as none of it has stuck with me since I finished reading. I can recall hoping the characters would become more real, more interesting and that the plot would become, at the very least, reasonable. I found much of the plot to be a stretch and that left me quite unsatisfied. Generally speaking, I can usually let something slide in a first-in-s-series book, give the author the benefit of the doubt and give the second book a shot, but I just can’t see that happening with this series. With three major issues – characters, setting, and plot – being so tremendously lacking, I find myself calling it a day after only one book. As I said, I am clearly in the minority on this one so, all you cozy mystery lovers out there might want to give this go and find out for yourself if I am right or if I am woefully wrong.
    • 4/5
      Hems and Homicide by Elizabeth Penney is the premiere of An Apron Shop Series. Iris Buckley and her grandmother, Anne are opening Ribbons and Bows in Blueberry Cove, Maine. They are going over the property with Ian Stewart, the carpenter, when Iris stumbles down the basement stairs, knocks over shelves and a skull is exposed. Anne Buckley, Iris’s grandmother, recognizes the scarf around the skull as belonging to Star Moonshine who disappeared around July 4th in 1972. When their landlord, Elliot Parker end up dead in the storeroom with Iris’s favorite apron tied around his neck, Anne becomes the prime suspect. Iris with assistance from her best friend, Madison uses her knowledge gleamed from mystery novels to do a little sleuthing. I enjoyed reading Hems and Homicide. I love the concept of a shop featuring aprons (vintage and custom creations) along with vintage linens. They will also have a room for sewing classes and Iris’s cat, Quincy will be in residence during the day. The author took the time to establish the characters along with the setting. I like Iris and Anne Buckley along with Iris’s friends. There is a close bond between Iris and her grandmother that I thought was sweet. They are grieving the loss of Anne’s husband, Joe who died three months earlier. Iris wears vintage inspired clothing, loves to read, and finds petting her cat soothing. She is attracted to Ian Stewart, their carpenter. Iris and Ian grew up together and she had a crush on him in high school. It may be the timing is right for Iris and Ian. We shall have to wait and see. There are great descriptions of the town, the shops and the Buckley farm. I would like to move to Blueberry Cove with its historic buildings and friendly (most of them) residents. There are two mysteries in Hems and Homicide. There is the cold case of Star Moonshine and the current death of Elliot Parker. I thought the mysteries were clever and intriguing. I enjoyed following the clues and solving the crimes. I thought the one manner of death to be unique. I am eager for the next book in An Apron Shop Series. If you like vintage clothing, charming towns, friendly character and crafty whodunits, then you will enjoy reading Hems and Homicide. Hems and Homicide has a cold case, antique aprons, a big pig, a poisonous plant, and a gritty granddaughter.
    • 5/5
      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!