Cut From the Cloth

A Quilt Shop Dog Cozy Mystery

By: L.W. Franks

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

When Gloria Greyson's morning walk along the harbor takes an unexpected turn — courtesy of her seventy-five-pound sheepdog's nose — she finds herself standing in the doorway of the old Kettle Sail Loft, staring at a crime scene. The victim is Victor Strand, a flashy out-of-town developer whose plans to demolish Wharf Street and replace it with luxury rentals had made him the most unpopular man in Patchwork Place. Now he's dead, and the list of people who wanted him gone is longer than a bolt of broadcloth.

But as Gloria starts pulling threads, she discovers that Strand's development company was hiding more than bad architectural renderings. Layered LLCs, amended financial filings, and a silent partner nobody knew existed point to a scheme far bigger — and far more dangerous — than a simple real estate deal. With help from the quilting circle, a sharp-eyed teenager, a retired teacher with a pencil and a timeline, and an eighty-two-year-old woman who misses nothing from her porch on Lighthouse Hill Road, Gloria pieces together a trail of evidence that leads from a hand-dyed scarf to a quarter-million-dollar secret.

In the sixth and final installment of the Patchwork Place Mysteries, the whole town shows up — and so does every thread that's made this series a joy to read. Old friends, fresh lemon bars, a community quilt with a patch for every shop on the street, and one very gruff police chief who finally says what he's been thinking for six cases. Gloria Greyson's last investigation is her best, proving once and for all that the strongest stitches are the ones that hold a community together.