Mystery of the Tea Cup Quilt -An Interview, Review, & Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome Jodi Allen Brice to Cozy Up With Kathy today. Jodi writes the Harland Creek Mystery Quilters series. THE MYSTERY OF THE TEA CUP QUILT is the first book in the series and was released last week.

 

Kathy: In THE MYSTERY OF THE TEA CUP QUILT we meet Dove Agnew, a former successful dress designer. Are you interested in fashion? 

JAB: I like looking nice and put together, but since I became a writer, I leave the house less and less, so sometimes it falls to the wayside.

Kathy: A scandal made her leave New York City and return to Harland Creek, Mississippi. Have you ever left, then returned to your hometown? 

JAB: I did leave my hometown after college but I didn't return. I married my husband and we live in a totally different state than where I grew up. But I do go home and visit my Mom!

 

Kathy: Dove's mom owns a quilt shop. 

JAB: Are you a quilter? Yes! I am!

Kathy: We also meet a goat named Petunia. How did you decide to add a goat to your mystery? 

JAB: So, I am totally obsessed with watching baby goat videos on Facebook. And when I was writing this book, I decided it needed an animal like every good cozy mystery usually does. Instead of a cat or dog, I decided I would have a baby goat!


Kathy: What first drew you to cozy mysteries? 

JAB: I read mysteries all the time when I was in school. When I became an adult I started reading more women's fiction and romances. It wasn't until I started watching Father Brown Mysteries that I became obsessed with cozy mysteries again.


Kathy: Do you write in any other genres?

JAB: I do! I write women's fiction and small town romance.

Kathy: Tell us about your series.

JAB: My Harland Creek series is my small town romance series. I decided to set my cozy mystery series (Harland Creek Cozy Mystery Quilters) here so it became a spin off. It's fun to see the characters in my other books.

I also have my Laurel Cove series. It's a women's fiction series which is set in a lake town of North Carolina. Three different women have different obstacles to overcome and they are in different seasons in life.


Kathy: Do you have a favorite character? If so, who and why?

JAB: Petunia. Because she's a goat and cute!


Kathy: Did you have a specific inspiration for your series?

JAB: Probably the small town I grew up in. Small towns are weird in that everyone knows your business, or at least thinks they do!


Kathy: What made you decide to publish your work?

JAB: I moved to a different city where I didn't know anyone. Books became my escape and I decided one summer to write a book. So I did! Now thirty books later, I'm still writing.


Kathy: If you could have a dinner party and invite 4 authors, living or dead, in any genre, who would you invite?

JAB: 1.The apostle John who wrote Revelation.
2.Emily Dickinson
3. Collen Hoover
4. Kristen Hannah


Kathy: What are you currently reading? 

JAB: Nothing. I'm trying to finish a Christmas book set in Harland Creek and my house is in the middle of renovations.

Kathy: Will you share any of your hobbies or interests with us?

JAB: Reading! When I have the time and a quiet house

Quilting. I used to quilt all the time before I started writing. But writing soon took over. It was back in 2020 that I couldn't write anymore. So I went to a quilt class and it started my creative juices flowing again. Now I tend to split my time between writing and quilting. And I have a quilt giveaway that I'm doing in my newsletter.All you have to do is join my newsletter on my website and you'll get an update on how to enter for a chance to win!

Kathy: Name 4 items you always have in your fridge or pantry.

JAB: Berries, Creamer, Eggs, Almond Milk

Kathy: Do you have plans for future books either in your current series or a new series?

JAB: Yes! THE MYSTERY OF THE DRUNKARDS PATH releases in January and you can preorder it now!
 

Kathy: What's your favorite thing about being an author?

JAB: Creating new characters who feel like friends.

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Review

THE MYSTERY OF THE TEA CUP QUILT by Jodi Allen Brice
The First Harland Creek Mystery Quilters Book

After a scandal in New York City Dove Agnew returns to Harland Creek, Mississippi. Living with her mom and working in her quilt shop is a far cry from the glitz of her former life. Her life gets more complicated when instead of the quilt she wants to show to her mom and her quilting friends, she find body of Gertrude Brown. The same woman Dove had a very public fight with. News travels fast in this small town and Dove not only becomes a prime suspect, to some she's already found guilty. With the support of the quilting ladies, Dove will strive to prove her innocence.

Dove is a likable protagonist. Caring, but with a temper, she had faults, but always tries her best. Dove is surrounded by a motley crew of older quilters. They may suffer from bunions or need a knee replacement, but they're more than eager to put fools in their place and help find a killer!

The first Harland Creek Mystery Quilters book has plenty of laughs. I love Petunia, the goat who acts more like a dog, and the quilting bee members are a hoot! It also has a very relatable theme: a fall from grace, starting over, and figuring out what it really means to have a good life.

At times the writing was stilted and the storyline presented was choppy, but the concept was solid. Although I was fairly certain of the identity of the killer early on and one clue was a bit of a spotlight, I enjoyed the story. I especially loved the special touch of the romance writer writing a cozy quilting mystery as well as the many nods to quilting in general.

Filled with fun characters, especially a lovable goat, THE MYSTERY OF THE TEA CUP QUILT is a good start to a new series.

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 Mystery of the Tea Cup Quilt - A Cozy Mystery: Harland Creek Mystery Quilters by Jodi Allen Brice

About Mystery of the Tea Cup Quilt

Mystery of the Tea Cup Quilt A Cozy Mystery: Harland Creek Mystery Quilters
Cozy Mystery 1st in Series
Setting - Mississippi
Guardian Ink LLC (September 5, 2022)
Paperback: ‎ 214 pages

Hi! I’m Dove Agnew, former successful dress designer who was living the high life in New York, until my sleazy business partner used my business to move his drugs, leaving me to pack my ruined reputation and move back home to the tiny town of Harland Creek.

Despite the setback, all was going relatively well until I found Gertrude Brown’s body on the floor of my mom’s quilt shop. Now, rumors are flying and all eyes are on me. I’m a murder suspect! Even my ex-boyfriend, the current chief of police, is suspicious of me.

Now, it’s up to me to clear my name and find out who the real killer is before someone else gets hurt. But I’m going to need help, and the Harland Creek Quilters, and a goat named Petunia, are just the group to get things done.

Welcome to the new series set in the beloved town of Harland Creek. With the quilting club ladies and a sidekick, which happens to be a goat, this book will keep you guessing and laughing out loud!

About Jodi Allen Brice

 

Jodi Allen Brice has written numerous books under different pen names. Under Jodi Allen Brice she writes women's fiction, small town clean sweet romance, and cozy mysteries. She transitioned away from paranormal romance in the year 2020 when the virus hit. She still writes about lovable characters who overcome the impossible to get what they want. You'll find yourself laughing and crying when you are reading her books. She is also an avid quilter and camping. Sometimes she does both at the same time!  

Author Links: - Website - Facebook -  

Purchase Links - Amazon - Kobo - Google - nook  

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Knot of This World - A Guest Post & Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome Giselle Cole to Cozy Up With Kathy today. You can find Giselle on the pages of the Quilting Mystery series. Knot of This World is the eighth book in the series and was released last month.

Interview with Giselle Cole,
(Martha Rose’s younger sister)
By Mary Marks

My name is Giselle Cole and I am Martha Rose’s half-sister. On a whim I spat into a bottle and sent my DNA to Deep Roots to be analyzed. That’s how we found each other—through the Deep Roots data base. We had the same father, Jacob Quinn Maguire. He disappeared around thirty years before, so after we met, the two of us decided to search for him and bonded over that experience.

Since then, we’ve become family. My fiancé Harold and I drive to Martha’s almost every Friday night for the Jewish Sabbath or Shabbat. Did I mention I’m Catholic? You might be wondering how a Catholic and a Jew could be sisters. It’s no mystery, really. Martha’s mother was Jewish and mine Catholic. Since our father was absent, our mothers determined how we’d be raised.

Anyway, that’s knot why I’m telling you this. (LOL. Get it? Knot instead of not?) I recently helped her investigate the death of Royal St. Germain, the leader of the Mystical Feather Society. I wasn’t present when he was shot to death at their commune in Ojai, California. But Martha and Birdie and Lucy were. You know them, right? Part of our Tuesday morning quilters group?

Anyway, we really wanted to discover who killed him, so we had to think of a way to go back to the commune undercover. We posed as spiritual seekers and signed up for a weekend class in Tarot card reading. Our friend Jazz came with us (and brought his Maltese Zsa Zsa Galore along. She rides in a tote bag wherever he goes).

Boy, was that class fun. I mean, where can a gay menswear designer, a Nigerian/American woman, a Jewish quilter and an oil company owner/CEO (that’s me) find common ground? Our curiosity brought us together. And our teacher was great. It turned out he had a few secrets of his own. After class we went hunting for dead bodies.

Martha (I call her my Sissy) and I make a great team. Since I’ve known her, I’ve helped her investigate three murders. This was our fourth effort together. It doesn’t take much to investigate. You just have to be curious, nosy, not afraid to ask questions and dedicated to the truth no matter what it takes. It doesn’t hurt to also be able to tell a lie with enough conviction so people will believe you.

Another thing I learned from my Sissy is quilting. Until I met her, I didn’t know a thing about quilts. Then I remembered my Grandmother Eagan (my mother’s mother) was working on one when she died. The pattern was Grandmother’s Flower Garden, which is a mosaic made of two-inch cotton hexagons pieced together by hand. That pattern must’ve been thought up by the devil, because it takes forever to put together one of those quilt tops. No joke. Anyway, my Sissie and the other members of the Tuesday morning group have all been helping me to finish my grandmother’s endless project.

Anyway, I hope you like the story Knot of This World. It’s Martha’s account of what actually went on at the Mystical Feather commune. Happy reading!

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Knot of This World (A Quilting Mystery) by Mary Marks

About Knot of the World

 

Knot of This World (A Quilting Mystery)  

Cozy Mystery 8th in Series  

Publisher: Kensington (July 28, 2020)  

Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages 

Quilter Martha Rose must patch together the clues to solve the murder of a cult leader in the California mountains . . .

 

Has Martha’s fellow quilter and dear friend Birdie Watson become unraveled? Birdie and her new husband have decided to join the Mystical Feather Society, a spiritist group living on a commune in the mountains of Ojai, California. Before her free-spirited friend makes a huge mistake, Martha organizes a surprise visit to check out the commune. While white-robed members conduct a seancé in a glass yurt, their leader—Royal St. Germain—is nowhere to be found . . . until, that is, Martha and her friends discover him shot in their Winnebago. Now Martha must track down the killer and debunk the cult—before it's bye bye Birdie . . .

About Mary Marks

Born and raised in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, Mary Marks earned a B.A. in Anthropology from UCLA and an M.A. in Public Administration from the American Jewish University in Los Angeles. In 2004 she enrolled in the UCLA Extension Writers Program. Her first novel, Forget Me Knot, was a finalist in a national writing competition in 2011. She is currently a reviewer of cozy mysteries for The New York Journal of Books at www.nyjournalofbooks.com.  

Author Links:
Kensington: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781496720511/knot-of-this-world/  
Website: https://marymarksmysteries.com/  
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mmarks2013  

Purchase Links - Amazon - B&N - Kobo - Google Play - IndieBound -

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Knot on Her Life - A Guest Post & Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome Lucy Mondello to Cozy Up With Kathy today. You can find Lucy on the pages of the Quilting Mystery series by Mary Marks. Not on Her Life is the seventh book in the series and was released last week.

Hi. My name is Lucy Mondello. I’m Martha Rose’s best friend. I met Martha when she first moved to Encino right after a divorce. Her daughter Quincy and my son Richie were in the same class at Birmingham High School. (They’re still good friends.) One day I invited Martha to join me and my neighbor, Birdie Watson for a morning of quilting. Martha didn’t know a Nine Patch from an Ohio Star, but she learned quickly and caught the quilting bug. Since then, the three of us have been sewing together every Tuesday, no matter what.

My husband Ray and I are from Moorcroft, Wyoming. We got married right out of high school. He was drafted during the Viet Nam war and served in the military police. My Ray can fix anything. So when the war was over, we moved to the LA area and opened a business repairing cars. Our business grew to four locations and our family grew to five sons.

In some ways, I’m a lot different from Martha. I’m a practicing Catholic and conservative politically. But that doesn’t stop us from being the best of friends. I don’t know how she does it, but Martha manages to get sucked into murder investigations. And I often help her. My husband Ray does not approve of that at all. He’s very protective of me. So I’m extremely careful not to tell Ray when Martha and I are chasing down clues. I operate on the premise that “what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

Coming from rural Wyoming, Ray and I grew up with guns and rifles. We have a small collection which we keep locked in a huge cast iron safe in our house. Twice in the past we’ve had to lend Martha a weapon for self-protection. It’s a good thing we did, because the gun saved her life. Both times.

For years, Ray and I attempted to set Martha up on dates. We thought it was a shame that such a smart and attractive woman was all alone in the world. Well, not completely alone—she has devoted friends and family—but you know what I mean. No boyfriend, no husband. So you can imagine our shock when she became seriously involved with a six-foot six bearded biker with the street name of Crusher! At first, we didn’t know what to think about such an uneven match. But as we got to know him (his real name is Yossi Levy), all our misgivings fell away. He’s the perfect mate for Martha.

The two of them have been living together for a while now. I hope that one day they’ll get married. When I mentioned my feelings to Ray, he said, “Why? What they have going seems to work for them. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.” But I know better. Marriage is that final act of commitment. I think they both deserve to have that.

Well, it’s been nice talking to you. If you haven’t read about our adventures, I encourage you to start. Some of them are pretty funny. And if you have read the books, I hope you keep coming back for more.

Cheers!

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Knot on Her Life (A Quilting Mystery) by Mary Marks

About the Book

Knot on Her Life (A Quilting Mystery)  

Cozy Mystery 7th in Series  

Kensington (July 30, 2019) 

Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages

While quilter Martha Rose awaits the birth of her granddaughter, a neighborhood girl appears at her door with a mystery that can’t be pinned down . .

Martha’s eager to finish the baby quilt she’s making for her new granddaughter, but she scraps those plans when a young girl rings her doorbell begging for help. Poppy Halaby, the foster child of Martha’s neighbor, is an orphan whose parents were murdered by a killer who was never caught. When Poppy’s doting foster mom falls suspiciously ill, Martha is determined to keep the child safe. But she’ll have to unravel more about Poppy’s parents to stitch a broken family back together again—and prevent another crime cut from the same cloth . . .

About Mary Marks

 

About the Author: Born and raised in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, Mary Marks earned a B.A. in Anthropology from UCLA and an M.A. in Public Administration from the American Jewish University in Los Angeles. In 2004 she enrolled in the UCLA Extension Writers Program. Her first novel, Forget Me Knot, was a finalist in a national writing competition in 2011. She is currently a reviewer of cozy mysteries for The New York Journal of Books at www.nyjournalofbooks.com. Readers can visit her at www.marymarksmysteries.com and https://www.facebook.com/mmarks2013

Purchase Links Amazon – B&N Google Play kobo

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