Book 23 Pinned for Murder


Pinned for Murder by Elizabeth Lynn Casey fulfills the “Book about a Hobby” category of the PopSugar 2019 Reading Challenge. The novel has a librarian as a protagonist whose hobby is sewing. She is part of the Sweet Briar Ladies Society sewing circle in small-town South Carolina.
Cozy mysteries are my jam. I picked up the first one in the series because the main character is a librarian. I’m hoping one day to write a cozy mystery series based in a library. Reading the book was research, therefore tax-deductible.
**wink**
I can sew but I’m not very good at it. The occasional project comes up, but not often or, really, ever. My lack of a similar hobby didn’t detract from the novel.
The story was perfect for the category. Sewing-themed activity and talk peppered the book. The women use their love of sewing to grow closer together, be a community, and a support system for each other. And ****spoiler*** knowledge of sewing, fabrics, patterns, thread (I’m trying not to spoil too bad here), knowledge of these things helps the protagonist figure out who the murderer is. The tale wraps up neatly with the sewing theme.
***spoilers ahead***
There isn’t much more for me to say about the book. I knew who the bad guy was about midway through. Sometimes in these cozy mysteries when new characters are introduced besides the “small town” set, it’s obvious that one of them did the crime. I didn’t love the motivation for the killer in the book. The motive for the murder was not very plausible. I won’t totally spoil here but the crime does not fit. It’s almost as if the author could not think of a great reason kill someone
But it was a cute summer read, and I enjoyed the play of characters I’ve grown familiar with. You do need to read the first two to keep the sewing circle straight. There are quite a few ladies in the group, and I kept getting Beatrice and Georgina mixed up. And for once I read the paperback. It’s been a while since I’ve strayed from digital or audio. It was nice to have a paperback to tote around in my purse.
All in all, Pinned for Murder, a perfect title for the story, was a good read. I give the book four sewing needles.

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