A Crafty Christmas

Finished September 19

A Crafty Christmas by Mollie Cox Bryan

This is the fourth novel in a series set around a group of scrapbooking friends in small-town Cumberland Creek, Virginia. In this novel, one of them, Sheila, has won a scrapbooking themed trip for herself and two friends on a cruise of the Caribbean. The trip takes place in mid-December and the novel begins with Sheila tripping over a body as she does her customer morning run on deck. She soon discovers it was a woman she'd been friendly with and who had been talking about hiring Sheila as a designer for her scrapbooking company. 

Sheila's friends Vera and Paige are on the cruise with her, and Vera had brought along her new boyfriend Eric, while Paige brought her pastry-chef son Randy. Randy has had some experience crafting before and is intrigued by a variety of elements of cruise ship life. Eric is a lawyer and relative newcomer to the group that they haven't entirely warmed up to yet. 

When the authorities discover that the victim was poisoned and become aware that Sheila had met with her recently, Sheila becomes a potential suspect in the case. When Sheila is on the scene of a second dead body as it is discovered, this becomes more of a threat. Thus the group begins to gather information to find the real killer before more deaths happen. Part of this is working with the friends and family back home, such as Vera's mother Beatrice and the crafting group member Annie. 

When odd occurrences begin happening back home in Virginia, the group begins to wonder if they are connected. 

This is a cozy mystery with lots of references to crafting and the specifics of the Christmas season. It also includes lots of references to delicious food from the gourmet offerings on the ship to the Christmas backing in both locations. 

The is a short section at the end with crafting terminology and Christmas scrapbooking ideas. 

I enjoyed the group problem-solving and the side stories around various of the characters. 

Witch of Wild Things

Finished November 29

Witch of Wild Things by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

This is the first book in a series called Wild Magic. Sage Flores is the oldest of three sisters and eight years ago she left her hometown of Cranberry, Virginia after the death of her youngest sister, Sky. Middle sister Teal blames her for Sky's death, although they both know that isn't the case. 

The girls grew up in their aunt Nadia's house after their mother left town when they were young. A family legend says that it is a curse that all the women in the family have magic in them, and sometimes it feels that way. Sage's gift is with plants. She can identify plants from the smallest piece of them, and can communicate with them in a way. Sky's gift was with animals, and Teal's with weather. 

Sky fell from a cliff when engaging in risky behaviour, but her body was never found. Her ghost haunts Sage, offering ups cups of flavoured coffee and sometimes, when Sage cries, becoming visible to her. Sky tells her that she can't move on until Sage heals the rift between herself and Teal. 

Sage began working with jewelry and had a job teaching at a college. Budget cuts cost her the position, and she is moving back home as the book begins. Nadia's glad to have her back, but Teal not so much. Sage's best friend Laurel is also looking forward to her return. She lets Sage know that her old crush Tennessee Reyes is also back in town. 

Nadia has contacted some people in town already, and Sage finds that she already has a job offer back with the local garden company. She worked there in high school, where she became known as the 'plant whisperer'. 

Interspersed in the story are online chat conversations between Sage and Reyes from their high school days. Sage knew who she was talking to, but he didn't and never found out. This is something that becomes a part of the plot in the novel. The two are thrown together in a project at their workplace where they are tasked with visiting places in the area to look for local plants that aren't already supplied there. Working together means that they get to know each other, and figure out what drives each other in their lives, but they also find themselves drawn to each other. 

I really enjoyed the magical part of this novel, and the ways in which the different characters related to each other. A satisfying read. 

The Full Scoop

Finished July 2

The Full Scoop by Jill Orr

This book is the fourth book of a series set in the small town of Tuttle Corner, Virginia and featuring Riley Ellison, small town journalist. Riley is single, recently split amicably from her boyfriend Jay when he took a job in D.C.

Her coworker and friend Hal Flick died a month ago when his car was forced off the road. The case is still unsolved. Hal was working on the case of Riley's grandfather's death a few years ago, which Riley also suspected was a murder, but that was set up to look like suicide. Riley has taken some time off work and then some part-time weeks to deal with Hal's estate and her own grief, but she is now headed back to work at the Tuttle Times full time. Another coworker, Holman is also a good friend and the two often hang out together and he helps her as she continues to look into Hal's and her grandfather's deaths.

Other friends include her high school boyfriend Ryan and his Swedish girlfriend Ridley, who have recently opened Mysa, a cafe in a former Tavern. She is also spending time with Lindsey Davis the new county prosecutor. Riley has also started to date Ash, a recent addition to the town who runs the local funeral home. Riley gets out and about in town often walking her dog Coltrane. 

Riley's mom Jeannie has set her up with a subscription to an astrology site that sends her daily updates. Jeannie is also the local Uber driver.

With the former sheriff, now in jail, saying he knows more about the two deaths and indicating he's willing to make a deal with the information, a file of documents Hal left for her, and her own ability to sniff out a story, Riley has a lot of leads to follow. 

Part of the plot in this novel figures around a New Year's Eve party at Ash's cousin Toad's house with a Gatsby theme. 

I liked Riley, and her strong sense of self. She's still unsettled in terms of her love life, but she has a job she enjoys, a circle of good friends, and a home she loves. She stands up for herself and those she cares about. This was a good read. 

Yellow Wife

Finished March 27

Yellow Wife by Sadeqa Johnson

This historical novel was inspired by and based on real historical characters, which I love. There are also some real historical figures who appear in the story. The author had recently moved to Richmond, Virginia when she saw a plaque about the couple who inspired this story and dug into their history to learn more.

The main character of this novel and the one we see through the experience of is Pheby Delores Brown. She was born on a plantation in Charles City, Virginia and raised unusually. The plantation owner's sister schooled her in everything from reading, math, and geography to piano, and even on one occasion took her out shopping as if she were not a slave. Pheby lived with her mother Ruth in a room in the Loom House and both worked as seamstresses and weavers for the plantation, doing both fine work and clothing for the other slaves. When the master's sister died and the master married, she did not continue this treatment, and took against the girl. 

As the book opens, Pheby has recently been moved to serve the master's wife when her maid that she brought with her died of fever. The master has made this choice, not his wife. Pheby is looking forward to her eighteenth birthday as she has been promised freedom then. 

But things conspire against this fate, and her hope of eventually marrying her fellow slave Essex Henry, who has been allowed to hire himself out to save money to buy his freedom. Instead, she is unexpectedly shipped to Virginia to be punished and sold at an infamous jail, nicknamed Devil's Half Acre. There she is taken by the jailor into his household and given both kindnesses and ill treatment by him as she figures out what she must do to survive in this hostile new world. Living right in the heart of the jail, she witnesses atrocities daily and is limited in what she can do to make a difference in the lives that pass through. 

I found this book very interesting, showing an aspect of the system of slavery that I hadn't seen before. The character of Pheby was interesting, but so were many of the secondary characters that emerged. I appreciated the author's note explaining her inspiration and research as well to place this work in context. 

March

Finished February 17
March by Geraldine Brooks

I've had this one on my shelf for a while, and finally got to it. This book was inspired by Little Women and imagines the story of their father, Mr. March. As the book begins, March is embedded with Union troops as a chaplain, involved in a battle that isn't going well. Following the battle, as he makes his way to a plantation house taken over by troops, he realizes that he has been there before as a young man, when he worked as a peddler. It was here that he first came face to face with the realities of slavery.
The story mostly stays in the time of the Civil War, but it also wanders back to his days as a peddler, his first meeting with Marmee, and the early days of their marriage, outlining how he gradually became the man he is now, and how he came to be where he is.
I found it interesting to see both him and Marmee as more complex characters than they appear in the stories of their daughters.
Brooks based March partly on Louisa May Alcott's father Bronson, but also on other historical figures and using other historical information, particularly around the Civil War, which Bronson did not serve in.
My copy also has an interview with Brooks, and a reading guide for the book.

The Undertaker's Wife

Finished November 17
The Undertaker's Wife: a Memoir: a True Story of Love, Loss, and Laughter in the Unlikeliest of Places by Dee Oliver

This memoir begins with the sudden and unexpected death of Dee's husband Johnnie and moves forward from there, but also takes a look back at how she met and married Johnnie, and how they had their three daughters. It was obviously a strong relationship and the loss was devastating for her.
Dee's children are still young as she loses her husband, and while she had worked at Johnnie's side for years in his family's business, a funeral home in Virginia, she had never taken the courses or done the paperwork to become a funeral director. Determined to carry on what she knew she was good at, she worked, looked after the kids, and took classes. When it came time to do her internship, she naturally went to Johnnie's brother who was now running the funeral home, but he told her he didn't want her working there anymore. While shocked and hurt, Dee was not deterred, and she found another funeral home who would take her on. It was one that was operated by African Americans and largely catered to that demographic. Dee tells us of her experiences in a way that shows her openness and humour.
This memoir is personal, but also portrays an industry that we don't often see.

The Mulligans of Mt. Jefferson

Finished May 25
The Mulligans of Mt. Jefferson by Don Reid

This novel focuses on three men, lifelong friends, now in middle age. Set in the small town of Mt. Jefferson, Virginia in 1959, the novel takes each man in turn, telling his story now, and through the past the story of the boys growing up and becoming the men they now are. Buddy is now a police officer and when his friend Harlan is shot knows that there is more to the story then he is being told. Cal is a minister and wants everyone to find their peace and not hurt others. No man is perfect and the two friends are worried about Harlan. Cal himself is struggling with changes in his life, trying to find his best way forward. Buddy believes in the law and treating people fairly, but doesn't abide telling stories, knowing how they can grow and cause more trouble in the end.
The town has many secrets, as do the inhabitants, but the focus here is on Harlan and what really happened to him.
I liked the aspect of long-term male friendship and the bond these men have from their childhood staying strong, but the situation here puts stress on them. The small-town life and time setting are interesting showing a world that wasn't that much simpler than ours, just with different issues.
This novel is part of an ongoing series set in this town and therefore doesn't wrap things up nicely, but the ending was a little abrupt for me.