Quilting has become a very popular theme in cozy mysteries, and rightfully so! Many more people are now enjoying quilting as a favorite hobby, and even more are reading cozy mysteries!
Isabella Alan (aka Amanda Flower) writes the Amish Quilt Shop Mystery Series. Angela Braddock inherits the quilt shop and sleuths, as well.
Lizbie Brown writes the Elizabeth Blair Mystery Series, which is set in Bath, England… where Brown resides.
Vannetta Chapman writes the Shipshewana Mystery Series, starring the owner of a quilt shop, set in the Amish Indiana town of Shipshewana.
The Elm Creek Quilts Series is not a mystery series but it is very popular with quilters, as well as non-quilters! This series is written by Jennifer Chiaverini. Chiaverini also has accompanying instructional books that feature the quilts in the novels.
Elizabeth Craig (aka Riley Adams & Elizabeth Spann Craig) writes the Southern Quilting Mystery Series, which is set in North Carolina.
Earlene Fowler writes the Benni Harper Mystery Series. Each of the novels is named after a different quilt pattern.
Amanda Flower (aka Isabella Alan): Amish Matchmaker Mystery Series – The sleuth is a widowed quiltmaker who becomes a matchmaker in her hometown.
Sara Hoskinson Frommer writes the Joan Spencer Mystery Series. While the series is not a quilting mystery series, the second book in the series is called Buried in Quilts.
Sally Goldenbaum pens the Queen Bees Quilt Shop Mystery Series which features Selma Parker, owner of a fabric and quilt shop
Sally Goldenbaum writes the Queen Bees Quilt Mystery Series AND the Seaside Knitters Mystery Series which is set in a Massachusetts coastal town.
Patience Griffin: writes the Kilts and Quilts Series which is set in Scotland. This series is Cozy but not mysteries.
Mary Marks writes the Martha Rose Quilting Mystery Series, which features a plus-sized quilter in California.
Clare O’Donohue writes the Someday Quilts Mystery Series. O’Donohue is an ex-journalist and writing teacher who has worked for the HGTV network on the “Simply Quilts” show. She mixes quilting with romance and mystery.
The Patchwork Mystery Series is a Guidepost mystery series which will have, as its sleuth, a woman who is good with the needle AND who is good at solving mysteries.
Emilie Richards writes the Ministry is Murder Mystery Series. She also writes a non-mystery series which is called the Shenandoah Valley Series. The novels in this quilting series are named after different quilting patterns, and they have accompanying books that Leisure Arts publishes which actually have the directions for the quilts featured in the Shenandoah Valley Series. I think that’s very clever…. and only wish that I quilted!
Arlene Sachitano writes the Harriet Truman Loose Threads Mystery Series. Harriet inherits a quilting shop…
Leann Sweeney writes the Cats in Trouble Mystery Series. Jillian Hart makes cat quilts that she sells online and at cat shows.
Terri Thayer writes the Quilting Mystery Series, which features a computer technician who inherits a quilt shop.
Vineyard Quilt Mystery Series: This no-profanity series is set in Missouri and is published by the Annie’s Crafts Company. Several authors write this series.
♦To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme click on this link.♦
tania says
Marnette Falley seems to have taken over writing the Queen Bees Quilting mystery series.
She has a book out called Dog-Gone Murder. I havent read it yet. You can get it on Amazon website but only in America.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thanks for letting us know, Tania. I will add Marnette Falley to the Sally Goldenbaum page…
Vickie says
I love reading Earlene Fowler’s series and Jennifer Chiaverini’s series. They make me want to go out and take quilting classes. One day…..
Val H. says
Jennifer Chiaverini’s books inspired me to make my first totally hand-pieced and hand-quilted sampler quilt. It took me eight years to finish, but I am extremely proud of it. I had quilted when I was a young woman, but that quilt renewed my interest and I am now quilting on a regular basis. All machine piecing and quilting this time, though. One totally hand-worked was enough.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
You and me, both, Vickie!
tania says
Hi
I have just read a new author: Clare O’Donohue. Not sure if you have tried her, but she’s brilliant. I couldn’t stop reading her book, and was sorry when it was finished.
It’s a quilting mystery. Nell (the main character) is dumped by her fiance and goes to vist her grandmother (who has her own quilting shop) for the weekend but ends up staying longer when her Grandmother breaks her leg. During this time the local handyman is murdered and Nell becomes involved in trying to solve the murder.
Not sure if this is a series but I really hope it will be and can’t wait for the next one.
At the moment you can’t get it on Amazon in Britain, but you can still get it in America on Amazon.
Sorry I forgot to give you the title of the book by Clare O’Donohue it’s The Lover’s Knot a Someday Quilts Mystery
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Hi Tania,
Thanks for telling us about Clare O’Donohue!
Meg says
I am a quilter and love to read stories about quilters especially mysteries. Now I have a mystery. I recently read a story but do not remember the title or the author. The story is about a women (Theo Abernathy) who owns a quilt shop, her husband is the sheriff. I believe the story takes place in California. There was a mystery quilt called “Springtime In The Smokies” by Theo Abernathy. All the directions for the quilt was given as clues. Help me with the title and author.
Kathy says
The author is Barb Graham. She lives in Wyoming but her novels take place in the south. She is a delightful person and talented author/quilter. Her best buddy is the quilt tester for the directions for the mystery quilts.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Hi Meg,
The author you are looking for is Barbara Graham. The title of the book is Murder by Serpents.
Good luck on the quilt!
Jan says
I would love to read some of these series on tape. Any suggestions of where I can get them? I did check my local library and netlibrary.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Jan,
My husband and I have been members of audible.com for years… and by that, I mean YEARS! We were with them (almost) from their very humble beginnings. That is where we get out audio books.
Judy says
I love the Jennifer Chiaverini series. I am not a quilter but love the history and how the stories enfold. Great read and getting to know the characters makes me want to go to quilt camp!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Judy, I know Chiaverini doesn’t write mysteries, but I simply HAD to include her on the Cozy Mystery site!
Bev S says
Just started a new book by Jennifer Chiaverini…Mrs. Lincoln’s Dressmaker…it is quite different from her Elm Creek series, what I would call fiction based on history….I also have her two other books, Mrs. Lincoln’s Rival and the Spymistress based on the life of Elizabeth van Leuw….the Union spy living in Richmond.
Additionally, there is another series of Annie’s Attic mysteries available….they are set in a quilt shop and I’m waiting for my first book now…some of the same authors as wrote the Annie Dawson books….
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Bev S, I have Annie’s Quilted Mystery Series on my “authors to post” list. I really should get that page up, as there seem to be a lot of people interested in it! It features the members (especially Emma Cotton & Kelly Grace) of the Nimble Thimbles Quilting group in Mystic Harbor, Massachusetts. Please let us know if it’s as good as the Annie’s Attic Mysteries.
Terri says
I don’t believe Terri Thayer is writing her quilting series any more. I have tried contacting her but no response.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
That’s a shame, Terri. Maybe her Stamping Sisters Mystery Series is doing so well that she has decided to put all of her writing efforts into it… (?)
Rede says
@Danna,
Oh no, I just started reading Terri’s quilting series, I hope she continues.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Rede, I have no idea about this…
Karen says
I read a couple of books about a woman who takes over her aunt’s long arm quilting business, it was set outside the Seattle, Washington area on one of the islands across the Sound….
Anyone have hints or ideas on who the author was/is…?
thanks
Susan says
Sounds like the ‘Harriet Truman / Loose Threads’ series by Arlene Sachitano. The first one is “Quilt as Desired”.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thanks, Susan, for identifying Arlene Sachitano! (Also, for reminding me that I forgot to add Sachitano to my Quilting Mystery Series list…)
Sandy says
Just saw on GoodReads that Terri Thayer has the next book in the quilting mystery series coming out in May 2012. I just read the first one; glad to know there’s one more in the series before I run out now!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Sandy, I know that a lot of people who visit the Cozy Mystery site enjoy Terri Thayer’s Quilting Mystery Series. I’m guessing that her May release (Monkey Wrench) is on a lot of TBR lists!
Jean says
I like the Sandra Dallas books. She was not mentioned in the list. She always has quilting mentioned, although it is not the center of the story. Alice’s Tulips and the Persion Pickle Club refer to quilts. Persion Pickle is what they called Paisley in the 30’s.
Jean
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thank you, Jean, for telling us about Sandra Dallas and the “Persion Pickle”!
jenny c says
I read a book years ago about a woman who designed a quilt block that was made from a new mathematical equation. a person used the equation to further their mathematical career and never told anyone that the equation was not his. i hope this is enough information as i really enjoyed the book and would love to re-read it.
jenny c says
Further to the above comment i forgot to mention that i am looking for the title of this book.
thanks
marion says
I was looking at Earlene Fowler’s website and according to it both her series have dried up as of last year. No contract on the publisher’s side of it and burn-out on hers. Any ideas on similar writers?
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thank you, Marion, for the information about Earlene Fowler. (Just my luck >>> I just started reading the first in her Benni Harper series.)
joan j. says
I just finished Murder by Sunlight (2013) a quilting mystery. I had read Murder by Vegetable (2112) in may. these are #4 and 3 (Murder by Artifact (2009 and Murder Music (2011). Theo Abernathy has a Quilting shop as well as infant twin girls and 2 school age boys. Her husband is sheriff of the smallest county in Tennessee near the Smokies. Literary Journal as blurb on back of book mentions any one who likes Bill Crider mysteries will really like these books also. I really like his mysteries with lots of quirky people and humorous situations as well a murder. Barbara Graham shows how quilting mysteries and murder can mix with humor and quirky people in rural counties can mix.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thank you, Joan J., for telling us about Barbara Graham’s quilting mysteries. Humor, quirky characters, and quilts sound like the makings of a really good Cozy!
Dr. Dave says
I have a quilt mystery/adventure book titled Dangerous Threads. It has to do with the 1933 Sear Quilt Contest Quilt that was in the Chicago Worlds fair and given to the President’s (FDR) wife and disappeared.
It is in the Virginia dab=vies mystery series.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Dr. Dave, Thanks for telling us about Dangerous Threads.
Carol says
I just finished reading Forget Me Knot by Mary Marks. The cover says it is the first in a series. It has good characters and an excellent plot. I highly recommend it. It is A Quilting Mystery. I’m going on Amazon now to see if there are more books by this author.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Carol, Mary Marks released the first in her Quilting Mystery Series (Forget Me Knot) this year, and she will be releasing the second in the Quilting Mystery Series, called Knot in My Backyard, in November.
Hilary says
Don’t forget the Cats In Trouble mysteries by Leann Sweeney. Jillian Hart makes pet quilts (mainly cat quilts) out of her home which she sells online through her website and at cat shows.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Hilary, I just added Leann Sweeney’s cat quilts to the quilting theme. Thank you!
Gabrielle says
I’m relatively new to this site and I enjoy it very much. I was wondering if you have come across the author ‘Rett Macpherson’? Her books are very good, however, I suggest that one starts reading from the very first book. They are usually history mysteries with a quilt theme.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Gabrielle, I didn’t know Rett MacPherson‘s books were quilting Cozies. Thanks for the info!
Sher says
I read a cozy about a lady who was involved in longarm quilting, murder mystery and the home she bought had hidden rooms. This was in 2013 that I read the book. Can anyone tell me who the writer might be and the book title. Sorry I can’t recall the lady’s name or where she was. I think it might have been mid west.
Anna says
Ann Hazelwood does a quilting series called “The Colebridge Community”.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Anna, thank you for telling us about Ann Hazelwood‘s Colebridge Community quilting series.
Gale says
Carol Dean Jones writes a series about a woman “of a certain age” who moves to a retirement community after the death of her husband and grandson. She makes friends, learns to quilt, and solves murders with her friend Sophie.
W J says
Just finished reading wonderful quilting mysteries by Mary Marks! Her first book was entitled “Forget Me Knot”. She and her Quilty friends will have you laughing one minute and holding your breath the next. Every book in the series held my attention. Made me want to learn how to quilt!
CW says
If it has a “Knot” in the title by Mary Marks I have read it. I have laughed with the gang until I cried, I have held my breath to make sure the quilting gang makes it out okay and just plain enjoyed the series. “Forget me Knot” is the first book in the series and has an novel way of solving the mystery, very ingenious. I was hooked.
I even dusted off my sewing machine, bought some Batik (because I love the colors) and another plain fabric with a small print to use. I keep looking at the squares and have washed them and ironed them but not yet had the courage to start.
Please Mary Marks don’t quit writing about Martha Rose and her antics.
Janet says
Check out Carol Dean Jones. Her books are delightful – can’t put them down. Fun characters and plot twists you just don’t see coming. And lots of quilt info/ideas. Later books include patterns.