Reviews of Buried in Quilts
"Frommer's second mystery (after Murder in C Major) offers an entertaining family-centered murder investigation while examining the importance of quilts as a means of understanding women's history. Amateur sleuth and widow Joan Spencer, manager of the Oliver, Ind., Civic Symphony, helps her group prepare to play for the opening of the city's annual quilt show with her hands full and her heart heavy. The demanding chairman of the quilt show, Mary Sue Ellett, has become even more difficult since the death of her mother, Edna, a woman whom Joan had admired. Mary Sue wants to mount a special showing of Edna's quilts, though her brother and sister are much more interested in their mother's missing will, which they fear has cut them from their inheritance in favor of a cousin who had been living with and caring for the deceased. Joan tries to sidestep the family's arguments but must endure listening to one heated discussion while hanging quilts for the show. The next day she finds Mary Sue's dead body under a pile of quilts pulled from the display. Along with her estranged daughter and a cop friend, Joan becomes entangled in the Ellett family squabbles--and helps to spot the killer."--Publishers Weekly
"Sara Hoskinson Frommer takes us into the heart of small-town life midwestern style in Buried in Quilts, her second mystery . . . Set against the background of Oliver's economically important quilt show, the novel involves a will, squabbling heirs, and the murder of the woman who is aggressively running both the show and the lives of as many people as will submit.
"Frommer creates a persuasive Midwest ambience in this quiet book with its mix of nostalgia and murder. . . . Most striking is her community of what the English novelist Barbara Pym would call 'excellent women," the female population devoted to good works, town culture, and volunteer activities. The contribution of such women is marked in this novel about small-town life, big-time emotions, and the practical poetry of quilts."--Gail Pool, Murder in Print: The Best of New Writers, Wilson Library Bulletin
"Violist and amateur sleuth Joan Spencer solves her second case in this affectionate and humorous mystery set in small-town Indiana. A widow with two nearly-grown children, the heroine is appropriately spunky and intelligent...Buried in Quilts is a serviceable, old-fashioned quilt of a book--not fancy or complicated, but colorful, well-made, cozy, and good to curl up with on a cold night."--Margaret Quamime, Ohioana Quarterly
"Protagonist Joan Spencer manages the town's Civic Symphony, which is rehearsing to perform at a major quilt show. When an elderly quilter passes away, members of the family gather like vultures to feud over the terms of the woman's missing will. Just before the quilt show opens, Joan stumbles upon a body hidden under the patchworks.
"The victim was not only the difficult daughter of the elderly deceased, but also served on the symphony board. Problems arise when Joan's own estranged daughter returns home unexpectedly. With the girl's help, though, a midlife heroine pieces together complex clues that have their roots in history.
"Verdict: Recommended. If you like quilts, music, and low-key mystery, this one will please."--Elorise Holstad, The Verdict Is Murder, Deadly Pleasures
"The Symphony will perform at a hugely popular annual Quilt Show, and raffle a Quilt as a fund-raiser. The Organizer of the show is upset when her elderly mother inconveniently dies the week before the show. No will has been found and there is much searching, then the organizer is found dead under a pile of quilts. I'm an Indiana girl and I remember everybody did quilts. Amazing details on quilting. You'll love it."--Alma Connaughton, Mysterious Women
"Joan Spencer, violist/manager of Oliver, Indiana's Civic Symphony, is awash in details as the orchestra prepares for their major fund-raiser concert at the town's prestigious annual quilt show. Widowed and with a high school son still at home, Joan hasn't the time to quilt.--'The thought of cutting cloth into countless pieces only to spend tedious hours reassembling them into one large piece, however attractive, made her want to run the other way,' as she puts it.
"Mary Sue Ellett, in charge of the fund raiser, the quilt show, and anything else in town, is ordering everyone around in her usual fashion, pushed by the death of her elderly mother, noted quilter Ellen Ellett. Mary Sue and her siblings are searching for the will (and ignoring the cousin who lovingly cared for Ellen in her last years)--the house, quilts and antiques are quite valuable.
"At the final rehearsal, the soloist is asked to play from an upper room for the proper echo. Some of Ellen's quilts are on the floor--Mary Sue's body is underneath.
"Joan's estranged daughter has returned warily, entering her own original (and erotic) quilt, and the two women interact cautiously as they assist the local detective in solving the case, which has more pieces than the Irish Chain quilt.
"Each chapter is titled with an appropriate quilt block name, and Frommer has captured the charm of small towns well in setting and characters. There's a wee hint of romance, and an example of a quilt's opportunity to become living history.
"Quilters will have a head start in spotting the clues!"--Margaret Baker, Bookworm. . . Mostly Mysteries, Baldwin Ledger
"A quilt show brings out the best and worst in people when an obvious heiress ends up with a lot of death and little else.
"A small town in Indiana is the last place one would expect an extravagant quilt show, and when some of the prime quilts in town, once owned by Edna Ellett, are shown, no one expects that one of Edna's heirs will be found dead.
"A clutch of eager heirs, a missing will and a personal problem endured by heroine Joan Spencer will keep people reading.
"These wonderful small-town mysteries are charming and fun. They present a different outlook on both life and crime and leave a good feeling at the conclusion. Compete stories, innovative characters and fairly original story lines are a bright spot that will appeal to all who like great puzzles."--Rima L. Firrone, The Ocala Star-Banner
"A delightful mystery set in the middle of a quilt show. I especially liked the protagonist who is a middle-age woman trying to establish a new life in a small town. She gets involved in the show because her daughter has entered a quilt and, with the help of a local policeman, solves the mystery surrounding the murder of one of the show organizers. This is entertaining reading with lots of quilt action to make you feel right at home!"--The Quilter's Bookshop
"What can possible happen at a smalltown quilt show? Murder. Joan Spencer, manager of the Oliver, Indiana, Civic Symphony, is feeling put upon because she has so much work to do setting up the orchestra at the quilt show.
"Edna Ellett--an elderly quilter, has just died a natural death--or has she? When the squabbling family begins to search for a will, Joan wonders if greed contributed to the old woman's death.
"Joan's daughter, who left home two years earlier, grieving for the untimely death of her father, and in teenage rebellion, is returning and has entered a controversial quilt in the contest.
"Where's an extremely valuable antique quilt. . . ? Who stole Rebecca's quilt? While Joan renews a prickly relationship with her daughter, Rebecca, she joins Fred Lundquist, a police detective, in trying to solve the murder before more occur. And the quilt show must go on!
"Joan finds herself attracted to Edna's smooth and shifty son while she'd like to renew her relationship with the police detective.
"The significance of the missing antique quilt becomes clear when it is connected to a historically important family. The quilt is priceless and must be found before it's destroyed. . . .
"Frommer tells an interesting story while exploring the world of quilters and quilt shows. Each chapter is named for a quilt pattern. The next time you go to a quilt show you will realize that there's a lot of history involved. And a family history sometimes involves murder."--Anna Ashwood Collins, Book Reviews by Collins, Glynco Observer
"Sara Hoskinson Frommer's second book about Joan Spencer and "her cop," as her son calls Lt. Fred Lundquist, is as smooth and enjoyable as her first. The story moves at a leisurely pace, beginning with the death and missing will of an elderly lady Joan had know slightly from the Senior Center where she is employed ... The setting is an important quilt show, and while Joan professes to know nothing about quilting, Ms. Frommer certainly does, and she imparts just enough information to be interesting to non-quilters, but not enough to become tedious...I am looking forward to Ms. Frommer's next book, and if you haven't read her first, Murder in C Major, I highly recommend it as well."--Mary Ann, Mystery News.
"In this long-awaited sequel to Murder in C Major, Frommer's delightful 1986 debut, Joan Spencer has her hands full managing the Oliver, Indiana, Civic Symphony, which is scheduled to play for an important regional quilt show. Joan's daughter returns to town after a painful estrangement. Then an elderly woman dies, her greedy family search for the will, one of them is murdered, and Joan finds the body."--Grounds for Murder