Crafty DIY Diva Laurel McMillan does it all, from making jewelry to designing dog accessories. There are sewing instructions in the back of each of these mysteries for projects mentioned in the stories. (A reversible dog scarf, a lacey neckroll pillow, and a birdcage veil are some of the projects.) Sewing comes into play in a big way in Death by Design when the husband of one of Laurel's design students is smothered with a pillow his wife made, and in Death by Proxy, Laurel makes her own wedding gown, proving what a valuable skill sewing can be.
Former dress designer Polyester Monroe is looking to start over when her career as a fashion designer hits the skids, so when she inherits her family's fabric shop, she finds a new path. With two cats names Pins and Needles, respectively, what could go wrong? Since these books are cozy mysteries, we know that the answer is a lot.
When former New York fashion designer moves back to Texas and opens her own custom dressmaking boutique in the old house that she's inherited from her great-grandmother, but she gets more than she bargained for when she learns that her great-grandmother is still there - in spirit, that is - literally. She's a ghost who's not averse to some helping her descendant with some sleuthing when the need arises.
Retired teacher Daisy Buchanan takes on a new career when she and her husband move to a small town in Pennsylvania, where she opens Sometimes a Great Notion, a little shop that sells vintage sewing notions along with an eclectic mix of jewelry and antiques. Each book includes creative tips for vintage sewing notions.
With a vintage Doris Day fashion vibe, interior designer Madison Night stands out from the crowd, but look to The Pajama Frame, which is Book 5 in the series, to provide the sewing connection when she inherits a pajama factory, along with a mystery, when her eighty-something friend dies.
When librarian Tori Sinclair moves to South Carolina, she joins a local sewing group, the Sweet Briar Ladies Society, and finds a whole new circle of friends, women she can count on to help when things go terribly wrong (as they so often do in cozy mysteries). A pattern and sewing tips are included in some of the books.
