Plagued by Quilt

Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries, Book 4

By: Molly MacRae

Narrated by: Emily Durante

Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Kath and her needlework group TGIF (Thank Goodness It's Fiber) are preparing to teach a workshop at the Holston Homeplace Living History Farm, but their lesson in crazy quilts is no match for the crazy antics of the assistant director, Phillip Bell. Hamming it up with equal parts history and histrionics, Phillip leads an archaeological dig of the farm's original dump site - until one student stops the show by uncovering some human bones. When a full skeleton is later excavated, Kath can't help but wonder if it's somehow connected to Geneva, the ghost who haunts her shop, and whom she met at this very site. After Phillip is found dead, it's up to Kath to thread the clues together before someone else becomes history.

©2014 Molly MacRae (P)2014 Tantor

Best in the series so far

This installment is the best in the series so far. Molly MacRae has done a wonderful job of crafting well-rounded characters that grow on you. Emily Durante gives a wonderful performance bringing all the characters to life. Highly recommend this book and the entire series.

Perfection of local accents and word usage!!

I absolutely adored the ending of this one!! I grew up and now live again in Asheville NC, just over the border with TN. I am enamored with the proper accents and usage of colloquial language in this series. Both author and narrator knock it out of the park in every single book. Thank you for getting us right!!

I love this series

A crazy ghost, a snoop-troupe and really well done performance. The books get better and better and even though the endings are a little magical, they are interesting and somewhat unexpected. I really do love this and knit like a mad-woman while listening.

Good but slow

This book was very slow to continue with the characters. It is also getting a little annoying that a female keeps reading all the male parts as well

Main character annoying

Love this series, love the ghost, the cop, the posse; but for some reason Cath was really unlikable in this book. Happy to finally get ghost's backstory and loved the way it ended,

Death on a living history farm

Kath, an antique fiber specialist, and her TGIF (Thank Goodness It’s Fiber) friends are helping in a project teaching 19th century quilting styles to high schoolers at the Holston Homeplace Living History Farm in Plagued by Quilt by Molly MacRae. On the opening day, Kath meets the teenagers and the new assistant director of the living history farm, Phillip Bell. As the group tours the farm and visits the trash excavation pit,17-year-old Zac, who has exhibited boredom until now when he shows his unique intelligence, notices an anomaly in the ground and discovers the elbow of a body. Wondering if the elbow could belong to a complete skeleton and if the skeleton might belong to the moody ghost whom only Kath can see, Kath calls out, “Geneva!”, a name that excites Phillip because he seems to recognize it himself. Making an appointment to meet Phillip before her quilt lesson the next day, Kath shows up for it, only to find Phillip lying dead, with his throat mangled. So the posse that investigates mysteries together at the Weaver’s Cat assembles to work to get to the bottom of the case, especially when a second body is found buried with the first.

The team gets busy to find the truth and hopefully free Phillip’s ex-wife, Grace, arrested when she suggested that a good place to hide a weapon would be the pond. The deputy, “Clod,” Dunbar decides this is an admission of guilt and pulls her in. So who else could be guilty of the murder? Could the discovery of the bodies have revealed something to Phillip that someone else didn’t want known publicly?

This book really does a good job of interesting us in the details of quilt making. Kath’s creepy cousins, the Spivey twins, have an elaborate quilt they call the Plague Quilt with images of 13 coffins on one side, which seems to coincide with names written in squares of the quilt. The book interested me enough to make me look up quilts and in particular “crazy quilts,” which Kath teaches the students about and which I found really interesting. The mystery was interesting as well, entertaining me as I listened avidly to this book.

I really enjoyed the setting of a living history museum, which is described so vividly. MacRae has a Master’s degree related to museum curatorship, and she really put that degree to use cleverly in this book. I felt that I was at the farm with Kath and the students.

I enjoy the narration of Emily Durante, who brings the books in this series to life. She has a gentle southern accent that helps flavor the book. I especially enjoy her voicing of Geneva, who has wild mood swings and thus different ways of speaking.

I enjoyed Plagued by Quilt and really liked the setting chosen for the mystery. It does a fantastic job of making the story interesting, with lots of fascinating educational material. I give this book five stars.

great book

Would you listen to Plagued by Quilt again? Why?

Yes, Great story line and the narrator did a fantastic job. Love the ghost!

Great book

This is a lovely cozy mystery. It has a touch of drama and a lot of humor. It is perfectly balanced in my opinion. It is also great to knit to. I love the entires series.

Fun ideas but inexplicable weakness

Would you try another book from Molly MacRae and/or Emily Durante?

While I enjoy the characters, the connection with the craft information, and the local history, this heroine is irritatingly weak at weird moments. For some reason, just when I think she is going to either solve the mystery or assert herself in a good way, she decides to lean on someone else. Still, there are flashes of great characterizations and periodic bits of fun which is what keeps me coming back for more.

Lame, but cute. A real stretch of a plot.

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

I felt it was just plain corny, something a retired old school teacher would write. It was interesting enough, but the plot needed to be more evolved.

What could Molly MacRae have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I didn't like the inflection of her character tones. They really annoyed me.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Chosen a different way to narrate the characters. It had a very "Mayberry RFD" feel to it instead of a true mystery.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Humor. It was just so corny, I had to laugh.

Any additional comments?

I'm not sorry I listened to this book, as it was entertaining, but I likely won't be lstening to any others in this series.