Mostly Murders

A True Crime Podcast-style Book Review

Alex loves her cozy quilt shop and her comfortable, peaceful existence, but when she finds an ancient box with a mysterious quilt square, she and her friends are swept up in an adventure of suspense, drama, missing persons and conspiracies right in the heart of the Istanbul markets and quilt shops.

Welcome to Mostlymurders, the bookstagram account where we look at fictional murders and ask ourselves a very important question: is this worth reading? I am your host Mostly, and I am joined here by my good friend Book. Today we are taking a look at Stitched in Secret by Gracie Gann, book 1 in the An Alex Allin Cozy Mystery series.

Mostly: I chose this book because I thought it would be a great opportunity to talk about cozy mystery tropes. So let’s get started with an obvious one, the cuddly pet co-sleuth trope.

Book: You’re talking about Sadie the cavapoo, Alex’s dog right?

Mostly: I am. Sadie is a great example of a cozy mystery pet. She is adorable and steals the show with her cute little antics whenever she’s begging for treats, but she also seems to have an uncanny ability to sniff out clues and guides Alex with her behaviour, showing when something is safe, suspicious and important.

Book: I think a lot of cozy mystery writers and readers are animal lovers too, and that’s why there are so many cats, dogs and birds in cozy mysteries.

Mostly: That is quite possible. And pets make for great plot devices too! Is there something that the human main character can’t possible know? Let a pet sniff it out, either deliberately or by accident. Want to show that someone can’t be trusted? Show that the cat or dog doesn’t like them, and they shoot straight to the top of the list of suspects!

Book: Oh I never trust a character if the dog growled at them!

Mostly: Exactly! Always trust the pet. And speaking of trust, our next trope is found family which is all about trust.

Book: I love this one. We don’t get to chose our family, but we can chose to surround ourselves with friends we love so much they may as well be family!

Mostly: Yes, and it also fits very nicely with the sense of community and small-town living you find in a lot of cozy mysteries. It makes sense that neighbours and fellow small business owners would end up forming deep and meaningful relationships as they’re all in the same boat to begin with.

Book: It’s also good for all the new-start-in-life cozy mysteries out there. If someone is new in town they wouldn’t know all the dirty little secrets, but their found family can help fill in all the blanks.

Mostly: That is a good point, Book. It’s also a great way for a writer to give their main character access to lots of different people and places, and to introduce lots of different useful skills in the same investigation. And that leads me straight into the next trope, the elderly sleuths trope, one of my personal favourite cozy mystery tropes.

Book: Old ladies rule! When I get old I’m going to do exactly what I want and say exactly what I think!

Mostly: And how would that be different from how you are now, Book?

Book: I’d have purple hair. And a cane. Not because I need it, but because I could get away with using it.

Mostly: Ouch. You know, you would probably get along perfectly with the Granny Squad from Stitched in Secret!

Book: Totally! They are such a fun bunch, and I really like how they are actually different characters with skills, not just four old ladies.

Mostly: I agree, the Granny Squad are great representatives of the elderly sleuth trope. Put together, they can handle anything from high tech to tea party. And speaking of tea party, another cozy mystery trope I love is books that include recipes. This one has two, a delicious sounded cookie recipe and a quilt recipe. Very fitting with quilting being such a major theme in this book.

Book: I learned a lot about quilts from this one! Admittedly, I didn’t really know anything about quilts before reading this, but it was fascinating to read about how quilts may be much more than “just” decorations for fun. They can be historical records, or deadly secrets, or parts of a puzzle that only make sense when all the pieces are put together and decoded.

Mostly: Yes, I suppose we could add arts/crafts-themed to the list of cozy mystery tropes found in Stitched in Secret. And with that we have reached the end of the episode. Thank you for listening!

Cozy mystery – Contemporary