by Sandra Murphy

Details on how to win a copy of Spinning in Her Grave at the end of this review.

Kath Rutledge is gearing up for Blue Plum’s historical festival. She’s not happy about the reenactment of a moving gunfight. With a ghost “living” on the second floor, gunfire might cause paranormal upsets and who knows where that could lead? The event planner wants to use her second floor window for the legend’s sniper.

Although she’s assured all ammunition will be blanks, Kath is not swayed. Her fears come true when, during the fight out, a real bullet kills local baker, Reva Louise Snapp. To make matters worse, it seems the shot was fired from her second floor window after all. Was it a mistake in loading live ammo instead of the blanks? Or was this flat out murder?

First there’s the problem of who had access to the upstairs room, what with John and Ernestine working in the shop below. Who wanted to kill Reva Louise? It had to be premeditated to use the re-enactment to cover the murder. Reva herself looks helpful but mostly, it seems, she’s helping herself– like when she offers to bring lunch for everyone and then says cash only. Kath finds out later the meal had already been paid for, so apparently Reva pocketed the extra and assumed no one would find out. Why does she need money so badly?

Kath is ready to investigate this time–Ernestine has given her a notebook, and not just any notebook, but an official log to keep track of all the clues, questions and suspects. There’s Dan, the seemingly devoted husband, Mel the kind of half-sister who runs the diner and who’s given Reva a job, and a few others. If that’s not enough of a mystery to solve, Geneva, the resident ghost, is starting to remember her own past, something she’s resisted until now. Maybe the shooting triggered memories for her too.

The Weaver’s Cat is a fiber and fabric store in Blue Plum, Tennessee and you’d surely want to hang out there. Argyle the cat is front and center along with Geneva, who seems to be moving toward a better mood or at least being less moody. In the back of the book, there’s a pattern for a ghost finger puppet. If you can knit, purl, knit two together and SSK (slip the next two stitches knitwise) then you can make this cute toy. There are recipes too because “stitchers” love to eat–baked black bean and spinach burritos and rhubarb sourdough bread pudding. A bonus is an excerpt from the next book, Plagued by Quilt. Last Wool and Testament and Dying Wishes (reviewed for KRL) are the first two books in this series.

To enter to win a copy of Spinning in Her Grave, simply email KRL at krlcontests@gmail[dot]com by replacing the [dot] with a period, and with the subject line “Spinning,” or comment on this article. A winner will be chosen March 29, 2014. U.S. residents only.

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & short stories in our mystery section.

Sandra Murphy lives in the shadow of the arch, in the land of blues, booze and shoes—St Louis, Missouri. While writing magazine articles to support her mystery book habit, she secretly polishes two mystery books of her own, hoping, someday, they will see the light of Barnes and Noble. You can also find several of Sandra’s short stories on UnTreed Reads including her new one Bananas Foster.