The Funeral Parlor Quilt (Colebridge Community, #3) by Ann Hazelwood

The Funeral Parlor Quilt (Colebridge Community, #3) Reviews

• 
  Shasta Matova

  I haven't read the first book in the series (The Basement Quilt), but did read the second one (The Potting Shed Quilt), and now this one. This one is shorter and has bigger print than the Basement Quilt but it felt like it was just as long. Ann Hazelwood has grown as a writer because the conversations seem less stilted and the characters are a little bit more unique. There is still a lot more telling than showing. There was one time when someone who works in her store said or did something nice and the author says (she knew I was pleased) as she goes on to talk to someone else. That doesn't show pleased to me! Sure it could be the character, since it is written in first person, but I am not liking her very much as we go along. She says she is always busy, but I don't really see what she does besides delegate work to her mother, husband, maid, and workers.
  
  The middle part of the book seemed to drag on for me, as not much happens as she hosts a party or two. There is a cliffhanger at the end of the book that encourages you to read the next book.
  
  Neither book really describes the quilts, which bothers me a great deal since the series is based on quilts and published by American Quilter's Society. I don't know what colors the quilt is, or even what album block is really used, since the photo on the cover is different from the pattern that is shown inside the book. You would think that the descriptions in the book would help, but it talks about a single white strip and neither of the patterns have a single white strip to write on.
  
  It is a good book, better than the last one. I wouldn't recommend to anyone that they need to read the book, but then again, I wouldn't discourage anyone who picked it up.
• 
  Lynn Hayward-Bisbee

  If I’d known, I would have skipped it
  
  I had received practically a whole set of these quilting books from a friend and that’s why I’m reading them. I didn’t much care for the first one, but read the second because I wanted to be sure I wasn’t being unfair. I read the third one probably for the same reason and because I wanted to be able to tell my friend, who loves the series, that I had read them. If I had known the ending of the book concludes with a supposed cliffhanger like a reality show, I wouldn’t have bothered. I suppose it’s meant to encourage one to read the next book, but, instead, it made me mad and made me feel like I had totally wasted my time. A book should have an ending.
  
  Two of my biggest objections, as I have stated previously, are the author’s use of “a Kodak moment” and “hmmm.” Those two phrases are repeated constantly throughout the book and are ridiculous every time they are used. Surely the author can think of some better way to let us know the main character is thinking than to say “hmmm.”
  
  I find the references to a supposed church-going family who prays at the dinner table and mentions God in their daily conversations coupled with their belief in ghosts and strange phenomena absolutely unrealistic and diametrically opposed to one another. I suppose a family like that does exist, but in my lifetime, I have never run into or heard of a family who would believe two completely opposite ends of the spectrum.
  
  The way the characters talk, without any use of contractions or slang of any kind, is tedious. I’m okay with people speaking in grammatically correct sentences and using proper English, but this is definite overkill.
  
  One of the main adversaries in the otherwise loose plot is disposed of partway through the book without any build up at all. There’s no reason to even add his whole line in the book as nothing about his presence is expanded upon. If this part of the book was supposed to add some excitement or intrigue to the plot, it sadly fails.
  
  The title of the book leads one to believe there’s going to be some mystery surrounding funeral parlor quilts and that the whole plot will be centered on this theme. Not so. In fact, much of the conversation about said funeral parlor quilts is dull and tiresome, while the one tiny mystery surrounding one quilt has no mystery or intrigue whatsoever and can be figured out by the reader before one even gets past the first sentence of explanation.
  
  I love a good cozy mystery that can be read quickly in an afternoon with a fire going, a quilt and a cat on my lap. It’s nice to get away from longer books with much heavier plots sometimes. But, I’m afraid, in this case, “three times the charm” will not work for me with the Coleridge community quilt series and I will not be reading another.
• 
  Zen

  What??? Ann Hazelwood left me with a cliff hanger at the end of this book when I thought it was the last one in the series. So off I went to the library to get book four-because I had to know what happened!
  
  I started these books on a lark to increase my numbers in the 2020 Reading Challenge, but have grown rather fond of the characters and curious as to what is next for them. There is Anne Brown the "plucky" flower shop owner, her mother Sylvia, Aunt Julia, cousin Sue and some newly discovered family members. There are also a few men along the way. This book introduces Anne's friend Nancy who works with her husband at the family funeral parlour. I learned some interesting things about the history of funeral quilts. Our quilt guild was recently asked by a nursing home to make a quilt to cover the residents as they were leaving the home for the last time, and I learned some things from this book that I think our guild could add to the project, like having each person's name written on the quilt.
  
  So on to the next - book four here I come!
• 
  Rhonda

  So, I start listening to this book and the first thing is, the narrator is just awful. There are those voices that grate but this was a bit more. It was very clipped and no tone inflection, very flat. Then the writing...not impressed. I do like fun stories and this one...well...was a drag. If you like these books and author, good on you. This is but one persons humble opinion.
• 
  Karlene Gould

  The funeral parlor quilt
  
  Very good read and with encouraging words to world unknown. We must be brave and trust in God! Looking forward to next book.
  Have a great day
  .
• 
  Rita Caldwell

  I love quilting novels and this one is exceptional! I now want to read the two previous books of this Colebridge series!!
• 
  kc

  Very much enjoyed this sequel. Great characters and storyline. Cliffhanger end. On to the next book in the series.
• 
  Danita W.

  I really enjoyed reading The Funeral Parlor Quilt as I did the first two books of the series. There were more twists and turns that made me anxious and I couldn't wait to see how things turned out. With the introduction of more characters in this book Anne Hazelwood has the opportunity to create and develop so many more storylines. Going online now to search for the next in the series to find out what happens to Sam. I can visualize this town, their Main Street, the Taylor house, the potting shed and all the quilts that are mentioned. I have in my mind what the characters look like. I like the Colebridge community series because the writing is detailed so you can put yourself right in the scene
  
  
• 
  Sherry Sharpnack

  Book #3 in Ann Hazelwood's Colebridge mysteries is action-packed! Anne hires a new girl for the shop, her friends Nancy & Richard move back to Colebridge and take over the funeral home from his father, and we finally get the wedding of Anne & Sam and the two of them settling into their big house. The mystery involves the disappearance of a quilt Namcy made for the funeral home. Did Anne's grandmother's ghost have anything to do w/ that? Does she provide the lilies & lemonade? Will Sam's health issues worsen? Like I said: action-packed.
• 
  Helen

  Predictable. Hazelwood does leave the book hanging for the next story.
• 
  Dorothy Persch

  Another good one - interesting.
• 
  Meri-Lyn

  Nice family story, average writing. Just fine to fill in between more literary books.
• 
  Sue

  The plot and characters are great, but this book really needed an editor. As a retired English teacher, I cringed at the number of grammar/usage errors in this book.