| Title | : | A Crafty Crime (A Stoneybrook Mystery, #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 222 |
| Publication | : | First published September 6, 2018 |
Even small towns have secrets...
Hadley James is finally living the life she's always wanted: making jam and selling it at the local farmers market. When a cat-sitting job turns into a murder investigation, life no longer seems so perfect.
Her twin brother, a deputy sheriff, is on the case but they've always done everything together and she can't help but get involved. Following a trail of crafty clues, the James twins learn that their sleepy town might be harboring more darkness than they could've imagined.
A Crafty Crime (A Stoneybrook Mystery, #1) Reviews
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Very good story.
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As far as cosy mysteries go, it is not half bad.
I was bit misled into believing this is one of those cosy mysteries where cat solves the murder, not hooman but that was my misunderstanding.
Jam making protagonist solves the murder with the help of her twin brother (who is in police) and her childhood BFF - pretty standard stuff. I think I got a bit frustrated when Hadley started thinking her own past in the middle of the investigation but that is just personal observation. If you are looking for charming small-town cosy mystery then it is okay read and I'd recommend however I highly doubt that I will continue this series... -
Nice cozy mystery. Bonus: a cat!
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This was an enjoyable cozy mystery. I like the characters and Ms. Scott's writing made the small town of Stoneybrook come to life. I will definitely be reading more of this series.
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If you’re looking for a fun story for a day at the beach or relaxing at home in the evening, this is a book for you. The plot is simplistic and the characters are a bit predictable, but there’s a comfortable small-town vibe that makes it enjoyable. There are no plot twists or surprise ending, just a smooth flow of amateur sleuths and locals trying to figure out who murdered the town’s not-so-lovable crank. I breezed through the book, which was just what I was looking for.
Billed as a “cozy” mystery, this was no more or less than I expected. I’d recommend it with a cup of tea and a comfy chair. -
Nicely plotted, a pleasant tale for bedtime and it has some twists. Standalone but is a series. Looking forward to the next one. Recommended.
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3,5 stars
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Part of box set of books 1-3 in ebook & audio. KU.
DNF @ 50% - no rating b/c I think this might be a case of wrong book/wrong time &/or that cozy mysteries might not be for me.
I used to get a kick out of Murder She Wrote and Hart to Hart when I was younger - so I thought I’d like this. But it just didn’t work for me.
There was so much time spent on who all the people of the town were that the whole “Murder mystery” was buried. Hadley’s twin brother, Paul, works for the Sheriff’s dept. and he simultaneously encouraged and then was affronted when Hadley & Suze “investigated” on their own. The pace was really slow for me.
Overall, I think I’m just more of a thriller/suspense/action/procedural -type mystery reader/listener.
I enjoyed Jennifer Jill Araya’s narration. She did a good job with all the voices and emotions. -
This is the first book in the Stoneybrook Mystery series by Seth Scott. I am really enjoying all of Eryn Scott's books. They do resonate with me.
This first book in the Stoneybrook srperies... What a fun and refreshing read this was. I was already this reading when I realized it was written by the same author as the Pebble Cove Teashop mystery series I was so fond of. Definitely enjoying this new to me series. I'm going to continue reading and see what else unfolds. I found the main character's point of view so close to mine I had to keep on reading just to see how she dealt with her personal challenges. The mystery and whodunit was just an added bonus.I
Read this via Kindle Unlimited. -
Enter the world of Stoneybrook for some cozy murder mystery solving
Loved this first in a series book!
It’s an easy to read cozy murder mystery set in the fictional town of Stonneybrook.
Eryn writes really great characters and build an entire town you feel you know by the end of the book.
She even includes recipes you can try out that are mentioned in the storyline. Love it and can’t wait for more!! -
Just OK. May try another. Not enough word pictures... couldn’t really get sense of the characters. Other than occasional mention of hair color. Way too much of the crime solving left to the main character who’s brother is even a police officer. And he encourages it. Not sure how you put that in your reports. As for recipes, I never read the recipes in back of books.
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Really good cozy
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This is the first in a series set in small-town Stoneybrook. It has all the elements of a cosy mystery you would expect - amateur sleuths, a cutesy small town with divides and hidden secrets, even a cat!
It moved quickly through the story, and still managed to give us lots of backstory on the main character, Hadley, without getting bogged down. At times, it felt a little rushed but was still enjoyable. I’ll definitely read more of this series. -
Another small town that you wouldn't want to live in, lol. A cosy mystery with characters that I'm getting to know.
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Fun little mystery! Loved the characters and the pace of the story.
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It’s a quick and easy cozy mystery. Nothing ground breaking or amazing, but not horrible either. It was okay.
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A cute start to a series.
I love cozies that have the town as its own character, and this one is shaping up to be a hilarious small town. With so many of my favorite small town quirks.
Twins are always such dynamic characters in an average book, but in a cozy mystery, with one half being apart of the police for, it really ramps everything up. Hadley and her brother Paul have such a strong sibling bound, I could feel it come to life through the pages as this story progressed.
The characters in this book were all unique, with emotional range and relatable small town back stories. While I wish this series was in 1st person, I look forward to the next book, and hope to explore more of the town, and it's locals.
Eryn is a master of writing deep main characters, with emotional baggage to work through. While this series is light hearted I am so excited to join Hadley as she navigates her new life and her business.
You'll love this series if you enjoy your cozies with a sassy town, full of drama and deep family bonds. -
It was supposed to be an easy pet-sitting job...
Looking for a fun craftsy cozy mystery? Look no further than A Crafty Crime, the first book in Eryn Scott's charming Stoneybrook Mystery series. The author is new to me but the title and the cute audiobook cover caught my fancy so I thought I'd give it a try.
The story is a clean read with no real negative content so it's probably suitable for older teens on up. The fact that Hadley is divorced actually makes her realistic and more relatable to a lot of readers. One fun change from the usual cozy mystery is that Hadley's brother is a cop who doesn't spend all of his time trying to chase her and her sidekick best friend out of the case. Sure, he doesn't want her getting into anything dangerous, but he also doesn't dismiss her as a silly amateur.
I enjoyed A Crafty Crime quite a bit. It was a nice break from all that's going on in the world right now and I enjoyed the small town setting, especially the farmer's market scenes. The added recipes that actually pertain to the story was a cool bonus.
I did listen to this first book in the Stoneybrook Mystery series in audio format. The quality of sound seemed to be pretty good to me. The narrator was a good choice for the story and for Eryn Scott's characters. So, if you are looking for a good cozy mystery with a small town setting, a cute cat, and a promise of romance, you should check out this book.
(I received a copy of this book from the author/publisher. All opinions are entirely my own.) -
Recently divorced Hadley is finally living life on her own terms. She makes jam to sell at the local farmer's market and online, she has family and friends to count on, and a side job of taking care of the local harridan's cat. When Hadley goes out to check on Ansel, she finds Edith dead. What at first appeared to be natural causes is soon determined to be a case of murder. Hadley can't resist poking her nose into the investigation, much to the chagrin of her twin brother, Paul, who's a deputy. Paul reluctantly agrees to let Hadley and her BFF, Suze, do some subtle questioning of their friends and neighbors to see if anyone had a motive for killing Edith.
In the meantime, Hadley has taken Ansel in, and her ex-husband's best friend, Luke, has returned to Stoneybrook. Hadley misses the easy camaraderie she shared with Luke when they were all in school together, but she knew he never approved of her relationship with Tyler. Things are now awkward between them, as is the animosity she feels from her former in-laws. To compensate, Hadley throws herself into the investigation, determined to find out who killed Edith.
Fun story, light and refreshing. I enjoyed the interactions between Hadley and Paul, as well as between her and Suze. There was enough humor in the narrative to keep things cozy. -
This is the first book by this author that I have read or listened to but it won't be the last and in fact I have already downloaded book two. I really enjoyed this cozy mystery. I liked the characters and the fact the main characters all thought they were right about who the killer was and set about to prove they were right, this led to lots of suspects, guessing and a number of twists. Hadley is very human and is trying to get over a divorce, which is made harder when all the shops in the village is run by ex family members, which gives the story a very interesting touch and a look into village life.
Hadley's cat sitting job it brought to a sudden holt when she stumbles over the dead body of the cats owner. She wasn't the nicest woman in the village and her only friends seem to be the ladies in her knitting group. But even there it turns out she had enemies. Hadley, her best friend and her twin brother set about trying to get to the bottom of the murder in the town that they all love. Will it help that they know everyone in the small town? With lies and history involved the trio must work together to unpick all the tangled knots.
I liked the narrator and thought she did a good job bringing the characters and village to life. -
I started reading this book in May and finished it in September. That possibly tells you everything. It certainly does me and explains the three-star rating.
I cannot put my finger on what was wrong, but I felt as if I had to drag myself through the pages. In all honesty, I did abandon it at one stage and then thought "no, I want to finish it" and returned to the story.
It's a cozy mystery book so it makes sense that the main character, her twin brother and best friend set out to solve a murder in their town. However, a side theme in the book dealt with all things craft, such as making jam, knitting, painting. I love craft so I was fine with that too. However, the side theme wasn't weaved into the storyline well enough (in my opinion). Because of that, I believe the craft side of the storyline distracted from the murder side. This meant that I wasn't able to become totally absorbed by the mystery and basically I lost interest in the whole thing.
The author's writing is good. The workings of the mystery and how it came together was good. But putting it all together didn't quite work for me. -
Another cozy mystery series to read!!! I found this author after reading the 1st in another of her cozy mystery series.
Hadley James grew up in the small town called Stoneybrook, her twin brother is one of the towns' law enforcement officers and she owns a jam making kitchen, selling her wares at the local farmers market.
She's asked by one of the locals, Edith, to look after her cat Ansel, whilst she's away, but when Hadley arrives she finds Edith dead in her chair. It becomes apparent that she was murdered!
Hadley, along with her brother and her best friend Suzanne, a local artist, start looking into the case to find the murderer.
Hadley, just divorced from her childhood sweetheart, comes face to face with his best friend, recently returned from Seattle, how can she cope with that, as well as finding a murderer?
I really liked the 1st book and look forward to the rest of the series. -
Secrets, lies and the jammy truth
An enjoyable read. A twist on the normal small town cozy. Although our jam maker is the heroine the actual sleuthing has been nicely split between her twin brother (a police officer) and her BFF. Thus giving it a more well rounded feel. She has her jam making business as she tries to get over the betrayal that led to her divorce. Apart from a couple of people, no-one knows the real reason and consequently life had been a struggle as most have sided with her ex. But finding the body of her older neighbour put things into prospective. Did she die a natural death or was she helped? The more the trio look into things the more town secrets they uncover. With the return of her ex's BFF to town, she has even more to think about. A good tight plot with a surprise at the end. Great normal everyday characters that you can relate to. -
This was an amazing cozy mystery! I love it when the protagonist has a sibling or friend that plays a key role in the book along with her so all of the sleuthing doesn’t fall on herself. A Crafty Crime was full of secrets, lies, suspense, knitting, and jam! The plot and all of the characters are believable, especially for being set in a small town. I enjoyed the recipes from Marissa McClellan and am tempted to try to make them since they sound so good! Jennifer did a great job narrating! She did slight voice variations for each character so it was easy enough to know which character was talking. I love that she put passion and emotion into her performance to bring Hadley and the story to life.
*I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. -
In this first entry in the Stoneybrook Mystery Series, we meet a newly-divorced jam-maker and get introduced to her friends in their tiny Pacific Northwest town.
As you might imagine with a cozy mystery, this one starts with a murder (it would be pretty atypical if it didn't). A difficult lady is found dead, and everyone eyes everyone else in town with suspicion. She wasn't particularly popular, so there are lots of possibilities as to who killed her.
Hadley, her bestie Suze, and her twin brother Paul are the characters you see the most of in this outing. Others flit in and out as the plot requires. The story is fast-paced, standalone if you don't wish to continue the series, and has nice changes here and there to keep things interesting. If it matters to you, there is no adult language or behavior, and only mild violence. Perfect for a rainy Saturday afternoon's reading. -
I enjoyed the story. Hadley was just interesting enough to keep me engaged. I didn’t guess the mystery so that was nice.
I will preface this rant by saying that I will not let it color my review of the story itself but I think the author needs to talk to real knitters before writing about it. I take umbridge with the way the knitting is described when Hadley goes into the knitting shop. You would not use a size 0 needle with worsted weight yarn. I also really loathe the way Lousie talked down to Hadley for wanting to learn something new, an craft teacher worth their salt would never discourage someone from trying. As an experienced sock knitter myself, I'm here to say toe up is NOT the beat all, end all best way to knit a sock. There are several different ways to do and it not of them are more "superior" it is whichever style works for you.
