Weekend Review: Crafting a Knock-off

 

Crafting a Knock-Off / Barbara Emodi

Concord, CA: C&T Publishing, c2026.
232 p.

I love this series of cozy mysteries set in Nova Scotia, written by a Canadian craft legend :) When book 7 became available, I grabbed it! This details the further adventures of Valerie Rankin, middle aged craft and general store owner, as she once again gets involved in a mysterious death -- and like usual, goes off on many misguided suspicions before the truth is revealed. 

In this volume, she encounters Murray Nunn, a big talker who is trying to push business development and an export scheme. He won't leave anyone at the local craft fair alone, and while Valerie is talking to him, he suddenly drops dead. On camera. She has a wide range of suspects, from local craftspeople to those who have just arrived in Gasper's Cove for their own purposes, and even including her boyfriend's nephew -- which causes some relationship bumps. 

But Valerie must continue on her sleuthy ways no matter what, and with the involvement of the local RCMP and her crafting ladies, they eventually solve the mystery, and Valerie's fears of the end of her relationship prove unfounded. 

I love these books for their characters and the Nova Scotia setting -- and of course the inclusion of craft content! There are upcycled quilted coats, tartans and kilts, piecework sewing and craft fairs as integral parts of this mystery, and they are important. I thought this one was well constructed and entertaining. Always a treat to revisit Gasper's Cove!