As Close as My Heart

Patchwork #24

by Camy Tang

A romantic picnic with Liam is interrupted when Martha calls to tell Sarah that someone has broken into her house, hit her new boarder on the head and gotten away with several antique quilts. Sarah had been restoring three different quilts for three distinct clients, so she isn't sure which quilt the thief was after or why any of them would be taken. Sarah must unravel the history of the quilts themselves to find the answer. Meanwhile , she learns that her son Jason is considering moving his family back to California. Will they really leave Maple Hill? Is there anything she can do to convince them to stay? And when Liam finally asks Sarah a very special question- one that will change her life forever-- she is reminded to always hold those she loves close to her heart.

Genres: Mystery, Christian Fiction, Christian

296 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Camy writes Christian romantic suspense, contemporary romance, and cozy mystery as Camy Tang and Regency romance under her pen name, Camille Elliot. She grew up in Hawaii but now lives in northern California with her engineer husband and rambunctious dog. She graduated from Stanford University in psychology with a focus on biology, but for nine years she worked as a biologist researcher. Then God guided her path in a completely different direction and now she’s writing full time, using her original psychology degree as she creates the characters in her novels. In her free time, she’s a staff worker for her church youth group and leads one of her church’s Sunday worship teams. She also loves to knit, spin wool into yarn, and is training to (very slowly) run a marathon.

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sarah is given 3 quilts to restore, while she is on a picnic, her house is broken into and they are stolen. Since none of the quilts seemed worth much money she is puzzled and decides to find out who might have taken them. She and a friend go to tell the people who owned the quilts and are surprised at their reactions. Sarah is also worried about her son and his family possibly moving back to California an dhow much she would miss them.

[Loraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is one of the Guideposts Patchwork Mystery series, a group of cozy mysteries set in Maple Hill somewhere in New England. Sarah Hart specializes in repairing old quilts. She has been given 3 old quilts from 3 different people who all want them repaired for the upcoming quilt festival. But before she can get started, her house is robbed and the 3 quilts are stolen. What is the mystery behind 1 of the quilts that led the robber to steal them?

Camy Tang is one of my favorite cozy mystery authors, and she did a wonderful job with everything in this one. Plenty of red herrings, lots of mysteries behind the quilts, and a wonderful peek into the history of old quilts and their repair. Light, easy read that was nice to curl up in front of the fireplace in cold Colorado weather.

[Bess · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I've been so bummed because I thought the next book ("A Spot of Trouble" - #25) as the last in the series.

Nope! Apparently, they go on, although the full list is hard to find. Even the Guideposts web site stops at #22, I believe.

But HOORAY!

[Jewett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series is a nice readable series and I really feel like I know the characters.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Patchwork Mystery hits closer to home when Sarah's house is broken into and 3 quilts she was restoring are stolen.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sarah's house is broken into and three quilts stolen that she was given to work on. Bad for business... Who would want the quilts? Who would hurt her boarder Jasmine? What do the want?

[Roberta · Rating 3 out of 5]

The editor is obviously running out of ideas for this series. This book is the beginning of the end that appears will be stretched thin over several more books before they end the series.

Three people bring Sarah quilts that they want restored. They all want to be put first in line, two as rush jobs for an upcoming quilt show and one is just a rush, no reason given. While Sarah is out on a picnic with Liam, her house is broken into an the three quilts are stolen. Although the quilts are discussed sporadically for the rest of the book, we never see them again. Sarah's "detecting" involves batik fabric for a few pages near the beginning of the book and the various treads on running shoes near the end of the book but the bulk of the story involves relationships/angst; friendly, familial, and romantic.

Pet peeve: At pages 226-8, Sarah and Martha visit a woman who loves to bake. She tells them "Cakes are my passion" and that she is trying out a new recipe. The new recipe that she serves is a fabulous cake that is "a marvel of white icing with robin's-egg blue icing as trim." Then we are told that this cake would be more appropriate for a birthday cake then to serve to guests. Lesson: you should not serve your guests your delicious new cake recipe no matter how good you are at baking cakes. Guests should be greeted with a plate of low-calorie high-fiber muffins. Maybe Sarah will give you her recipe.

[Jessica Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book #24 in the series. Great book!

[S Washam · Rating 5 out of 5]

The final pages of the book made reading the whole book worthwhile. Yes, but my lips are sealed.