Review

For fans of:  Sally Goldenbaum

When Tori Sinclair offers to accompany fellow sewing-circle member Rose Winters to her rheumatoid arthritis treatment, she figures it’ll be a quiet couple of hours – some sewing, some gossip, and maybe a crossword puzzle or two.  What she doesn’t expect, however, is to come face to face with her ex-fiancé Jeff’s great aunt – or for said great aunt to drop dead of a heart attack right before her very eyes.

Unfortunately, it turns out the dead woman lived nearby, and her funeral brings Jeff himself to Sweet Briar – and back into Tori’s life.  Sensitive to the fact that he might be grieving, Tori tries to handle Jeff’s visit with as much grace as she can muster, but the cheating jerk doesn’t make things easy and Tori ends up telling him off on her front porch.  The altercation leaves Tori feeling pretty good – until Jeff turns up dead the next day and the police ID her as a suspect.  Can she and her friends work together to catch the real killer, or will Tori wind up behind bars for a crime she didn’t commit?

Deadly Alterations is the fifth installment in Elizabeth Lynn Casey’s Southern Sewing Circle mystery series.  I’ve always enjoyed reading Casey’s novels – they’re like the book equivalent of comfort food, imbued with a fabulous sense of coziness and warmth – but I think Deadly Alterations is my favorite thus far.  The atmosphere is rich, the plot is absorbing, and the mystery is both intricate and clever.  Casey does take her time setting the stage; her characters don’t have any idea something’s amiss for the first hundred pages or so.  The payoff’s worth the wait, however, for when she finally sets things in motion, she does so in grand form, yanking the rug out from underneath poor Tori and sending both her and the reader on a twisting, turning rollercoaster ride toward the book’s climax.  I confess, I guessed the identity of the killer long before I reached the end, and I thought the final showdown was one of the weaker scenes in the book, but these are relatively minor complaints; by and large, Casey’s latest fires on all cylinders.  

As is always the case with books in this series, the character development is top notch.  Tori’s a wonderfully compelling heroine; sweet, funny, and deeply compassionate, she’s the kind of person you’d feel lucky to call a friend.  Murder victim or no, Jeff’s a perfect villain for whose demise you shall root from page one.  And Tori’s closest friends – cantankerous Rose, man-crazy Leona, and grandmotherly Margaret Louise – positively shine here.  Their interplay has always been amusing, but in Dangerous Alterations, Casey gives their relationship a depth and complexity it never previously had and which only further serves to strengthen the story. 

In sum, Dangerous Alterations is a strong entrant in a strong series; if you’re looking for a smart, happy-making cozy to add to your reading list this November, look no further.

Reviewed by Kat