Daria Dembrowski is a seamstress. Usually she keeps busy making wedding gowns, doing alterations and sewing church banners but with Civil War reenactors in town she picks up some extra work sewing period clothing. As Laurel Spings, Pennsylvania seems carried back to the 1860s with the mock Civil War battles waging just outside town and a movie crew in town filming a period piece, Daria works hard sewing an authentic looking Civil War Confederate coat for Confederate Colonel Windstrom. The reenactor is obsessively concerned with wearing only perfect reproductions, berating and bullying anyone that is a farb -- a reenactor who has cheap, modern knockoff copies of uniforms or gear. When Windstrom is murdered in his tent at the reenactor's event, Daria is shocked. Surely someone didn't kill a man for being surly, unsociable and overly obsessed. When a museum theft and another murder put her brother at the top of the suspects list, Daria starts snooping around to discover the killer's identity. Will she find out the truth before her brother is arrested for murder?

Uniformly Dead is a fun, quick read. The mystery is well-paced. There are plenty of suspects and some interesting twists and turns. The subplot of Civil War reenactment and reproducing period uniforms did not over-power the mystery but added to it. I love Daria as a main character. She has flaws (like her fear of driving a car), but is strong, independent and intelligent. The supporting characters are not just hanging around in the background for comedy relief or subplot, they actually help with the case. When Daria is weak, her friend Allison and her brother Paul are strong. They make a great team! My favorite supporting character has got to be Allison, Daria's renter who sings lead vocals for metal band Twisted Armpits.

Uniformly Dead is Greta McKennan's first book. She is already at work on the second book in the A Stitch in Time Mystery series. Historically Dead will be released in December 2017. I will definitely be reading more of this series! I love the period clothing theme and the characters!

To find out more about the author and her books, check out her website: http://www.gretamckennan.com/

**I voluntarily read an advance readers copy of this book from Kensington via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.** ( )

Uniformly Dead by Greta McKenna is the first book in "A Stitch in Time Mystery" series. Daria Dembrowski lives in Laurel Springs, Pennsylvania. After a disastrous relationship where her ex-fiancé skipped town after clearing out their bank account and leaving her in debt, Daria is trying to expand her seamstress business. She has gotten into "historical sewing" and is fortunate that there is a reenactment of a civil war battle nearby. A group of Civil War reenactors have set up an encampment on the outskirts of Turner Run Park. Daria has been commissioned by Colonel Windstrom (his reenactor name) to make a historically accurate jacket. She visits the camp several times to observe uniforms. While at the camp, she meets the dashing Sergeant Jim Merrick (aka Jim Laker) where she realizes there is some physical attraction. She is also working on a wedding gown (her original business) for a friend, Marsha, whose fiancé is involved in the reenactment. As the story starts, Daria's brother, Pete, shows up back in town and asks to stay with Daria while working as a cameraman on the Civil War film God and Glory, that is filming in town. When Daria and Pete head off to visit the local museum to check out other Civil War uniforms, someone steals Angeline, a doll in the collection. Pete is accused of stealing the doll. When Daria finishes the uniform and drops it off with the miserable Colonel, she realizes that she forgot her measuring tape in his tent and returns for it. She finds Colonel Windstrom dead on the floor and Chris Porter, Marsha's fiancé standing over him with a bayonet in his hands. Marsha asks Daria for help to clear Chris’ name and Daria agree. While all this is going on, Pete is involved in troubles of his own that drag Daria into something she has not idea about. With the help of Aileen, her quirky tenant who plays in a heavy metal band, the ladies muddle through.

I found Uniformly Dead to be a quick and easy read. There are several unique characters in the book. The troublesome brother, the rocker roommate, and the meddlesome photographer add colour and humour to the story. This is the first book in the series, so the characters have not yet been fleshed out. Daria seems to be the only one that we really get to know. I hope we find out more about Pete and Aileen in future books. The plot is well developed and the two mysteries come together at the end. My one complaint is that I figured out the murderer long before the end of the book or before Daria did. It still held my interest as I wanted to see what would happen next to Daria and Pete. Uniformly Dead is for readers who enjoy light, humorous cozy mysteries. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley. ( )

Daria Dembrowski is a seamstress who works out of her home. She's currently making wedding gowns and such but wants to branch out into historical costumes. She's given her chance when a man named Colonel Windstrom (his re-enactor name) hires her to make his Confederate uniform 'historically accurate.' But then her brother Pete arrives asking to stay with her, and she learns why soon enough, and it's not a pretty picture.

When she gets Pete to take her to a local museum so she can study uniforms for accuracy, there's a bit of a debacle. First, Pete's long time nemesis Emmett McDowell is there, signing copies of his new book and still harassing her brother no end. Pete finally has had enough and leaves, but as he's doing so, there's a commotion between the colonel and a man who seems to be a photographer which has him accidentally running into Daria and knocking her to the floor. After she's helped up by another re-enactor, Jim Laker, the lights go out and when they come on again, a doll in the exhibit is missing and the finger is pointed at her brother.

Meanwhile, she still has the wedding gown she needs to finish for a friend named Marsha, and she's getting married within the week to a nice young man, Chris, who also happens to be one of the re-enactors. When she arrives at the battlefield for a final fitting for the colonel, she's not surprised he's just as unpleasant as he's always been and discovers when the transaction is over that she's been stiffed twenty dollars. Not wanting to face the colonel again she decides to let it go, but realizes she's left her tape measure behind and when she returns to the tent to retrieve it finds her friend Chris standing over the bloody body of the colonel holding the bayonet that killed him.

Refusing to believe that Chris is guilty, and with Marsha begging her to help him, Daria can't refuse, not even when she discovers that her brother is next in line to be tagged for murder and she just might find herself in the crosshairs as well...

This is the first in the series and therefore I usually give the author a bit of leeway as to storyline, characters, etc. But when you begin a book with something that obviously doesn't make sense then it doesn't bode well for the rest of the book. As I've stated many times, I'm a person who pays attention to details, which is why I couldn't like this book.

Supposedly her ex-boyfriend lived with her while he was going to law school, then when he passed the bar he worked in his father's firm for awhile but eventually skipped town, taking everything in their joint bank account with him. First, he's an attorney and knows this is against the law. Secondly, he worked in his father's firm - which, I'm guessing is in town since she didn't state otherwise. So why didn't she go see the father and ask his help in getting her money back? Unless he was on his son's side and encouraged him to steal from her, he should have been some help since he probably knew where his son was. If he was on his son's side, his law practice would have been down the tubes the minute everyone she knew found out what had been done, and that the father hadn't stopped it or helped her get the money back. This would show that he didn't care about theft in his own family; and I certainly would have made it known that he refused to help. This is mistake number one.

How could her brother be accused of stealing the doll when he left the museum before the lights went out? Did he run back in very fast and turn out the lights, smash the case, steal the doll and then run out again in a matter of minutes? Please explain this.

Daria says she hates driving, and takes the bus everywhere. So she carries items she makes on a crowded bus without worrying about them being wrinkled or jostled? You can't just stuff handmade clothing into a bag as she does. It needs to be in a garment bag, and where on earth on a bus are you going to keep it nice? She’s a seamstress, and what if there was an occasion where she’d have to go to a customer’s home or the bus was late? It doesn't seem like this is a very good career choice for someone who won't drive.

Also, I don't like her renter Aileen. She's disrespectful and acts like she owns the house. I don't care how much she pays for rent, I would remind her who the owner is and if she moves out, so be it. I wouldn't allow any renter to treat me or mine that way, and not even 'protecting' Daria would make a difference. (Rock band? With the name of the band and the way Aileen dresses it seems more like a grunge/punk band. Plus, she has no table manners and the way she eats she'd have bad skin and probably stomach issues later in life. Yuck.) Even rockers don't dress at home the same way they dress on stage. Gene Simmons wearing KISS makeup and costumes around the house? Yeah, right...

Which brings us to the fact that Daria is a doormat. She hasn't got the backbone she was born with. She allows everyone to push her around instead of standing up to them, and I hate women who are weak-willed. I also don't care for male love interests with long hair, so Sean never appealed to me at all. Unfortunately, with these things being unappealing, you can pretty much guess that the book would be unappealing, too.

Then, Officer Carson keeps investigating. Why? Is this town so small there are no homicide detectives? In that case, one would be imported from the nearest town over. Officers do not investigate murders. Homicide Detectives investigate murders - and they don't wear uniforms, something the author should have known if she's seen even one crime show on television. Another example is the waltz they were playing at the Civil War ball was The Blue Danube, which wasn't composed until 1866 or performed until 1867 - after the Civil War ended. They wanted to be accurate, so should have chosen accurate music.

Also, what about the situation with Daria and Pete's father? We're given a paragraph about it, but nothing else. Is this the author's way of ensuring we read the next in the series? This is just the author 'holding the readers hostage' in order that they will read the next in the series.

It was difficult to get past these things, because most of them could have been handled differently and more believable. As it was, the entire book seemed like the author didn't care, she just wanted to get something published. I couldn't even get excited about the ending, which was pretty decent, because of it. I don't know if I'll be reading another in this series or not. ( )

Uniformly Dead by Greta McKenna is the first book A Stitch in Time Mystery series. Daria Dembrowski lives in Laurel Springs, Pennsylvania. Daria is trying to expand her seamstress business by sewing for reenactors. A group of Civil War reenactors have set up an encampment on the outskirts of Turner Run Park. Daria’s first customer is Colonel Windstrom (his reenactor name) and he needs a new historically accurate uniform. After Colonel Windstrom’s appointment, Daria is surprised by the arrival of her brother, Pete. She has not seen him in six years since he left to work in Hollywood. Pete is in town working as a cameraman on the Civil War film God and Glory, and he needs a place to crash. Daria heads to the reenactors camp to visit Colonel Windstrom where she encounters the dashing Sergeant Jim Merrick (aka Jim Laker). To help ensure the authenticity of the uniform, Daria visits the Tremington Museum where there is currently a Civil War display from the collection of Emmeline McDowell. There is a beautiful Civil War era doll called Angeline that Daria admires. But then there is a kerfuffle, the lights go off and when they come back on the doll is gone. Daria finished the uniform and drops it off with the cranky Colonel. After leaving his tent, Daria realizes she forgot her tape measure and returns. She finds Colonel Windstrom dead on the floor and Chris Porter standing over him with a bayonet in his hands. Chris is due to marry soon and his fiancé, Marsha is distraught. Marsha asks Daria to clear Chris’ name (personally, I would hire a PI). Daria agrees to help Chris, but then her brother is in trouble as well. The missing doll is found in Pete’s room. Someone is setting him up, and Daria is determined to clear Pete’s name. Can Daria can sew up the crimes before there is another fatality?

I found Uniformly Dead to be an easy to read book. There are several unique characters in the book. The troublesome brother, the rocker roommate, the cranky Colonel, and the meddlesome photographer are a few examples. I thought, though, that the characters lacked depth (they were very flat). We are not given many details on the characters (more on Daria than the others). Of course, there is the requisite romantic element. Daria has two potential suitors in Uniformly Dead. The mystery is simple and easily solved (you do not even need clues). There are two main storylines (the missing doll and the murder) that end up being tied together. There is a lot of action. There was one inane incident after another. I wish the author had not tried to put so much into the first book. The author should have spent more time on establishing the characters and the setting along with more focus on Daria’s work. It would have been nice if the whodunit had been more complex and difficult to solve. I give Uniformly Dead 3 out of 5 stars (it was okay). I did not like Daria’s roommate, Aileen. She is the lead guitarist in a rock band (from her description, she would scare children and some adults). She is the over-the-top and in-your-face type of person (she tells of cops). Besides living in the house, her band practices in the basement. Daria complains repeatedly about the music, but we are never told why she lets them practice there. Uniformly Dead is for readers who enjoy light, humorous cozy mysteries. ( )

Uniformly Dead is the first book in the A Stitch In Time Mystery series.

Daria Dembrowski has returned to her hometown of Laurel Springs and has opened her dream shop where she does alterations on wedding dresses and other clothing items. Her real dream is to get into “historical” sewing. There is a Civil War re-enactment currently taking place in Laurel Springs and there is also a film crew shooting the action from the re-enactment. Daria is very excited when Colonel Windstrom comes to her shop and orders a coat and breeches and a shirt demanding that anything showing should appear authentic for that time period. Daria has finished the coat and has taken to Windstrom and decides to walk around the camp, taking in the sights. Before she leaves, she returns to Windstrom tent to find another re-enactor, Chris Porter whose fiancee’s wedding dress she is altering, standing over the lifeless body of Windstrom.

Daria doesn’t believe that Porter is guilty of the murder and sets off to prove his innocence. She soon finds that there are any number of suspects as he was a bit too obsessive needing to have everything to be period correct. In addition to the murder, Daria wants to find out who might have stolen a valuable Civil War era doll that had been on display in a local museum. She and her brother were near the display when the lights went out and the doll disappears, then so does her brother.

This is a well-told story with interesting characters and plenty of twists and turns.

Will be watching for the next book, Historically Dead, in this exciting new series, due out December 19, 2017. ( )