Certainly not a bad murder mystery, but the author is really more interested in a couple of gimmicks: she focuses on a place sketch of an island in Maine, and throws in some recipes that the islanders may have made. As such, many of the clues to the murderer revolve around detecting antique quilts, so you have to suspend a bit of reality to buy into the whole scenario.

The writing itself is uneven, with sudden shifts in point-of-view that mark an amateur, to my mind. It's obviously been marketed to women; there's not much here to attract the Travis McGee fan. Still, focus on the island and the characters and it's a book on which it's worth spending a few hours. ( )