Arlene Sachitano's Loose Threads Mystery Series

Several years ago, my husband and I took a trip to the Oregon coast - Lincoln City to be exact.  I love stopping in and visiting small local bookshops when we travel, and I found a great one in Lincoln City - Bob's Beach Books, right on the main street.  Here's a picture:

While looking for books written by local authors, I found a mystery series by an Oregonian, Arlene Sachitano.  It's the Loose Threads Mystery series and tells the tales of Harriet Truman and her quilting group.  There are 8 books in the series at this point, and I've recently read and thoroughly enjoyed the first 3.

In this series, Harriet Truman returns to her hometown of Foggy Point, Washington to take over her aunt's long-arm quilting business.  At first Harriet thinks that she's just filling in while her Aunt Beth takes a European cruise.  However, she soon finds that Beth has decided to give her the business and her house as well.  Harriet, a young widow who still hasn't recovered well from her husband's death, is shocked and not really sure she wants to stay in small town Foggy Point.  The Loose Threads help change her mind.

Quilt As Desired is the first book and soon after Harriet arrives, her house and studio are trashed during a break-in.  The thief was looking for something and apparently didn't find whatever it was.  Then Aunt Beth's best friend and fellow quilter is murdered.  Harriet begins to investigate with the help of her aunt's quilting friends, the Loose Threads.    

The second book is Quilter's Knot and the Loose Threads are off to a quilting retreat at Angel Harbor Folk Art School to learn new techniques.  One of their group, Lauren, has been attending a two-year program at the school and has a special exhibition.  However, among accusations of design copying and fraud, Harriet and the Threads have to try to salvage Lauren's reputation.  It doesn't help that the school's founder collapses during a class and is found to have been poisoned.

In the third book, Quilt As You Go, Harriet has helped organize a Civil War re-enactment and festival as part of the local merchant's group.  During the event, a man is found dead and it's discovered that he is closely connected with Loose Threads member, Mavis.  Secrets are revealed that have been hidden for over 20 years and Harriet and the Threads are right in the middle of things.

These are fun cozy type mysteries that I've had a good time reading.  The author is an experienced quilter and she shares a lot of quilting lore, explanations of patterns and techniques.  All of that is interesting to me, even though I'm not a quilter or a seamstress at all.  The mysteries are not terribly complex, but I like the characters and enjoy the quilting group, The Loose Threads.  I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the series, Quilt By Association.