Assault and Beadery

Cora and her partner Jane are prepping for their bead-making retreat when they receive an urgent phone call from their friend Zee. She has been arrested for the murder of the disagreeable community theater director Stan Herald. In Assault and Beadery by Mollie Cox Bryan,  Cora, still struggling to control her panic attacks, is torn between helping Zee and providing an excellent retreat for her attendees for her Craft Moms' Escape Weekend.

When her star instructor Lena shows up looking worse for wear, Cora starts to worry about the classes. She has scheduled several classes including making rose beads, fabric beads and even paper beads. As the guests begin to arrive, Cora relaxes until the caterers provide her with a luau instead of her North Carolina food favorites.

Ruby's attorney son Cashel is trying to get Zee out of jail, but something in her background is causing her to spend another night in jail. Although the evidence against her is circumstantial - Zee was founded unconscious next to Stan with a knife in her hand - the
police insist on holding her longer.

When Cora discovers a bloody scarf in a wastebasket at her home, her worries about Zee turn to true anxiety about possibly harboring a murderer at her retreat. The list of potential suspects is long because it seems many of the attendees have a morbid fascination with the murder.

Indigo Gap, North Carolina is filled with interesting characters and I would love to be able to attend one of Cora's workshops. Assault and Beadery has plenty of excitement and the book even has craft instructions and recipes, although I don't think I could manage the bead making without Cora at my side.

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