The Paradise Heights Craft Store Stitch-Up by Kate Solly

Title: The Paradise Heights Craft Store Stitch-Up

Author: Kate Solly

Genre: Cozy Crime

Publisher: Affirm

Published: 31^st December 2024

Format: Paperback

Pages: 320

Price: $34.99

Synopsis: Meet Fleck Parker: Mother, Crafter and Amateur Detective.

Fleck loves a good puzzle. She spends most of her time feeling invisible, caring for three small children, and that’s fine, really. But it does make her brain itch occasionally.

When Trixie, fellow school-mum and avid crafter, is accused of stealing money from Many Hands, the women’s charity known for its charming store full of handmade crafts, Fleck feels compelled to investigate and clear Trixie’s name. From playground stakeouts to tailing cars while nursing the baby to sleep, Fleck and Trixie uncover a case more complex than either of them could have imagined.

Will they crack the case?

~*~

When Fleck Parker, a mother of three young children and avid puzzle solver is invited to Many Hands, a craft shop run by volunteers and linked to a charity called the Society, the last thing she expects is to become embroiled in a mystery. At first, the Society seems fine – even though many are resistant to change, and adamant they know what’s best for Fleck, Trixie and everyone else. But when Trixie is accused of stealing money from the charity, everyone except Fleck turns on her. Trixie and Flecks set aside their charming craft, craft lessons and dedication to helping people to clear Trixie’s name and find out what really happened – especially when all the fingers are being pointed and no voices heard.

So, who stole the money? It could have been anyone on the board with access to the records and finances or accounts. But Fleck and Trixie know there is more going on than they’re being told – so they set about following people from the Society, noting down odd behaviour and trying to translate the records with help from Fleck’s neighbour, the utterly delightful Ranveer. He was lovely and quiet but still a very important part of the story, and he quietly comes in and out right when we need him. Most characters do this, helping to layer the mystery and discussions about diversity and social issues, about inclusion and understanding. And it explores how people explain their situations, or help those around then understand things they might not understand. Explaining it in up front yet friendly ways also makes this accessible to the reader, so they can work out what to say and what not to say.

But the most important aspect is the mystery. Anything else is peripheral and whilst some does lead to aspects of the mystery, the constant onslaught of accusations against Trixie create the conflict that is peppered throughout the novel, layered upon each other as various aspects of the mystery are revealed. Things happen and unravel quite slowly, which I expect from cosy crime, and this gentle story has humour in all the right places. Whilst the build-up to the crime and mystery took a while, it did make sense and the light-heartedness was what initially drew me into this one, and everything came together well and was used well. This made it work very well as a story that celebrated women, friendship and embracing what makes us different – a diverse community linked by common interests coupled with a crime and manipulative characters whom only a few could see through.

I quite enjoyed this one – it was different to what I have read before in cosy crime, and there were many things I loved about this. It managed to balance everything well, and ensured that things led somewhere concrete. I think this made a great story and will be interested to see if there are more investigations with Fleck and Trixie to come.