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kimdavishb's review against another edition
5.0
CRUSHED VELVET by Diane Vallere is the story of Poly (Polyester) Monroe, who has returned San Ladrón after inheriting her aunt and uncle’s fabric store. The store has been shuttered for ten years after her aunt was brutally murdered, but Poly decides to reopen it and showcase her own unique fabric for the grand opening. She hires her best friend’s husband, Phil, to pick the fabric up for her but when the delivery truck arrives Phil isn’t driving…instead he’s found dead in the back, hidden beneath her twelve bolts of velvet. The substitute driver insists Phil hired him to drive the truck back to San Ladrón and never knew Phil was dead. It doesn’t take long for Phil’s wife who is also Poly’s best friend, Genevieve, to become the main suspect in the murder. Poly is certain Genevieve is innocent and starts asking questions around town. She finds out there were a lot of people hiding secrets, including the fact that Phil had a mistress, which all point to Genevieve being the culprit. Genevieve doesn’t help herself either by hiding from the police and then not telling her side of the story. Poly still has faith in her best friend and works tirelessly to clear Genevieve’s name.
CRUSHED VELVET is the second book in A Material Witness Mystery series. Even though I haven’t had the chance to read the first book, SUEDE TO REST (and rest assured I will definitely be reading it next!) this book was easy to read without the backstory. Diane weaves a clever story filled with the theme of believing in and supporting friends no matter what. I also enjoyed learning about various fabrics along the way and loved the fact that she included directions for a sewing project for placemats at the back of the book!
CRUSHED VELVET is the second book in A Material Witness Mystery series. Even though I haven’t had the chance to read the first book, SUEDE TO REST (and rest assured I will definitely be reading it next!) this book was easy to read without the backstory. Diane weaves a clever story filled with the theme of believing in and supporting friends no matter what. I also enjoyed learning about various fabrics along the way and loved the fact that she included directions for a sewing project for placemats at the back of the book!
wilko's review against another edition
5.0
Poly is now settled into San Ladron and her grand opening is getting closer but when her velvet order gets tangled up in a murder she needs to split her time between getting ready for her opening and helping clear her friends name whilst also completing her surprise for Genevieve and the Tea Totalers. Not only do we get to know more about Poly's new friends like Charlie and Genevieve but also others and get to see Pins and Needles again, but Poly has one heck of a tangled murder mystery to solve that has many things pointing at her friend along with others. Poly already has plenty on but that doesn't mean there isn't time for her to still get to know Vaughn more although those two have a habit of misunderstanding or miscommunicating so hopefully they can finally get on the same page!.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
hugbandit7's review against another edition
5.0
This may only be the 2nd book but it reads like it has been around forever! i love Polyester (Poly) and while she may be newish to the town, she has managed to gather up a few good friends and this time one of them is in trouble.
So let's just say I was totally surprised at who was killed. Not that it was a major character, just a surprise. And the killer?! an even bigger surprise. I wanted to suspect a few other people but it just didn't fit. While I didn't guess the killer, I did guess one aspect of why they wanted Poly's material.
I enjoy the small town vibe and how most of the citizens rally together to help each other out. I like seeing Poly's relationship with Vaughn grow into something more. Of course there are characters that we don't like but you can't have all "nice" people, then there would be no conflict.
The only negative I have is that at times I felt like some things were repeated several times...but it didn't take away from my overall enjoyment of the book.
So let's just say I was totally surprised at who was killed. Not that it was a major character, just a surprise. And the killer?! an even bigger surprise. I wanted to suspect a few other people but it just didn't fit. While I didn't guess the killer, I did guess one aspect of why they wanted Poly's material.
I enjoy the small town vibe and how most of the citizens rally together to help each other out. I like seeing Poly's relationship with Vaughn grow into something more. Of course there are characters that we don't like but you can't have all "nice" people, then there would be no conflict.
The only negative I have is that at times I felt like some things were repeated several times...but it didn't take away from my overall enjoyment of the book.
ruxiemcgouth's review against another edition
4.0
Check out my video review of this book!
https://youtu.be/nLO6u-VckYc
https://youtu.be/nLO6u-VckYc
murderbydeath's review
3.0
3.5 stars. Better than the first book in the series (which wasn't bad either). I like the characters and the writing enough to read the next book.
Slightly wordier review: http://jenn.booklikes.com/post/1263142/crushed-velvet
Slightly wordier review: http://jenn.booklikes.com/post/1263142/crushed-velvet
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