Ministry Is Murder

Ain't that the truth! At least it is in this delightful cozy series by Emilie Richards. The main character is Aggie Sloan-Wilcox whose husband Ed was recently called as the new minister for the Consolidated Community Church (Tri-C for short) in Emerald Springs, Ohio. Ed, a scholar at heart, accepted the position because Emerald Springs has a small liberal arts college where he hopes to be able to spend time doing his research.

In the first book, Blessed Is the Busybody, Aggie is spending her time getting the family settled into their new surroundings, taking care of her two daughters, the serious kindergartner Teddy and popular teenager Deena, and trying to get along with the new congregation. Tri-C's Women's Society board, however, is makingher life a little more difficult than necessary. Especially since board members feel free to pop in and make decisions about everything to do with the parsonage, including what flowers and shrubs she should grow. Women's Society President Gelsey Falowel in particular bears a grudge against Ed and seems determined to find a way to get rid of Ed. The situation does not improve when the naked body of a woman Ed had been counseling is discovered on the parsonage front porch just as the Women's Society is inspecting the lawn.

As you would expect, Aggie is strictly instructed not to go poking her nose into this mess. But, as you would also expect, with her husband's job and her family's stability on the line, how can she stay out of it? She enlists the aid of her new best friend Lucy to solve the murder, clear her husband's good name, and secure her family's future in Emerald Springs.

I really like Aggie and her whole family, kids included. Emilie Richards draws the family and tells the story with a quirky sense of humor.

Emilie Richards

One of my new favorite authors is Emilie Richards, who writes romance. mainstream and mystery novels. I lucked up on Endless Chain, one of her Shenandoah Album novels, on a sale table at Books a Million. As a former high school Spanish teacher, former junior high Sunday School teacher, wife of a former Baptist minister of music, and a current quilt enthusiast, anything having to do with any of those areas will catch my attention. This book hit more areas of interest in one fell swoop than just about anything else I've ever read.

The gorgeous quilt on the front cover caught my eye right away since my little mental radar goes haywire when quilts are anywhere near. Then after reading the blurb's promise of a story line about a church's struggle to establish an outreach program to the newly arriving Hispanics in the community, I knew this was a story that this liberal Democrat who was barely surviving the horror years of Bush II's imperial presidency could really relate to. There was no way I could leave the store without that book in my possession! And I was not disappointed on any level. I loved it, loved the characters, loved the quilting, loved the locale, even loved the church. I stayed up until the wee hours finishing it and did not regret the loss of sleep.

After reading Endless Chain, I scurried to my computer to find out more about Emilie Richards and her books. I was hoping she had at least written a series featuring these characters. Not only did I discover more books in the Shenandoah series, but I was thrilled to find out about her Ministry is Murder mystery series featuring a minister's wife as amateur sleuth.

While I love quilting, quilts and stories about quilters and quilts, I also have a soft place in my heart for stories featuring churches and clergy, providing they are realistic and respectful. And I adore mysteries! So I ordered Blessed Is the Busybody, the first book in that series, from PaperBack Swap just to see if I'd like it. I did. Since then I've ordered and read Let There Be Suspects and Beware False Profits. I'm planning to head to Books a Million or B&N or Borders really soon to pick up the February's addition to the series, A Lie for a Lie. I'm actually going to pay full price for that one instead of waiting til it becomes available at PaperBack Swap or ordering it through interlibrary loan! That says a lot, because I'm notoriously cheap!

So now, I'm hooked on both series series with no regrets. And sooner or later, I'm going to read her stand-alone novels as well. Emilie's written a whole bunch of romance novels, as well. I don't normally read romance, but I may make an exception for Emilie Richards.

New Blog

I just read a guest blog on The Quilting Gallery by Hattie James, a quilter/reader/writer who has three blogs, one each for each of her interests. I had started my original blog, Quilts 'N Mysteries, to write about both my quilting and the books I've read. But I have not been happy with that double duty blog. I've been thinking about developing a second blog just for book discussions, rants, raves, thoughts, etc., but just never got the courage up to go for it. After reading Hattie's guest blog today, though, I decided I'd take the plunge and start a second blog dedicated to bookss. I chose the blog title "Betty's Book Nook" because I have no imagination to speak of. This explains a lot about my creative writing ability, don't you think? If I think of something better later, I'll change it. Maybe.

Unlike Hattie, I am not nearly brave enough to post ANY of my fiction writing on the big bad web for all the world to see, so, at least for now, there'll be no third blog from Betty Kay.

Hats off to Hattie for blogging about her interests. I've visited each of her blogs and am very impressed with her abilities. Thanks for the inspiration, Hattie, even though you don't know me and we'll probably never meet.

Tonight is Pizza Hut night and the doorbell just rang, so supper is ready. Tonight is also PBR bull riding on Versus, so after pizza I'll be cheering on the cowboys and maybe even a favorite bull or two. But tomorrow, I've got a stack of books beside the computer desk just begging for some attention.