Greta McKennan

Daria Dembrowski is a seamstress. Usually she keeps busy making wedding gowns, doing alterations and sewing church banners but with Civil War reenactors in town she picks up some extra work sewing period clothing. As Laurel Spings, Pennsylvania seems carried back to the 1860s with the mock Civil War battles waging just outside town and a movie crew in town filming a period piece, Daria works hard sewing an authentic looking Civil War Confederate coat for Confederate Colonel Windstrom. The reenactor is obsessively concerned with wearing only perfect reproductions, berating and bullying anyone that is a farb -- a reenactor who has cheap, modern knockoff copies of uniforms or gear. When Windstrom is murdered in his tent at the reenactor's event, Daria is shocked. Surely someone didn't kill a man for being surly, unsociable and overly obsessed. When a museum theft and another murder put her brother at the top of the suspects list, Daria starts snooping around to discover the killer's identity. Will she find out the truth before her brother is arrested for murder?

Uniformly Dead is a fun, quick read. The mystery is well-paced. There are plenty of suspects and some interesting twists and turns. The subplot of Civil War reenactment and reproducing period uniforms did not over-power the mystery but added to it. I love Daria as a main character. She has flaws (like her fear of driving a car), but is strong, independent and intelligent. The supporting characters are not just hanging around in the background for comedy relief or subplot, they actually help with the case. When Daria is weak, her friend Allison and her brother Paul are strong. They make a great team! My favorite supporting character has got to be Allison, Daria's renter who sings lead vocals for metal band Twisted Armpits.

Uniformly Dead is Greta McKennan's first book. She is already at work on the second book in the A Stitch in Time Mystery series. Historically Dead will be released in December 2017. I will definitely be reading more of this series! I love the period clothing theme and the characters!

To find out more about the author and her books, check out her website: http://www.gretamckennan.com/

**I voluntarily read an advance readers copy of this book from Kensington via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.**… (meer)

Historically Dead is the second book in the A Stitch in Time Mystery series. Daria Dembrowski is a seamstress. She loves her period clothing business, A Stitch in Time. Most of the time, she busies herself making period wedding gowns, doing alterations, or making projects for local churches. But, when she gets the chance to create historic period clothing for reenactors or other fun special occasions, she's more than willing. This time a reality show, My House in History, is featuring two local elderly sisters, Priscilla Compton and Ruth Ellis, who are restoring their colonial period mansion. A historian, Professor Burbridge, is helping make sure everything added to the home is correct and authentic. Imagine Daria's surprise when she shows up for a meeting with the historian, only to find him dead! Theft, arson and other crimes soon follow.... Who killed Professor Burbridge, and how is it connected to the Compton Mansion?

I really love this series! I'm completely obsessed with history and would LOVE it if there was a period clothing shop like A Stitch in Time anywhere near where I live! I enjoy Daria as a main character, and the story lines in this series have been really interesting so far! Book one dealt with Civil War reenactors....and now the Colonial era. I am so curious what the next book will bring. I will definitely be reading it! I liked the fact that there was a bit of romance added in for Daria in this newest book, along with an ex-boyfriend showing up. Randall......ugh. Boo! Hiss! Jerk! Not saying any more .... no spoilers!

Definitely a nice addition to this series!

To find out more about the author and her books, check out her website: http://www.gretamckennan.com/

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from Kensington via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own. **
… (meer)

Uniformly Dead by Greta McKenna is the first book in "A Stitch in Time Mystery" series. Daria Dembrowski lives in Laurel Springs, Pennsylvania. After a disastrous relationship where her ex-fiancé skipped town after clearing out their bank account and leaving her in debt, Daria is trying to expand her seamstress business. She has gotten into "historical sewing" and is fortunate that there is a reenactment of a civil war battle nearby. A group of Civil War reenactors have set up an encampment on the outskirts of Turner Run Park. Daria has been commissioned by Colonel Windstrom (his reenactor name) to make a historically accurate jacket. She visits the camp several times to observe uniforms. While at the camp, she meets the dashing Sergeant Jim Merrick (aka Jim Laker) where she realizes there is some physical attraction. She is also working on a wedding gown (her original business) for a friend, Marsha, whose fiancé is involved in the reenactment. As the story starts, Daria's brother, Pete, shows up back in town and asks to stay with Daria while working as a cameraman on the Civil War film God and Glory, that is filming in town. When Daria and Pete head off to visit the local museum to check out other Civil War uniforms, someone steals Angeline, a doll in the collection. Pete is accused of stealing the doll. When Daria finishes the uniform and drops it off with the miserable Colonel, she realizes that she forgot her measuring tape in his tent and returns for it. She finds Colonel Windstrom dead on the floor and Chris Porter, Marsha's fiancé standing over him with a bayonet in his hands. Marsha asks Daria for help to clear Chris’ name and Daria agree. While all this is going on, Pete is involved in troubles of his own that drag Daria into something she has not idea about. With the help of Aileen, her quirky tenant who plays in a heavy metal band, the ladies muddle through.

I found Uniformly Dead to be a quick and easy read. There are several unique characters in the book. The troublesome brother, the rocker roommate, and the meddlesome photographer add colour and humour to the story. This is the first book in the series, so the characters have not yet been fleshed out. Daria seems to be the only one that we really get to know. I hope we find out more about Pete and Aileen in future books. The plot is well developed and the two mysteries come together at the end. My one complaint is that I figured out the murderer long before the end of the book or before Daria did. It still held my interest as I wanted to see what would happen next to Daria and Pete. Uniformly Dead is for readers who enjoy light, humorous cozy mysteries. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.… (meer)

Daria Dembrowski is a seamstress who is attending the Highland Games both as a vendor and a spectator when she finds out that her renter Aileen, singer and guitarist for the band Twisted Armpits, seems to know one of the game contestants, Ladd Foster. Their meeting doesn't seem to be a pleasant one, but Daria decides to stay out of the altercation.

The festivities are in high gear and she plans to be part of it, and that includes meeting the author Morris West, who has written a fictional book about Scotland's Bonnie Prince Charlie and when he meets Daria, envisions her as his heroine from his book named Catherine and continues to call her by that name, to her annoyance. Then Aileen's bandmate Corgi asks Daria if she will fashion a kilt for him, since he's learned to play the bagpipes and wants to enter the competitions - the one he has is a cheap knockoff and will not pass muster and even costs him points in performing.

But during the games Ladd suddenly collapses and falls dead and Daria, with her innate curiosity discovers the source which happens to be the flask he was drinking from during the day. While it seems he left the flask in a tent that was also visited by four others beside herself - including Aileen - she wonders which one hated him enough to kill him. But when the police arrive, the flask has disappeared from the tent, and now finding a killer as well as the weapon of choice could be very difficult indeed.

She's also creating a wedding gown with a tilt to Scotland for a friend, and a young girl named Gillian had an infatuation with Ladd, not to mention the girl's surly attitude could only make it worse; and at the last, she meets an employee of the Templeton museum who offers to let her see the wedding gown and diary of a long-ago resident of their town, Margaret Oliphant, the woman for whom the local college was named. Little does Daria know that once again her curiosity may bring her into mortal danger...

This is the third book in the series, and after reading the first two, I truly believe that Ms. McKennan has found her voice. While I have to be honest and say I wasn't enthralled with the first one, in this book the story line kept me riveted throughout.

While it may seem to some that there are several plot lines going at the same time, they are all (mostly) entwined and watching them come together is indeed a delight. We follow Daria as she innocently tries to complete the wedding dress and create an authentic Scottish kilt while not only participating in the Scottish celebration but watching it as well, while surreptitiously keeping an eye on the young Gillian in an effort to keep her out of harm's way.

Adding to this is the fact that Daria's tenant Aileen is suspected of killing Ladd, although Daria knows it's not possible. Aileen may act tough, but Daria knows there's a soft underbelly that wouldn't kill. So she sets out to look at the other suspects while trying to find out who had the best motive; even involving her maybe-boyfriend Sean McCarty, a newspaper photographer/reporter. (To be fair, he plays along with her willingly in the hopes he'll get a story).

For the most part I was highly entertained; Daria is evolving into a a woman who's coming into her own, who's becoming braver within herself and more circumspect with others, McCarthy is beginning to grow on me and I do love a man with a sense of humor; and while we learned a little more about Aileen's past, it still doesn't explain how she got to where she is today. (From one extreme to another?)

All in all, as I stated above, the plot line was very good and the story was written well. I enjoyed the twists and turns throughout the tale that brought everything together in the end, much like watching a fine tapestry being woven and delighting in the final product. When the killer was discovered (although I figured it out early on - but then again, I read a lot of these) and the reason for the murder revealed, it reminds us that even those that seem the most stable can often be the most insane around us.

Ms. McKennan is indeed learning her craft, and this, as the third book in the series, proves that fact. She has managed to give Daria and Sean life, and make us want to visit the small town of Laurel Springs, Pennsylvania. Her characters are becoming well-rounded and believable; and when I finished this book I realized I was ready for the next in the series and that's a very good thing. Recommended.… (meer)