Drop Dead Ornaments (An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
7th in Series
Self Published
Print Length: 209 pages

Synopsis

Anastasia Pollack’s son Alex is dating Sophie Lambert, the new kid in town. For their community service project, the high school seniors have chosen to raise money for the county food bank. Anastasia taps her craft industry contacts to donate materials for the students to make Christmas ornaments they’ll sell at the town’s annual Holiday Crafts Fair.

At the fair Anastasia meets Sophie’s father, Shane Lambert, who strikes her as a man with secrets. She also notices a woman eavesdropping on their conversation. Later that evening when the woman turns up dead, Sophie’s father is arrested for her murder.

Alex and Sophie beg Anastasia to find the real killer, but Anastasia has had her fill of dead bodies. She’s also not convinced of Shane’s innocence. Besides, she’s promised younger son Nick she’ll stop risking her life. But how can she say no to Alex?

Guest Post

The Difference Between Cupcakes and Crafts

I write the Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries. As the name suggests, this is a craft-themed mystery series. Anastasia is the crafts editor at a women’s magazine. After the untimely death of her husband in Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, the first book in the series, she finds herself, thanks to her husband’s well-hidden gambling addiction, trying to stay one step ahead of the bill collectors, her husband’s bookie, and the detectives who think she murdered the magazine’s fashion editor. Throughout the series, as Anastasia works to whittle down massive debt and keep from having to move her family into a cardboard box on the street, she also finds herself dealing with dead bodies on a fairly regular basis.

Crafting mysteries often include craft projects, just as culinary mysteries often include recipes. The big difference between the two sub-genres is that the crafting mystery author is limited in the type of crafts she can include. Recipes don’t need patterns, but many craft projects often require them. Patterns don’t work in e-books and print novels. So in my series I have to come up with craft projects that can be made by only following written directions. I also want projects that are easy enough for even the most novice crafter.

In Drop Dead Ornaments, the seventh book in the series, I feature Christmas ornaments that anyone can make, even someone who doesn’t know the difference between a fishhook and a crochet hook. These are no-talent-required projects that use easy-to-find supplies available at any craft or fabric store and many big box stores or online. They also take very little time to make. Here’s one of them:

Metallic Braid Ornament

Materials

Clear glass ball ornament*

5-yds. 5mm braided metallic cording (choose silver, gold, or 2-toned combination colors such as red/gold or black/silver)

9”-12” of 1/4”-1/2” wide satin or grosgrain ribbon in a complementary color

Note: If you can’t find 5mm braid, you can substitute a different diameter. You’ll need less braid for a thicker diameter and more for a thinner diameter braid. You can also substitute yarn, twine, thin braid, or a thin strip of fabric for the ribbon used for the hanging loop.

Directions

Carefully remove the metal cap from the glass ball. Feed the metallic braid through the opening into the ornament. Reattach the metal cap. Tie the ribbon through the loop for hanging.

* This is a great project to make with kids, but depending on their age, you might want to substitute clear plastic ball ornaments for the glass ball ornaments.

About The Author

USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry.

Website * Killer Crafts & Crafty Killers blog * Twitter * Pinterest * Goodreads * Newsletter

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