Review: Assault and Beadery

Assault and Beadery by Mollie Cox Bryan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was my first book by Mollie Cox Bryan. It is part of the series, A Cora Crafts Mystery. I had no issue with jumping into the series. Because of that, I believe this book can be read as a stand-alone or out of series order. This was also my first cozy mystery with crafting as a theme.

I really enjoyed this mystery. I liked Cora and the other characters very much. They were people I would enjoy being around. I felt comfortable with them. I was thrilled to see Cora pay attention to gut instinct. I think we all need to listen more when it tries to get our attention. As someone who deals with anxiety and panic, it was interesting to have a major character dealing with it. I was encouraged by Cora.

I was intrigued by the idea of a crafting retreat. I have never been to one. I do enjoy some crafts but am lousy at keeping them up. My crafting level is, at best, self described as kindergarten - first grade level. I do love to do them do and am, frequently, as proud as the best of any kindergarteners. I started this book with a little bit of fear that I would have a difficult time with the crafting part. No worries, though. I was able to not only keep up just fine but also found myself wishing to attend a craft retreat. I believe I could manage to learn something new and fun to do. I was even encouraged enough that I am planning to try the crafts at the back of the book. I’m thinking I could come away with some meditation beads...or maybe just a necklace like is pictured on the cover. There are actually a couple of craft instructions that I want to try.

The mystery was well written. I was kept guessing all the way up to the reveal. There were several secrets and surprises along the way that had me changing my mind about suspects. The big reveal contained the best secret! But I’m not going to give you anything there.

I recommend this cozy mystery book. It was fun and interesting. If you make any of the crafts in the book and post photos on Instagram, please tag me, (Wulfwyn907). I would really like to see what you made. I will be adding the other books in this series to my TBR. Thank to Kimberlee at the Review Club on Facebook for the ARC. The opinions expressed are my honest thoughts regarding this book.


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