Buried in Quilts is one of those wonderful new breed of mysteries that allows you to see inside another world, in this case a small town in Indiana, and inside other people, too. It's not just about a murder, or quilts, the town or the people; the book is a wonderful quilt itself, weaving all the separate pieces into a marvelous whole. I think what I liked best is that the clues to the murder were right there for everyone to see. I don't know a thing about quilting and when the book reached its conclusion I found myself saying, "I should have figured that out!" There was a twist that caught me fair and square. I recommend this book very highly!

Sara Hoskinson Frommer has taken all the best elements of a murder mystery. She gets you caring about the characters and wanting to find the killer, and when you find out whodunit, you say to yourself, "Of course, I should have seen that." I loved the Gilbert & Sullivan references at the beginning of each chapter, and what an ingenious, Gilbertian plot twist to murder a "ghost." The only problem is that I am a Gilbert & Sullivan performer, and I'm going to be afraid if I ever get cast in the role of Sir Roderic Murgatroyd.

Perhaps the best of the Joan Spenser mysteries, Murder and Sullivan is soooo much fun! The main character is this ordinary music-loving lady, Joan, and she's always up to her neck in danger! I love all of Sara Hoskinson Frommer's books. They're fabulous reads if you like mysteries. A writer friend of mine says she thinks Frommer is the best mystery writer out there today..and she might be right, too.

Murder & Sullivan is another gem from Sara H. Frommer, a writer who understands music and real people. I'm not a professional book reviewer by any means, but I know what's good when I read it. I've read other books by this author and all of them are I think, wonderful.

If you like your murder mysteries sans murder, this is the book for you. No one is hurt (much), and everything works out for everyone in the end. The characters' lives are as routine as yours or mine. They don't even eat anything interesting. The "mystery" is barely mysterious and the perpetrator of the "crime" is extremely tangential to the story. Her motive is pretty dippy, too. the writing is okay, but extremely ordinary. Anyhow, can't recommend this one except maybe to someone who likes reading about musicians in any fiction format.

Brava to the author who so skillfully balances life in the slow-paced, small town of Oliver, Indiana, against the sophisticated internationally-renowned Violin Competition, held quadrennially in the larger city of Indianapolis. Indeed, the author is not the only person to refer to this as the 'Olympics for the Violin'. Such competitions are a fact of life for aspiring young musicians, and the pressures are unbelievable, as a career can easily be made or broken by the final standings. The descriptions of the competition are exactly right--as are those of the young entrants.

Joan Spencer is an amateur violist who loves and lives her music. But that is not her entire life. Widowed, perhaps too young, she was left with two young children and the necessity to earn a living. Now her children are more-or-less out on their own, and Joan can resume her own life. And so she does.

A big part of her new life is Lieutenant Fred Lundquist of the Oliver police force. As much as she loves him, she wonders if she can cope with being the wife of a policeman. As the story of the vanishing violinist unfolds, intruding even to the little town of Oliver, Joan comes to realize that time is more important than anything else, and she mustn't waste whatever time she and Fred can have together.

This well-written book will appeal greatly to lovers of classical music, whether knowledgeable about it or not (and kudos to the editor who didn't dumb down the many musical references!) as well as to mystery novel fans. Women of a certain age will also like this book, along with the clear-headed Joan who hasn't lost her common sense. She is such a genuinely nice person I'd really like to have her for a friend. You might, too.

In Oliver, Indiana, Joan Spencer and police detective lieutenant Fred Lundquist plan to marry soon. Her happy daughter Rebecca informs Joan that she is engaged to marry violin expert Bruce Graham. Joan meets her future son-in-law when he competes in an international event in nearby Indianapolis.

However, at the convention site, someone steals a precious Stradivarius from one of Bruce's more talented rivals. Subsequently, that same individual soon vanishes. The police suspect Bruce is involved with the missing violin and person. This, in turn, places a cloud on the joyous occasion of meeting her daughter's future spouse. Since Rebecca insists her fiancé is innocent, Joan begins to investigate. Joan quickly learns that beneath the veneer of civilized behavior the contestants harbor deep rooted grudges and jealousies. This makes several of them prime suspects, at least in Joan's mind to commit both crimes.

The fourth Joan Spencer Midwest cozy is a wonderful mystery that retains the charm of the three previous novels due to the delightful lead protagonist. The support cast adds to the overall feeling of being at a musical competition. The mystery is fun, but the lyrical description of the musical competition is simply heaven, thus confirming that Sara Hoskinson Frommer is a virtuoso.

Harriet Klausner