Welcome to Cozy Wednesday!
It is such a pleasure to welcome Elizabeth Lynn Casey back to Escape With Dollycas!!
Who Invited Who?
By Elizabeth Lynn Casey, author of the Southern Sewing Circle Mysteries
I never had an imaginary friend.
Yes, I played pretend as a kid, but there was always someone there– a baby doll to mother, a Barbie to shop with, or a Dawn doll (anyone remember those?) to inhabit the walls of my dollhouse. If I wanted to play school or Little House on the Prairie, or store, I roped my neighborhood friends to help play the various roles.
Yet, now that I’m a professional writer, I have imaginary friends—nine of them, to be exact. Each of them has a name, of course (all good imaginary friends must have a name, yes?) and they range in age from twenty-two to eighty-four. Tori, Rose, Margaret Louise, Leona, Dixie, Beatrice, Georgina, Melissa, and Debbie (a.k.a. my imaginary friends) all live in the fictional town of Sweet Briar, South Carolina.
Five years ago, I breathed life into these women via my computer—giving them personalities, physical characteristics, and backgrounds in the hopes of making the Southern Sewing Circle Mysteries something readers would enjoy. These nine women (known, collectively, as the Sweet Briar Ladies Society Sewing Circle) have supported one another, fought with one another, challenged one another, and loved one another. In the beginning, I thought I was calling all the shots, but by the second book in the series, it became apparent I’m there simply to take dictation.
And boy what I ride it has been so far.
They’ve made me laugh.
They’ve made me cry (numerous times).
They’ve made me want to bang my head against a wall.
But no matter their moods, I’m proud to admit they’ve become my friends.
Each time I sit down to write the next book in the series, it’s like sitting down with old friends—the kind that are irreplaceable.
When I sat down to write Taken In 
Bringing them here was easy, especially when Margaret Louise told me she wanted to be a guest on a daytime talk show (Taped with Melly and Kenneth). Margaret Louise also saw the trip as a chance to liven up Dixie’s life (with the help of Rose, and Beatrice). Leona, the self-proclaimed world traveler, was positively giddy at the notion of ditching her twin sister’s small town in favor of a few nights in a five-star hotel in the middle of Manhattan. Even Rose, the matriarch of the group, saw the trip as something special to do with her friends before her advancing age made traveling more difficult.
I’m sure you can see where this is going, right?
Once again, the Sweet Briar crew relegated me to dictation duty as they took over their own trip. They picked the places to see, the people to interact with, and even how much luggage each of them would bring.
The only thing I got to do was throw one of them in a Big Apple jail cell…
For murder.
~Elizabeth
About This Author
Elizabeth Lynn Casey is the national best-selling author of the Southern Sewing Circle Mysteries (Berkley Prime Crime). The ninth title in the series—Taken In
Taken In
(Southern Sewing Circle Mystery)
9th in Series
Cozy Mystery
A Berkley Prime Crime Mystery
The Berkley Publishing Group (August 5, 2014)
Published by The Penguin Group
Cover Illustration by Mary Ann Lasher
Cover Design by Judith Lagerman
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0425257852
E-Book File Size: 2681 KB
ASIN: B00I3N5YRK
When a trip to the Big Apple ends in murder, the sewing circle searches for a killer who’s rotten to the core. . .
Winning an appearance on a top-rated, New York based morning show means the trip of a lifetime for librarian Tori Sinclair and the Sweet Briar Ladies Society Sewing Circle. Anxious to experience Manhattan with her friends, Tori is less than excited when fellow member Dixie Dunn opts to use the vacation as an opportunity to rendezvous with a man she met online.
Still, Tori never imagined her friend would be taken in by a con man specializing in scamming vulnerable older women—or that Dixie would be arrested for his murder.
Now, as the sewing circle goes up against Gotham’s elite to prove Dixie’s innocence, they will have to unravel tangled secrets and alibis, patch together a mess of clues, and put a clever killer in the city’s hottest spotlight . . .
PATTERN AND SEWING TIPS INCLUDED
Dollycas’s Thoughts
The Sweet Briar Ladies Take New York as only they can!! Look out Kardashians!!!
This story was so much fun starting with the t.v. show Taped With Melly and Kenneth that brought the friends to the big city. Maybe the author should sent a copy to Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan, they would probably get a kick out of it!!
I felt so sorry for Dixie being stuck in jail. But the rest did what they do best, and this time they had help from a new friend they met in the Big Apple. Together they tracked down the truth and the real culprit and I was completely taken aback as the clues panned out.
Elizabeth Lynn Casey takes on quite an adventure with our friends from Sweet Briar. There is never a dull moment when these ladies get together and New York barely intimated them at all. She has written an absolutely wonderful story. The locale may have changed but these characters bloom wherever they are planted. There are parts that are laugh out loud funny and others that will warm your heart.
The Ladies of the Sweet Briar Society Circle are quite a group. They range in age from 22 – 84 and are each as different as can be. There is even one that doesn’t even sew!! They don’t always see eye to eye, in fact there are times they don’t agree on anything, but their friendship runs so deep. They are there for each other through anything life throws at them. Friendship like this rare, something to treasure. I am thrilled to be able to tag along with them through each of the stories in this series.
I hate it when these books end. I was completely Taken In
Thanks to the people at Penguin I have 2 copies to give away!
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
This one’s on my TBR list.
Ooh, I can’t wait to read this one 🙂
Thanks for sharing.
i have not read anything from this author, looks like a great series 🙂
I like a good con man/murder mystery. I can never bring myself to feel too bad for the dearly departed!!
My kind of read.
This sounds like another one I’d love to read. Always like tips too.
Ann
I enjoy this series…. looking forward to reading…
Looking forward to it.
Really want to read!
Thanks for hosting me today, Lori! I’m thrilled you liked TAKEN IN.
A captivating feature and great giveaway.
I love this series. The author has created characters you want to be friends with
Thank you, Lexie!!!
What a great review, I can’t wait to read the book.
I must read from Sew Deadly onward ? and upward? 🙂
What a great idea, taking them all to New York. I remember going to New York for the first time with a couple of sorority sisters to see the World’s Fair ( now you know my age). We were still in college and thought we knew everything. The midnight subway ride from the fair back to our hotel was an experience we’ll never forget. We had been told that there was a policeman on every subway. Near a policeman was to be found, until we reached the corner where our hotel was located. We did see a man threatening a women with a knife, a couple of drug deals going down and a number of unsavory looking characters first. We told ourselves to just keep from knocking our knees together in fright, and act like we knew what we were doing. Obviously, we made it safe and sound. But I must say that the Fair was a marvelous experience to share with good friends!! Now as to sewing, I taught needlework classes for a number of years, with a couple of my classes in a retirement home. Never will forget the wonderful woman who had never even sewn a button on anything before– great fun!! Definitely want to read this one!!
I haven’t had a chance to read this series, but I really want to soon!! :). I hear so many great comments about how wonderful the stories are.
This does sounds like a fun collection of women to get to know.
I’m anxious to see how these ladies handle New York—it should be interesting!
suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com
This sounds like a great story. I’d love to read it. lkish77123 at gmail dot com
Hi Elizabeth, the southern sewing circle mysteries sound great. I haven’t had a chance to read them yet, but I would like to. Thank you
This is a fun series to read. Even though I can’t sew I like to live through the characters.
Sounds GREAT !! And to win it is even GREATER !!!!
The Sweet Briar ladies sound like a great group, I can just imagine them in NYC!
I love your review…it makes this sound like one I’d love to read! And the cover looks so cozy!
This sounds like a good book. I’m adding it to my to be read list!
Thanks everyone, for stopping by. I loved reading all of your comments. If you haven’t read the Southern Sewing Circle Mysteries yet, I hope you give them a shot. You don’t have to know anything about sewing. The sewing is simply how these women come together (like a book club or cooking club for other people) and have forged a friendship. TAKEN IN is a great book to start with because they’re in a different setting than the first 8 books.
sounds like a good book.would love to read it
Congratulations on your new release! Taken In sounds delightful. Thanks for sharing your writing experience with the Sweet Briar Ladies Society Sewing Circle.
congrats & continued success, Elizabeth!!!
just started this series!!!
I love these books. Not everyone sews or is crafty anymore but I love my crafts as much as I love reading about others whose lives include crafting. I have loved Tori ever since she moved and became the librarian in Sweet Briar.
A big fan and adding this title to my must be read list.
I have a few of the books in this series; would love to have this one to read!
I like the series and have some of the earlier books. I like that there’s a bunny, Paris, in the books. It’s always great when characters get to travel somewhere new.
Adding this title to my TBR list