A Fatal Stitch

In the quiet village of Ashcombe, November is a season for keeping your head down and getting on with things.

For Nora Whitfield, owner of The Patchwork House, that usually means fabric orders, probate assessments, and the gentle routines of village life. But when she is asked to value a box of household textiles from the estate of the late Agnes Hartley, one piece stops her cold: an old quilt made in an East Midlands style that has no business being in Ashcombe.

Hidden inside its carefully restitched central panel is a wartime identity card bearing a different name.

As Nora begins to untangle the mystery, a woman arrives in the village claiming to be Agnes Hartley's niece. She says she only wants the estate handled properly - but her questions suggest she is looking for something far more personal. Then, before Nora can uncover the truth, the woman is found dead at the foot of a staircase.

What begins as a textile assessment becomes something much darker: a decades-old disappearance, a false death certificate, and a life rebuilt under another name. In a village where everyone knows everyone - or thinks they do - Nora must piece together a secret someone has been protecting for nearly seventy years.

And in Ashcombe, the truth has a way of pulling at every seam.

Perfect for fans of cozy mysteries with emotional depth, village intrigue, and a strong amateur sleuth, A Fatal Stitch is the second book in The Patchwork House Mysteries.