FROM OUR EDITORS

Could Benni Harper's life be any more hectic? As she prepares for two upcoming weddings and San Celina's Mardi Gras ball, our favorite folk art expert is nearly frantic, but she still tries to keep up with her civic responsibilities. Cataloguing an estate for the local historical society, Benni uncovers clues to a 40-year-old unsolved homicide. Even with those imminent wedding bells and some marital distractions of her own, she delves into a cold case that seems to be warming up. Buoyant in spirit and well plotted.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The Steps to the Altar pattern most likely has its origins in things romantic, though there is a possibility that it also has a spiritual aspect. Prior to the twentieth century, marriage denoted a major role shift in a woman's life. A gift of a quilt from her closest friends both commemorated this event and served as a reminder of her friend's love and support. The Steps to the Altar pattern is a fairly simple one using squares and triangles to make a block that is striking when contrasting fabrics are used. The name actually refers to at least three different patterns, some of which have their earliest origins in late nineteenth century Ohio and New York. It is also called Dish of Fruit, Flat Iron Patchwork, Strawberry Basket, Stairstep, Stairs of Illusion, English T Box, Jacob's Ladder and Building Blocks.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

In a story sewn together as tightly as a traditional quilt, Agatha Award-winner Fowler delivers superior cozy entertainment in her ninth Benni Harper mystery (after 2001's Arkansas Traveler). In the California coastal town of San Celina, there are weddings and wished-for weddings, plus the threatened demise of Benni's two-year marriage to police chief Gabe Ortiz, brought about by the appearance of Gabe's former female partner, Del Hernandez. Just as Benni doesn't think she can keep one more plate spinning in her busy life, two crises crop up: first, Del starts deliberately going after Gabe and lets Benni know it; second, Benni is asked to inventory four trunks full of materials possibly related to the decades-old bludgeoning death of wealthy Garvey Sullivan. Though asked only to catalogue the items, Benni becomes fascinated by the potential murder charge against Maple Sullivan, Garvey's widow. Maple fled before her husband's body was found, but she's been found "guilty" in the town's conscience and gossip ever since. Will Benni solve the old murder? Will her marriage survive the lust of Del Hernandez and the come-ons to herself from an acerbic sheriff's deputy? Will her best friend, cousin and grandmother all make it to their respective altars, fulfilling the prophecy of the Steps to the Altar quilt made for one couple? The answers to these questions make delicious reading, with plenty of passion, snappy dialogue and a whiz-bang plot. Agent, Ellen Gieger. (Apr. 2) Forecast: Ads in Romantic Times as well as handselling to romance readers could help Fowler expand beyond her core audience. The thematically appropriate quilting jacket art, however, is too busy and doesn't signal how central romance is to the story. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews