Ready, Scrap, Shoot by Joanna Campbell Slan (Midnight Ink Books)

Joanna Slan has combined two genres—crafts and amateur sleuth mystery—beautifully. Single mom Kiki Lowenstein is part owner of and chief designer for a scrapbook store. She also has a reputation for finding bodies. In this outing, Kiki actually films a victim being shot—at the May Day festival at her daughter's private school. Keeping Kiki and daughter Anya safe at her mother-in-law's house is complicated by the unannounced visit of Anya's demanding, unpleasant other grandmother. Making Kiki's work life more stressful is the appearance of a new by-the-book store partner and a time-sensitive workload. Fortunately for the reader, Slan keeps her chapters short, intersperses crafting tips appropriately, and gives plenty of prompts about story lines as they weave along to a dramatic conclusion. Crafters, mystery fans, and animal lovers will enjoy this well-crafted series. FTC Disclosure - This book was provided by the publisher.