Patchwork

By Billie A. Williams

Cozy Mystery, 285 pages

Cover art by Richard Stroud

Blurb:

Someone deliberately set The Patchwork Quilt Shop on fire and barricaded the doors from the outside, trying to trap Autumn inside. Stacy is bitten by a rattle snake she is anchor woman, investigative reporter and nearly dies from injuries, mutual friend Felicia Ferret is brutally beaten? The three musketeers, as they were called, have been friends since elementary school. Is someone out to kill them all?

Excerpt:

Autumn smelled smoke. She thought it strange. No one near the Patchwork burned wood. This time of night, most everyone was home with their families, and the unusually warm fall had pre-empted anyone from burning fireplaces. Perhaps she was mistaken and it was just leaves being burned down the block somewhere. She glanced out the window toward the elementary school blacktopped basketball court. No children at play; too late in the day for that, she concluded.

Perhaps someone was burning leaves. Autumn walked the short distance to the front door to check the lock and see if she could determine the source of the smoke floating across the front of the store. It seemed to thicken. It had to be close. The acrid smell of painted wood stung her nose. A flash in the window caught her eye. “My God, the building is on fire.” She raced for the front door. Panic seized her when it wouldn't open. She pounded on the door as if that would somehow dislodge the lock. Smoke became thick in the vaulted ceiling, pushing down toward her. “My yard goods.” She snatched up the phone from the counter and hammered at the buttons, 9—1—1. The phone was dead. How could that be? She looked at the receiver and then at the cradle—no light—how long had the phone line been dead?

Fire licked at the sides of the old structure, blistering paint, consuming the porch. No time, no time…she couldn't rescue anything. She grabbed her purse as she sped to the back room. That door wouldn't budge either. Someone must have, how, why? Autumn's mind raced. Escape. Windows. What if whoever did this waited for her to try to exit through a window? Too late to worry about their intention. Autumn flung bolts of cloth aside and grabbed the wooden desk chair. She slammed it into the only window in the room. The tall, small-paned window shuddered from the blow as the chair splintered. “Think!” Cell phone, no time, escape first.

CONTEST -- WIN: A Hand Made Laptop Quilt stitched by the author – An e-Book Of Your Choice of one of my other novels from over 2 dozen choices– or A Quilt Themed Jig Saw Puzzle  - or maybe a bookmark.

Billie A Williams is so excited about this new release she wants you to join in the fun and celebration. Therefore, she is giving you a chance to win some really neat prizes. There are two ways to enter the drawings:

1.  If you buy a copy of Patchwork, and email Billie a copy of your receipt (billie at billiewilliams dot com) you can choose an electronic download of any of her other books for free. (a $14.70 value) You can see all of her books at her website  or her Wings author's page. Your purchase has to be made between August 1, 2013 and August 30, 2013 to qualify. Your name will also be entered into the drawing for the quilt themed puzzles (see below) and a drawing for a patchwork lap quilt hand stitched by this author.

2.  Send Billie A. Williams an email (above) with Contest in the subject line and you will be in a drawing for one of the quilt themed jig saw puzzles  – a $14.95 value.

Go here to watch the video trailer for PATCHWORK.