Blog Tour & Giveaway: Suede to Rest by Diane Vallere

Guest Post

by Diane Vallere

I have fond memories of playing in fabric stores when I was young. My mom is an excellent seamstress, and often took my sister and me on trips to Levine’s, our local fabric store, to pick out patterns for new dresses, curtains, pillows, or pajamas. She’d drop me by the tables of pattern books where I’d spend hours flipping through the pages, admiring the fashionable sketches and dreaming of the possibilities. As I got older, I would wander the aisles and pick out interesting prints for clothes that I made myself.

Fabric stores are like bookstores to me. I can’t walk into one and not come out with a package. There are no better places to fritter away time! So when the idea of a cozy mystery series set in a fabric shop came to mind, I knew it was the perfect way to combine two passions. I imagined an old fabric store like the one I used to play in, one that had been around since the fifties. What treasures might be hidden inside: dusty vintage fabrics in a stockroom, new old stock of buttons, pattern books from decades past, forgotten packages of bias tape, or thick bolts of polyester double knit? Or maybe a hint of an unsolved mystery?

SUEDE TO REST, the first book in the Material Witness Mystery Series, opens with Polyester Monroe (so named because she was born inside of the store, on a bed of polyester!) standing in front of the fabric store that she’s inherited. What should be a simple transaction involving her signature on a couple of documents gets complicated when Poly decides to go inside and experience the world where she grew up one last time. She doesn’t expect to feel so connected to the store, especially since she doesn’t feel nearly that connected to the job she holds in Los Angeles. She also doesn’t expect to find a dead body in the parking lot the day after she arrives. It seems Poly  has a choice: stay in San Ladrón and learn the truth about the small town’s secrets, or sign away her ownership of the store and go back to life as she knows it.

I sometimes think there is a part of all of us that wants a chance to get away from our everyday life. Inheriting the fabric store is a wakeup call for Poly. It throws her life into disarray and makes her think about whether or not her life is headed the right direction—and question what exactly is the “right” direction for her.  Not that long ago, I had my own wakeup call and asked myself the same questions. That’s when I changed career paths and moved from Texas to California (where SUEDE TO REST is set). The move was scary–especially for someone who likes to plan everything! I could have stayed where I was, and I could have moved back to Pennsylvania, where I’m from. Instead, I chose the unknown door number three. The move brought new opportunities to my life and, while I haven’t had to contend with any dead bodies, I did think a lot about that somewhat spontaneous decision when writing Poly’s story. So far, things have worked out pretty well for me.

I wonder how they’ll turn out for Poly?

About the Author:

I’m the daughter of a seamstress and a scientist, so naturally I like fashion, fabric, and figuring things out (though at times it feels like I’m the love child of Edith Head and Spock). In my spare time I daydream about owning a time capsule midcentury modern ranch. I spent over twenty years in the fashion industry, where I was lucky enough to travel the world for runway shows, shoe markets, and lingerie fairs. Now I’m lucky enough to stay home and write!

I’m a Pennsylvanian at heart, but currently live in Southern California, where I’ve set my upcoming Material Witness Mystery Series. The first, SUEDE TO REST, debuts in November 2014.

My other series include the Style & Error Mysteries, featuring crime solving fashionista Samantha Kidd, (set in my childhood hometown of Reading, PA), and the Mad for Mod Mysteries, featuring Doris Day-loving interior decorator Madison Night (set in Dallas, TX).

I am represented by agent Jessica Faust of Bookends Literary Agency, and when I’m not working on a manuscript, I’m blogging with my fellow Mysteristas. I belong to a whole bunch of awesome organizations (Sisters in Crime, MWA, ITW, IBPA, and, of course, the Guppies!), though my favorite is the Sisters in Crime chapter I’m the president of: SinC Los Angeles.

Website

With her career as a dress designer in shreds, Polyester Monroe is looking forward to a fresh start. But as it all unfolds, the pattern to a new beginning looks a lot like murder.

When Poly Monroe was little, she loved playing in her family’s textile store. But after a fatal family tragedy, Land of A Thousand Fabrics was boarded up and Poly never expected to see the inside again. Now, as inheritor of the long-shuttered shop, she’s ready to restore the family business.

However her two new kittens, Pins and Needles, aren’t the ones causing a snag in her plans…

Not everyone wants Poly back in San Ladrón, especially a powerful local developer pressuring her to sell—and leave town fast. But even when the threats turn deadly, she’s not ready to bolt. Because Poly is beginning to suspect that the murder behind the shop is tied to a mystery in her family’s unsettled past that she’s determined to solve before her own life is left hanging by a thread.

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Jennifer’s Review of Suede to Rest

Review (4 Stars): This book was a perfect combination of great characters, a thought-provoking mystery, a strong heroine and two adorable kittens, which made this an enjoyable read for me.  Poly found herself involved in a mystery as soon as she set foot in her family’s business and someone desperately wanted her to sell the business and leave town.  She quickly had to figure out who was behind all this before she became another victim on this killer’s list.

Poly was an interesting character who loved fabrics just as much as her family did and saw that this was more of an opportunity to do what she wanted instead of going back to the boring dead end job that she left behind. I loved the writing style of Ms. Vallere and couldn’t wait to see what happened next to Poly while she was visiting San Ladrón. I also liked meeting the secondary characters especially the members of the senior patrol and I’m looking forward to seeing what happens to Poly in the next book.

Giveaway

I’m excited to give away a copy of Suede to Rest. This giveaway is for US Residents only.  To be entered in the drawing by November 10th, please leave a comment for Ms. Vallere below: