THE WANDERING QUILT

A mysterious quilt hides a secret in Bennett-Alexander and Patterson’s paranormal mystery series starter.

Camille Thornton, a professor, is an avid quilter and collector, and while she’s on a trip to South Carolina, she finds what seems to be the perfect quilt to add to her collection at a local thrift store. The owner tells her that they call it the Wandering Quilt, as it keeps coming back to the store for a range of reasons; past owners, he cryptically says, complain that it doesn’t “feel…quilt-y.” Camille dismisses the quilt’s odd backstory, though, and takes it home. She began quilting at the age of 11 or 12, and she knows that every quilt has an intriguing story. What she initially thought was a tear is actually just a few missing stitches, so she fixes it. Then it comes undone again, by itself; she repairs it, and the cycle repeats. Soon enough, her whole family becomes interested in the strange quilt; they call a medium and soon discover they may be dealing with a murder mystery. There’s a spirit connected to that quilt, as it turns out, and it wants the quilt’s new owners to know something important. They must figure out the story behind the ghostly presence’s life and death to help it move on. Over the course of this novel, Bennett-Alexander and Patterson deliver an offbeat supernatural mystery that adds some elements to the more standard whodunit formula that many readers will find quite original. However, there are significant pacing problems that trip the narrative up; specifically, the narrative often moves far too slowly to maintain interest. It’s also difficult to feel a strong connection to the growing cast of characters, many of whom lack a distinctive voice to help them stand out.

A novel with an intriguing premise that’s hampered by disappointing development.