cover image Assault with a Deadly Glue Gun: An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery

Assault with a Deadly Glue Gun: An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery

Lois Winston, Midnight Ink (www.midnightinkbooks.com), $14.95 trade paper (312p) ISBN 978-0-7387-2347-1

Crafty cozies don't get any better than this hilarious confection, the first in a new series from crafting expert Winston (Love, Lies and a Double Shot of Deception). After Anastasia Pollack's husband, Karl, drops dead after gambling away their money in Las Vegas, the crafts editor for the supermarket rag American Woman opts to keep her head up and her glue gun loaded even if Ricardo, an annoying mobster, begins harassing her for the 50Gs her husband "borrowed." Unfortunately, Anastasia's glue gun is the weapon used to kill Marlys Vandenburg, the glam but obnoxious AW fashion editor, making her a prime suspect. Anastasia is as deadpan droll as Tina Fey's Liz Lemon, and readers can't help cheering as she copes with caring for a host of colorful characters, both human (e.g., Lucille, her grumpy Communist mother-in-law) and animal (e.g., Ralph, a Shakespeare quoting parrot), while trying to nab a very sticky murderer. (Jan.)