With a cast of quirky Maritime characters, Gasper’s Cove is a fast-paced cozy mystery series set in a fictitious town on the Eastern Shore of Nova Scotia. Each book can be read as a stand-alone and revolves around Valerie Rankin, who runs a Crafter’s Co-op on the second floor of the Rankin General store, a store that she also manages. The reviews for the first three books in the series can be found in another post.
Gasper’s Cove, book 4: Crafting a Getaway
In Crafting a Getaway, Val has organized a crafter’s retreat full of fun sewing/craft workshops. When she filled out the form to advertise the retreat on the town’s website, Things to See and Do in Gasper’s Cove, she got the dates backward. She accidentally switched the month and day. So instead of the workshops starting on the planned August 7th, the website had the workshops starting on July 8th, which, as luck would have it, was next week, and there were people already signed up. The original plans for August had the retreat taking place at the Bluenose Inn, owned by her cousin Rollie Rankin, but it was already booked the following week by a corporate media conference, so she called on her sister Darlene for help.
While Darlene looks for a place to hold the retreat, Valerie hunts down the teachers she had lined up for August to see if they are available, one of whom helps run the Bluenose Inn. Shortly after Valerie arrives at the Inn, the advanced Public Relations professional for East-West Media from Ontario, for the corporate media conference, Rebecca Coates, is found dead in the Inn’s kitchen. What follows is Valerie’s amateur investigation of the murder in a quest to protect her cousin, alongside organizing and executing a crafter’s retreat. Crafting a Getaway is a delightfully twisty cozy mystery with the perfect dose of small-town murder and local charm.
“When I saw how people lived down here, I realized you shouldn’t need a retreat from your own life…Making things, even in a world when there is so much to buy, isn’t a time waster. It is a lifesaver.”
― Barbara Emodi, Crafting a Getaway
Crafting a Getaway is another great installment in the Gasper Cove Mystery series. I am looking forward to the next one.
Gasper’s Cove, book 5: Crafting an Alibi
I wasn’t a third of the way through Crafting an Alibi before I fell in love with the dear old ladies at the Seaview Manor (page 74). Crafting an Alibi, the fifth book in Barbara Emodi’s Gasper’s Cove cozy mysteries, was a fun read. The way the elderly ladies deceived the manager of Gasper’s Cove Yacht Club had me in stitches. They depict forgetful, easy to confuse, slow-witted, senior generalizations; they effectively shut him down using these ageist beliefs against him.
“There’s power in being underestimated. You can get away with a lot because no one sees you or notices what you are doing.” ― Barbara Emodi, Crafting an Alibi
Amateur sleuth Valerie Rankin is recruited by the ladies at the Seaview Manor to help with a “problem”, and Valerie is pulled into a world of theft, arson, and murder. Barbara Emodi skillfully writes her cozies in a way that keeps the reader, and Valerie, guessing who the murderer is right until the end of the book. Set in a small town in Nova Scotia, this cozy mystery might be the most “Bluenosed” book yet. I can’t wait to read the next one.
“For a while, it had seemed that Rankins, like many family-owned stores in rural Nova Scotia, was doomed to be swept away by the Walmarts and progress. But then we noticed how people from away valued our traditional handcrafts. That led me to set up a retail space in the store’s underused upstairs. We call it Gasper’s Cove Crafters: A Community Co-op, a place where anyone in the community who made things (which described most of us) could sell on consignment.”
― Barbara Emodi, Crafting an Alibi
Gasper’s Cove, book 6, Crafting a Cold Case
It’s the dead of Winter in Gasper’s Cove, and Valerie Rankin is hard at work knitting wool socks in Crafting a Cold Case. The sixth book in Barbara Emodi’s cozy mystery series is set in Gasper’s Cove, a small, rural, everyone-knows-everyone, coastal community of Nova Scotia. The story opens with the ex-librarian, and now the Bluenose Inn’s front desk manager, Catherine, in full-crisis mode, and Valerie dropping her knitting to race over to help.
“I went over to the pantry and found a box of Morse’s Tea, the official consolation beverage of Nova Scotia since 1870. I picked up the kettle and filled it at the deep, stainless-steel, industrial-sized sink. While I waited for the water to boil, I found a tin of shortbread and put enough for four people onto a plate. Emotional breakdowns are no time to be skimpy with baked goods.” ― Barbara Emodi, Crafting a Cold Case
Valerie is a person who likes to take charge of solving problems, mysteries, and even murders. She has her own way of connecting the dots and formulating possible scenarios, some of which are a bit far-fetched and others closer to the mark. Because of past wild goose chases, the local RCMP don’t take her seriously. This provides us readers with yet another level of entertainment beyond Valerie’s amateur investigations. True to form, Valerie again finds herself untangling the threads of deception behind an unsolved murder in Crafting a Cold Case.
The quirky characters found in this series are another big draw for me. The character development, in this tiny community, makes the reader think about what it would be like to live there themselves. An added plus is the slowly developing relationship between Valerie and Stuart.
One of the things I like best about Barbara’s writing is that she stays true to Nova Scotia as the setting in her books. Being a maritime province, our lives have historically revolved around the weather. It is frequently discussed, heard on the radio, or seen on TV. So, it’s no surprise that the weather plays a large role in this story. Other things unique to Nova Scotia that were included in this story were the references to some of our regional dishes, such as Hodge Podge and Donairs.
“Some of us are made to have our palates cleansed. And others of us are born to wipe donair sauce from our chins.” ― Barbara Emodi, Crafting a Cold Case
People who enjoy well-written cozy mysteries with a distinctive Nova Scotia flair will not only love this story, but the series as well. They are charming, small-town puzzles with just the right amount of local color. Once you’ve read one, you’ll want to read another, and another, set in this charming community. And, like me, waiting and biding my time until the next one comes out, only to binge-read that one as well.
Book 7 in Barbara Emodi’s Gasper’s Cove series, Crafting a Knock-off, is to be released on April 28th, 2026. I have received an advanced copy, and my review will be coming soon. Stay tuned.
Barbara was also featured in Why I Wrote This Book, Issue #57 here at The Miramichi Reader.
Barbara Emodi has written sewing how-to books and now writes cozy mysteries set in Nova Scotia, Canada. Gasper’s Cove doesn’t really exist, but it will seem awfully familiar to anyone who lives where she does. The community is based on all she believes matters in life – extended family, companion animals, good food, and more sewing, crafting, quilting, and knitting projects than any reasonable person would take on.
Barbara writes what she likes to read – whimsical, witty, warm books that reflect her belief that there is nothing ordinary about ordinary people. She also likes clever surprises, important in mysteries, and promises one at the end of each book. To visit Gasper’s Cove yourself, you can read Barbara’s novels in her Gasper’s Cove Mysteries series or her Gasper’s Cove Quick Cozies novella series.
Crafting a Getaway:
Publisher: C&T Publishing (October 25, 2024)
Paperback 5.5″ x 8.5″| 240 pages
ISBN: 9781644035078
Crafting an Alibi:
Publisher: C&T Publishing (April 25th, 2025)
Paperback 5.5″ x 8.5″| 224 pages
ISBN: 9781644036563
Crafting a Cold Case:
Publisher: C&T Publishing (October 28th, 2025)
Paperback 5.5″ x 8.5″| 256 pages
ISBN: 9781644036587
Details
Barbara Emodi has written sewing how-to books and now writes cozy mysteries set in Nova Scotia, Canada. Gasper’s Cove doesn’t really exist, but it will seem awfully familiar to anyone who lives where she does. The community is based on all she believes matters in life – extended family, companion animals, good food, and more sewing, crafting, quilting, and knitting projects than any reasonable person would take on.
Barbara writes what she likes to read – whimsical, witty, warm books that reflect her belief that there is nothing ordinary about ordinary people. She also likes clever surprises, important in mysteries, and promises one at the end of each book. To visit Gasper’s Cove yourself, you can read Barbara’s novels in her Gasper’s Cove Mysteries series or her Gasper’s Cove Quick Cozies novella series.
Sue Slade has a Bachelor of Child Study from Mount St. Vincent University in Halifax. After working with children and adults with special needs, she now has her midlife dream job of working with books. Sue manages an independent, locally owned bookstore, Dartmouth Book Exchange. Through her charismatic sharing centred around books and community, Sue has created an engaging cornerstone for authors, customers, and book lovers of all ages. Sue is an avid reader and her reviews cross over many genres.
- Sue Sladehttps://miramichireader.ca/author/suesladereviews/
- Sue Sladehttps://miramichireader.ca/author/suesladereviews/
- Sue Sladehttps://miramichireader.ca/author/suesladereviews/
- Sue Sladehttps://miramichireader.ca/author/suesladereviews/
- Sue Sladehttps://miramichireader.ca/author/suesladereviews/
- Sue Sladehttps://miramichireader.ca/author/suesladereviews/
