Death by Design: A DIY Diva Mystery

Paula Darnell

Jun 2019 · A DIY Diva Mystery Book 2 · Cozy Cat Press

About this ebook

DIY Diva Laurel McMillan rejoices when her student Jennifer's peacock pillow wins a design contest; that is, until Jennifer's husband Matt is smothered with the very same pillow. When the police confiscate her prize-winning pillow, Jennifer freaks out, and Laurel fears that Jennifer may be more upset about losing the pillow than about Matt's death. But the police arrest disgraced nurse Edna Elkins, not Jennifer. Begging Laurel to find the real killer, Edna insists she's innocent, but Laurel's not so sure, and when Laurel encounters Jennifer while walking her lovable Labrador retriever, Bear, she's left with more questions than answers. Should the crafty DIY Diva play DIY Detective or does Edna really belong in jail?

Includes recipes and pillow project instructions.

This is the second book in the DIY Diva Mystery series.

Ratings and reviews

It's to much like all the other cuties murder mysteries.

About the author

An instructor at five colleges over the years, Paula Darnell most often taught the dreaded first-year English composition classes, but she's also been happy to teach some fun classes, such as fashion design, sewing, and jewelry making. Paula has a Bachelor's degree in English from the University of Iowa, Iowa City, and a Master's degree in English from the University of Nevada, Reno.

Like Laurel, the main character in Death by Association, Paula enjoys all kinds of arts and crafts. Some of her memorable projects include making a hat and a cape to wear to Royal Ascot, sewing wedding gowns for both her daughters, exhibiting her textile and mixed-media artwork in juried art shows, and having one of her jewelry projects accepted for inclusion in Leather Jewelry, published by Lark Books. She sells some of her jewelry and hair accessories in her Etsy shop.

Paula's interest in DIY craft projects and fashion led to her writing hundreds of articles for print and online national publications. She is the author of Death by Association, Death by Design, and Death by Proxy, all in her cozy series, the DIY Diva Mysteries as well as the author of Artistic License to Kill, Vanished into Plein Air, and Hemlock for the Holidays, all in her cozy Fine Art Mystery series.

In addition, she wrote The Six-Week Solution, a historical mystery set in Reno, Nevada, in 1955. A former Reno resident, she was inspired by the local history and found the 1950s when Reno was considered the Divorce Capital of the World to be an interesting era in which to set a mystery. 

Paula is an award-winning author with three book awards to her credit, one of which was for Death by Association, the first novel in her DIY Diva cozy mystery series.