Grace Devine is a seamstress turned sleuth, trying to look after her family in 1920s New Zealand. This collection of heart warming historical mysteries will send you on a unique Kiwi adventure.
1. Seams Like Murder. There are two things that can’t talk—moving pictures and dead showgirls… Grace is poised to build her thriving dress design business but when a fashionable client is murdered, suspicion falls on Grace as the last person to see Agatha alive. Can Grace stitch together the clues before her life is torn apart?
2. Backstitched and Stabbed. The only thing worse than wet woollen togs, is a knife in the back… As the kiwi summer draws to a close, a family outing to the beach takes a deadly turn when a lifeless body washes up on shore. Grace and her friends must find the person responsible, before another life is lost to the same tide of violence that claimed the young man.
Grace Designs Mysteries by Tilly Wallace
This series has been a really pleasant surprise so far. The Grace Designs Mysteries sit firmly in cosy mystery territory, with just a light brush of fantasy and a strong focus on voice, atmosphere, and everyday resilience rather than high stakes or intricate plotting.
What immediately worked for me is the main character. A single mother running her own sewing business, determined to stay independent in a time when women are expected to rely on marriage or male protection. Her quiet stubbornness and practicality make her easy to root for, and I enjoyed seeing her navigate both work and danger on her own terms. The historical setting makes that struggle feel present without turning it into a lecture.
The fantasy element is deliberately subtle. The ability to sometimes “see things” through touch adds a gentle edge to the mysteries, but never takes over the story. Especially in the first book, it feels more like an undercurrent than a genre shift, which suits the cosy tone very well.
The sewing background is a big part of the charm. It gives the series a distinct identity and provides a grounded, domestic counterpoint to the murders. Combined with the calm, engaging narrative voice, it made both books easy and comforting reads, the kind you slip into without effort.
In the second book, I appreciated the added layer of queer representation. The way prejudice is shown feels matter of fact and historically grounded, present without overwhelming the story or shifting the tone. It simply adds another thread to the fabric of the world and gives the setting more depth.
For me, the mysteries themselves are not the main draw. Especially in book two, the actual murder plot did not grip me as much as the characters and atmosphere did. But the voice, setting, and overall mood more than make up for that. These are books I read for company rather than suspense, and in that sense they work very well.
The Grace Designs Mysteries are gentle, character driven cosy mysteries with a historical flavour and a light fantasy touch. They shine through their protagonist, their sewing room setting, and their quietly determined tone, and I am more than happy to keep following this series, needle, thread, and all.
