The Port Elspeth Jewelry Making Club Review

I recently read The Port Elspeth Jewelry Making Club by Holly Tierney-Bedord as part of Lola’s Book Blog Review Tour.

Genre: Women’s Fiction, Suspense, Thriller

Nellie’s Review

The Port Elspeth Jewelry Making Club is a multi-character point of view book that centers around discovering what happened to two teens who died five years earlier in a prominent seaside community.

The book begins with a long intro to each of the several main characters.  While there is no hint of the mystery within at least the first 30% of the book, I didn’t mind the more drawn-out intro.  Each character seemed to have a backstory worth investing in. 

Where it fell apart for me was in the equally drawn-out middle and end.  Once the story really begins with the hint of the mystery, there are some clunky plot devices used to draw out the story (longer than it needed to be, in my opinion).  For example, one woman begins informing everyone of the “unsolved mystery” then halfway through the story, the engrossed group decides they are too tired to finish it (at 10pm at night) and they’ll reconvene a week later.  One week later, they ask for the remaining details and the woman has forgotten them all!  In addition, there are a large amount of delving into everyone’s sex lives.  Much of it is inconsequential to the plot.  There are several examples of unbelievable scenarios and odd dialogue to round out the last third of the book.

The plot seemed appealing, but I found it slow.  Since it is listed as a suspense/thriller, I did not find it to be a page-turner.  The solution was apparent early on and the story seemed to drag to wrap up all the threads.

This story had such great potential and solid opening chapters.  After that, though, it went downhill with the writing almost sounding like it was from an entirely different author!

About the Book

It’s been five years since the idyllic oceanside community of Port Elspeth was rocked by tragedy. Shortly after their high school graduation, Evangeline Maddingly, daughter of one of the town’s wealthiest old-money families, and Oliver Prescott, son of one of the town’s wealthiest new-money families, were found dead in an isolated cabin in the woods outside of town. The circumstances surrounding their untimely deaths are murky at best, thanks in large part to a sweeping effort from those in power to shut down any negative publicity that could harm the reputation of their pristine community. 


Five years later, a small group of strangers gathers to create jewelry for one of Port Elspeth’s many fundraisers. Before long, friendships are forming and old secrets are being revealed. Along with discovering how to make a perfect pair of chandelier earrings or cabochon necklace, this unlikely team of sleuths finds themselves at the heart of solving the murders that took place half a decade earlier.

About the Author

Holly Tierney-Bedord lives in Madison, Wisconsin. She’s the author of several novels and novellas including Sweet Hollow Women and Right Under Your Nose. Visit her website at www.hollytierneybedord.com to sign up for her newsletter.

Check out The Port Elspeth Jewelry Making Club and all my featured books on the Featured Books Page!