Kelly Flynn loves being back in Fort Connor, Colorado and living across from the best place to get her daily fix of coffee and fibres is a dream come true. Her daily knitting breaks with her friends at House of Lambspun are quickly becoming a necessity and she’d gladly spend more time with them, if only her boss would stop pouring on the work. Kelly suspects he wants her to return to the office in DC, while she’d rather build up her freelance business, remain in Colorado, and explore her developing relationship Steve Townsend.Allison Dubois, one of Kelly’s knitting friends and a truly gifted fibre artist, has been invited to join an influential fashion designer at her studio in New York. When Kelly shows up to take Allison to the airport, she discovers her friend dead of apparent suicide. Kelly and the knitting circle at House of Lambspun know that Allison wouldn’t have given up this chance to pursue her dream. As they begin to investigate Allison’s life, they discover tempestuous relationships, professional rivalries and conflicting stories.
A Deadly Yarn is the third offering by Maggie Sefton in “A Knitting Mystery” series. As in the previous books in the series, A Deadly Yarn focuses on one area of the knitting industry, in this case the glamorous world of fashion design and textile art. Sefton deftly integrates Kelly’s developing knitting skills with her penchant for solving puzzles. Once again a knitting pattern discussed in the story, and suitable to Kelly’s level of skill, is included at the end of the book, with a recipe for one of the dishes eaten by Kelly and her friends.
The real strength of this series is the wonderful cast of characters Sefton has developed. Her characters have matured significantly since the first book, Knit One, Kill Two, and readers of the series will likely have strong connections to the characters. Readers usually have their favourites, this reviewer’s being Carl the golf ball thief (Kelly’s rottweiler), Lizzie and Hilda von Steuben and Megan Schmidt.
The only blight readers may find in an otherwise outstanding cozy mystery is the tentativeness Kelly exhibits in reaching a decision about her future in Colorado. While this quibbling may fit the plot outline, it seems at odds with the straightforward nature she normally exhibits.
Maggie Sefton has delivered the fourth book in this series to her publisher and is hard at work on the fifth Kelly Flynn mystery. Sefton is also the author of Dying to Sell: a Real Estate mystery.
See the review at Front Street Reviews (and stay tuned for reviews of the rest of the series there as well).
ISBN10: 0425207072
ISBN13: 9780425207079
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Publication Date: August 3, 2006
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Author Website: www.maggiesefton.com
Author Blog: The Cozy Chicks
Related Titles:
* Knit One, Kill Two by Maggie Sefton
* Needled to Death by Maggie Sefton
* Died in the Wool by Mary Kruger
tags: books book reviews Maggie Sefton cozy mystery knitting Kelly Flynn House of Lambspun
3 comments:
I never heard so much about knitting until I became a lit blogger...how strange! I often follow a link through to what I expect to be a blog about books and find a blog about books and knitting. And now there are knitting mysteries. Huh.
Saying that, I remember a cadre of knitters in my contemporary fiction class. All American girls. Perhaps its a craze? Anyway, I like the sound of this, just because the idea is so kooky. :-)
Thanks for the review - you gave me a heads up to get on the waiting list at the library for this book!
Victoria - I'm not sure why knitters and readers often go together. But I seem to know a lot of them! The knitting "cozy" mystery is a fairly new phenomena, although Monica Ferris has been around for many years with her "needlework" mystery series.
Chris - it is definitely worth reading! In my opinion, it is the best so far.
Post a Comment