Time has not been kind to sleepy Dorset Falls, Connecticut, where an erstwhile resident is hoping to bring a tattered yarn shop back to life—but with a murderer on the loose, the whole town is in knots . . . Josie Blair left Dorset Falls twelve years ago in hopes of making it big in New York City. But after earning an overpriced master’s degree and getting fired by a temperamental designer, she … temperamental designer, she finds herself heading back to her hometown. Her great-uncle was injured in a car accident, and newly unemployed Josie is the only person available to take care of him. Uncle Eb’s wife didn’t survive the crash, so Josie is also tasked with selling the contents of her Aunt Cora’s yarn shop. But the needling ladies of the Charity Knitters Association pose a far bigger challenge than a shop full of scattered skeins . . .
Miss Marple Knits is one of the few businesses still open in the dreary downtown. Josie can’t imagine how it stayed open for so long, yet something about the cozy, resilient little shop appeals to her. But when one of the town’s most persnickety knitters turns up dead in a pile of cashmere yarn, Josie realizes there’s something truly twisted lurking beneath the town’s decaying façade . . .
INCLUDES ORIGINAL KNITTING PATTERNS!
“A tale of murder and intrigue that will ensnare knitters and non-knitters alike. I couldn’t put it down.”—Barbara Ross
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To the author of this book…please keep writing about Dorset Falls and Josie. I have the second book already to read.
This is considered a cozy mystery with terrific characters and a small town feel. The plot in this book becomes deeper and more sinister as you read on and the humor and pure obstinate nature of some of the people just make you care that much more about the outcome.
The relationship between Josie and her Uncle Eb begins slowly and it is fun to watch their humorous exchanges on coffee, food, chickens and work. Josie, from New York, is filling in for her mom and caring for Eb and his broken leg. The girl can’t cook and can only make tea while Eb prefers coffee and a big dinner. He has Josie selling off his wife’s yarn as she died in the car accident that broke Eb’s leg.
Josie sees a small struggling town with little hope left in it. The town sees it differently and mourns the loss of the yarn shop known as Miss Marple’s. Josie can see how popular the place was to buy yarn, exchange patterns, gossip and knit goods for many organizations.
What interests Josie is just how the women react to selling off the yarn and try and buy the shop from her……until one woman is found dead in the shop.
Josie takes a deep interest in the yarn business after the death of a woman in the shop and starts watching all those nice older ladies, maybe not so nice!
She feels a bit like a spy and gets to know Evelyn, Helen and even Diantha. She sees potential in the community and a devious scheme in the works. These little old ladies have gumption, energy, and a streak of stubborness that wears Josie out. Scares and mysteries abound as does the humor.
I loved the town, the people and the relationship between Uncle Eb and Josie. The plotting is excellent, clues are there, the scares are few but important as is the gossip, the yarn and the new friendships. 4.5 stars
I picked up this book at my local bookstore and it sat for a while on my TBR shelf. I like knitting and mysteries and while this did not have a much knitting involved in the storyline it was a good set up for possibilities in future books.
Josie, a clothing designer leaves her aggravating/sexist boss and job to take care of her uncle for a short period of time after he is injured in a car accident. His wife, Cora, who Josie has never met is unfortunately killed in the accident. Josie is there is help her uncle with chores and settle Cora’s yarn shop and sell off the inventory. Complicating everything is her curmudgeonly uncle, his equally curmudgeonly neighbor/rival/frenemy, his sweet & cute nephew, an ex-boyfriend, his $#@% wife and mother and of course a dead body in the shop.
A good start to what seems to be a fun series, it also includes a couple knitting patterns.
Quick read, likeable characters
Great story!
It was wonderful I hope she keeps on writing.
With the over abundance of other books to read I usually give cozy mysteries a miss these days. However, when a few reviews indicated that the heroine could stand up for herself, I read the sample. I enjoyed the characters enough to read the rest of the book, and I did enjoy it. Of course it was written according to the typical outline used by writers of cozy mysteries, but a few of the characters made it worth the read. The sassy NYC girl lost steam about a third of the way through the book and it ended the way we knew it would from the beginning. My personal rating stye is to judge a book against others of the same genre rather than against books that might have been better written but were not in a comparable classification. Compared to other cozies I have tried to read in the last few years this one is a solid four. Oh, and she did nail it with “yarn lust.” I have seen that same reaction in those who crochet seriously and quilters when they get in a fabric shop.
Sometimes cozy mysteries do not have enough substance to fully engage me. This one caught me right from the start and it was a very enjoyable read!!
It was a lot of fun and satisfying
The book was a bit slow to start off. The main character didn’t want to go to Connecticut to care for her injured great-uncle, but she was the only person who could do it. And she had just been fired from her job as a clothing designer, so she went to stay with her uncle and close down the yarn shop left when her uncle’s new wife died in the car wreck that broke his leg. Josie made new friends in the village, but one woman she met in the yarn shop turned up dead in her storage room the next day, strangled with a yarn rope. Danger was all around, but neighbor Mitch was there to help out and protect Josie, and eventually she figured out who the killer was and why death was stalking Josie and others. This is the first book in a series that has Josie taking over the yarn shop and happily designing knits to go with other clothes.
It was ok, but not really my type of reading. I was intrigued due to being a knitter and spinner of yarn but this really doesn’t hold interest even for that.