Wedding bells are ringing in Fort Connor, Colorado, and the House of Lambspun knitters are abuzz with excitement. But when a murder interrupts the wedding planning, Kelly Flynn will have to solve this crime fast to ensure the killer doesn’t wind up on the guest list…

Kelly Flynn’s knitting pal, Megan, is about to get hitched, and all the planning is falling into place. Megan has found the perfect seamstress, Zoe Yeager, to create the dresses for Kelly and the other bridesmaids. And each bridesmaid is knitting her own loose-knit shawl to drape over the lovely dresses. But Zoe has more than bolts of fabric and seam-cutters stashed away in her shop—she’s harboring a secret. Bruises on her face show a troubling side of her marriage, and just after she finds the courage to leave her husband, Zoe’s found dead from a single bullet shot.

Though her husband is a key suspect, it turns out there are others who might have had designs on Zoe’s death. One is fellow seamstress Leann O’Hara, who recently discovered Zoe won a bridal gown design contest with one of Leann’s own designs. Now it’s up to Kelly and her knitting pals to use their sleuthing savvy to solve the case, while helping Megan stay cool and collected as the big day approaches. They’ll have to stitch up all the loose ends before they can don their dresses and shawls and escort Megan into the land of happily ever after…

Review

Kelly Flynn is excited to be a bridesmaid in her friend Megan Smith’s upcoming wedding. The custom-made bridesmaid dresses look spectacular, thanks to talented seamstress Zoe Yeager, and the dresses will be accessorized by shawls that each bridesmaid is knitting. Kelly and her friends are relieved that Zoe has left her abusive husband, but then are shocked to learn she has been murdered. Zoe’s husband Oscar is the obvious suspect, but there may be more to this case than it seems. There is no question that Oscar is a violent man. However, Kelly has witnessed a couple different sides to Zoe and it soon becomes clear Oscar isn’t the only one with a motive for murder. Although Kelly has no affection for Oscar, she still wants to make sure the actual murderer is punished and she’s not convinced it’s Oscar. With the help of her friend Burt Parker, retired police detective, Kelly decides to find out the truth behind Zoe’s death.

This is the first book I have read in this long-running series. There is a cast of characters list at the beginning of the book to help catch up on who’s who in the town of Fort Connor, Colorado. I like the premise of the book that has Kelly working as an accountant and frequently visiting her friend Mimi Shafer’s shop for friendship and knitting advice. In many cozy mysteries, it is the main character who leaves their “9 to 5” job behind to run some type of a shop, so I like that in this series, it’s Kelly’s friend Mimi who is the knitting expert and shop-owner. Kelly is likeable as a main character. She is able to juggle her fledgling accounting business, helping with Megan’s wedding, dates with her ex-boyfriend Steve, get-togethers with friends, and knitting projects along with the investigation of Zoe’s murder. Kelly knits to relax and to gather her thoughts in order to make the necessary connections to help solve cases. She is taking it slowly with her ex-boyfriend Steve, which I like. As a newcomer to the series, I don’t feel I know a lot about Steve or why he and Kelly broke up, but he seems to truly care about Kelly and I enjoyed reading about them reconnecting as friends with the hint of romance in the future.

The reader doesn’t get an in depth look at Kelly’s friends except when they are in a group setting. Although I like the camaraderie of Kelly and her best friends, they seem very immature when they are all together. Endless speculation about whether couples within their circle of friends are “together together” reminds me of middle schoolers asking if a boy “like likes” them and quickly becomes tiresome.

The mystery itself is interesting and it’s obvious there is more than one character hiding something. However, the book falls flat in the way the investigation unfolds for the reader. It’s great that Kelly has a source of police insider information because of her friendship with Burt, but everything is second hand. Kelly shares information with Burt, who passes it along to his contact on the police force who then shares information with Burt in return that he gives to Kelly. Kelly and Burt don’t work together to investigate, but instead have long phone conversations to share details about the case. It would be more interesting if Kelly, Burt, and the investigating office could at least get together to compare notes even if they don’t work together on the case. I kept waiting for the action to pick up, but these awkward phone conversations continue throughout the book and make for dull reading.

I liked that the book calls attention to the subject of domestic violence, and those portions of the book are handled well. The knitting is interesting and there is a pattern for a shawl at the back of the book, tying into the storyline. There are also a few great-sounding appetizer recipes in the back that were submitted by readers. While I found this book to be no better than “fair”, fans of knitting-themed mysteries, like those by Monica Ferris, may enjoy the knitting information enough to get past some of the short-comings of the book.

Reviewed by Christine K.

READERS COMMENTS