When a trip to the Big Apple ends in murder, the sewing circle searches for a killer who’s rotten to the core. . .
Winning an appearance on a top-rated, New York based morning show means the trip of a lifetime for librarian Tori Sinclair and the Sweet Briar Ladies Society Sewing Circle. Anxious to experience Manhattan with her friends, Tori is less than excited when fellow member Dixie Dunn opts to use the vacation as an opportunity to rendezvous with a man she met online.Still, Tori never imagined her friend would be taken in by a con man specializing in scamming vulnerable older women—or that Dixie would be arrested for his murder.
Now, as the sewing circle goes up against Gotham’s elite to prove Dixie’s innocence, they will have to unravel tangled secrets and alibis, patch together a mess of clues, and put a clever killer in the city’s hottest spotlight . . .
PATTERN AND SEWING TIPS INCLUDED
For fans of: Maggie Sefton
When Tori Sinclair and the other members of the Sweet Briar Ladies Society Sewing Circle win an appearance on an NYC-based talk show, they fully expect they’re in for the vacation of a lifetime. And at first, the trip is just that: the flight is on time, the hotel is beautiful, the interview goes off without a hitch, and as an added bonus, circle member Dixie has a wonderful date with a handsome man that she met online. Then, though, said handsome man is pushed from his third-story balcony, Dixie is arrested for his murder, and everything goes to hell. The police claim Dixie’s date was a con man, and Dixie his final victim, but Dixie swears they have it all wrong. Can Tori and company find the real killer and free their friend, or is Dixie destined to do time for a crime she didn’t commit?
Taken In is the ninth of Elizabeth Lynn Casey’s Southern Sewing Circle Mysteries, and it’s a thoroughly enchanting read. Casey’s crafted a compelling whodunit, and the fact that the ladies are forced to do their sleuthing in an unfamiliar setting without access to their usual resources adds an extra layer of tension. There’s plenty of humor to be found here, as well; the witty barbs hurled between cantankerous Rose and aging sexpot Leona are entertaining as all get-out, and when their rancor wanes, flamboyant bookstore-employee-turned-tour-guide-slash-sidekick Charles is there to pick up the slack. (I could have done with a little less of British nanny Beatrice’s Kenny Rogers obsession and Margaret Louise’s country-bumpkin routine, but your mileage may vary.)
What first hooked me on the Southern Sewing Circle Mysteries, though, and what keeps me coming back for more, is Casey’s characters and the ties that bind them. The members of the circle range in age, background, socioeconomic standing, nationality, talent level, temperament, and marital status; they have little in common but for their loves of sewing and socializing, and as a result, they have their share of disagreements. When the chips are down, though, there isn’t anything they wouldn’t do for one another. Dixie’s hardly the most agreeable member of the group, but the other women refuse to leave New York without her and vow to spend every waking moment working to secure her release. And let me tell you, spending 250+ pages bathed in the glow of that kind of friendship is good for the soul.
Reviewed by Kat
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