SKEIN OF THE CRIME

SKEIN OF THE CRIME: A KNITTING MYSTERY
By Maggie Sefton
Berkley Prime Crime
June 2010
Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-425-23438-9
304 pages
$24.95

Some people seem to have the knack to instantaneously know people. Kelly Flynn has that ability. She has successfully settled in Fort Connor, Colorado and is working as an accountant. She is successful enough that she has the time to pursue her interest in knitting and even helps out at the House of Lambspun. Her life is perfect, almost, except for her boyfriend being in financial straits and not accepting any assistance from anyone.

Kelly lives near a golf course and has an unusual incident one night when she discovered someone on her back patio who is not responding to any conversation. The young woman is hospitalized and treated for drug abuse. As the woman, Holly, attempts to change her life, she also becomes involved with the people at the House of Lambspun. Unfortunately, a few weeks later, Holly, is found dead near Kelly’s house. Why? Apparently she died due to a drug overdose. So, who gave her the drugs? Kelly is determined to find out.

SKEIN OF THE CRIME is the eighth book in this series of knitting mysteries. The book is easily understood as a lone novel, however, the character relationships and images probably would have been more distinct if the other books are read prior to this one. Without having read the first book, I found myself floundering with images of each character. This is a common problem with series. How do you describe and introduce the characters without boring your loyal readers? There is a character list at the beginning of the novel, but it does not have any physical descriptions which I personally need. Along with this is a slight problem of Holly’s physical description. For the first hundred pages, she is blond. Then, she is “dark-haired” and finally she returns to being blond.

The novel also has a recipe for carrot cake and directions for how to knit a scarf. Along with various knitting procedures and the cooking of delicious dishes, this is an enjoyable book. I would categorize SKEIN OF THE CRIME as a cozy as it is fairly low-keyed and low-violence. The crime is one of distributing drugs so that is dangerous but not terrifying.

Maggie Sefton lives in the Rocky Mountains with her daughters and dogs.

The series begins with KNIT ONE, KILL TWO as the introductory first book. NEEDLED TO DEATH, A DEADLY YARN, A KILLER STITCH, DYER CONSEQUENCES, FLEECE NAVIDAD, and DROPPED DEAD STITCH complete the first seven books of “A KNITTING MYSTERY”.

Would I consider reading another in this series? Yes, I definitely enjoyed SKEIN OF THE CRIME.











Teri Davis May 15, 2010