Sentence summary: The morning after her open house, Marcy discovers the previous store tenant dead in her storeroom.My review: The Quick and the Thread is the first book of An Embroidery Mystery series. Marcy Singer leaves San Francisco for Tallulah Falls, Oregon to pursue her dream of owning her own embroidery shop The Seven Year-Stitch. Her best friend and former college roommate, Sadie and her husband Blake, also reside there. The couple owns MacKenzies' Mochas, which is conveniently located next door to Marcy's shop.
The night of her open house, former tenant Tim Enright crashes the party and is determined to speak with Marcy privately. Turned off by his odd behavior (and assumption he's intoxicated), Marcy keeps herself at arm's length. Later after everyone has left for the evening, Marcy, Sadie, Blake and Todd (the man that Sadie is trying to fix her up with) are cleaning up when they hear a strange noise in the back. Blake and Todd make light of it and joke that it's only a bear. The next morning Marcy discovers Enright's body.
Before his death, Enright scratches a message on the wall that's a clue to his murder. Marcy is suddenly being looked at as a suspect and decides she needs learn the meaning behind the message to clear her name. She begins speaking to the local residents and as a result another person is killed.
Characters: Marcy represents a good amateur sleuth. She's very likable and doesn't come across as gullible or simpleminded. At times I did think she disclosed too much information to random people, but in the end she realized her mistake.
Sadie is Marcy's best friend, yet she was pushy and quick to judge Marcy. I never really warmed up to her. Blake and Todd were often present with the two women and I thought they made a good foursome. It was hard to tell exactly how Marcy felt about Todd. Especially with Detective Ted Nash in the picture. Perhaps a love triangle will evolve in later books? Needless to say, the hint of romance did not detour away from the murder investigation.
Marcy offers stitching classes to the residents and it's through these classes that the reader is introduced to the secondary characters. Last of all, there's Angus, Marcy's Irish wolfhound.
Lasting impression: The Quick and the Thread is a solid start to what I hope will be a long lasting series. Book two, Stitch Me Deadly, will be released in February 2011.
Reason for reading: I’m always looking for a new cozy mystery series.
Recommend?: Yes. Fans of cozy mysteries will welcome this series to the genre.
About the author: Amanda Lee is a pseudonym for author Gayle Trent, who writes the Daphne Martin series.
My rating: 3.5/5
Book details:
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: An Embroidery Mystery #1
Pub. Date: August 3, 2010
Pages: 313
Source: Library
I just finished up a great cozy mystery, Shon. If you are always on the lookout for a good series, then check out The Cat, The Quilt And The Corpse by Leann Sweeney, It was very good!
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