Some more Monica Ferris books…
I finished up a good deal of the rest of the Betsy Devonshire mysteries while on Thanksgiving vacation. I was pretty sick (awful lingering head cold), so most of the time I felt more like reading than stitching. Here’s a couple quick thoughts on each of them.
First up is A Stitch in Time. I enjoyed this mystery - it’s set in Excelsior, again, and the mysteries start when a mildewy needlepoint hanging is found during a church renovation. Betsy agrees to help restore the tapestry, and soon finds that someone is making attempts on her life. I generally felt drawn in to this story, more so than the previous ones. Once again, Betsy solves the mystery through some needlework sleuthing. I thought the free pattern at the end of the book was a real cop-out - a clunky-looking snowflake meant to be done in Balger filament. Better than the crappy butterfly from the previous mystery, but definitely a letdown compared to the beautiful Tang horse from the first mystery.
Next comes Unraveled Sleeve. This mystery takes place when Betsy and her friend Jill go on a stitching retreat to Naniboujou Lodge to relax. Betsy has been having frequent nightmares and is generally stressed out, so imagine how fun it must be when Betsy begins to suspect that someone has been murdered - but no one else will believe her. I found the plot of this mystery rather far-fetched, so while I generally enjoyed reading it, it certainly wasn’t that good. Though it revolves around a stitching retreat, and various stitching terms are mentioned, it could’ve just’ve easily been, say, a quilting retreat or a Penguin Lovers of Minnesota retreat or whatever, as no needlework knowledge was really used to solve the mystery. Kind of a bummer, for me, as I read this *because* I find the needlework clues amusing. The pattern is a geometric design from a cushion in the real Naniboujou lodge. Not my cup of tea, but at least nicer than the last two patterns.
Next, unfortunately, we have A Murderous Yarn, a needlework mystery that revolves around… Hardanger maybe? Needlepoint? Cross stitch? Nooooo, antique cars! Yes, a murder takes place at an antique car meet, and Betsy must solve it. While there is a needlework clue in this mystery, it is overwhelmingly about antique cars, something I have absolutely no interest in. This is the first of her books I actually had to force myself to keep reading. I can’t honestly comment on the quality of the story, because I was so put off by the subject matter. Annoyingly enough, the pattern is rather nice - but it’s a side-angle view of an antique car. Worst book in the series so far, in my opinion.
And then we have Hanging by a Thread. And it’s not just the murder of one person in small-town Minnesota, but a double-murder. Now, frankly, this is supposedly a five year old murder, but still… how many murders can one tiny town have? The murder is, once again, not needlework related, nor or any of the clues, but after the Antique Cars Gone Wild novel, I was relieved to read about anything else. I rather enjoyed this one. The pattern for this mystery is a simple cross stitch spider and web, maybe nice for Halloween.
OK… one more novel to review, but I think I’ll make that a separate post.
