Helpful Score: 1
This was truly an interesting mystery ---amazing what all was going on with twists and turns throughout the story. I enjoyed the characters, their history and how it fit in today --- a good mystery! I also enjoyed the bits and pieces of history about needlepoint at the beginning of each chapter!
Debbie V. (DebbieinMaine) reviewed Twisted Threads (Mainely Needlepoint, Bk 1) on + 113 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Love this new series of Lea Wait's! You can tell from the detail that she researches whatever the theme is as in this case, vintage needlepoint. Each chapter had quotes taken from vintage needlepoint samplers, mostly done by young girls. Old sayings in them make it all the more intriguing. A bit of history inserted that you don't even realize you are learning about vintage embroidery.
It is even more interesting since I live in Maine and the area references are oh so familiar. Some names are the same and some are slightly different but easy to guess the inspiration. Have read book 2 and looking forward to the next.
Great cozy writer. Also enjoy her antique print series.
It is even more interesting since I live in Maine and the area references are oh so familiar. Some names are the same and some are slightly different but easy to guess the inspiration. Have read book 2 and looking forward to the next.
Great cozy writer. Also enjoy her antique print series.
Bonnie A. (ladycholla) -
I didn't care much for this one. It weirded me out, a minister with Ouija boards. Not exactly the type of cozy I like, edgerer than most. Some will like it, so I'll just leave it at that. I did know who the killer was about half way through.
Cathy C. (cathyskye) -
I enjoyed this first-in-a-series for several reasons. As a main character, I'd give Angie Curtis two thumbs up. Growing up in a small town, Angie found it almost impossible to cope with the attitudes and behavior of townspeople and the other children at school due to her mother's disappearance. Petty, stupid words and unfeeling acts of cruelty can hurt a child deeply, and Angie has grown up to be distrustful. Living on the margins as she has, Angie is a serious person and has never spent much time thinking about shoes, nail polish, or hot dates. It's interesting to see how being back home amongst people who value her and her skills begins to bring about a change in her personality.
The people who value her are her grandmother (naturally) and the people who have joined with her grandmother to form the Mainely Needlepoint business. This first book isn't full of needlepoint tips or internet resources as I'd expected; that may come later. What it does share are the business aspects-- building client lists, choosing craftspeople, billing, payroll, and how to build an inventory. This may sound dull, but in author Lea Wait's hands, it's far from it because the information plays a part in the mystery.
The craftspeople who are a part of Mainely Needlepoint help create a large, interesting, and shifting suspect pool, for both the deaths of the middleman and of Angie's mother. They're also going to make a wonderful secondary cast in future books. In addition, Angie's grandmother's life is about to undergo a profound change, and it will be interesting to see how she and her granddaughter deal with it.
The plot of Twisted Threads hinges on one puzzle piece. Before that puzzle piece is put in place, I had no idea whodunnit, but once it plopped down where it belonged, everything was clear. Lea Wait's new Mainely Needlepoint series has been given a solid foundation-- one that's a bit deeper and a bit edgier than most cozies. I'm really looking forward to the next book!
The people who value her are her grandmother (naturally) and the people who have joined with her grandmother to form the Mainely Needlepoint business. This first book isn't full of needlepoint tips or internet resources as I'd expected; that may come later. What it does share are the business aspects-- building client lists, choosing craftspeople, billing, payroll, and how to build an inventory. This may sound dull, but in author Lea Wait's hands, it's far from it because the information plays a part in the mystery.
The craftspeople who are a part of Mainely Needlepoint help create a large, interesting, and shifting suspect pool, for both the deaths of the middleman and of Angie's mother. They're also going to make a wonderful secondary cast in future books. In addition, Angie's grandmother's life is about to undergo a profound change, and it will be interesting to see how she and her granddaughter deal with it.
The plot of Twisted Threads hinges on one puzzle piece. Before that puzzle piece is put in place, I had no idea whodunnit, but once it plopped down where it belonged, everything was clear. Lea Wait's new Mainely Needlepoint series has been given a solid foundation-- one that's a bit deeper and a bit edgier than most cozies. I'm really looking forward to the next book!
Brenda H. (booksinvt) -
Twisted Threads is the first installment in the Mainely Needlepoint Mystery series. Angela Curtis left home in Haven Harbor, Maine ten years ago to escape the whispering that was going on behind her back. Working successfully as an assistant to a Private Investigator in Mesa, Arizona Angie receives a phone call from her Grandmother Charlotte telling her it's time to come home - they've found her Mother's body.
When Angie was 9 years old her mother Jenny had disappeared. Jenny had quite the reputation around town for her numerous "relationships" with various men, and her flashy appearance. Everyone in town seemed to think that Jenny had just walked away with one of her "friends", but Angie and her grandmother never believed that, always convinced that something bad had happened to her.
Lauren Greene Decker was cleaning out the storage unit of her deceased father, Joe Greene when she discovered Jenny's body in a chest freezer. It appears as though Jenny has been in the freezer for the past 19 years, and that Joe had continued to pay the rent on the unit and kept the freezer plugged in and running. An autopsy reveals that Jenny had been shot point blank in the back of the head, and without Joe alive to defend himself the town begins to speculate on whether Joe was actually the murderer and if so, what was his motive.
The discovery of her mother's body is not the only surprise awaiting Angie in Haven Harbor. Charlotte has started a needlepoint business "Mainely Needlepoint" and hired several townspeople to help with the stitching projects. The stitchers include Ruth Hopkins, Dave Percy, Lauren Decker, Ob Winslow, Katie Titcomb and Sarah Bryne who all rely on the extra money from the stitching to survive in the mainly tourist town.
Charlotte confesses to Angie that she had hired an agent, Jacques Lattimore to act on behalf of the needlepointers but he had stopped paying them for their completed and delivered crafts and had now disappeared owing the group over $33,000.00. Charlotte begs Angie to use her private eye skills to locate Lattimore and get the money for the crafters. Angie agrees to help Charlotte and locates the missing Lattimore, she brings him to her grandmother's house to meet with the crafters and he suddenly gets violently ill and dies. With all of the crafters being owed money it seems there is a lot of motive for murder.
I enjoyed this book as there were two separate mysteries going on at the same time. Even though the two murders are not related the author did a great job of weaving information about both into each chapter. It was a refreshing change to have a heroine that was not involved in the dreaded relationship triangle, in fact Angie isn't involved in a relationship at all.
A smart and intriguing cast of characters, and a quaint town on the shores of Maine. I'm looking forward to the next in the series, Threads of Evidence, as Angie will be staying in Haven Harbor to run Mainely Needlepoint.
When Angie was 9 years old her mother Jenny had disappeared. Jenny had quite the reputation around town for her numerous "relationships" with various men, and her flashy appearance. Everyone in town seemed to think that Jenny had just walked away with one of her "friends", but Angie and her grandmother never believed that, always convinced that something bad had happened to her.
Lauren Greene Decker was cleaning out the storage unit of her deceased father, Joe Greene when she discovered Jenny's body in a chest freezer. It appears as though Jenny has been in the freezer for the past 19 years, and that Joe had continued to pay the rent on the unit and kept the freezer plugged in and running. An autopsy reveals that Jenny had been shot point blank in the back of the head, and without Joe alive to defend himself the town begins to speculate on whether Joe was actually the murderer and if so, what was his motive.
The discovery of her mother's body is not the only surprise awaiting Angie in Haven Harbor. Charlotte has started a needlepoint business "Mainely Needlepoint" and hired several townspeople to help with the stitching projects. The stitchers include Ruth Hopkins, Dave Percy, Lauren Decker, Ob Winslow, Katie Titcomb and Sarah Bryne who all rely on the extra money from the stitching to survive in the mainly tourist town.
Charlotte confesses to Angie that she had hired an agent, Jacques Lattimore to act on behalf of the needlepointers but he had stopped paying them for their completed and delivered crafts and had now disappeared owing the group over $33,000.00. Charlotte begs Angie to use her private eye skills to locate Lattimore and get the money for the crafters. Angie agrees to help Charlotte and locates the missing Lattimore, she brings him to her grandmother's house to meet with the crafters and he suddenly gets violently ill and dies. With all of the crafters being owed money it seems there is a lot of motive for murder.
I enjoyed this book as there were two separate mysteries going on at the same time. Even though the two murders are not related the author did a great job of weaving information about both into each chapter. It was a refreshing change to have a heroine that was not involved in the dreaded relationship triangle, in fact Angie isn't involved in a relationship at all.
A smart and intriguing cast of characters, and a quaint town on the shores of Maine. I'm looking forward to the next in the series, Threads of Evidence, as Angie will be staying in Haven Harbor to run Mainely Needlepoint.
Tim H. (Timbuktu126) reviewed Twisted Threads (Mainely Needlepoint, Bk 1) on + 484 more book reviews
This was a really good one- everything flows well, everything makes sense along the way, and the ending is unexpected.
