Review
Margot Berglund owns a needlework and wool store called Crewel World. She's fifty-three, a widow and an expert in her field. Her store does very well for a small town, and she is able to support two part time staff as well as other casual workers. Her husband Aaron had been a wealthy man but despite this she lives a simple life, causing speculation among the town's people. Margot's older sister, Betsy, comes to live with her. When Betsy was young she ran off to join the navy and married a sailor and now her second husband is divorcing her. Betsy seems to be planning to sponge off Margot, she sees living off Margot an easy solution to her problems, at least for the short term. In the idyllic world of Margot there are some problems. Her landlord wants her building so he can build something new and charge more, but Margot has a cheap lease that is good for another four years. So Joe sues Margot regularly and threatens her too, but she has a good lawyer to protect her. She also has a "Wanta be" successor who wants to run her own needlework store in a town that cannot support two. Irene is a little nuts and readily admits that she wants something to happen to Margot so that she can take over. Unfortunately for Irene she has no people skills and is not very successful with the customers. A few nights after her arrival, Betsy comes home and finds Crewel World trashed and Margot murdered. The mystery begins and Betsy takes it into her own hands when she thinks the police aren't doing enough. I LOVED THIS BOOK. Admittedly I am biased. I love to knit and cross-stitch and I love to read mysteries. This was the book written for me. Monica Ferris obviously knew what she was talking about too; she had the entire lingo down pat. But, you don't have to like these hobbies to enjoy this book. The characters are all strong and the plot develops well. The small town setting allows for colourful characters which Monica Ms. Ferris takes advantage of. Betsy is interesting as the sleuth, she is blunt and not very subtle and the character's reactions to her are amusing. I hope there are more books to come from Monica Ferris. Crewel World is one of the best books I have ever read! Monica Ferris has written a page turner! It's not often that a mystery is set in a cozy wool store, but she makes it work. I will recommend this book to everyone I know, especially my knitting pals! Michelle Sawyer -- Copyright ยฉ 030199 Literary Times, Inc. All rights reserved -- From Literary Times