Saturday, May 12, 2012

Threaded For Trouble-Janet Bolin

Threaded For Trouble


Janet Bolin

Berkley, Jun 5 2012, $7.99

ISBN: 9780425251324



The locals call Elderberry Bay, Pennsylvania Threadville due to the abundance of craft shops. Willow Vanderling, owner of In Stitches embroidery shop, will present to Darlene Coddlefield, the winner of the Chandler Champion Sewing and Embroidery Machine Contest, with the first prize the top of the line Chandler Champion.



Arrogant Darlene arrives to collect her winning accompanied by her eight kids who she is nasty towards. That night she is killed when her heavy machine falls through the table onto her; as for some unknown reason she was underneath the table. Willow takes the machine apart for the police and realizes someone tampered with it. A fire breaks out at the Coddlefield House almost killing the occupants including the widower fire chief. To investigate from the inside, Willow and her best friend Haylee become volunteer firefighters and soon rescue Felicity the Chandler Champion representative trapped inside a blaze. The intrepid pair continue their inquiry as to who the killer is and why.



The second Threadville Mystery (see Dire Threads) is a wonderful amateur sleuth that showcases the close relationships between the small village shop owners who watch out for one another as friends and as a smart business model. Willow’s motive for jumping into the fire to rescue two people is her deep need for justice even though she is risking her own life on a hunch. Readers will have no sympathy for the victim who is a charity gamer conning people out of money for her non-existent charities but the heroine’s actions make for an enjoyable whodunit.



Harriet Klausner





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