Shattered Silk

Georgetown #2

by Barbara Michaels

A Killer Lurks In her quaint vintage clothing boutique in picturesque Georgetown, Karen Nevitt's laces and white linens seem so innocent. Her aunt's aged friends have even ransacked their attics to help the novice entrepreneur launch her business. The dresses they produce are exquisite--valuable designer originals from decades past--but unwittingly Karen has discovered something far more lethal than fashion trends. Concealed by the delicate fabrics is the hidden clue to a forgotten mystery, and someone is willing to kill to keep it that way.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Gothic, Romance, Romantic Suspense, Suspense, Thriller

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Barbara Michaels was a pen name of Barbara Mertz. She also wrote as Elizabeth Peters, as well as under her own name.

She was born in Canton, Illinois and has written over fifty books including some in Egyptology. Dr. Mertz also holds a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in Egyptology.

Reviews

[C. (Don't blank click my reviews, comment please! · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Shattered Silk” is so minutely related to “Ammie, Come Home”, even I admit you could read it individually. It isn’t at all paranormal either but I was enthralled from stem to stern. I wouldn’t give the mystery portion five stars. It’s spread thinly across too many red herrings. Snippets that come to light do so at the tail end; none a reader could deduce. A dart of suspicion might strike the right story character but no reader knows the faraway history supplying a motive. A sinister tone might have been successfully introduced, if less staggered hints had been dropped much earlier. However in this story, that didn’t matter to me. This is one mystery that is less important than the new characters who are established.

Barbara Michaels weaves our acquaintance of them so splendidly, so captivatingly; that the crime amounts to a fly, occasionally irritating the ointment of characters’ plans. The story of a cheated young wife, willingly accepting aid from family and dreaming up her own business idea; her friendship with Cheryl and their interaction with two male peers.... This in itself is a story that was made so enthralling, interest never wavering on any page; that I have to accede five-star feedback. If you enjoy a book so much that you find no place to pause and only force yourself to do so, for sleep; that is the most meaningful gauge of quality there is!

I cared about Karen, Cheryl, Tony, and Mark every inch of the way and took interest in their antique textile enthusiasm too, which had never been my bag before. These people and their hopes mattered; all immediately endeared to us. Barbara even had me caring for that bold dog. It was also a pleasure to briefly visit Ruth, Pat, and his Mom again.

[Kasia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't originally planning on finishing the book so this review wouldn't be written, but I forced myself, after all Barbara Michaels is one of my favorites but this time she truly produced a dud! It was surprising to see how many stars this book has and all of the praising reviews, and of course I know everyone has a different taste and they are allowed to like what suits them but I have enjoyed her other books - which had lukewarm reviews - that were so much better. This would be one Michaels book I read so far that I would never recommend.

The tale has a heroine - Karen, but unlike the other tales, this one is weak, yeah she grows some muscle though the story, but she is hard to like, the personality is old fashioned and truly hard to relate to, I work as a fashion designer and the clothing in this book was nice to read about - it was well researched but felt more like a stiff lesson filtered through all the chapters. I don't feel the need to give this much history and design information to make the book realistic, instead it felt a bit like filler that tried to make it legitimate, I would believe more in what she was doing with half the fashion info!

When Karen decides to leave her husband she has nowhere to go but her uncle and aunt's house in Washington. Luckily for her they are leaving on a trip, coincidentally another family member is going as well and leaves Karen all her designer gowns and countless trunks of treasures full of priceless garments. All this falls in poor Karen's lap, her large frame is often mentioned to make her look weak and ugly, instead it sounds irrelevant; if the heroine was slim then it would make her stronger? I don't see what some disgusting stereotype had to be applied for people to understand the message; instead it made me feel repulsed to author's tactics to develop the character. As she manages the shop and grow more independent form her nasty, cheating husband, she looses weight - very slowly of course, by skipping chocolate cake and eating salad every night, ha! - Then she grows some spunk and starts her own fashion boutique. She happens to purchase a garment that has some mystery attached to it and there are bad people trying to scare her and make her go crazy, is it her husband? Maybe a customer who knows the secrets of the silk or maybe the house is haunted after all; at the end I didn't care I just wanted to finish this dry, surprisingly boring story.

The characters felt as if they were modeled after dry cut out paper dolls, I didn't care for any of them, and Karen's friends were so sarcastic and nasty that I didn't believe she wouldn't stand up to herself and gotten some new ones. I didn't expect her to go Conan the Barbarian on them, I would but please, reading two hundred pages about her being pushed around by Shreve and others was torture!

This was one, boring, parched of feeling book, I will always be a fan of Barbara Michaels and her books but this one is very, very bad. I know it happens, so I simply move on - it certainly doesn't stop me from enjoying her again. My next read of hers is "The Crying Child" and I am really looking forward to it. This author is capable of some wonderful stories and had great ideas, her power of creating love and romance, mystery and creeps is deep and profound, I simply didn't see any of it here, but it's in many of her books.

Love you Barbara, sorry for this review but I think a critique can only help a prodigy such as yourself

[Aya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Georgetown: 2
Set at least ten years after the previous book. The main character here is Karen, Sara's sister, who ends up keeping house (the same haunted house from the last book) while her Aunt Ruth and Uncle Pat are off to Borneo and working her friend Julie's antique shop. Mrs. MacDougal from the previous book (and Pat's mother) takes Karen under her wing, keeping her too busy to mope around too much. This is more of a beach read than a gothic. There's no supernatural elements, no immediate mystery, no obvious romance for half the book. In fact, it's more of a stealth mystery in that it turns into a mystery about 75% of the way through and nothing really exciting happens until the last 15%. It kind of felt like the author realized she had spent most of the story rambling and decided to salvage what she could to make something of it at the last minute. The mystery was unsatisfying since supposedly an observant reader might have been able to put together the random clues and solve it, but since the reader didn't know s/he was reading a mystery for most of the book, it felt like a trick. Karen is also annoyingly spineless for a main character, which is a contrast to the usual heroine but not in a good way. She puts courtesy above common sense. This book is very different than the first one. Other than the tenuous relationship between the characters, it's a completely different genre. I'd give it a 3 for fiction, 2 for mystery. Say 2 for being so confusing.

[Drianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those old favorites, a book I read so many times as a teenager that some of its phrases have become absolutely embedded in my own lexicon. In fact, I've found myself thinking about it repeated in the last year or so because it has a description of someone standing outside verbally coaxing their dog to go potty, and as my elderly dog has had more incidents of not wanting to go, I've found myself using some of the phrases from the book, unconsciously at first. Michaels' prose, no matter which pseudonym she's writing under, is still an absolute joy.

This is one of the few Barbara Michaels books that actually has no real paranormal content in it (someone dresses up as a ghost, but no one ever really thinks it's actually ghosts).

And rereading as a grown-up, one who's ten years older than the MC now, but started reading about her when I was probably 15 years under her age, it's odd how young she's supposed to be. I know 1986 was quite a long time ago, in some terms, but I would expect her to be in her 40s from her attitude and experiences, not 28.

And yes, Alexander the dog is the highlight of this book, definitely. The other thing I really like about it is how thoroughly it passes the Bechdel test: it's as much about Karen's blossoming friendship and business partnership with Cheryl as her rekindled romance with Mark, Cheryl's brother. It's a HFN with Mark, but honestly, if they break up, Karen will be fine. She'll still have Cheryl.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first Barbara Michaels book I've read and I enjoyed it. Michaels does a very good job creating suspense and uncertainty about who's who and what's really going on.

At first I was a bit annoyed with main character Karen, because she appeared to be a wimpy dish-rag who was willing to let people walk all over her. But she very quickly gets her gumption back and starts to build a new life for herself, having left her jerk of a husband and moved back to Washington where she has friends and family to help her get going.

Karen sort of falls into starting a new business selling vintage clothes thanks to some rather eccentric friends willing to sell her their old and valuable clothes. She even has two men in the equation, either one of whom could be "the" guy for her.

But things are not all good. There are incidents of vandalism in the home of Karen's Aunt which she is house-sitting in while she gets her clothing business off the ground. There are also intruders breaking into the house. But it seems nothing is actually taken in these incidents, so what are the bad guys after??? Well, you'd have to read the book to get THAT answer!

The characters in this book are colourful and likeable, the story is interesting and exciting, and the potential for romance adds a nice spice to the other things that are going on. This was a fast, easy read but very enjoyable.”

[Boris Cesnik · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's not that I didn't enjoyed it...it's the unexpected cliche' that stopped me from giving more than two starts to the book. Probably my mistake was constantly comparing the story to 'Be Buried in the Rain' which I rate much superior than this novel.
This one feels cheaper and rushed through. It has all the promising elements of an exciting reading which eventually fall flat and don't take off as expected.
All the small items, accidents, encounters etc which play a crucial part in the narrative are left there without much of an Hello and Goodbye (i.e that book).
If you want to shift all the action towards the second part of the story you must build some sort of atmosphere of expectation and suspense from the beginning. Whereas Be Buried in the Rain had all the right ingredients for a perfectly tasty mystery novel, Shattered Silk doesn't come close: weak psychological development in the characters, foolish heroine, annoying dialogues, rushed descriptions. It doesn't event try to fool the reader.
And also...let me cry out...oh no! noth another failed marriage to escape from!

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it. Of course Barbara Michaels is one of the masters of the genre along with my favorites; Phyllis A. Whitney, Mary Stewart, and Victoria Holt. I spent my teen and young adult years devouring their books. I'm just surprised it took me this long to discover Barbara Michaels. For those of you who don't know this is one of the names Barbara Mertz (aka Elizabeth Peters & Barbara Michaels) wrote under. I have read and enjoyed several of books she wrote as Elizabeth Peters. Sadly she passed away in August 2013.

[Carole at From My Carolina Home · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good mystery story, refreshing in that it isn't a murder mystery, but I was expecting some supernatural element - it is Barbara Michaels after all! But, the mystery is engaging, difficult to put down, and there are some twists that you won't see coming. It is fun to read a book written before the internet or cell phones, which would have changed the story in some ways, as characters would not be out of touch - unless there was the story device of a dead battery or out of tower range. Overall a good read, recommended!

[❀⊱RoryReads⊰❀ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

[Kat Lebo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shattered Silk, Georgetown Trilogy #2
by Barbara Michaels

This book was written in 1986 -- 18 years after the first book in the trilogy, "Ammie, Come Home." One wonders if Michaels always intended to write two other books connecting to the first, or if she just decided some time later to revisit the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., and found using the same house and the same family to present the story made a nice thread. Whatever her intentions were, it is an interesting connection.

In the first book all the action, in what was modern day at the time the book was written (1968), takes place in the house in which the Campbell family drama took place sometime during the American Revolution. The main character, Ruth, had inherited the house from a reclusive relative, had a niece, Sara, living with her while the niece attended college at Georgetown University. The niece proves to be the perfect conduit for the spirit of the young Campbell daughter, Ammie, to return, unfortunately bringing along with her the not so harmless spirit of her father and of her intended, of whom her father did not approve.

Fast Forward a little over 10 years. Ruth has married Pat MacDougal and the two resided in Ruth's house. Sara and Bruce were also married and living away from D.C. But Sara's younger sister, Karen, who had also lived with Ruth and Pat during her college days, had just been thrown over by her husband of over a decade, and was returning to stay with Ruth and Pat until she was able to get back on her feet. As Ruth and Pat were leaving the country to live abroad while Pat completed research for his most recent book, having Karen stay at the house to care for it was perfect. She planned to work for an old college friend, Julie, in her antique shop. Along the way, she meets Julie's employee, Rob, and runs into old college acquaintances, including two women with whom she hadn't been particularly friend, Shreve and Marion. She also runs into her college boyfriend, Mark, with whom she had suddenly broken up to marry another man, her soon to be ex-husband, Jack. She also renews her friendship with Pat's eccentric mother, Mrs. MacDougal, at one time the most sought after society matron in the Georgetown community.

Karen has always loved fashion and textiles. When Mrs. MacDougal decides to go on a long trip, including stopping in for a surprise visit to her son and daughter in law, Pat and Ruth, she to give Karen many vintage designer dresses to sell on consignment, and to give her leads to possible vintage clothing belonging to other Georgetown matrons. Spurred on by Mrs. MacDougal's confidence in her, Karen begins to consider the possibility of opening her own vintage clothing store. Meeting and becoming friends with Mark's sister, Cheryl, is a happy addition to Karen's life, and together they seek out and start accumulating merchandise to sell. Before Mrs. MacDougal leaves town, she gives Karen a necklace and earring set that had once belonged to Dolley Madison. She also leaves her another valuable -- her irrascable and not particularly attractive or well trained dog, Alexander. The Madison set was not particularly valuable for the gems used in the necklace, but the fact that it once belonged to an early First Lady, made it a very valuable piece to own. And, of course, the acquisition of several dresses of the top designers of different eras, made Karen's growing number of items quite a costly collection.

Then, strange things begin to happen. Horton, Mrs. MacDougal's chauffer, drops Karen off after seeing Mrs. MacDougal off on her trip, and then promptly disappears along with the MacDougal vehicle, a very pricey, specially built Rolls Royce. Karen is attacked upon returning to the house one evening, and is rescued only by the presence of Mark's sister, Cheryl. There is a strange occurrence when Karen sees someone, or something, in her back yard. When Cheryl moves into the house to keep Karen company, there is another break in. Mark and his detective friend, Tony, have differing opinions about whether the incidents are related or who might be behind them.

So, are the strange things going on related to the house and it's unfortunate history or are they the result of something that Karen has acquired, but is unaware she has? Does someone see her as a competitor and wish to discourage her from starting her business? Does someone from her past resent her enough to be behind these incidents? Will she get away from her mentally abusive husband and settle down in the D.C. area to open her business? Will she rekindle her romance with her ex-boyfriend Mark, or will she fall for his hunky copy buddy, Tony? And will she ever discover what is at the bottom of these strange incidents? You'll have to read the book to find out!

Great plot, great pacing, excellent characterizations and a charming writing style combine to make this a great read for any mystery lover. Not exactly a gothic in the paranormal sense, but still if featured the strong female lead who still needs her friends, both male and female, around her. Lots of twists and turns and plenty of characters to both love and detest make for a long list of possible suspects. Editing and proofing are very good, with only one error jumping out at me: Page 102 -- "We'd better get out numbers." This was in reference to registering and being assigned bidding numbers at an auction, so I relatively sure it should have read "We'd better get our numbers."

Possible spoiler here: Along the with all the vintage clothing and accessories Karen was acquiring, was a book she noticed in Julie's shop. It was called "Legends of Georgetown," and had been written by an unknown author. The book contained several legends of the area and a large amount of gossip from former years. Included in the book was a scandal that included Pat's mother, Mrs. MacDougal, prominently, and a recanting of the "Ammie, Come Home" story. However, one had to wonder how that information would have been obtained, as I don't think Pat, Ruth, Bruce or Sara ever talked to anyone about it (well, maybe the unlucky priest who came to talk about an exorcism). In fact, when Cheryl mentioned it (not knowing it concerned the house she and Karen were living in), Karen didn't seem to know anything about it. I was not sure whether she did know and just pretended not to know, or if she was actually ignorant of what happened when her sister lived in the house.

But, all in all, it was a very enjoyable read. I'm currently awaiting notification from interlibrary loan on the status of the last book in the series, "Stitches In Time."

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

***4.5 stars***
Excellent re-read. I hadn't remembered who the bad guys were or why Karen and her friends were being attacked. Nor the reason for the break-ins or what they were looking for. So I was as surprised as Karen when all was made clear. A shocking motive and a real suspenseful action packed scene capped the novel and a satisfactory happy ending for all. I only wish Barbara M. would have fashioned -no pun intended- a satisfactory justice for Karen's scummy ex-husband. On to the the 3rd and final of the Georgetown trilogy.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was pretty good

[Rosario · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a review at Radish Reviews that made me pick this one up for a reread. This and the trilogy it's part of have always been amongst my favourite Barbara Michaels books, and ones I've reread again and again. Clearly not in the last 10 years, though, as I was surprised to find I haven't reviewed them here. Time to rectify that oversight! (Seriously, though, I could have sworn I reread Ammie Come Home not that long ago... oh, well).

Anyway, enough waffling, and on to the review. Shattered Silk takes us back to Georgetown and Ruth Bennett (now MacDougal)'s house, where the haunting/possession in Ammie Come Home took place, but tells a story with no paranormal elements. Our main character is Karen, whose older sister was the main subject of those earlier events some (I'm guessing) 15 years earlier. Just like Sara, Karen went to live with her aunt Ruth while going to uni and met her future husband there. Unlike Sara, however, she made a really crappy choice, and ended up married to a right bastard. Jack's a university professor whose MO seems to be to get himself a young, bright and pretty undergrad, marry her and use her as unpaid labour to further his career, and then change her for a newer model as soon as she's not that dewy.

After 10 years, Karen's been traded in for the new model, and not knowing where to go, she's licking her wounds at Ruth and Patrick's house. She doesn't have much money, no marketable skills (she thinks), she's overweight and her confidence is generally shot to hell. It doesn't help that she's taken a part-time job helping out at an old friend's antique shop, and that this "friend" is a real piece of work who seems to delight in tormenting her.

It is while working there, however, that she comes up with a plan. Ruth has lots and lots of really well preserved vintage clothing. So does her mother-in-law, who used to be a legendary socialite in Georgetown, and both are happy for Karen to do whatever she wants with it. Her friend assumes she'll be the one to sell them, but what if, Karen wonders, she just set up shop herself?

The story follows Karen as she gets on her feet and starts the process to set up her shop. Along the way, she develops more and more confidence and learns to stand up to people again. I loved seeing that, and I loved that Karen also makes a very good female friend. cheryl is the sister of the guy Karen dumped for her husband all those years ago, and a widow still grieving for her late husband. In her own way, she's just as diffident as Karen, only in her case it's mostly about her lack of education. It's a supportive, healthy relationship between the two women, and I really enjoyed seeing them click and become stronger individually through it.

In addition to this there's a bit of romance (subtle, but definitely there), and a bit of a mystery, as someone seems determined to find something in Ruth and Patrick's house, and Karen and Co. suspect it might have something to do with her increasing stock of vintage clothing. I love how Michaels often has a group of friends acting as a team to solve the mystery (even if they themselves don't realise that they're a team!), and this one (Karen, Cheryl, Cheryl's brother Mark and his cop friend Tony) was great fun. The mystery itself is interesting, as well, and so is all the stuff about the vintage clothing. Some of those pieces sounded truly gorgeous.

Something else I enjoy with Michaels is her writing. I used to think it was a bit too oblique, as she hints at things, and tends to let you draw your own conclusions. It used to annoy me a bit years ago, but I've loved it every time I've read one of her books recently. She trusts her readers to get it and to be paying attention, and that's great.

As you'll see above, Shattered Silk was written in 1986, so just a couple of years before the Peter Robinson I reviewed a couple of days ago and so despised because of its dated sexual politics. This one has dated elements as well, but I was perfectly happy with it. The world Michaels was writing in might have been sexist, but she never was, and there are always plenty of strong feminist elements in her books. That's precisely why she became such a favourite when I started reading grow-up books. It was refreshing.

MY GRADE: A very strong B+.

[Deanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually love Barbara Michaels' books, even these from the 70's that are pretty dated. But somehow I just couldn't relate to the characters in this one. The romances felt rushed and forced, and the main character is such a wimp at first, I just wanted to slap her. Not very empathetic of me, but I guess that's why I couldn't relate! The action scenes were great, and it's a creepy murder mystery, but it was also missing the little element of the occult that Barbara usually puts in -- I kept waiting for a ghost to appear or something - but no, just your run-of-the-mill psychopathic killer.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very gentle suspense involving a recently divorced woman who is attempting to open her own vintage clothes/linens store while battling her weight, her poor self esteem and mysterious happenings.
I was surprised that this book was published and set in the late 80s, to me the characters acted more like they were from an earlier era. The details about the linens and dresses were interesting, but I never really felt a connection with the lead female characters who had incredibly volatile emotions and were somewhat unbelievable and I really never cared whodunit.

[Robert Fontenot · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must have read this book a half dozen times when I was in my teens. This is my first time reading it in perhaps twenty years and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I still enjoyed it quite a bit. I remembered enough of the overall story to see all the signposted mystery elements but much of that plot is pushed aside for main event which is a woman regaining her self confidence and starting a vintage clothing business.

[Kiwi Carlisle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite of the Georgetown trilogy, full of misdirection, red herrings and vintage clothes. I love the way Michaels keeps you guessing about whether or not there's a supernatural component.

[C · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I used to be young and when I was young I guess I used to think Barbara Michaels could write. Or, if not "write", per se, at least her stuff was entertaining enough fluff. Unfortunately, no more. I've come to the conclusion that her stuff is not remotely innocuous, in fact, it might be pure poison. (Disclaimer: this is more about what I've come to understand as major flaws in the author's work rather than specific flaws in Shattered Silk).

In reviewing my "collection" (a couple of huge boxes, pretty much comprehensive) of B. Michaels/E. Peters, I've found there are probably 4-5 Peters books and 1-3 Michaels books that aren't mostly awful.

Here are some standard Michaels/Peters tropes that you will find in almost every book:

1. Her heroines are almost universally horrible and unlikeable.

2. She insists on correcting the grammar of her characters (and by extension, readers).

3. She shames characters for religious beliefs (all people of pretty much any faith end up being loud-mouthed jerks or simply insane).

4. She aggressively pushes second-wave feminist arguments that everyone else thought were settled years ago or have been dropped in favor of more pressing feminist issues (not allowing a man to open a door or carry groceries to prove that "women are doing it for themselves"?
And I'm talking the books she wrote in the late '80s and '90s. Dated!).

5. Characters are conscious that smoking and drinking aren't really good for you but the rest of the characters (and again, by extension, readers) are sticks-in-the-mud for having healthier standards (also frowned on in the Michaels/Peters world). And, although I don't drink or smoke, I don't care if anyone else does but I can tell you a long battle with cancer killed chain-smoking and steady cocktail-imbibing Michaels/Mertz in real life.

6. Characters are routinely fat-shamed. I mean, routinely. I will have to make a list and see if any of Michaels/Peters books escape this. It's really problematic.

7. There is a weird strain of misogyny that runs through the books. The heroine and her immediate friends are okay with each other but every other woman is a threat, a bitch, or a loud-mouthed, low-class, fat and grabby religious nut. I mean, it's grim.

8. Michaels/Peters/Mertz didn't have access to the internet and so she didn't have the ability to follow threads that would help her debunk a lot of the paranormal stories she seems to hold so dear.
Thankfully, we now do and so we don't have to follow her down the road that ends everyone up with people like those criminals Ed and Lorraine Warren.

I'm pretty sure this list is incomplete but, in short, Michaels/Peters/Mertz does not seem to be adding good to the world. She may be pouring out some poison and so I have decided that instead of donating the books I think I'll just shred...

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the middle of a messy divorce, Karen has moved into her aunt and uncles lovely Georgetown house in Washington DC to figure out what to do next. A combination of working for a former school mate’s vintage goods store, Plus helping her uncles wealthy and elderly mother clean out her attic of spectacular designer vintage gowns helps Karen decide that she would like to open her own vintage clothing shop. Of course it is not so simple. Suddenly, her ex is back in her life – not her ex-husband, but the man she through over to marry her ex-husband – and his sister, who turns out to be a lovely person who is eager to help Karen with her enterprises. And then there are all the incidents that seem to be happening, which are scary enough to call the police, but not scary enough for the police to be able to do much. Karen has been reading a book about old murders and scandals in Georgetown, and wonders if there is any connection.

Meh. I have loved the authors Egyptian books, but this one really didn’t work for me. If it is a murder mystery, then the murder doesn’t happen until 75% of the way through the book. If it is a women’s fiction about a woman getting her life back together after her divorce, then I guess it worked sort of better, but I just didn’t like her interactions with everyone, well, everyone’s actions with everyone. People seem to get into arguments out of nowhere over nothing, when they had just been chatting, and I couldn’t figure out who was attracted to who and was I supposed to be rooting for a particular a couple? And then, I found it annoying that Karen was so gung ho about getting widowed Cheryl to fall in love again. The conclusion seem to be that without romantic love, life just wasn’t worth living—in fact, you were wasting your life without it. Granted, Cheryl is not cued as ace, but what if she was? And either way, she owed nothing to the man in love with her—just because someone is in love with someone for a long time, that doesn’t mean they are owed love in return. So, not a win for me.

[Swapna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disappointing on all counts!! This was my second Barbara Michaels book and I felt it was wrongly categorised under Romantic Suspense because it hardly has any romance and very little suspense. It was like reading a general fiction book. Most of it is about Karen trying to set up her business and acquiring vintage dresses and a little bit about Georgetown history. This was also the second book which had a lot of “antiques” stored in the attic. Does everyone having an attic store all kinds of unused odds and ends (even if it is beyond repair) in there? Shouldn’t the owners be donating old clothes and other things and keeping their homes free of clutter?

Nothing much of interest happens even after the reader is 1/3 into the book. A car gets stolen only by page no. 118. But even after that, things don’t pick up pace.
Most of the parts were repetitive – Karen and Cheryl’s shop-hunting, the tricks played at night, Julie’s tantrums, Shreve’s insults, etc. Tony’s overtures and his dalliance with Karen were absurd. Whatever happened to the stolen Rolls Royce is never explained.

I wasted a week reading this and doubt if I want to try another one by Michaels. In my opinion, no one can match Mary Stewart.

[Marybeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another book that I first read decades ago and I don't remember enjoying it at the time as much as I did now. Even so, I didn't really find this book as compelling as others I've read by Barbara Michaels. There's no supernatural element, which one might honestly expect after Ammie, Come Home, the prequel to this one. I felt like the final resolution wasn't terribly tense, despite the shocking subject matter. Back when it was first published I'm sure it was considered quite upsetting, but it seemed rather tame the way it was dealt with here. It was downplayed and hinted at so delicately that I wasn't always sure what they were talking about. I did like the characters Karen and Cheryl - two women finding their own strength after emotional trauma. They were well written and felt real to me. Mark and Tony didn't. They were flat and lifeless, nowhere near fleshed out enough for me to "see" them as I read.

I'm not going to let my disappointment with this book keep me from reading the third book in the series, or any other Barbara Michaels book, either. I'll just chalk it up to the fact that even the best authors can't write a hit book every single time.

[Mystery Review Crew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Originally published in 1968, Shattered Silk is a timeless mystery that continues to intrigue readers.

Shattered silk is a term describing the effect of time on silk. The silk shatters along the seams, leaving slash-like tears. For Karen Nevitt, shattered silk is more than a term applied to material. It’s an apt description of her life as she emerges from an abusive marriage, her confidence shattered. Barbara Michaels’ portrayal of Karen Nevitt’s struggles to rebuild her life will resonate with many women.

Like shattered silk, repairing her life, as she soon discovers, has hidden dangers she never anticipated. Shattered Silk has it all. A mystery with twists and turns to keep the reader turning the pages, engaging characters, even a dog you will love to hate romance, and a finale the reader won’t see coming.

Several of Barbara Michaels’s books grace my bookshelf. I wouldn’t even attempt to guess how many times I have read Shattered Silk over the years. In fact, I have all three books in the Georgetown Trilogy.

A Time Travel Review from the Mystery Review Crew.

[Jaclyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shattered Silk was not a terrible book but it wasn't one I will remember either. It was mildly entertaining but lacked heavily in the mystery department. There was more gossip and self-esteem issues filling the pages of this book than actual storyline and character development. I found myself disconnected with the characters and their troubles that the whole thing was more a blur of dialogue and garment descriptions than anything for me. The ending was rushed and the revelations weren't all that surprising.

For me, this mystery was pretty lacklustre but I've read far worse. I don't think I would recommend this book but for the fact that I picked it up for a dollar at a used bookstore, I'd say it's an okay read for those dreary afternoons.

[Jen Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe 3.5 - This is one of those mysteries where you suspect everyone at one point or another, so everyone creeps you out. Plus I enjoyed Karen's character development, the first fifty pages were frustrating reading while she passively lies down to let everyone in her life walk all over her.
The main reason I can't rate it any higher is that the murder/intrigue/danger doesn't actually start until the final hundred pages or so. The atmosphere leading up to that point keeps the story going, along with some of the character stuff, but the murder mystery doesn't really come into play until almost the end.

[Mary Mcqueen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having lived in the D.C. area several times I was tickled by the familiarity I felt in the locations in the book. I was charmed by the clothing descriptions and was familiar with most of the old designers mentioned. Love to learn while reading, as in the Dick Francis books, so the conservation techniques are fascinating stuff. In these days, one forgets the natural fabrics easily.
I thought the story itself was quite lovely combining a sad, soon to be divorcee, a sad widow, rich supportive relatives, and a local mystery brought once more to the surface.
Romance, mystery, and local color, wonderful.

[robyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read Barbara Michaels as a teen; it's goth/romance lite and actually a lot of fun. Funny - I assumed this was a recent book because it feels like the love story you tell later in life; the frumpy slouch-shouldered middle-aged woman who finds love with the man she turned down for the husband who's now divorcing her, and who doesn't mind her having put on some weight.

It's not exactly a scorcher.

there's a lot about vintage clothing that's fun.

[Pat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a ghost story, more of a murder mystery, Michaels still sets this one in the MD/DC/VA area and involves the reader in local history and vintage clothing. A wonderful read. These characters are reprised in Stitches in Time, which has a lot about old quilts. It takes me back to the BiCentennial, when local history and handicrafts were popular. The characters are vividly drawn and picturesque, and the plot is intriguing.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved loved loved this book! Barbara Michaels was a great mystery writer - her use of language, including bright use of vocabulary is a delight. Her characters well developed and raw in a way that makes them more human. I absolutely loved the setting and sense of time Michaels captures. It gives a real sense of history of the 80s culture on the east coast. And last of all, I am a sucker for books that include vintage clothing or costume. Fun read.

[Connie Dudgeon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since I'm addicted to the Amelia Peabody Egyptian mysteries by the same author, I wanted to try the Georgetown trilogy. I liked this book even more than the first in the series. The same characters return to help the next generation face their demons, real or imagined. The relationships between the key characters are well drawn, and this mystery was a bit less "gothic" than the first. I enjoyed it.

[Gail Daley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Nice Addition to the Trilogy

Unlike the other two books in the Georgetown trilogy, this isn’t a ghost story. It’s purely a mystery about a decades old murder. One of Barbara Michaels strengths as a writer is her ability to create suspense with seemingly mundane events. The clues are all there and in the right places for the reader to attempt to solve them before the writer reveals them. I highly recommend the book.