A Deadly Stitch

Creative Woman Mysteries #2

by Susan Sleeman

After Purls of Hope member Melanie's ex-husband is found buried in the flower bed outside the craft store with one of her knitting needles in his neck, she's named as the number one suspect in his murder.

She certainly had the motive. He'd left her a year earlier, after learning she had breast cancer. And it's no secret they hadn't been on good terms since.

Shannon and the Purls know someone is setting Melanie up. But who would do such a thing? And can Shannon track down the real killer before he strikes again?

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

SUSAN SLEEMAN is the bestselling author of over sixty romantic suspense and mystery novels with more than two million books sold. She writes romantic suspense novels that are clean with inspiring messages of faith. Readers love her series for the well-drawn characters and edge-of-your-seat action. She graduated from the FBI and local police citizen academies, so her research is spot-on and her characters are real.

In addition to writing, Susan also hosts The Suspense Zone. She has lived in nine states but now calls Oregon home. Her husband is a retired church music director, and they have two beautiful daughters, two special sons-in-law, and four amazing grandsons

Reviews

[Debora Wilder · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a delightful cozy mystery!

The mystery is a stand-alone story. But Shannon’s personal life is moving along and things in the first book are referenced.

I absolutely love the main character in this series. Shannon McClain is the devoted friend that everyone needs to have at least one of. Even though she is dealing with her own personal struggles when her friend Melanie needs her she focuses on helping in any way she can. I thoroughly enjoy the fact that her love of watching mysteries and crime shows on TV has made her the group expert for solving crimes for her friends.

Michael Stone is a nice person for her to have step up and help her out. I was very amused by the fact that all of Shannon’s friends keep trying to make him a romantic interest for her. It will be very interesting to see how their relationship develops over the course of the series.

The mystery itself is wonderful. There are enough suspects that show up over the course of the book to keep the reader guessing. Shannon’s approach to solving the case is very methodical.

I am very caught up in Shannon’s life and look forward to seeing what comes next for her personal life. It will be interesting to see what the next mystery is that she and her friends the Purls of Hope knitting circle come across.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A satisfying comfort read.

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

When they find a body during the groundbreaking ceremony of a new charity coffee shop with a knitting needle in his back, our local busybody begins to investigate. Her supercop boyfriend doesn't like it, but he can't catch a cold.

Her kids are in college, and she's having difficulties with that, as well.

Fairly good. It's billed as an Inspirational book, but there isn't a lot of praying or anything like that.

[Bobbi Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really have enjoyed the buildup of the story line, knowing that I was less than halfway through the series at this point and so much intrigue had already happened. For a lady who had to move so far away from her homeland, across the sea, to where her grandmother had moved so long ago that she never had a chance to know her. She had also lost her mother when she was very young without knowing what had happened to her, where she had gone or why until she was a middle-aged adult when out of the blue, she receives a notification by mail that her grandmother had passed away and that she had left all of her belongings to her. However, she had to go to the US to Oregon State to claim what was to be hers... Hoping to possibly find out what had happened to her mother. From the time she had been notified of this sad misfortune her whole world and life has been changed. She had a date, a definite(deadline) when she had to be there to claim her inheritance or lose it. That meant she would have to leave her college age twins behind for lack of time. As you might know or at least guess, all heck breaks loose and the story becomes a breakneck race to get her life back in order and her twins back by her side, safe! All the while she has great fear after finding threatening notes warning her of what they would do to her and her family if they were not given a certain necklace worth a massive amount of money, that her grandmother gifted to her. A necklace she knew nothing about! But first she has to find it! And it won't be easy. Or all will forever be lost to her, and her life would never be the same again, if she could even stay alive long enough to make things right. If she couldn't solve this problem, she would be making her children suffer the same losses, as she did after losing their father only three years before from a fatal automobile accident. So, there is a lot of emotion and fear for the story's main protagonist, and the local police are not making things any easier on her! It never seems that it will ever get resolved. Well, at least not yet.

[Kevin Findley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not usually a fan of cozies, but this is a really fun whodunit with all of the "cozy"ness people love with these books.

The author, IMHO, loves her characters on a personal level and not just as a way to get to the solution of the mystery or finish out the page count for publication. Shannon, Melanie, and Coleen are probably as much her friends as anyone from the real world.

Finally, although some cozies bury the reader in excessive detail about the hobby or job that serves as title fodder, I think this would have been a more interesting novel if there had been a little more detail on knitting. It's an art and skill that many people today no longer have or use, but there was a basket with needles and yarn in nearly every house I walked into back when I was a boy. Perhaps it's just nostalgia, but maybe not.

A good choice for mystery lovers and a must for cozy lovers.

Find it! Buy it! Read it!

[Gail Hollingsworth · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a groundbreaking for a new coffee shop gets started , a backhoe unearths a dead body. When the identity of the body turns out to be Ed, Melanie’s ex-husband, her close friend Shannon vows to find out the killer. Things get heated as suspicion falls on Melanie. The Purls of Hope knitting circle of which both ladies are members embrace their friend and lend support.
Who could have possibly done such a heinous crime? Follow along as Shannon searches clue after clue.
This was a personal purchase and I reviewed of my own free will.

[Pianosue · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read. Shannon McClain and the members of the Purls of Hope knitting circle are having an ground breaking for an expansion of her shop and craft store when they discover a body. As the police investigate they begin to suspect one her knitting friends but she doesn't believe it and starts her own investigation. Will Shannon figure out who killed her friends ex-husband? Or will the killer get ahold of her first?

[Barbara Cunningham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book #2 if the Creative Woman Mysteries series. Can't wait to get my next book, which I'm sure will be just as good!!! Loved all the characters, many from the previous book so I was familiar with them and the bad guy was a real surprise.... didn't see it coming! So glad I joined Annie's Fiction.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a lot of character development or description of the locale, which I would have liked. Superficial/simplistic plot.

[Stef · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really unbelievable and hurried. I don't think reading the first book in this series would make a difference. Poor character development, and hard to get on board with the plot.

[Alycia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable cozy mystery! I really liked this novel. The characters were enjoyable and the mystery was good. It wasn't too easy to guess, and the ending was perfect.

[Barb Ratcliffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Death by knitting needle

[Adair · Rating 3 out of 5]

An ex-pat from Scotland Shannon tries to prove that her friend didn't murder her ex-husband. It was a quick read and not near as involved as many of her other longer books

[Anna Stone · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like murder mysteries where the unexpected is who did it you need to check this one out. It's fast paced highly recommended!!

[Kathy Dahlstrom · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved the murder mystery with knitting on the side

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book lacked "a lot" compared to #1

[Helen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cheesy and hard to get into.

[Sandra Knapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this story, part of the "Creative Woman Mysteries," the prime suspect is the ex-wife of a murdered man. Why? Because it seems he was killed with one of her knitting needles, and he was tied up with her yarn, and his body was buried right next to the shop where the knitting ladies gathered for their weekly meet-up. All too convenient if you ask me.

What transpires is a an enjoyable story with out the gruesome and gory details of some novels, and without pages of foul language and explicit sex scenes that seem to be the mainstay of most mysteries, thrillers, fantasies, and almost every other book or movie these days. It's so refreshing to read a good story told in plain language and yet you are kept guessing throughout.

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a borderline good book. Shannon McClain is renovating her craft market to make room for an espresso bar. When the groundbreaking ceremony digs up the body of her friend Melanie's ex-husband, Shannon feels that she must help her clear her name as the prime suspect. Edward had left Melanie as soon as she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Shannon begins to look into the crime and keeps digging to find answers to keep Melanie from being arrested. I liked this book until almost the end when the "heroine" has to do something illegal to clear her friend. It wasn't necessary to the story and could have been done another way. I was very disappointed.

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

The second in Annie's Attic's Creative Woman Mystery series. This one involves a murder mystery when the ex-husband of one of Shannon's friends is killed, and Melanie, the friend, becomes the police's prime suspect. To me, this book was weaker than the first in the series. It's a quick read, rather sparingly written, and the mystery isn't well developed. Shannon repeatedly exhibits one of my pet peeves - impulsive, reckless, sometimes illegal behavior.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

#2 in the Creative Woman Mysteries by the same publisher as Annie's Attic Mysteries. Shannon wants to help her friend and fellow member of the Purls of Hope knitting circle, Melanie. Melanie is being framed for her ex-husband ( the husband that divorced her when she was diagnosed with breast cancer) murder. Shannon feels the police are only looking at Melanie and not other suspects. Shannon finds the real murderer, but will she live to tell anyone??

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very fun and engaging whodunit.