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A Knitting Mystery #1
Knit One, Kill Two
Despite the fact that her aunt was an expert knitter, Kelly Flynn never picked up a pair knitting needles she liked -- until she strolled into House of Lambspun. Now, in the first in a brand-new series, she learns how to knit one, purl two, and untangle the mystery behind her aunt's murder. — Kelly Flynn would be the first to admit her life in Washington, D.C., is a little on the dull side. But coming back to Colorado for her beloved aunt’s funeral wasn’t the kind of excitement she was seeking. The police are convinced that her Aunt Helen’s death was the result of a burglary gone bad, but for the accountant in Kelly, things just aren’t adding up. After all, why would her sensible, sixty-eight-year-old aunt borrow $20,000 just days before her death? With the help of the knitting regulars at House of Lambspun, Kelly’s about to get a few lessons in cranking out a sumptuously colored scarf -- and in luring a killer out of hiding...
9 pages, Audio
First published January 1, 2005
379 people are currently reading
6263 people want to read
About the author
Maggie Sefton
35 books785 followersAka Margaret Conlan
From author website:
"First, a little biographical information as introduction: Born in Richmond, VA, I grew up in Northern Virginia in Arlington, close to Washington, D.C. I attended university and received a Bachelor's degree in English Literature & Journalism, married, and started my family there. All four of my daughters are grown and established in careers of their own and are literally scattered around the globe. I now reside in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado with two very demanding dogs."
From author website:
"First, a little biographical information as introduction: Born in Richmond, VA, I grew up in Northern Virginia in Arlington, close to Washington, D.C. I attended university and received a Bachelor's degree in English Literature & Journalism, married, and started my family there. All four of my daughters are grown and established in careers of their own and are literally scattered around the globe. I now reside in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado with two very demanding dogs."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 982 reviews
October 10, 2020
I am an avid knitter and enjoy a good cozy mystery so I expected this book to be something I would like, given that it enjoys fairly decent ratings. I did not expect to find a poorly edited book full of errors, populated by cardboard characters who exist merely to do favors for the heroine of the book despite the fact they met her ten minutes ago.
Everything about this book rings false. From an Aunt who lives on a golf course and had previously sold huge amount of prime land to developers who is described as barely getting by to the heroine who is a CPA at a high-powered DC financial house but who thinks that $20,000 is a huge amount of money. I couldn't decide if it was more disturbing that the women who owns the knitting shop kept insisting the heroine see the shop the day after her aunt's funeral or the fact that the heroine visited her aunt regularly but have never been to the shop or met its regulars despite the fact that her aunt lived next door and spent most of her time there. The police are betrayed as idiots even though the heroine's actions are even more idiotic. I mostly kept reading to the end because this book was so bad, it was actually entertaining. The ending was so bad it seemed like it was spoofing the genre.
A final disturbing note is that there are a lot of terrible events that are revealed in the course of the story that are treated in an off-handed manner and add nothing to the book. The heroine seems to have the emotional depth of a moist towelette.
Everything about this book rings false. From an Aunt who lives on a golf course and had previously sold huge amount of prime land to developers who is described as barely getting by to the heroine who is a CPA at a high-powered DC financial house but who thinks that $20,000 is a huge amount of money. I couldn't decide if it was more disturbing that the women who owns the knitting shop kept insisting the heroine see the shop the day after her aunt's funeral or the fact that the heroine visited her aunt regularly but have never been to the shop or met its regulars despite the fact that her aunt lived next door and spent most of her time there. The police are betrayed as idiots even though the heroine's actions are even more idiotic. I mostly kept reading to the end because this book was so bad, it was actually entertaining. The ending was so bad it seemed like it was spoofing the genre.
A final disturbing note is that there are a lot of terrible events that are revealed in the course of the story that are treated in an off-handed manner and add nothing to the book. The heroine seems to have the emotional depth of a moist towelette.
July 24, 2008
Purely a fluff mystery. It’s a fun little story that almost dives into the world of fantasy. Really now - how can all these people work such flexible jobs that allow them to continuously pop into the knitting store at whim? Seriously. I also found that there were too many characters, there was nothing to really distinguish them from each other and their characters were all rather flat. Less would have been more here. Being a knitter, I found the rate that all these “working people” were finishing projects the likes of sweaters simply incredible to the point of disbelief. And let us not forget the introduction of the future love interest, to whom Kelly took an immediate dislike.
Still, I liked the Colorado setting, the knitting theme was cool - I totally understood the whole sensory color overload when Kelly walks into the knitting store for the first time - and at least in this mystery, the heroine doesn’t act like a stupid ninny and confront the villain alone (like another theme mystery I like to read) only to require rescue by said love interest. I’ll read the next couple and see how this series fleshes out.
Still, I liked the Colorado setting, the knitting theme was cool - I totally understood the whole sensory color overload when Kelly walks into the knitting store for the first time - and at least in this mystery, the heroine doesn’t act like a stupid ninny and confront the villain alone (like another theme mystery I like to read) only to require rescue by said love interest. I’ll read the next couple and see how this series fleshes out.
November 11, 2008
I'm just going to review this first book, since it is fairly representative of the series. An enjoyable, though somewhat predictable mystery read, especially if you are a fiber addict and like to read about knitting and yarn.
Something I like about these books is that the murders aren't just "the reason for the book," they are treated as being horrible/sad/tragic/hateful, just as they ought to be. Some books are "ho-hum, we needed someone to die so our hero could investigate, HELLO JANE JEFFRIES."
Something that irritated the crud out of me by the 3rd book, and now has gone BEYOND ANNOYING, is the coffee thing. Agatha Christie used a character called Ariadne Oliver, a mystery writer, to comment on how awful it is when you give your Detective a collection of habits or characteristics. At first you do it to make them seem real but after a while they are just the irritating Finnish detective who has finicky eating habits. To put an even slyer spin on the commentary, Ariadne Oliver ate a lot of apples and was always shedding hairpins out of her wacky coiffure. And every time you read about that annoying Finn and how Ariadne had come to despise him, you thought of a certain Belgian detective who combed his moustaches and grew vegetable marrows. Agatha Christie knew what she was talking about.
In these Knitting Mysteries, the Detective is an Accountant who learns to Knit, and who has an addiction to coffee that, if it were an illegal addiction, would be a $1000 a day heroin habit. And she has a loveable Rottweiler named Carl. I like Carl, he can stay, but I've reached the point with the coffee thing that every time Kelly (our Coffee-swilling, Knitting, Accountant Sleuth) knocks back a cup of joe I feel QUITE ANNOYED. Enough with the fucking coffee. Or, if Ms. Sefton can't let it go, or drop back the number of java references, I want her to mention that Kelly spends all damn day in the bathroom because of the caffiene, and is noticing that she is DEHYDRATED all the time because she never takes a drink of plain, ordinary tap.
I am An Average Reader, and when I start counting the references to coffee in the books, you need to rethink the whole Queen of Caffeine thing.
Something I like about these books is that the murders aren't just "the reason for the book," they are treated as being horrible/sad/tragic/hateful, just as they ought to be. Some books are "ho-hum, we needed someone to die so our hero could investigate, HELLO JANE JEFFRIES."
Something that irritated the crud out of me by the 3rd book, and now has gone BEYOND ANNOYING, is the coffee thing. Agatha Christie used a character called Ariadne Oliver, a mystery writer, to comment on how awful it is when you give your Detective a collection of habits or characteristics. At first you do it to make them seem real but after a while they are just the irritating Finnish detective who has finicky eating habits. To put an even slyer spin on the commentary, Ariadne Oliver ate a lot of apples and was always shedding hairpins out of her wacky coiffure. And every time you read about that annoying Finn and how Ariadne had come to despise him, you thought of a certain Belgian detective who combed his moustaches and grew vegetable marrows. Agatha Christie knew what she was talking about.
In these Knitting Mysteries, the Detective is an Accountant who learns to Knit, and who has an addiction to coffee that, if it were an illegal addiction, would be a $1000 a day heroin habit. And she has a loveable Rottweiler named Carl. I like Carl, he can stay, but I've reached the point with the coffee thing that every time Kelly (our Coffee-swilling, Knitting, Accountant Sleuth) knocks back a cup of joe I feel QUITE ANNOYED. Enough with the fucking coffee. Or, if Ms. Sefton can't let it go, or drop back the number of java references, I want her to mention that Kelly spends all damn day in the bathroom because of the caffiene, and is noticing that she is DEHYDRATED all the time because she never takes a drink of plain, ordinary tap.
I am An Average Reader, and when I start counting the references to coffee in the books, you need to rethink the whole Queen of Caffeine thing.
June 16, 2012
It's hard to fairly evaluate this book, because I listened to the audiobook and the narration is HORRIBLE. It was only just about the level that I can even stand to listen to it. It seemed like the narrator had not read the book before, or even read a sentence before narrating it, so there are all these weird mood shifts and changes.
As for the book itself (in as much as I can judge, what with it being filtered through the prism of terrible narration) it's a reasonably interesting book, inoffensive and at times even sweet. I basically enjoyed it, though it could never be called great literature. There were a few annoying aspects that kept repeating themselves. First, Sefton seemed to inject to much comic relief at too odd moments, so one moment they would be grieving or discussing some terrible tragedy then the next, oh that Jennifer, what a hilarious slut! The quick shifts made the characters seem shallow and inauthentic. The narration magnified this flaw but it was there already. Also, we get it, yarn is pretty, but the weird descents into a Pantone color catalog, or that one scene where every knitter in the room is nervously fondling balls of wool to relax....yeah, that was a bit much. Like probably everyone who read this book I am a knitter and get the appeal, but this was just too much, and it accompanied the weird mood shifts (my dear aunt is dead! Oh look, merino!).
Overall, the book is pleasant, but there are much better books to be spending your time with.
As for the book itself (in as much as I can judge, what with it being filtered through the prism of terrible narration) it's a reasonably interesting book, inoffensive and at times even sweet. I basically enjoyed it, though it could never be called great literature. There were a few annoying aspects that kept repeating themselves. First, Sefton seemed to inject to much comic relief at too odd moments, so one moment they would be grieving or discussing some terrible tragedy then the next, oh that Jennifer, what a hilarious slut! The quick shifts made the characters seem shallow and inauthentic. The narration magnified this flaw but it was there already. Also, we get it, yarn is pretty, but the weird descents into a Pantone color catalog, or that one scene where every knitter in the room is nervously fondling balls of wool to relax....yeah, that was a bit much. Like probably everyone who read this book I am a knitter and get the appeal, but this was just too much, and it accompanied the weird mood shifts (my dear aunt is dead! Oh look, merino!).
Overall, the book is pleasant, but there are much better books to be spending your time with.
dnf
July 5, 2017Too much fat shaming and guilt over eating good food for me to enjoy the yarn and murders.
December 3, 2012
I started reading this book anticipating a light fluffy mystery read, not the next great work of American literature. Even with that in mind, I was sorely disappointed.
I'm a hardcore knitter, I was knitting while reading this book on my Kindle. But by the third (then fourth, fifth, etc.) time the same plot devices were used, I was losing interest fast. I have no idea how the main character, Kelly, was able to suck down as much (insert superlative here) coffee as she did and still sleep. I too love going into a fiber shop and giving the prettiest of skeins a squeeze, but Kelly took it to almost being a fetish. I wanted to scream at her to stop molesting the merchandise, and if the shop owner wasn't her new BFF, I'm sure she would too.
The characters were all so one-dimensional I couldn't tell one from the other, except for Lizzie, who is just described as being older, mischievous, and wearing lots and lots of pink and ruffles.
The writing itself wasn't hideous, but the flow of the story ground to a halt every time we were given (via Kelly the reluctant and whiny student) a knitting lesson. Listen, people reading this book either already know how to knit, or if they don't, they aren't going to learn from READING about Kelly learning. An editor should have really hacked those passages down to something along the lines of "she patiently demonstrated the movements again and then offered the needles to Kelly."
Regarding the mystery: the culprit is pretty obvious from the moment they appear. I'll confess to being a little confused about why Kelly was so determined to solve the crime, since her "grief" over her aunt's passing seemed fleeting at best. She squeezed out a few tears and had the sadz once or twice...but then it's off to the yarn shop for more knitting and coffee!
The entire ending would have made me give up, were I not so close to finishing. Oy.
I e-borrowed this book from the library, and they have at least the next two books in the series. I'm going to give them a try out of fairness and hope the series gets better!
I'm a hardcore knitter, I was knitting while reading this book on my Kindle. But by the third (then fourth, fifth, etc.) time the same plot devices were used, I was losing interest fast. I have no idea how the main character, Kelly, was able to suck down as much (insert superlative here) coffee as she did and still sleep. I too love going into a fiber shop and giving the prettiest of skeins a squeeze, but Kelly took it to almost being a fetish. I wanted to scream at her to stop molesting the merchandise, and if the shop owner wasn't her new BFF, I'm sure she would too.
The characters were all so one-dimensional I couldn't tell one from the other, except for Lizzie, who is just described as being older, mischievous, and wearing lots and lots of pink and ruffles.
The writing itself wasn't hideous, but the flow of the story ground to a halt every time we were given (via Kelly the reluctant and whiny student) a knitting lesson. Listen, people reading this book either already know how to knit, or if they don't, they aren't going to learn from READING about Kelly learning. An editor should have really hacked those passages down to something along the lines of "she patiently demonstrated the movements again and then offered the needles to Kelly."
Regarding the mystery: the culprit is pretty obvious from the moment they appear. I'll confess to being a little confused about why Kelly was so determined to solve the crime, since her "grief" over her aunt's passing seemed fleeting at best. She squeezed out a few tears and had the sadz once or twice...but then it's off to the yarn shop for more knitting and coffee!
The entire ending would have made me give up, were I not so close to finishing. Oy.
I e-borrowed this book from the library, and they have at least the next two books in the series. I'm going to give them a try out of fairness and hope the series gets better!
April 21, 2008
I was annoyed with this book from the get-go because of typos and word mis-use(The proofreader sucked I guess: "The sound of Carl's barking reached her eyes.") because I live in the Colorado town where it is based, and the shop in the book was the first LYS I knew. What irritated me is that I can see no reason to change the name of the towns -- can someone explain why you would do that?
While I did not figure it out right away, I felt that there was a shallowness to the mystery, and unnecessary details and side notes like the trip to the Scottish games or whatever it was, all about the cafe and the cafe owner and Eduardo's dark rich coffee over and over and over again and all the numerous knitters in the shop all the time who just so happen to not have kids or spouses, and conveniently all of them have jobs they can just adjust at will to allow them to sit around and knit in the middle of the day, then play softball in the evening.
I think it got better as far as the writing went toward the end of the book -- fewer redundancies (Eduardo makes good coffee, someone loves cinnamon buns, the yarn is soft and bright and yummy, she wants to make a sweater, she never learned to knit, Helen was a saint....)
While I did not figure it out right away, I felt that there was a shallowness to the mystery, and unnecessary details and side notes like the trip to the Scottish games or whatever it was, all about the cafe and the cafe owner and Eduardo's dark rich coffee over and over and over again and all the numerous knitters in the shop all the time who just so happen to not have kids or spouses, and conveniently all of them have jobs they can just adjust at will to allow them to sit around and knit in the middle of the day, then play softball in the evening.
I think it got better as far as the writing went toward the end of the book -- fewer redundancies (Eduardo makes good coffee, someone loves cinnamon buns, the yarn is soft and bright and yummy, she wants to make a sweater, she never learned to knit, Helen was a saint....)
November 8, 2017
The only reason this is getting 2 stars instead of 1 is because I actually finished reading it.
But wow. It was bad. There were several things that bothered me throughout, like Kelly being a classic too stupid to live heroine, the atrocious dialogue, the lack of any kind of character depth, the complete lack of any real gravitas to the whodunnit, and did I mention the ATROCIOUS dialogue. Characters constantly used each others names in conversation, which sounds so jarring compared to how normal people speak. And they used language no normal people use.
Also, Kelly was almost pornographically in love with yarn. It was creepy how much she "fondled" and "caressed" the yarns. I think the word seductively was used. I sure know the word "hastened" was used about 6 times in the first 100 pages.
If you don't care about writing quality and just want a frothy low-stakes book, I guess you could do worse. But I hated how dismissive they were of Lizzie, treating a grown woman like a child who got into "mischief." Let the old lady peek under a kilt if it's consensual. Who cares. And they made fun of Jennifer so often for not wanting to work out and her love of cinnamon buns. Jesus, give the woman a break. Though her laziness and love of food was the only thing to make her distinct from Lisa, Megan, Mimi and the others, because quite frankly none of these characters were interesting at all.
I won't be reading more of these.
But wow. It was bad. There were several things that bothered me throughout, like Kelly being a classic too stupid to live heroine, the atrocious dialogue, the lack of any kind of character depth, the complete lack of any real gravitas to the whodunnit, and did I mention the ATROCIOUS dialogue. Characters constantly used each others names in conversation, which sounds so jarring compared to how normal people speak. And they used language no normal people use.
Also, Kelly was almost pornographically in love with yarn. It was creepy how much she "fondled" and "caressed" the yarns. I think the word seductively was used. I sure know the word "hastened" was used about 6 times in the first 100 pages.
If you don't care about writing quality and just want a frothy low-stakes book, I guess you could do worse. But I hated how dismissive they were of Lizzie, treating a grown woman like a child who got into "mischief." Let the old lady peek under a kilt if it's consensual. Who cares. And they made fun of Jennifer so often for not wanting to work out and her love of cinnamon buns. Jesus, give the woman a break. Though her laziness and love of food was the only thing to make her distinct from Lisa, Megan, Mimi and the others, because quite frankly none of these characters were interesting at all.
I won't be reading more of these.
March 7, 2010
FINALLY!!
I have been reading "cozy mysteries" for awhile now. Most of them I REALLY enjoy. But I am starting to see a pattern in them. Let me explain~~First, you have a party or a gathering or a function. Then, someone (usually its QUITE shocking) dies. Then, someone (the hero OR heroine of the stories) steps in to "help" local authorities and 128 pages later, *POOF*, the crime is solved. Not always neatly, but solved nonetheless.
THIS book was different. And since this is the first book in the series, I may be wrong about this, but it feels like it will continue in the vein that this one was written. Which is different than most of the cozy mysteries that I am currently reading.
This book told a story!! A believable story. With characters you want to learn more about. Who have believable lives. And believable foibles and quirks and temperaments. And are all bound together by their love of knitting and crafts.
And the best thing of all--I had NO idea (even though it was staring at me in the end) who the killer was. And was shocked when I realized. HOW REFRESHING!!!!
I cannot WAIT to read the second one in this series. I seriously hope it doesn't let me down!!
December 27, 2008
The first in the Knitting Mystery Series.
This was a rough book but you can see the potential in the series. The main character is Kelly Flynn, a CPA who goes back to her Aunt's house to wrap up the estate after she is murdered. Kelly is an army brat who moved around a lot as a child - and coming back to her Aunt's house reminds her that this was the only place even close to being a real home to her over the years. When she digs into her Aunt's finances and finds some hinky loans against her house, $20,000 in missing cash and the family heirloom quilt is missing she decides to dig into the mystery of her beloved Aunts death.
How does knitting fit in? Well - the barn on the property is a Yarn Shop ran by a close friend of the dead Aunt. Kelly is slowly seduced by the fiber and the friendship of the yarn shop. Oh - and their is a coffee shop attached - which frankly sounds like my wet dream. Strolling across the yard to fondle new fiber and drink coffee with knitting friends?!?! Uh Yeah. Good stuff their.
You have to be forgiving as you read this first book - but it's worth reading and the series does improve. I like the characters and I like the knitting descriptions quite a bit.
BONUS - there is a knitting pattern for a scarf and a simple shell as well as a recipie for Cinnamon Rolls in the back of the book.
This was a rough book but you can see the potential in the series. The main character is Kelly Flynn, a CPA who goes back to her Aunt's house to wrap up the estate after she is murdered. Kelly is an army brat who moved around a lot as a child - and coming back to her Aunt's house reminds her that this was the only place even close to being a real home to her over the years. When she digs into her Aunt's finances and finds some hinky loans against her house, $20,000 in missing cash and the family heirloom quilt is missing she decides to dig into the mystery of her beloved Aunts death.
How does knitting fit in? Well - the barn on the property is a Yarn Shop ran by a close friend of the dead Aunt. Kelly is slowly seduced by the fiber and the friendship of the yarn shop. Oh - and their is a coffee shop attached - which frankly sounds like my wet dream. Strolling across the yard to fondle new fiber and drink coffee with knitting friends?!?! Uh Yeah. Good stuff their.
You have to be forgiving as you read this first book - but it's worth reading and the series does improve. I like the characters and I like the knitting descriptions quite a bit.
BONUS - there is a knitting pattern for a scarf and a simple shell as well as a recipie for Cinnamon Rolls in the back of the book.
October 22, 2016
This is the first book in the knitting mystery series. Kelly Flynn returns to her aunts Colorado hometown when she learns of her aunts murder. She soon finds out that her aunt borrowed $20,000 from her mortgage shortly before her death. Kelly is soon lead to believe that her aunts death was more than a random act of violence, but in fact a calculated murder. Along with her aunts friends, Kelly sets out to find out who would want her aunt dead.
I absolutely loved this book. The characters were fun and engaging. I can't wait to read more.
I absolutely loved this book. The characters were fun and engaging. I can't wait to read more.
January 21, 2025
Fun cozy mystery set in and around a yarn store, complete with patterns and a recipe for cinnamon rolls at the end! It made me want to go into a yarn store and squish the skeins for a while: it is very soothing! Although I could do without the murders!
October 7, 2022
The mystery was nothing special but the vibes were impeccable.
December 8, 2019
3.5 stars!
February 18, 2019
I really enjoyed this cozie. Because the murder was more intimate - family member of the main character - there was more development of the plot....the story felt like it was on a deeper level. I also liked that we looked at Kelly's background...her childhood/teen years, family dynamic throughout, rather than just a quick summary of a recent life changing event.
April 7, 2014
I was curious to read a Maggie Sefton mystery after I met the author this winter. As is my usual practice, I started with her first book, in case I wanted to follow the development of the protagonist throughout the series.
The first of the "Knitting Mystery" series was not my cup of tea. The murders seemed too bloodless, and the "detective" Kelly Flynn had no business solving then. Sefton presents her, an accountant in her day-to-day life, as smarter than the police and spunkier than most women. To me, she seems foolish, taking risks that no sensible person should. Then there is the knitting side of the story. I do knit on occasion, but the craft has too much importance in this book. The message is: people who knit are the best folks in the world and the cleverest too. I don't buy any of it!
The plot was okay, but, I like my mysteries grittier, and my detectives to be more like Millhone, Rebus or Banks, trained investigators. I will not be reading another in the series.
The first of the "Knitting Mystery" series was not my cup of tea. The murders seemed too bloodless, and the "detective" Kelly Flynn had no business solving then. Sefton presents her, an accountant in her day-to-day life, as smarter than the police and spunkier than most women. To me, she seems foolish, taking risks that no sensible person should. Then there is the knitting side of the story. I do knit on occasion, but the craft has too much importance in this book. The message is: people who knit are the best folks in the world and the cleverest too. I don't buy any of it!
The plot was okay, but, I like my mysteries grittier, and my detectives to be more like Millhone, Rebus or Banks, trained investigators. I will not be reading another in the series.
January 19, 2022
The dialogue. Dear god, the dialogue. Is this an extraterrestrial's approximation of how the human race may speak? An early Siri prototype's halting attempt at imitating natural speech? I have never heard a person speak in the manner of the characters in this book, and after reading this book, I hope I never do.
The story was also painfully slow, inexplicably focusing page after page on inane events that did nothing to advance the plot, and the characters were two-dimensional at best. Maybe it would have been tolerable if the central mystery had been remotely interesting, or the villain's motivations at all complex. Alas, even the book's occasional spotlight on my beloved knitting did nothing to make this read anything less than torturous. I'll never get back the three hours I spent reading this.
The story was also painfully slow, inexplicably focusing page after page on inane events that did nothing to advance the plot, and the characters were two-dimensional at best. Maybe it would have been tolerable if the central mystery had been remotely interesting, or the villain's motivations at all complex. Alas, even the book's occasional spotlight on my beloved knitting did nothing to make this read anything less than torturous. I'll never get back the three hours I spent reading this.
June 18, 2017
I'm a knitter who found the excessive descriptions of knitting and yarn tedious, pointless and not true to life. It could not simply be a wonderfully soft yarn, no, it was a seductive frothy confection. Yarn is sold in skeins, balls, cakes, etc. not "bundles". Neither yarn nor a item in the process of being knitted is referred to as "the wool". Nearly indistinguishable characters were never developed into distinctive personalities. It seemed just off that as soon as the yarn shop regulars met Kelly they were trying to get her to drop her life and career out east and move to Colorado - a set up for the next books in the series? I listened to the audio book; the narration was not smooth; the emphasis was oddly placed. I'll not read any more books in this series.
November 30, 2013
What wonderful characters! The mystery is a little slow though. I loved the knit shop next to the coffee shop. Their descriptions made my heart go pitter patter - I love to knit and drink coffee. My idea of heaven.
A nice attempt for a start of a series - introduce the characters and develop them wonderfully. As I said the mystery plot was slow, but nice enough to keep me reading. I understand the series gets better, so I will defer my criticism until the next novel I read in this series.
A nice attempt for a start of a series - introduce the characters and develop them wonderfully. As I said the mystery plot was slow, but nice enough to keep me reading. I understand the series gets better, so I will defer my criticism until the next novel I read in this series.
January 17, 2008
Sorry, the writing is sophomoric and somewhat boring. Too much emphasis on unnecessary details. Love the character and the setting.
March 13, 2018
Well that was boring. 90% of the plot was useless filler and the dialogue was beyond repetitive and bland.
July 19, 2019
I'm so glad I took the time to start this series! It's just as awesome as I'd heard, and I've only finished the first book. I loved getting to know Kelly and her new friends in Colorado, and I especially liked Burt, their resident guy at the fiber shop, a wool spinner who happened to be a retired police officer and came in handy sometimes since he still had contacts on the force. Kelly simply wouldn't take the report seriously that her aunt's murder was merely a robbery gone wrong.
When she finally figured it out, it was so cool that all her friends pitched in and helped set up catching the killer. I especially like it when a sort of trap is set for the killer, and it's even better when the main character and her friends are safe. I hadn't quite figured out all of it. At first I had a different person in mind for the killer, but once clues started falling into place, it made sense. I've been collecting this series for a couple of years now but hadn't really looked back and realized that there are eighteen books in it! From the title of the last one, I'm wondering if it's going to continue. For now, I know I have plenty of catching up to do!
When she finally figured it out, it was so cool that all her friends pitched in and helped set up catching the killer. I especially like it when a sort of trap is set for the killer, and it's even better when the main character and her friends are safe. I hadn't quite figured out all of it. At first I had a different person in mind for the killer, but once clues started falling into place, it made sense. I've been collecting this series for a couple of years now but hadn't really looked back and realized that there are eighteen books in it! From the title of the last one, I'm wondering if it's going to continue. For now, I know I have plenty of catching up to do!
July 14, 2018
Seriously dreadful.
Firstly, because the grammar is appallingly bad. But secondly because the story just sucks.
A woman is staying in a hotel room for her aunt's funeral. She's inherited everything, and drops off her rottweiler in the back yard of the aunt's house, but stays in a hotel. She goes jogging for 5 miles every day, but the dog stays in the back yard. So the dog starts picking up golf balls. And gets yelled at, but the solution is not to leash the dog, or to put up temporarily higher fencing (even though she's decided to stay for a couple of months at this point), it's for Steve, the handsome architect turned builder, to give the dog some of his old balls. This woman should NOT be allowed to have animals.
Then she has a job, and the boss allows her to work from far away, but she can't do anything without the paper files on her desk, even though she has access to the corporate internal website? She starts investigating the murder of her aunt, and asks some decent questions, but then when her aunt's cousin is ALSO murdered, she doesn't go to the police, or make a big fuss, she goes silent.
Meantime, the aunt has taken out a $20k mortgage on her place, but there are stringent rules preventing the sale of the property - how does that work?? If the loaner gets their capital plus interest back, then how can they possibly require the loan to run for at least two years before the property can be sold? Our heroine decides to leave her place in DC (which she might have a mortgage on, or might be renting, pretty sure the book implied both) and sublet it to a co-worker, so that she can have enough money coming in to service both mortgages. If the aunt could get a 20k loan on her house aged 68, why can't the niece be renting the place out for enough to service that debt?
Especially after all the aunt's friends from knitting turn up, and clean the house from top to bottom before the niece deigns to move in. She herself does NONE of the work, but goes looking for paperwork. When that turns up, she doesn't actually read it, it just vamooses off in the hands of a complete stranger, who is going to review it. Except that the niece is an accountant, who later demonstrates the ability to read a property contract on her own - so why would she let Jennifer take the papers before she'd read them herself? So the heirloom quilt is missing, as is the purple knitting that later turns up burnt by the riverside. The 20K is not found.
And the mystery may tie in to the fact that the aunt had a child which she gave up for adoption immediately. She's kept that piece of information a complete secret for all those decades, but the moment the niece arrives, every single person she knows gets told.
The cousin, who was there at the birth, had run from an abusive husband. She's renting a place nearby. The lawyer, who was organising probate of the estate says she'll be able to get hold of her photos etc soon. But what's stopping her moving back there, now that her horrible husband is dead? If she doesn't want to do that, she can at least pack up all the things which belong to her now, so she can have her photos and craftwork.
Then there's the handsome Curt, a rancher who used to be interested in the aunt - and slept with her on graduation night. Initially, the niece spins him a line, but then she goes back to see him, and gets a good gut feel, so tells him absolutely everything, even though he's still a potential suspect. Kelly reveals to the lawyer that he had an illegitimate son. Again, we're back to the aunt never having told anyone.
She then goes to see Alan Gretsky, the property man, and while his assistant is looking for her file (there isn't one), she takes a call from the framing shop, which has framed a quilt for him. Kelly then takes his card, and pays for the framing. Although she had been promised the quilt, there's nothing to say her aunt hadn't changed her mind, and given it to potentially, her actual son OR asked Alan to have it framed for her. But Kelly decides that's a good enough reason to put Alan on the top of the suspect list, because he's clearly the long-lost son. They DO discover that the birth date matches. But they decide all this is circumstantial, so don't tell the policce anything about it - not even Bert, who's an ex-cop. Who raises no objection. It's actually re-iterated that a) the aunt had planned to change her will shortly before she died and b) if Kelly didn't want the house, it was going to be changed into a nature preserve - but apparently Kelly is happy to look at selling the house for her own gain.
She causes a confrontation with Gretsky, tossing a chair in front of him as he attempts to leave. She gives away every piece of evidence against him, then threatens him with CIVIL court. If she'd gone to the police, she had more than enough evidence to convict him, instead, Burt props him up, and suggest he 'get it off his chest'. Without being a cop, or reading him his rights. If he gets a defence attorney, the fact that they finally called the police is irrelevant.
The only part of this book which might appeal to readers is the descriptions of touching wool, and other crafting materials. Kelly goes around touching things in the shop - it's almost pornographic. Basically, this whole book is a mess of contradictions, and I feel very sorry for the dog.
Firstly, because the grammar is appallingly bad. But secondly because the story just sucks.
A woman is staying in a hotel room for her aunt's funeral. She's inherited everything, and drops off her rottweiler in the back yard of the aunt's house, but stays in a hotel. She goes jogging for 5 miles every day, but the dog stays in the back yard. So the dog starts picking up golf balls. And gets yelled at, but the solution is not to leash the dog, or to put up temporarily higher fencing (even though she's decided to stay for a couple of months at this point), it's for Steve, the handsome architect turned builder, to give the dog some of his old balls. This woman should NOT be allowed to have animals.
Then she has a job, and the boss allows her to work from far away, but she can't do anything without the paper files on her desk, even though she has access to the corporate internal website? She starts investigating the murder of her aunt, and asks some decent questions, but then when her aunt's cousin is ALSO murdered, she doesn't go to the police, or make a big fuss, she goes silent.
Meantime, the aunt has taken out a $20k mortgage on her place, but there are stringent rules preventing the sale of the property - how does that work?? If the loaner gets their capital plus interest back, then how can they possibly require the loan to run for at least two years before the property can be sold? Our heroine decides to leave her place in DC (which she might have a mortgage on, or might be renting, pretty sure the book implied both) and sublet it to a co-worker, so that she can have enough money coming in to service both mortgages. If the aunt could get a 20k loan on her house aged 68, why can't the niece be renting the place out for enough to service that debt?
Especially after all the aunt's friends from knitting turn up, and clean the house from top to bottom before the niece deigns to move in. She herself does NONE of the work, but goes looking for paperwork. When that turns up, she doesn't actually read it, it just vamooses off in the hands of a complete stranger, who is going to review it. Except that the niece is an accountant, who later demonstrates the ability to read a property contract on her own - so why would she let Jennifer take the papers before she'd read them herself? So the heirloom quilt is missing, as is the purple knitting that later turns up burnt by the riverside. The 20K is not found.
And the mystery may tie in to the fact that the aunt had a child which she gave up for adoption immediately. She's kept that piece of information a complete secret for all those decades, but the moment the niece arrives, every single person she knows gets told.
The cousin, who was there at the birth, had run from an abusive husband. She's renting a place nearby. The lawyer, who was organising probate of the estate says she'll be able to get hold of her photos etc soon. But what's stopping her moving back there, now that her horrible husband is dead? If she doesn't want to do that, she can at least pack up all the things which belong to her now, so she can have her photos and craftwork.
Then there's the handsome Curt, a rancher who used to be interested in the aunt - and slept with her on graduation night. Initially, the niece spins him a line, but then she goes back to see him, and gets a good gut feel, so tells him absolutely everything, even though he's still a potential suspect. Kelly reveals to the lawyer that he had an illegitimate son. Again, we're back to the aunt never having told anyone.
She then goes to see Alan Gretsky, the property man, and while his assistant is looking for her file (there isn't one), she takes a call from the framing shop, which has framed a quilt for him. Kelly then takes his card, and pays for the framing. Although she had been promised the quilt, there's nothing to say her aunt hadn't changed her mind, and given it to potentially, her actual son OR asked Alan to have it framed for her. But Kelly decides that's a good enough reason to put Alan on the top of the suspect list, because he's clearly the long-lost son. They DO discover that the birth date matches. But they decide all this is circumstantial, so don't tell the policce anything about it - not even Bert, who's an ex-cop. Who raises no objection. It's actually re-iterated that a) the aunt had planned to change her will shortly before she died and b) if Kelly didn't want the house, it was going to be changed into a nature preserve - but apparently Kelly is happy to look at selling the house for her own gain.
She causes a confrontation with Gretsky, tossing a chair in front of him as he attempts to leave. She gives away every piece of evidence against him, then threatens him with CIVIL court. If she'd gone to the police, she had more than enough evidence to convict him, instead, Burt props him up, and suggest he 'get it off his chest'. Without being a cop, or reading him his rights. If he gets a defence attorney, the fact that they finally called the police is irrelevant.
The only part of this book which might appeal to readers is the descriptions of touching wool, and other crafting materials. Kelly goes around touching things in the shop - it's almost pornographic. Basically, this whole book is a mess of contradictions, and I feel very sorry for the dog.
December 4, 2024
A cozy little mystery. Writing wasn’t amazing but the cozy little vibe and world she created made up for it. Being able to buy this book at the yarn shop that the story was set made it all the more special. The fact that there is knitting patterns and a recipe in the back is the cherry on top for me. Would read the second one.
March 14, 2019
A cute but predictable cozy.
February 27, 2016
There are a lot of things to love about this book. Knitting! Friendship! A strong female protagonist! Yes, it's cheesy, but the cheese is forgivable given how cute the premise is. The only problem is that all of the delightful elements fail to offset the heaviness of the murder that drives the plot. Unlike with other "cozy mysteries," the stakes in this book are very high - the main character has lost her only living relative and she is convinced the police have arrested the wrong person. As the novel progresses, the situation only becomes more grim, and the juxtaposition of heartwarming knitting scenes with emotionally fraught discoveries is increasingly jarring.
I will say that the central mystery is more complex than those of other similar novels. Cozy mysteries tend towards accidental resolutions, where the protagonist stumbles upon the murderer by chance. In this book, the main character's investigation is productive and rewarding for the reader. Kelly, the protagonist, is an interesting character; unfortunately, the extensive cast of secondary characters is too poorly-developed for the reader to properly invest in any of them. And for all of the characters introduced, the list of suspects is painfully short. I was able to hone in on the murderer about halfway through.
Despite this novel's shortcomings, the knitting and female friendship is enough for me to give the second book in the series a chance. I think things will be more light-hearted when the person being murdered is someone that Kelly is not emotionally attached to, and hopefully another book will allow the author to better flesh out the other characters. Long story short, this book won't be winning any awards, but it's still a pretty good time :)
I will say that the central mystery is more complex than those of other similar novels. Cozy mysteries tend towards accidental resolutions, where the protagonist stumbles upon the murderer by chance. In this book, the main character's investigation is productive and rewarding for the reader. Kelly, the protagonist, is an interesting character; unfortunately, the extensive cast of secondary characters is too poorly-developed for the reader to properly invest in any of them. And for all of the characters introduced, the list of suspects is painfully short. I was able to hone in on the murderer about halfway through.
Despite this novel's shortcomings, the knitting and female friendship is enough for me to give the second book in the series a chance. I think things will be more light-hearted when the person being murdered is someone that Kelly is not emotionally attached to, and hopefully another book will allow the author to better flesh out the other characters. Long story short, this book won't be winning any awards, but it's still a pretty good time :)
October 30, 2018
This is my first Maggie Sefton book and I really enjoyed it. Easy to follow and lots of characters, but not so many as to be overwhelming. I feel like I didn't get to know the "secondary" characters that well, but hope to see more of them all in future books. I really like Kelly and loved how easily her aunt's friends took her into their fold. I've never tried to knit, but this book made me want to find my local yarn shop and try my hand at it. I focused in pretty quickly on the killer because there just weren't that many suspects. A nice and quick story and I can't wait to continue on with this series and these characters.
October 4, 2022
This book had potential --- knitting murder mystery? So cool! But why why why did this book need to have so much toxic diet culture talk 🤦♀️ women who are meeting for the first time have more to talk about than arguing over a cinnamon roll or German chocolate cake. Had to stop after the first chapter
October 25, 2007
I picked this book up because it had to do with knitting and it looked like the kind of fluff reading I needed at the time. As a mystery, it lacked suspense and 3-dimensional characters, but it did inspire me to pick up my knitting needles again.
February 5, 2016
I really enjoyed reading this mystery! It had enough twists to keep me in suspense! After reading this I feel I should try to knit something lol. Very cute cozy mystery. I highly recommend this one as it made it to my **FAVORITES** list!
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