About
Reviews
Search
Submit
Home

Mystery Books for Sale

[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]


  

STITCH IN TIME, A
by Monica Ferris
Berkley Prime Crime, July 2000
247 pages
$5.99
ISBN: 0425175111


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Her publisher bills this as a needlecraft mystery, and it is. But readers need not be stitchers, nor needlecraft workers of any sort to appreciate and enjoy this third outing in a fine series.

Betsy Devonshire, who rode into Excelsior Minnesota and was forced to solve her sister's murder, has almost settled in to being a needlecraft shop owner, and she has developed some interesting relationships with a couple of cops in town, her staff and some normal people and even with some of the slightly dotty residents.

This is good crime fiction. That means the writing is smooth and even elegant at times, the characters, including Old Man Winter, act in logical ways, the dialogue is crisp and the story progresses through suspense and tension and readers will learn a bit about the patience, discipline and the subtlety of stitchery.

It is nearing Christmas in Minnesota, with all the joys and sorrows, and even menace, that winter can bring in these parts. Renovation of a local church is going forward, when a worker finds a bundle containing a long-lost tapestry. Local craftspeople volunteer to repair the work, and Betsy offers to supply the materials as her contribution. This simple act of kindness tangles her in yet another maze of wrongdoing, theft and death.

One of the difficulties for any writer, and therefore for readers, of series featuring amateur detectives, is the believability of asingle individual being so frequently involved in criminal activity. Author Monica Ferris has cleverly placed her main character on a stage that gives her logical opportunity to intersect many different people in a wide variety of circumstances. She has the town itself, her store and its staff and customers, her church and the wider community of the Twin Cities region. She uses all of these resources to good effect.

A Stitch in Time, like the previous two books in this series, is a comfortable fit for mystery readers who want to spend an enjoyable time with interesting characters, without polemics or political attitudes. A very cozy cozy.

The reviewer is the author of

INNER PASSAGES and

A SUPERIOR MYSTERY

http://www.Minnesotacrimewave.org

Reviewed by Carl Brookins, December 2002

[ Top ]


QUICK SEARCH:

 

Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]