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Lucille Jones has come to Minnesota to find her biological mother. She thinks (for reasons which are more than a little dodgy in the obtaining but credible in the outcome) that Jan Henderson is probably her sister. Jan shops and takes classes at Crewel World, the needlework shop owned by Betsy Devonshire. This would all be fairly unremarkable except that Jan's eccentric great-aunt Edyth Hanraty has recently died. Edyth never liked men and she had a lot more money than people expected. She left part of it to some charities and most of it to her relatives in the female line. Her nephew and his four daughters inherit dime none. Her niece Susan and great-niece Jan inherit quite a chunk of change. If Lucille is related through Susan (which Susan vehemently denies), then Lucille and her daughter stand to come into some of that money. Everyone's stake in the matter is increased when the autopsy reveals that Edyth was murdered. Pithed. A quick and painless death, but murder nonetheless. SINS AND NEEDLES is not one of the strongest books in the Needlecraft series. Betsy and Godwin, her assistant, play almost minor roles in the story; they are asked by Jan to help solve the crime, but much of the actual story presentation doesn't involve them. There are some gaping holes in the plot, given the technology available today and the likelihood that such technology would be used. Given Edyth's strong feelings about men and her money, and her business acuity, it seems unlikely that she wouldn't have set her will up in such a way that the non-inheriting males couldn't play upon the tender feelings of the female heirs. This, of course, would have ruined much of the book. Ferris is good at telling a story that keeps one reading and SINS AND NEEDLES is no exception. While Betsy and Goddy don't grow much, we do learn a little more about some of the other continuing characters and their lives. Ferris captures the mores and attitudes of small-town life 30 years ago, some of which haven't changed all that much today. While this may not be the best book to start the series with, devoted fans will find something to enjoy in SINS AND NEEDLES.
Reviewed by P.J. Coldren, August 2006
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