Molly MacRae

Although a bit confusing during the first few chapters, once you get your bearings straight, this first book in a new cozy mystery series has a lot to offer. The novel includes an intriguing resident ghost, a charming Southern island setting, quirky characters, and an amusing storyline. Lots of beachcombing and muffins, there are even a few recipes at the end! A good choice for cozy fans who need a summer read or readers who prefer coastal cozies. I look forward to the next book in the show more series.

Net Galley Feedback show less

This is one of those books that's been sitting on my TBR for ever; enthusiastically bought but then languishing in a fit of "what was I thinking?". I picked it up a few weeks ago and started it but then kept falling asleep before getting past a page or two (which shouldn't be held against it - drugs were involved).

Once I finally devoted some attention to it, it was good - I devoured most of it in 2 sittings. It's light, heavy on wit and banter but with pretty decent plotting and a sneaky show more sucker punch at the end. A bit heavier on romance than the average cozy, but all very cozy romance. I liked Margaret, the MC, although by the end I was ready to strangle Bitsy; she's a bit of a shrewish idiot. Gene (romantic interest) remained fairly enigmatic throughout the book but likeable enough. I enjoyed that most of the book took place at Margaret's bookshop and the author's experience working in bookshops is obvious.

The cover says "A Margaret and Bitsy Mystery", which implies a series, but it was published in 2010 so I'm not holding my breath for a book 2. Luckily this one stands on its own just fine. show less

First Line: It wasn't how I'd planned to spend my thirty-ninth birthday, driving like a crazed woman from Richmond, Virginia, to a cemetery in the mountains of east Tennessee.

Kath Rutledge, textile preservationist for the state of Illinois, is driving like a crazed woman because she's trying not to miss the funeral of her beloved grandmother, Ivy McClellan. She almost doesn't make it, thanks to Cole Dunbar, who unfortunately is the type of police officer anyone would dearly love to punch in show more the nose.

After the funeral, Kath goes to her grandmother's popular fiber and fabric shop, the Weaver's Cat, where many of Ivy's friends have gathered to honor her memory. Most of those attending belong to a group of fiber and needlework artists known as TGIF (Thank Goodness It's Fiber). Afterwards Kath goes to her grandmother's cottage, fully expecting to stay there while she wraps up Ivy's affairs. However, the locks have been changed. It seems that Ivy didn't own her home, and the new owner has it locked up tighter than a drum until he gets the rent he's owed. Or so he says.

An acquaintance gives Kath an alternate place to stay, and it's not until the next day that she learns that the previous tenant, Emmett Cobb, was murdered-- and Kath's grandmother is the prime suspect. Even though this cake doesn't need any icing, Kath gets it anyway: the cabin where she's staying has another occupant-- a gloomy ghost who is just as motivated as Kath when it comes to finding Emmett Cobb's killer.

Life in a small town in east Tennessee is lovingly described in Last Wool and Testament, as are its residents. MacRae has the perfect setting and a wonderful cast for her new series, and if you aren't exactly a fan of paranormal mysteries, feel free to give this one a try anyway. The paranormal angle is done with a very light touch, and the ghost is more of a monumental pain in the neck than she is otherworldly.

I enjoyed myself becoming acquainted with the cast of characters (well... with the exception of Cole Dunbar; I really did want to punch that guy in the nose), and my candidate for whodunit changed from time to time until close to the end when one character's behavior set off my inner alarm system.

I savored all the information about textiles throughout the book, and although I normally ignore patterns or recipes in the backs of cozy mysteries, I have to admit that-- although the knitting pattern for a baby/toddler's hat didn't do much for me, the recipe for Rosemary Watermelon Lemonade made my taste buds sit up and beg.

Good setting, good characters, good food... and fiber and fabric, too. Last Wool and Testament is a wonderful beginning to a new series. show less

Author Molly MacRae has created quite the amateur sleuthing quartet for the start of her new Highland Bookshop series. Janet Marsh is a librarian, her thirty-eight-year-old daughter Tallie a lawyer, Tallie's college roommate Summer Jacobs is a journalist, and Christine Robertson is a social worker who's returned to her Scottish roots. Between them all, they have plenty of experience that will help them solve crimes. Their decision to come to the Highlands, settle down and open a bookshop, show more tea room, and bed and breakfast will be seen as vicarious wish fulfillment by many readers, and MacRae does address some of the differences in the way things are done between Scotland and the United States.

There is also an interesting secondary cast that I can't wait to see become more fully fleshed as the series continues-- like Constable Norman Hobbs, a man called Rab and his dog who are both good at disappearing, and an elderly woman the four women call Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle who spends a lot of time in Yon Bonnie Books. I also loved the mentions of groups like "Obsessive Outlanders" and "Born-Again Bravehearts." If only I liked the local librarian as much, but she's simply too good at foisting her work off on others for that to happen.

Not everything was smooth sailing for me while reading Plaid and Plagiarism. The ladies do something that gets my dander up: they withhold evidence from the police. (Shame on them!) It's also a bit easy to deduce the identity of the killer, but with the book's Highland setting and the fine ensemble cast that the author has created, I am certainly looking forward to the next book in the series! show less