A Deadly Yarn

The third in this fun cozy mystery series that takes place in fictional Fort Connor, Colorado. This installment features Kelly and her friend Megan at an art gallery show with their friend, Allison. Allison does fabric art and has gained the opportunity to be in a New York City gallery. This show is her final one in the area and while her friends are sorry to see her go, they are impressed by her artistry.

Megan promises to pick her up at her apartment to catch her flight at the airport, and shockingly finds her dead. Kelly is there as well and notices a set of beads that Allison had bought for her next project missing from Allison's apartment.

The police rule the death a suicide until Kelly intervenes and Megan points out some show more inconsistencies as well. A message on Allison's voicemail, a bad news ex-boyfriend, and a mysterious car near her apartment on the night of the tragedy all begin to fall into place for the amateur sleuths. And their professional counterparts.

While the drama (or lack thereof) of Kelly's love life continue to give her friends no end of amusement, since Steve is a pretty decent guy, and her telecommuting CPA job still pays the bills, we are beginning to see a shift in her personal life. How she manages to stay a part of the Lambspun family begins to take shape by the end of this book, making this book a pivotal one in the series. show less

A charming cozy murder mystery with a sharp and inqusitive CPA cum alpaca and sheep rancher for its heroine. This is the 3rd book of a series of knitting mysteries and is as delightful as its predecessors. The alpine views of a Colorado fall are beautifully rendered in all their glorious colors just as the rich hues of freshly spun and dyed yarns are vividly described. Not a book easily put down.

A friend of Kelly’s is moving from Colorado to New York to further her artist career, but on the morning another friend, Megan, is supposed to pick her up to get her to the airport, she is found dead. Kelly and Megan begin sleuthing to find out who killed Allison (though Kelly has been warned against sticking her nose in before!).

It was ok. A quick read. I think this is where I’ll stop with this series, though. The mystery was fine for me, but I was quite bored with Kelly’s personal issues/decisions/life. I thought the author did a nice job with her descriptions of Colorado, though. There are plenty of cozy mysteries out there, but this series has lost my interest.

Kelly Flynn and her friend, Megan, are helping their young artist friend, Allison, pack up her apartment before leaving for a 6 month internship with a NYC designer. However, when they arrive at her place to pick her up to go to the airport, they discover her body instead. She perished from an overdose of sleeping pills. Kelly and Megan can't believe it is suicide and start doing some sleuthing on their own. They turn up a few people with grudges against Allison. By feeding the tidbits they uncover to the police they are able to get the case opened as a possible homicide. Along with the sleuthing Kelly has some life and career decisions to make based around her inheritance and the pressure of trying to maintain her long distance show more corporate CPA position. I like Kelly. She's forthright and logical; a character I am looking forward to reading more stories about. show less

Not my favorite, but it was still good. Slow at first, but it picked up toward the end. Plus the descriptions of the fibers and foods were wonderful! And, as an added bonus, there is a detailed scene where Kelly is taught how to do a purposeful yarn over, which I needed to learn.

To me, this book started out really slowly. Maybe it is because I didn't read the other books in the series, but the characters seemed flat, especially at first when it was difficult to tell (or possibly care) who was who.

After about 70 pages, I finally started getting into the plot. I figured out who was guilty as soon as the character was introduced. But since it is a 'cozy', that didn't bother me too much.

Overall, an enoyable read once the characters started to show some personality.

Kelly Flynn loves being back in Fort Connor, Colorado and living across from the best place to get her daily fix of coffee and fibres is a dream come true. Her daily knitting breaks with her friends at House of Lambspun are quickly becoming a necessity and she’d gladly spend more time with them, if only her boss would stop pouring on the work. Kelly suspects he wants her to return to the office in DC, while she’d rather build up her freelance business, remain in Colorado, and explore her developing relationship Steve Townsend.

Allison Dubois, one of Kelly’s knitting friends and a truly gifted fibre artist, has been invited to join an influential fashion designer at her studio in New York. When Kelly shows up to take Allison to the show more airport, she discovers her friend dead of apparent suicide. Kelly and the knitting circle at House of Lambspun know that Allison wouldn’t have given up this chance to pursue her dream. As they begin to investigate Allison’s life, they discover tempestuous relationships, professional rivalries and conflicting stories.

A Deadly Yarn is the third offering by Maggie Sefton in “A Knitting Mystery” series. As in the previous books in the series, A Deadly Yarn focuses on one area of the knitting industry, in this case the glamorous world of fashion design and textile art. Sefton deftly integrates Kelly’s developing knitting skills with her penchant for solving puzzles. Once again a knitting pattern discussed in the story, and suitable to Kelly’s level of skill, is included at the end of the book, with a recipe for one of the dishes eaten by Kelly and her friends.

The real strength of this series is the wonderful cast of characters Sefton has developed. Her characters have matured significantly since the first book, Knit One, Kill Two, and readers of the series will likely have strong connections to the characters. Readers usually have their favourites, this reviewer’s being Carl the golf ball thief (Kelly’s rottweiler), Lizzie and Hilda von Steuben and Megan Schmidt.

The only blight readers may find in an otherwise outstanding cozy mystery is the tentativeness Kelly exhibits in reaching a decision about her future in Colorado. While this quibbling may fit the plot outline, it seems at odds with the straightforward nature she normally exhibits.

Maggie Sefton has delivered the fourth book in this series to her publisher and is hard at work on the fifth Kelly Flynn mystery. Sefton is also the author of Dying to Sell: a Real Estate mystery.

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