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47th out of 105 books
—
154 voters
Skein of the Crime (A Knitting Mystery #8)
Fall has come to Fort Connor, Colorado, and the cool air has inspired the knitters at the House of Lambspun to start on their hats and mittens. It's also brought an influx of students to the university town-and into the shop for knitting classes. Kelly Flynn is happy to teach them the tricks of the trade-until one of them is found dead on the river trail near Kelly's house...more
Hardcover, 304 pages
Published
June 1st 2010
by Berkley Hardcover
(first published May 1st 2010)
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Seventh in the Knitting Mysteries series set in a fictional Fort Collins, Colorado.
The Story
In this particular story, Skein of the Crime, a young college student ODs and there's a connection to the shop through Barbara Macenroe, one of Mimi's knitting instructors and a teacher for whom Kelly has acted as an assistant. The girl's boyfriend is overwrought and overflowing with guilt, so much so that he intends to investigate her death himself. Exploring the drugs-filled parties, questioning student...more
The Story
In this particular story, Skein of the Crime, a young college student ODs and there's a connection to the shop through Barbara Macenroe, one of Mimi's knitting instructors and a teacher for whom Kelly has acted as an assistant. The girl's boyfriend is overwrought and overflowing with guilt, so much so that he intends to investigate her death himself. Exploring the drugs-filled parties, questioning student...more
Jul 16, 2011
Betty
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Shelves:
drugs,
alcoholic,
partying,
knitting,
friendship,
female-sleuth,
wedding,
cozy,
mystery,
murder,
break-up,
knitting-pattern,
romance,
recipe
Skein of the Crime by Maggie Sefton
Published by Berkley Prime Crime
Maggie Sefton has assembled a great mixed group of friends in her Knitting Mystery series. I find as a reader I feel like I am a part of the story, it's an interesting and comfortable feeling. Yet not all is sunny in the small town of Fort Connor, Colorado. As with most of the country, the financial downturn has affected many of the residents, including Kelly's boyfriend, Steve, who is an architect, and her friend Jennifer, in re...more
Published by Berkley Prime Crime
Maggie Sefton has assembled a great mixed group of friends in her Knitting Mystery series. I find as a reader I feel like I am a part of the story, it's an interesting and comfortable feeling. Yet not all is sunny in the small town of Fort Connor, Colorado. As with most of the country, the financial downturn has affected many of the residents, including Kelly's boyfriend, Steve, who is an architect, and her friend Jennifer, in re...more
It's hard to believe this is already the eighth of Sefton's Knitting Mysteries. The tone of this one is somewhat darker than previous books in the series.
Late one night, Kelly Flynn arrives home to find a young woman in her backyard. The girl doesn't respond to any of her questions, nor to those of the emergency personnel whom Kelly has called. The girl, Holly, a student at the local college, is under the influence of drugs, and turns out to be dating the son of one of Kelly's acquaintances from...more
Late one night, Kelly Flynn arrives home to find a young woman in her backyard. The girl doesn't respond to any of her questions, nor to those of the emergency personnel whom Kelly has called. The girl, Holly, a student at the local college, is under the influence of drugs, and turns out to be dating the son of one of Kelly's acquaintances from...more
This was pretty good. Some of the writing was a little strange. For example, I don't understand why the author had to make a point at every opportunity to tell us that the main character loved and needed coffee. It got a bit old after the first couple of times. The mystery portion was pretty good; I didn't figure it out until just before the murderer was revealed. The story focused on the characters as much as the mystery itself and delved deeply into their lives. Fortunately the characters were...more
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The mystery wasn't as strong and the ending was too manipulated in Kelly's favor.
All the cops had to do was interview Holly's roommate and the mystery would have been wrapped up. How is it possible that they didn't figure out this young woman HAD a roommate? What were the cops doing, sitting around reading magazines and eating donuts? The most basic of interviews by the cops would have ended this ridiculous "mystery".
Kelly finally figures out this "key" piece of information and solves the cas...more
Well, I have visited Fort Connor, Colorado again to visit Kelly, Steve, Lisa, Gary, Megan, Marty, Jennifer, and Pete. Again while I was there, another death occurred! Seems every time I go to see all of them, a friend or a new person they know gets killed. This book was not different in anyway. A young college student that was friendly with Burt and Mimi (the owners of the knit shop where all the girls go everyday to talk and knit) is found dead on the running trail behind Kelly's cottage. I enj...more
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This is the most recent book in the Knitting Mystery series and, based on the end-of-book cliffhanger in the main character's personal life, it is not likely to be the last. I am glad to have "caught up" on the series and will probably read the next one (whenever it may appear), but this is far from the best-written series I've read. The same problem persists in this novel that I complained about with Sefton's earlier books: most of the action is told and not shown to the reader. Books, by their...more
I'm not very into mysteries, but my library is doing a summer reading challenge and it includes reading a mystery. My husband found this on the shelf and handed it to me because he knows I enjoy knitting and crochet. This was a good mystery for me because there was no blood or morbid motives and there was lots of yarn crafting.
Also, there were almost as many descriptions of coffee as there were of knitting. I don't drink coffee, but I found the descriptions interesting (and amusing). I know some...more
Also, there were almost as many descriptions of coffee as there were of knitting. I don't drink coffee, but I found the descriptions interesting (and amusing). I know some...more
Jun 10, 2011
Kristen
marked it as abandoned
Only two pages in and I just can't do it. The writing is so insipid. I can't read something this poor after Barbara Kingsolver, whether I agreed with all of Kingsolver's views or not, I adore her words.
The book was ok, not fantastic. It had a nice little mystery but I was disappointed at the inaccuracies in the book. Her section on spinning was nice but she had the terminology wrong. That annoyed me, there are thousands of handspinners out there and I am amazed she didn't check with one to get her facts straight. She seems to repeat things a lot too. I mean the talk on the drug trade and bad economy was talked about over and over again. That was the boring part. She had set that scene up in th...more
Yet again, Maggie Sefton delves into today's societal issues. This time it's about the illegal purveyance of presciption drugs within the young adult crowd. A troubled party girl appears to be turning her life around until one morning when she's found dead from an apparent overdose of opiates. Kelly, our heroine, promises to get to the bottom of what happened. Meanwhile her own personal life seems to unravel at the proverbial seams. The cliff hanger at the end makes me want to rush out for the n...more
Jul 05, 2010
Jeannie and Louis Rigod
added it
I must say that I was slightly disappointed in this book. If I was to tell you why, you might not read it and that would be a disservice to yourselves. For me, I felt it rambled a bit and I was left on a cliff-hanger, which I do not care for in case I miss the next book. On the other hand, I hope this means there is another book.
I feel this book is what I term, a transition book, where the main characters are making a change in their direction in the series. Next book will most likely resolve th...more
I feel this book is what I term, a transition book, where the main characters are making a change in their direction in the series. Next book will most likely resolve th...more
Freelance CPA Kelly finds a young woman in her backyard one evening, stoned out of her mind. Naturally, straight arrow Kelly calls 911. The young woman, Holly, is the girlfriend of a young man whose mother teaches at the neighborhood yard shop, where Kelly spends most of her leisure time and has most of her friends. Holly starts spending time at the shop, too, and it seems that she's shed her bad companions and bad habits. Then a body is found in a wooded area, and Kelly finds herself investigat...more
I enjoyed this book for the most part but it moved rather slow. A young woman is found dead along a path next to the river. Kelly is drawn to the murder since the victim had wandered into her back yard apparently high on drugs. She tries to help find the killer among the friends that frequent the local knitting/coffee shop in town. It was a good idea but the story was a little flat. The characters were drawn well and the knitting hints were a plus.
Don't like the trend of cliff hanger endings. Authors who resort to this are cheating the readers and just trying the sell books.
That said, this one was just ok. What really bothered me was the dialogue that used the charaters names over and over. When A sees that B is calling on a cell phone then neither A nor B need need to keeping naming each other during the conversation. I'm not that dense that I can't keep track of who's talking.
That said, this one was just ok. What really bothered me was the dialogue that used the charaters names over and over. When A sees that B is calling on a cell phone then neither A nor B need need to keeping naming each other during the conversation. I'm not that dense that I can't keep track of who's talking.
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I used to enjoy these books based around the town where I actually went to college, but now they are just tedious. The mystery was ok, and it did make me want to visit the mountains again, but ugh! Kelly, the main sleuth, is just annoying. I read this book after the #9 book and must say that it did clear up some of the cliff hanger aspects in that book. That said-you go Steve! Find someone less annoying to be with! Ugh!
The great part about this series is that, even though the same characters are used in each of Ms. Seftons books, you can jump in anywhere. Each book is a seperate mystery from the last. You won't be lost if you haven't read any of her prior Knitting Mystery books in the series.
The main character Kelly comes across a new death, there is twist to her romance and life for her takes a slightly different turn. It is a light, quick read. The bonus: for all you knitters - a new pattern...for all you c...more
The main character Kelly comes across a new death, there is twist to her romance and life for her takes a slightly different turn. It is a light, quick read. The bonus: for all you knitters - a new pattern...for all you c...more
This is Sefton's eighth knitting mystery to feature Fort Connor, Colo., financial consultant Kelly Flynn. The mystery is a little quiet puzzle. A young girl who had been rebuilding her live after lots of tries is found dead on the trail off the golf course. Steve (Kelly's BF) and Kelly begin to have trouble in their relationship, his business is struggling and her's is doing well.
Another fun read of a knitting mystery rather then quilting. Kelly is self employed accountant/knitter in Colorado. The mystery begins when Kelly finds the young girl Holly disoriented in her back yard one evening. Later Holly is found dead on the trail near Kelly's cottage. Kelly is the sluth who unravels the truth of who actually did help Holly with her deadly overdose.
These books are so terribly written. I giggle incessantly at Sefton's descriptions of Edouardo's "heddy brew" and taking a "long pull" on her coffee. This book hits a new low when it calls prescription drugs "narcotic opiates". WTF?
And Kelly's knitting never seems to improve. I guess her constant "sleuthing" gets in the way of her knitting practice. BWAH!
And Kelly's knitting never seems to improve. I guess her constant "sleuthing" gets in the way of her knitting practice. BWAH!
Another successful installment in this lovely series. I found the topic to be timely (like the previous book) and hope that young women will read this and think twice about their actions. While it's natural to "try things" caution has to be a priority. There are some personal things going on in this book which I hope work out in the next book! ;-)
I really enjoy Sefton's books. The conversations among the characters is stilted IMO, and that bothers me. I finally decided it's because when, for instance, 2 characters are talking to each other, they keep saying each others names. People don't talk that way. The story lines are good, though, and I'll keep reading as many books as are in the series.
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The more I read in this series the less I like them. Everybody is so very nice, even the so-called villain. Only the protagonist's boyfriend displays anything other than sweetness, helpfulness, and good cheer. The plot is so cozy I finished it feeling smothered and glad to come up for fresh air. No more for me.
Two and a half stars. Kelly is, in a word, annoying. If I didn't adore all things yarn-ish, I would have given up on this series long ago. Her involvement in crimes is tenuous at best, and I have no idea why people put up with her meddling. She pokes her nose any and everywhere, and for some reason people answer her questions! Everyone else, including the police, are bumbling idiots. If it weren't for Kelly, unsolved crimes would pepper the Ft. Collins PD books.
Interesting how college drinking a...more
Interesting how college drinking a...more
Kelly is scared by the sudden appearance of a drugged out college student one night at Kelly's back door. Holly is so high that Kelly calls 911 for the girl. Holly gets straight and starts hanging out at the knitting shop Kelly loves. But later Holly is found, presumably of a drug overdose. Kelly promises Holly boyfriend Tommy that Kelly will keep him up-to-date on the investigation into Holly's death if Tommy goes back to medical school.
I had a harder time working my way through this one. The plot is not very tight and I lost interest several times (and this is not a long book...). She kind of broke the streak on these kitschy mysteries getting better. And just my own personal annoyance, can ANY heroine of a series like this not have a dysfunctional relationship? Just curious.
I have read all the books in this series and enjoyed them for what they were - lightly tossed off knitlit mysteries, not pretending to be great literature. This one I found tedious and poorly constructed - I found myself skimming for content and pleased to be done with it.
Like the other books I've read by this author, it was ok. Fairly interesting story and fairly likeable characters. I'm not sure why I keep reading these though. Maybe because it combines mystery and knitting; strong, female characters; familiarity?
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Aka 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...more
More about Maggie Sefton...
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...more
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