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Threadville Mystery #1
Dire Threads
Threadville's zoning commissioner, Mike Krawbach, had denied new resident, Willow Vanderling's plan to renovate the cottage behind her shop. When he attempts to knock it down, Willow is furious - and then Mike turns up dead in her yard.
Hardcover
First published April 20, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 112 reviews
August 26, 2011
Janet Bolin has created a charming new series. I loved every page of the mystery, from the moment nasty Mike Krawbach comes into Willow's store, In Stitches, to the moment when we find out "whodunnit." Bolin has woven a lovely world of crafters and characters. Threadville should be a real town where embroiderers, knitters, and sewers could gather to share trade secrets. Willow's friends and extended "family" are winning.
January 31, 2018
In general I enjoyed this but some of it was just...odd. I especially disliked Uncle Allen. For an aged police officer he acts like a brat. I didn’t really care so much for the three mom’s personalities either. I think it was nice to have a sort of background storyline where three women helped raise the one’s daughter while they all went to school and had careers but they irked me big time. I may try reading another but I may not. Meh
July 18, 2016
I absolutely loved this book! I laughed out loud several times. It was fast paced and very engaging. Since I do machine embroidery, it was the perfect book to read. Loved every minute of it, and I need to own this series!
May 23, 2013
The setting for this book is "Threadville," a group of shops catering to those who like fiber arts. Willow, the main character, owns shop that sells embroidery machines and designs. The book opens with a confrontation between Willow and a local person who wants to tear down the cottage in the back of her property to create an ATV path. I thought Willow was a little too quick to anger and too quick to jump to conclusions. She and her friend (whose name I have forgotten) spent a lot of time trying to suppress giggles throughout the book and I just didn't get the joke most of the time. Nothing in this book interested me enough to read another in the series.
June 14, 2017
Mixed feelings about this one. I liked the main character and her quirky friends, but I thought it took the standard first-in-series trope of "policeman suspects main character" way too far, to the extent that it was painful to read.
May 20, 2019
I really enjoyed the fact that Willow runs an embroidery shop, because I enjoy doing machine embroidery, so unlike some of the hobbies, jobs, careers of characters in other books, I actually understood and could relate to what she was teaching in her classes. After she came to Elderberry Bay aka Threadville and her shop became a stop for the tour bus, Willow never thought she'd have to deal with someone wanting to tear down the adorable cottage on her property, let alone find said someone dead in her backyard. The good old boy detective, fondly known as Uncle Allen, had Willow practically in jail before giving her a chance to prove her innocence. With the help of her craft shop owning friends, Willow set out to do just that. Some of the things those ladies got into made me laugh out loud!
I liked how Willow gathered all the suspects in her store at the end a la Hercule Poirot. It was a lot less dangerous that way, although she did have some dangerous things happen while she investigated. I never suspected the person who was the killer, but it made sense when it was explained. Everything was neatly wrapped up, and now I'm anxious to keep reading in this series that was very short-lived.
I liked how Willow gathered all the suspects in her store at the end a la Hercule Poirot. It was a lot less dangerous that way, although she did have some dangerous things happen while she investigated. I never suspected the person who was the killer, but it made sense when it was explained. Everything was neatly wrapped up, and now I'm anxious to keep reading in this series that was very short-lived.
December 2, 2019
Wasn’t for me. Slow moving and characters that weren’t enjoyable
January 16, 2016
Threadville is a wonderful village in Pennsylvania. A town restored by a bunch of crafty shoppes. Willow Vanderling has come to Threadville to open her dream store In Stitches, a delightful embroidery store catering to both hand and machine embroidery. Bus tours bring customers right to her door every day. The property is perfect, a store at street level, an apartment below and a cute little cottage at the rear of the property.
Willow would love to renovate the little Blueberry Cottage, "a Victorian confection with curlicues and gingerbread trim". But the village's zoning commissioner, Mike Krawbach, denies her permit to redo and upgrade the little cottage. Then he shows up in her store, which is full of customers, to try to get them to sign a petition to tear down the cottage to make room for a ATV trail. These are tourists from out of town and he is tricking them into signing this petition. Willow is livid and has a war of words with the corrupt commissioner with a wide variety of witnesses.
So when the commish ends up dead in Willow's backyard she is the one every one thinks killed the man. Of course she didn't, but she is new in town, people don't know her well, so it is up to her with a little help from her craft shoppe friends to untangle the clues and get a hoop around the person who really killed Mike Krawbach. They have to do it fast because Willow knows she not going to be able to embroider anything from jail.
I LOVED IT!!!!!
It is so rare that I LOVE a first book in a series because it takes time to develop everyone's stories, how they fit together, how they relate to the setting and the direction the series is heading. As I said above it boggles my mind to think this is Janet Bolin's first published novel or even the first book in this series.
The characters are well defined but have plenty of room for growth. The setting is picture perfect and thanks to cover illustrator Robin Moline it is so easy to see it and relate to it and want to travel there as soon as possible. There is suspense, humor, a quirky character or two, a few diversions, some lovable pets, and maybe a romance on the horizon. Bolin has crafted a charming debut to a series I know will keep us In Stitches!!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Berkley Prime Crime, a division of Penguin Publishing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Willow would love to renovate the little Blueberry Cottage, "a Victorian confection with curlicues and gingerbread trim". But the village's zoning commissioner, Mike Krawbach, denies her permit to redo and upgrade the little cottage. Then he shows up in her store, which is full of customers, to try to get them to sign a petition to tear down the cottage to make room for a ATV trail. These are tourists from out of town and he is tricking them into signing this petition. Willow is livid and has a war of words with the corrupt commissioner with a wide variety of witnesses.
So when the commish ends up dead in Willow's backyard she is the one every one thinks killed the man. Of course she didn't, but she is new in town, people don't know her well, so it is up to her with a little help from her craft shoppe friends to untangle the clues and get a hoop around the person who really killed Mike Krawbach. They have to do it fast because Willow knows she not going to be able to embroider anything from jail.
I LOVED IT!!!!!
It is so rare that I LOVE a first book in a series because it takes time to develop everyone's stories, how they fit together, how they relate to the setting and the direction the series is heading. As I said above it boggles my mind to think this is Janet Bolin's first published novel or even the first book in this series.
The characters are well defined but have plenty of room for growth. The setting is picture perfect and thanks to cover illustrator Robin Moline it is so easy to see it and relate to it and want to travel there as soon as possible. There is suspense, humor, a quirky character or two, a few diversions, some lovable pets, and maybe a romance on the horizon. Bolin has crafted a charming debut to a series I know will keep us In Stitches!!
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Berkley Prime Crime, a division of Penguin Publishing. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
June 15, 2011
I found this book to be a poor starter. I found the characters to be, not shallow themselves, but shallowly written. A definite lack of depth and complexity in the writing. Way too much detailed information about machine embroidery and way too much bragging about "sisters-in-thread". The sheriff was a simpleton in the TSTL category. On the plus side, I didn't guess who the culprit was until it was revealed. But overall a very unsatisfying book I really had to struggle to get through.
August 26, 2011
Janet Bolin has created a charming new series. I loved every page of the mystery, from the moment nasty Mike Krawbach comes into Willow's store, In Stitches, to the moment when we find out "whodunnit." Bolin has woven a lovely world of crafters and characters. Threadville should be a real town where embroiderers, knitters, and sewers could gather to share trade secrets. Willow's friends and extended "family" are winning.
December 26, 2023
3 mothers open textile centred shops in a small town on a lake. They get their daughter to leave the big city and her job in finance and open a shop along side theirs. She in turn lures her best friend who has always wanted to open a shop centred around her passion for machine embroidery. The area behind her shop has a small cottage that they want to remodel and rent out but the local person in charge of zoning is refusing her permits as he wants to annex the area for public restrooms and open the nature trail along the river to his ATV club. A day, or rather night later he is found dead in her yard apparently beaten to death with an oar from her shed. So begins the tale. Interesting concept of a town built around textile tourism. Also interesting characters, not yet fleshed out as this is a first in series. Overall a good read.
November 2, 2021
I made it to page 50 and was too bored to continue. This book was too formulaic. From the stupid inept sheriff who jumped to unsupported conclusions and didn't properly collect evidence to the victim who was a bully. I also did not get any sense of love of craft. Yes, Willow had literally embroidered everything in sight, but she never actually embroidered anything. I just didn't care about anyone in this book.
July 9, 2018
What a fun book! It took me awhile to get into it, but then I was hooked. Wonderful twist at the end.
June 16, 2011
This was our debut trip to Elderberry Bay, PA. More specifically we visited the Threadville district. This is a very unique but appealing town except for the 'locals.' The locals are the persons living in Elderberry that are opinionated and unopened to newcomers...or in this case, the new businesses/and owners making up the Threadville district. Luckily not all villagers are acting like nasty and bad-tempered bullies.
Our newest friend, Willow Vanderling, proprietor of a machine embroidery store, has followed her friends and their dreams to open craft/fabric stores in Threadville. A local man who also holds the job of approving zoning permits is not happy to make Willow and her friends welcomed. In fact he is determined to re-zone the land that Willow's cottage, fetchingly named, Blueberry cottage, to flood zone and only allow an ATV track there. Hot words are exchanged and yes, we are not surprised when, the next morning, this man is no longer among the living.
Willow and friends quickly learn the locals are more than willing to accuse her of the murder and off we go on a fast paced and interesting search for the true killer/killers.
Why do I keep saying 'we?' Well, it is because there were so many laugh out loud spots, bits of interesting trivia, and my moral outrage had to be spent, that I continually ran into the living room, to interrupt my hubby's reading to read him passages aloud. Enough, that he put down his book and suggested that I just read him the book. I did. We both loved it.
So, if you are a fan of justice being served, or maybe fond of the old song 'Buttons and Beaux?', or dressing up as witches and making sandbags, and you love following a good solid mystery with characters you can easily cheer or boo as in an old melodrama...this book is a winner!
Oh, and you even get machine embroidery lessons and patterns. I do not embroider any longer, however, I was very interested in the new technology offered.
Ms. Bolin has become a new Author for me to track all future novels.
Our newest friend, Willow Vanderling, proprietor of a machine embroidery store, has followed her friends and their dreams to open craft/fabric stores in Threadville. A local man who also holds the job of approving zoning permits is not happy to make Willow and her friends welcomed. In fact he is determined to re-zone the land that Willow's cottage, fetchingly named, Blueberry cottage, to flood zone and only allow an ATV track there. Hot words are exchanged and yes, we are not surprised when, the next morning, this man is no longer among the living.
Willow and friends quickly learn the locals are more than willing to accuse her of the murder and off we go on a fast paced and interesting search for the true killer/killers.
Why do I keep saying 'we?' Well, it is because there were so many laugh out loud spots, bits of interesting trivia, and my moral outrage had to be spent, that I continually ran into the living room, to interrupt my hubby's reading to read him passages aloud. Enough, that he put down his book and suggested that I just read him the book. I did. We both loved it.
So, if you are a fan of justice being served, or maybe fond of the old song 'Buttons and Beaux?', or dressing up as witches and making sandbags, and you love following a good solid mystery with characters you can easily cheer or boo as in an old melodrama...this book is a winner!
Oh, and you even get machine embroidery lessons and patterns. I do not embroider any longer, however, I was very interested in the new technology offered.
Ms. Bolin has become a new Author for me to track all future novels.
May 31, 2011
Bolin is destined for the bestsellers list and her series has the legs to stand for quite a long time to come. The writing is clever, the development builds as the book moves with skillful precision and the cast is unforgettable!
Dire Threads is sprinkled with an alluring cast of characters, small-town appeal and effortless humor.
Dire Threads is an entertaining, suspenseful, fast paced tale peppered with witty characters and a suspense plot with substance!
Willow, In Stitches and Elderberry Bay are simply mesmerizing.
Dire Threads is a keeper and one to remain on your shelves – real & virtual. I haven’t fallen this much in love with a cozy debut since Cleo Coyle’s On What Grounds.
Bolin is a bright blazing addition to the mystery genre and Dire Threads is simply enthralling!
Psst: If you snooze, you will miss out on a brilliant series.
Dire Threads is sprinkled with an alluring cast of characters, small-town appeal and effortless humor.
Dire Threads is an entertaining, suspenseful, fast paced tale peppered with witty characters and a suspense plot with substance!
Willow, In Stitches and Elderberry Bay are simply mesmerizing.
Dire Threads is a keeper and one to remain on your shelves – real & virtual. I haven’t fallen this much in love with a cozy debut since Cleo Coyle’s On What Grounds.
Bolin is a bright blazing addition to the mystery genre and Dire Threads is simply enthralling!
Psst: If you snooze, you will miss out on a brilliant series.
July 24, 2016
This is a great start to a new series! I really enjoyed getting to know the people of Threadville! With lots of places to shop to find all your sewing needs this little town will make you want to move here! Willow has just joined her friends and opened up her own shop In Stitches! With a little cottage nestled in the woods behind her shop Willow hopes to renovate it to make some extra money. But when the local zoning commissioner turns down her plans she is sure he is up to no good! When he turns up murdered and she was heard threatening him she is on the top of the suspect list. Willow must clear her name and save her shop before it's too late! She better act quick before the real killer gets her first! I highly recommend this series!
January 20, 2023
I found this at a Little Free Library, and thought my mom might like it, because of the sewing shop theme. (I'm guessing my mom is not rare in liking both mysteries and sewing!) I decided to give it a try myself before passing it along to her, and I got really into it : ) I don't know what a big-time mystery buff might think, but I thought it was a fun read, and the murder in this case was not terribly graphic or gory.
I would read others in the series.
I would read others in the series.
March 7, 2012
Really enjoyed this mystery. Characters are well-drawn and quirky. Author does a good job of portraying small town life and the outsiders vs. insiders tension. Halfway through I thought I knew 'who done it' but I was never sure until the end. Nominated for an Agatha award; it would get my vote.
July 30, 2017
Dire Threads by Janet Bolin is the first book of the Threadville cozy mystery series set in a fictitious small town in contemporary rural Pennsylvania. Threadville is the perfect fantasy for stitchers - a collection of shops dedicated to stitchery, fabric, quilting, notions....where each shop owner has the dream shop she always wanted, full of the very latest and most beautiful supplies.....and every day a bus full of tourists arrives in front of the shops, with customers ready to spend money and take classes all day long. The shop owners are related by blood or friendship, and do everything together, after the busloads of customers clear out each evening. The buildings are beautifully restored historic gems; the talented craftsman who restored them is an eligible single "hunk", and from the start he is smitten with Willow, brand-new shop owner of In Stitches, her machine embroidery shop.
Willow tangles immediately with the hostile zoning commissioner Mike Krawbach. He wants to raze the adorable Victorian cottage on her property to widen the riverside trail for ATVs. When Mike is murdered in her yard, Willow is the prime suspect....and she learns to her horror that all the "old boys" in town are Mike's pals. She joins forces with her best friend Haylee and their "mothers" (biological and honorary) to find clues and solve the case. A cozy fantasy.
Willow tangles immediately with the hostile zoning commissioner Mike Krawbach. He wants to raze the adorable Victorian cottage on her property to widen the riverside trail for ATVs. When Mike is murdered in her yard, Willow is the prime suspect....and she learns to her horror that all the "old boys" in town are Mike's pals. She joins forces with her best friend Haylee and their "mothers" (biological and honorary) to find clues and solve the case. A cozy fantasy.
August 11, 2018
I'm not really a fan of the cozy murder mystery genre, yet I seem to pick them up at second hand shops more than I should. This story revolves around fiber arts, and a community of touristy sewing and fabric and notion shops in a small, charming town. On the plus side, the author goes into great detail about embroidery, and various related technical information. On the negative, that same detail it gets really tedious and doesn't further the plot at all to include so much step by step by step detail. The author also wastes a lot of page space on other extraneous detail, such as documenting every step the main character takes while walking her dogs. Supporting characters are meant to be quirky and interesting, yet they come across as flat and under developed. The antagonists are stereotypical and, as this IS a murder mystery, the victim is so unlikable that i didn't care he was murdered, and didn't really care who did it. The writing style was good, and pacing was adequate. I would have liked the law enforcement officials to be more professional, and the clues to be more complex. All in all, a fast read, and the embroidery and sewing details were excellent.
October 5, 2021
A great book I stumbled across at a thrift store. A plus, it's the first book in a series - and I prefer to read books in the order they were written. Bad news is, it doesn't look like the library has the next two books, so I'll have to look elsewhere. But then can get the next two from the library. Need to do that as much as possible, since I probably own over 2,000 books! Need a couple rooms built on just for a library! Not going to happen though. Thank goodness I have both a family room where my TV is (that doesn't get much use) AND a living room (packed full of books on bookshelves lining most walls and stacked on chairs and tables also)!
Anyway, this was a very good first book. Even for a person who does not get into crafts at all. I'd rather solve mysteries! (In books, not in real life!)
Anyway, this was a very good first book. Even for a person who does not get into crafts at all. I'd rather solve mysteries! (In books, not in real life!)
November 14, 2021
Not for me. Caveat: I'm not into machine embroidery and I HATE using a sewing machine. So, one hit against this for me that is not the author's fault. However, the characters were stick figures (literally, apparently, after a weird exchange in a dark??? hardware store) and the premise of a town that has nothing but fabric and needle craft shops, and shoppers are bussed in daily waving cash to spend is ludicrous. How do you get--how do you afford---a gorgeously renovated store/home and expect to make a living selling overpriced embroidery machines that, maybe, one or two people might buy a month? Now if it had been a cottage business where she sold her embroiderd goods, I'd buy that and might want to read that. Pass me my embroidery hoop and cross stitch and send this "Threadville" place to Fantasy Island.
February 26, 2021
A good cozy mystery set in a Pennsylvania town devoted to needlecrafts, this book combines mystery and stitchery for those who are fans of both. When MC Willow finds a dead body at the bottom of her yard right after she was heard to mutter the words, " I will kill him", it is no surprise that she is the main suspect in his murder. Willow and her fellow crafters must find the true murderer before she is arrested and convicted on flimsy evidence of the murder. This is a satisfying mystery and a good read.
August 15, 2024
Hard one to get through
1. Uncle Allen was horrible. You’d think they’d want a sheriff that isn’t so cut and dry. He’s such a sassy pants.
2. I hated the copious amounts of characters. All with different goofy names. Irv? Smythe? Jacoba?
3. I don’t think I’d read another from the series because it was so boring. The reason I gave it two stars was because they had a good stump joke, but that was it! I’ve read other cozy murder mystery’s about stitching/ embroidery and it was so interesting.. this was horrible
1. Uncle Allen was horrible. You’d think they’d want a sheriff that isn’t so cut and dry. He’s such a sassy pants.
2. I hated the copious amounts of characters. All with different goofy names. Irv? Smythe? Jacoba?
3. I don’t think I’d read another from the series because it was so boring. The reason I gave it two stars was because they had a good stump joke, but that was it! I’ve read other cozy murder mystery’s about stitching/ embroidery and it was so interesting.. this was horrible
June 17, 2017
Interesting story. Loved all the thread technique tips. The story was a bit hard to follow in parts and the big hint about the bad guy was hard to miss halfway through the book. Looking forward to reading the rest of the series. I would love to work or be able to shop in a town like Threadville.
August 31, 2017
this book was a fun easy read. very enjoyable story. the mystery starts right from the beginning the clues are many but which ones are needed to solve the murder are not known until the end. it keeps you guessing until the end. can not wait until the next book to see what is happening in Threadville.
February 22, 2018
It's a bummer when such a good idea is spoiled by making law enforcement look bad!
My husband is a police officer and works very hard as a public servant. A true villain would be more acceptable to me.
I love the idea of a town devoted to hand crafts - why spoil it by using those who serve as the bad guy?!
My husband is a police officer and works very hard as a public servant. A true villain would be more acceptable to me.
I love the idea of a town devoted to hand crafts - why spoil it by using those who serve as the bad guy?!
April 8, 2018
I had a hard time with how awful everyone in the town seemed, and how bad all the law enforcement officials seemed at their jobs. Willow and the other threadville proprietors seemed fine enough as characters but there were just too many things that turned me off about everything else. I’ll read another because I already have it (I think) but I wouldn’t otherwise.
June 12, 2018
This well written novel was a great beginning to a fun cozy mystery series. The characters are well drawn, and they get into the most hilarious and occasionally dangerous circumstances while "not sleuthing" and are often being confronted and embarrassed by the local sheriff or detectives with the state police at almost every turn.
July 30, 2020
While I enjoyed quite a few things in this book, the main character, her dogs, the shops and the crafts, there are a few things that just weigh the whole thing down too much. The Sheriff or chief police figure is a joke!! The "mothers" are over the top, I like the premise of the 3 mothers, the characters are caricatures however. It's a little too much.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 112 reviews