The Annie's Attic series can be hit or miss depending on which author wrote a particular book. I really wish they had chosen one author to write the entire series because each author has a completely different style and focus. The last book, for example, emphasized all of the members of the Hook and Needle Club and played up Annie's budding relationship with the mayor Ian. This one totally ignored the group for the most part and there is no mention of Ian. Surely if Annie was being broken in on, threatened, and attacked Ian would show his face. There was no talk of the renovations that are ongoing in each book either.
Another thing that gets a bit old is that Annie has been there for maybe a year and yet constantly is finding something in the attic of her late grandmother's house that has no business being there and leads to her being stalked, threatened, broken in on, and attacked. I mean, this is a little hicky town in northern Maine that is essentially crime free until Annie comes to take possession of the house her grandma Betsy left her. Where do the criminals come from? She is like a crime magnet. Also, nothing she finds makes sense and involves a lot of work to find out what the hell it is, what it means, and who they need to track down.
In this book, Annie is in the attic when she finds a cloth map that was hand-embroidered and has big red X-marks-the-spot markings. Suddenly people's houses are being burned to the ground, the museum is being broken in to (after she loans it to them), folk historians are fighting over it, Annie is getting threatening calls, and someone keeps breaking into Annie's house. You'd think she'd really DO something about security at that place what with it being broken into multiple times in each book.
This one wasn't as interesting to me as others in the series have been. I missed Ian, the renovations and the Hook and Needle Club in it.
I've read one of this series before and they are good. This one was an enjoyable read, if a bit bland: the coziest of cozies. The series centers around Annie who inherited her old Maine home from her grandmother. The mysteries occur with the plethora of items that Annie finds in her grandmother's attic, one per book. This one involves an intricate piece of old embroidery found stuffed in a cookie jar in the attic. While the historians in the town ponder the meaning of the X's on the piece, which without giving anything away, is a map, someone keeps trying to steal the piece. The series is good but it would be better if consistently written by the same person. There are many authors.
This book goes into arts and crafts, folk art, different types of fabrics. This set of books reminds me of the Nancy Drew books. Each book is written by a different writer, so the writing is different, doesn't fall into a same type. There is much about the history of Maine, and its land, ocean and people.
The series begins with Annie Dawson who has inherited a large, old, Victorian house from her grandmother, a well loved, respected member of Stony Point, Maine, a little town located along the Atlantic Ocean. As Annie finds out, her grandmother was a pack rat. Annie is finding so many different artifacts packed in the attic. In this book, she finds a beautiful needlepoint containing some lovely workmanship. What is the needlepoint about? Several people put their minds together and decide it is the map of the area along the coast in the area. It is a beautiful piece of needlework and original.
Annie takes the map to the Stony Point Historical Society, then to the Maine Folks Art Center to be evaluated. Annie, her best friend, Alice, and three men take a boat trip along the coast where the area of the map was pictured.
The book goes back into the times of the rum runners. Readers meet the ladies of the Hook and Needle Club, Mary Beth, owner of the fabric store of the Stitch in Time where the club meets.
An old house was set on fire, the family was lucky to escape with their lives. Annie's home was broken into as was the Stony Point Historical Society. Somebody badly wanted that map.
I truly enjoyed this cozy mystery, it is always interesting to have older woman who are figuring out the crime. Being that I am a knitting and crocheter when that included in the story line it make it more enjoyable. Plus when there is history in the story that is really great.
I spotted #7 in the Annie's Attic series Rag Doll In The Attic at a library sale and picked it up because it had a rag doll on the cover. Also picked up Boxed in and The Map In The Attic when I saw that they were part of the same series, although written by different authors.
On the first page of the book, David and his family are awakened in the middle of the night and escape from their burning house just in the nick of time. They take shelter in a neighbor's house but there is no mention of finding clothes for them before David leaves to talk to Chief Edwards about the fire. I picture him barefoot in blue and white striped cotton jammies.
In this book, Annie is back sorting boxes in her grandmother's attic and finds an embroidered panel that she does not recognize at first to be the map in the title of the book. She recognizes the artistry that went into the embroidery and sets out to discover more about the map and who embroidered it.
On page 31 the author confuses microfiche (small sheets of film) with microfilm (film on rolls). Oddly, the same mistake appears in Rag Doll In The Attic on pages 91, 177, 178, and 179 when the author repeatedly confuses microfiche with microfilm changing them from "sheets" into "rolls" and back again. I would have expected the editor to catch that.
This one may have been my least favorite of the series thus far. It was still a fine read and I thought the plot was very creative, but it was just to inconsistent with the other books in the serious in my opinion.
I know each one has a different author. And you can usually tell each other has their own flare, but with this one everything just felt a bit too different. With how the characters acted, and I’m upset Ian was no where to be seen in this book? Even to say he was out of town or something to make it believable that he wasn’t around… his name was never even mentioned. He also typically has a bigger role than majority of the hook and needle club gals.
But like I said, even though the plot was a bit predictable, it was really unique and fun to read. Still excited for the next book, these are fun cozy mysteries!
I understand that the series always needs a mystery… but I’m starting to find it hard to believe Annie still willingly stays with everything she goes through, especially when she’s always thinking about if she is going back to Texas….😹
Imagine Nancy Drew at 45-50 years old: treacly sweet, ever so polite, constantly weighing what she says in order not to offend. That's Annie. Her side-kick is Alice: blunt, adventurous, tom-boyish. This book has all the hallmarks of a teen detective book, just closer to menopause. It should have been titled "The Case of the Embroidered Map." I'm usually tolerant of fluff books, because they give the brain respite between reading really good books. This one was a serious disappointment. I felt as though it had been deliberately dumbed-down to reach a sector of readers who should have been offended. But apparently there's an audience out there. It just isn't me.
I don't typically read this type of genre fiction, but I decided, for the sake of diversity, to read a cozy mystery. The reading goes very quickly, and seems to have a very natural and realistic rhythm, but there is not much else to say about it. The story is just there to keep your boredom at bay.
I still don't understand how it seems that everyone is so slow to come to the conclusion (a) The embroidery is a map, and (b) that the x's are markers. I mean, everyone knows, when looking at a map, that "x" marks the spot, right?
LOVED IT! I think this book is my favorite so far in the series. The sense of communty, the mystery itself, or the intermingling of the characters-all of it led to a great read. I find that as I age, I enjoy books where the main characters are more normal sounding people. The blonde beauty in her twenties, the awkward teen or young adult-just don't cut it for most books. I need characters who have lived and experienced. I am enjoying this series immensly.
This one was kind of hard to get through. Boring. I finished it, but I was definitely ready for it to end. Put a cat door in so the many times she gets burglarized, Boots can get out too. And one in the attic so boots can kill the mice. Beef up security. It’s obvious she is going to get burglarized continuously. This one dragged on. And the universe didn’t give you friends. The universe is created. It does nothing without God.
Really enjoy the continuation of the character Anne Dawson.....first series I have read by more that one author. They flow together very well. Stony Point, Maine is depicted very well....I was born in Maine and have tried to figure which little community on the coast closely resembles. Highly recommend to friends or anyone that likes a nice whodunit.
Book #6 in the series has been read. I thought this story was a bit slow moving compared to the other books so far in this series. I am still resolved to continue to read the rest of the books. Hopefully book #7 will not disappoint me.
I have been reading this series for a bunch of years now. I read these books when I need a break for life or the heavier books I might be reading at the moment. These books are written by different authors, but share the same characters.
Annie finds an embroidered map of the local coastline while cleaning out the attic of her late Grandmother's house. she is curious to find out the history behind it and many adventures ensue as she and her friends try to unravel the mystery. a wonderful light read.
Just an OK read. I found it hard to believe that no one knew what an X on a map meant. I also don't what to read 10 or more in a series to find the missing clue.
This collection of books are enjoyable light reads. I love the mystery of all the things found in the attic and how they tie to the people of the community
The Map in the Attic is by Jolyn Sharp. It is an Annie’s Attic Mystery. It takes place in Stony Point, Maine where Annie Dawson is cleaning out her aunt’s clutter in the basement. She wonders if she will ever get it cleaned out. Annie found a box that contained old mismatched dishes and a clown cookie jar. The jar is taped shut so she opens it and finds a beautiful hand-stitched picture. This turns out to be a map of the coastline of the Stony Point area. Why was it in her Grandmother’s attic? Had she known of it? Of course she and the Hook and Needle club set out find out who made the picture, why, what do all the components on the picture mean? Why does someone want it? This is a good book but predictable. It is the twists and turns the plot makes that make this book interesting.
Book #39 Read in 2016 The Map in the Attic by Jolyn Sharp
Somehow I read book 1 and jumped to this book, which seems to be book #4 in the Annie Attic's Mystery Series. That being said, there is enough backstory given that I did not feel as if I missed anything. This is a good cozy mystery series. In this book, Annie finds a map of some sort in her grandmother's attic. A local historical society puts it on display but apparently it is leading to something important as someone continues to try to steal it. Will Annie figure out who in time to stop them from taking her map? I borrowed this book from the town library.
If you are looking for some quick, light reads -try this series. Reminiscent of Debbie McComber, these ladies meet at the local yarn shop to knit, crochet, etc.. The main character is a widow who has returned to the Maine coast to live in an old Victorian house left to her by her grandmother. Finding something in the attic is what begins the mystery. I really like these characters and it makes me wish even more that someone would leave me a big, old house in a small town on the coast of Maine.
This time, Annie and her friends find a beautiful stitchery that turns out to be a map. It seems this map found it's way into Grandmother's attic by accident. But once it becomes known in the community, havoc breaks out and somebody is willing to do harm to get to the map. A fun read, I enjoyed it very much. The Annie's Attic books have been fun, and it is interesting to see how the varied authors work at creating fun stories and stay true to who the characters are in each story.
Well, Annie's found a map in the attic of Grey Gables. However, she doesn't know it's a map because it looks like an intricate hand work design. As Annie begins to uncover more information about the handwork, her home is broken into and ransacked while she is there. Annie manages to escape to her friend Alice's home and the investigation begins.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.