I solved this mystery right from the beginning, which was a little disappointing. I found the story line a little disjointed as well. Not one of my favorites of the series.
I'm still enjoying this series. I particularly liked the description of Abby's dress and the mystery party, where all the guests pretended to be characters in the mystery. It made me remember some similar mystery parties that I've done and the good times we had.
It did, however, make the "real" mystery in the book more difficult to solve, because each character had their pretend role during the party and their "real," every-day role. It made it hard to remember who's who and what their characters were really like.
Again, I found Abby to be a little too bold and blunt in making the thief confess fully, rather than in just saying the ring had been found and leaving it like that - although good came out of the confession.
Again, I found I was more interested in Abby's storyline than in Mary's. The dispute between the weavers and the quilters just seemed contrived somehow. Why couldn't they just appreciate crafts for the fun they derived in doing them and in admiring them? I suppose real people could have such petty arguments, but it just seemed odd for whole groups to go along. As far as a craft goes, a good enough reason is "because I enjoy it."
I did think that Abby had a good response to Bobby, although I could picture others arguing his side.
I'm getting ready to pass this one along to my mom.