Threads of Evidence
by Lea Wait
This book was an attention getting, fast moving story that led to a reveal like none I have read.
~Lisa Ks Book Reviews
I love the blend of past and present in this series; it gives the town and the people a depth …
~The Bookwyrm’s Hoard
Ms. Wait is an accomplished storyteller. She has a wonderful talent for weaving friendship, mystery, and romance into her books, creating characters and situations which are realistic and enjoyable.
~Book Babble
Threads of Evidence
(A Mainely Needlepoint Mystery)
2nd in Series
Cozy Mystery
Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Kensington (August 25, 2015)
ISBN-13: 978-1617730061
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My Review
There are several things I look for in a cozy. Let me break these down for you.
The cover. It must be colorful and fun and have something to do with the story. The cover for Threads Of Evidence is all of those things. It’s fun, colorful and a bit spooky. Showing the antiques, the needle point, and the candle gives it a haunted atmosphere.
The title. The title is quirky and leads right into the theme of this one.
The mystery. This has more than one. I had fun reading how they connected and didn’t have clue until near the end. Then, I was wrong. You have a cold case, the accidental death or murder of a young girl in the 70s. And the attempted murder of a new resident in the town of Haven Harbor, Maine.
The town. I like small towns. Haven Harbor, Maine is just that. The author painted a pretty picture with her words and I felt comfortable there, despite the dark deeds occurring.
The characters and their names.
I’ll talk about names first. I like it when names are used that are popular in the area the story takes place. Some are quite unusual and fun to try to pronounce in my head. You get plenty in this cast.
About those characters themselves. I’m huge on character driven stories and like to have several to love and loathe. There are so many in this book, I can’t possibly pick a favorite.
Angie’s return home is anything but uneventful. She lands a job appraising the contents of Aurora, a long abandoned and fallen to ruin mansion. Doesn’t every town have one of these? She’s quickly drawn into the cold case of a young girl’s possible murder. Her previous job working for a private investigator help her in this case. She’s good at sniffing out clues and handling the local police. Let’s just hope her curiosity, like a cat’s, doesn’t require she needs nine lives.
There’s the famous actress, Skye West, who along with her handsome son, Patrick,(possible love interest for Angie?) purchased the aging mansion and are fixing it up. I believe there is more to the purchase than that. Perhaps another mystery to explore?
I could go on, but then I’d be telling you half of the story.
I read this one fairly quickly. The writing flowed easily, the characters were engaging and distinct, and the mysteries had me hooked. I needed to solve them for myself.
I was also fascinated with the old mansion. I used to spend summers with my best friend at her father’s place. He had this small cabin in the middle of nowhere. We’d find these overgrown roads and drive down them to see where they went. We found many old houses in various states of decay. Being careful, we explored them. I found a lot of interesting stuff, and often wondered about the previous owners. Why did they abandon the house and leave their stuff behind? Did something tragic happen? I often thought I felt a presence lingering. Pretty sure it was my over active imagination.
What fun it must have been for these characters to go through that old mansion. Discovering it’s past, uncovering it’s secrets.
A fun cozy, with all the material to make me happy.
4 Stars
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Synopsis
It’s hard to imagine anything bad ever happening in picturesque Haven Harbor, Maine–until a famous face rolls into town and unthreads some very dark secrets. . .
Angie Curtis and the Mainely Needlepointers are all too familiar with the Gardener estate. The crumbling Victorian mansion, known as “Aurora,” has been sitting vacant for nearly twenty-five years–and some say it’s haunted by the ghost of Jasmine Gardener, the teenage girl who died there in 1970 under mysterious circumstances…
Harbor Haven is abuzz with excitement when Hollywood actress Skye West decides to buy Aurora and sell off its furnishings. And Angie is intrigued when Skye asks her to appraise the estate’s sizable collection of needlepoint pictures. But the more she examines the pieces, the more they seem to point toward Jasmine’s murder–and the murderer–and it’s up to her to stitch the clues together. . .
About This Author
Lea Wait lives on the coast of Maine. A fourth generation antique dealer, and author of the Agatha-nominated Shadows Antique Print mystery series, she loves all things antiques and Maine, and she’s learning to do needlepoint. She also writes historical novels for young people set in (where else?) nineteenth-century Maine. Lea adopted her four daughters when she was single; she’s now the grandmother of eight, and married to artist Bob Thomas.
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