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A review by peggyemi
A Wicked Yarn by Emmie Caldwell
3.0
A Wicked Yarn is the first book in the Craft Fair Knitters Mystery by author Emmie Caldwell (who also writes as Mary Ellen Hughes). This was a solid start to a new series. I really like that the series is centered on a craft barn with many different crafters who sell their wares. The characters were all very enjoyable, and I loved the mother-daughter relationship between Lia and Haley. The secondary cast of characters includes the crafters at the craft barn along with Lia's knitting group known as the Ninth Street Knitters, whose wares Lia sells at the craft barn. Lia is an amateur sleuth drawn into solving two murders because she stumbled over both bodies. She decides to try and help her friend, who is under suspicion for the murders but also to save the craft barn as well.
I thought the mystery was well done. There is a lot of clues for Lia, who is joined by her daughter Haley in sleuthing, to follow. There are plenty of viable suspects that have good motives for committing the murders. Lia is not a reckless sleuth nor does she charge in and get herself in trouble. The killer's identity is revealed toward the end and there is a climactic scene involving Lia's daughter where the killer is caught. The one thing that kept me from giving this a 4-star review was the pace of the book. I, personally, felt that the pace was slow and dragged a bit in some places which made it harder for me to push through to the end.
All in all, I enjoyed this book enough that I will be returning for the next book in the series to see how the author grows the characters and to see how she plots the next story.
I voluntarily read a digital advanced reader copy provided to me by the publisher, Berkley, through Netgalley. The opinions expressed are my own.
I thought the mystery was well done. There is a lot of clues for Lia, who is joined by her daughter Haley in sleuthing, to follow. There are plenty of viable suspects that have good motives for committing the murders. Lia is not a reckless sleuth nor does she charge in and get herself in trouble. The killer's identity is revealed toward the end and there is a climactic scene involving Lia's daughter where the killer is caught. The one thing that kept me from giving this a 4-star review was the pace of the book. I, personally, felt that the pace was slow and dragged a bit in some places which made it harder for me to push through to the end.
All in all, I enjoyed this book enough that I will be returning for the next book in the series to see how the author grows the characters and to see how she plots the next story.
I voluntarily read a digital advanced reader copy provided to me by the publisher, Berkley, through Netgalley. The opinions expressed are my own.