Saturday, August 22, 2015

A Cold Case in Downeast Maine





THREADS OF EVIDENCE (Mainely Needlepoint # 2)
Lea Wait
Kensington Books
August 25, 2015

I have a soft spot for books set in Maine having vacationed there for decades. I am always interested in the author's perspective on life on the coast. Especially those authors who actually live and work there.

After the events of  first in the series, Twisted Threads, Angela Curtis is settling into her return to her hometown and new position managing her grandmother's needlepoint business. When a major Hollywood star purchases the crumbling Gardener Estate and begins major renovations everyone in Haven Harbor is wondering why. The estate is in ruins; left to fall apart after the death of Jasmine Gardener, the seventeen year old daughter of the house in 1970. Her death was ruled accidental but her mother was convinced that it was murder. Mrs. Gardener lived in the house until her death and Mr. Gardener went back to New York City, never to return. Old memories and questions come to the surface along with attempted murder and arson. Could Jasmine's death really have been murder and is the murderer still living in picturesque Haven Harbor? Amateur sleuth Angela Curtis needs to find out who and why before another tragedy happens.

Threads of Evidence is a very entertaining cozy with a heroine who is more than usually edgy for the genre. It presents an accurate picture of the people of Maine, at least to my eye. Maine may be extraordinarily beautiful but it is hard to make a sustainable living. So "cottage" industries like Mainely Needlepoint abound to carry people after the tourist season is over.  And Maine folks have as many secrets and foibles as people anywhere.  The history of needlework in America is represented by quotes from samplers at each chapter's beginning and are both entertaining and instructive.

Thanks to Kensington and netgalley.com for an advance digital copy in return for an honest review.

RATING- 3.5 Stars



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