Crewel Yule (Needlecraft Mystery Series #8) by Monica Ferris

From Barnes & Noble

The Barnes & Noble Review
The hardcover debut of Monica Ferris's popular Needlecraft mystery series is a fine piece of work -- a seasonal yarn that's sure to delight needlecrafters and mystery fans alike.

The time leading up to the holidays is always full of difficult choices, but this year that goes double for Betsy Devonshire, amateur sleuth and owner of the Crewel World needlework shop in Minnesota. She never expected to have to choose between coping with the joys and headaches of the holiday rush on her home turf and the thrill of attending the Nashville Needlework Market. Still, she can't afford to miss this chance to shop for her business at the huge cash-and-carry trade show where members of the International Needlework Retailers Guild pick up all the latest tips and tools of their trade. There's usually no conflict -- the holiday rush is only a memory by the time the Market's usual date rolls around. But, this year, the hotel overbooked their traditional February time slot and offered the stitchers a sweet deal for December instead.

Then tragedy strikes, and Betsy is witness to another shop owner's deadly fall from an upper floor to the atrium lobby far below. With a freak snowstorm interfering with access to the site and the Nashville police and the hotel staff eager to write this off as a deadly accident -- a case of wrong place, wrong time -- Betsy and her police officer friend, Jill Larsen, have lingering doubts about the pattern of events. Not only does the dead woman's fall seem inexplicable, but it soon becomes clear that there are many people at the market who had reason to want this particular shop owner out of business…permanently. Sue Stone

From the Publisher

Snow is not the only thing falling this December - spirits are, too. That's because this year's needlework convention in Nashville is tragically interrupted when Milwaukee shop owner Belle Hammermill tumbles nine stories to her untimely death. At first, Betsy Devonshire thinks the fall was just an unfortunate accident. The trouble is, Belle's unsavory reputation causes suspicions to flare. She has plenty of enemies with more than enough motive. Leave it to Betsy and the other knitting hands to unravel the clues that will put the killer to rest...for a long winter's night.

Publishers Weekly

Monica Ferris makes her hardcover debut with Crewel Yule, the eighth in her cozy series to feature Betsy Devonshire, owner of Crewel World, "a sweet little needlework store in Minnesota." At the annual needlework convention in Nashville, a Milwaukee, Wis., needlework shop owner plunges to her death into the hotel atrium-is it an accident or murder? Despite multiple flashbacks in the book's first third, the story moves along at a sprightly pace, and readers will enjoy the customary detail about needlework that makes this series increasingly popular. Agent, Nancy Yost at Lowenstein-Yost Associates. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

In the first hardcover in the best-selling series, Betsey Devonshire, part-time sleuth and full-time owner of a needlework shop, unravels a case of untimely death at a needlework convention. A free pattern is included. Ferris lives in a Minneapolis suburb. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Product Details

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Table of Contents