Dropped Dead Stitch (Knitting Mystery Series #7) by Maggie Sefton

From the Publisher

The newest installment in Prime Crime's fast-growing mystery series...knitting pattern and recipe included!

Kelly's friend, Jennifer, is a top-notch knitter-and a bit of a party girl. But she's always stayed out of trouble, until one night when she's attacked by a stranger. As she recovers, she leans on Kelly and her close-knit group of friends for support.

A ranch retreat in the mountains, stitching and talking, is exactly what Jennifer needs. But they're all in for a shock-because the owner of the ranch turns out to be Jennifer's attacker. When the man is found dead a few days later, Jennifer is the most likely suspect. Now, Kelly has to pick up the stitches before things get out of hand.

Publishers Weekly

Sefton's seventh puzzler to feature Kelly Flynn, crafty sleuth of Fort Connor, Colo., and the House of Lambspun knitters (after 2008's Fleece Navidad) finds them worrying about their friend Jennifer Stroud, who's been raped. Though Jennifer initially refuses to report the attack to the authorities, she agrees to attend a weekend workshop for women who've suffered sexual violence. Kelly and physical therapist Lisa Gerrard are teaching a fiber class for the May retreat at Lazy C Ranch, whose owner, Cal Everett, turns out to be Jennifer's assailant. When Cal's found dead, pushed over the railing of a steep deck with Jennifer's latest afghan project draped over his body, Jennifer becomes a murder suspect. Sefton skillfully handles a sensitive topic while weaving in happier moments for her amateur detectives, such as the marriage of Mimi Shafer, Lambspun's owner, and Burt Parker, a retired Fort Connor detective. (June)

Kirkus Reviews

It takes a village to solve a mystery. Kelly Flynn and friends (Fleece Navidad, 2008, etc.) are caught up in another mysterious death when the body of ranch host Cal Everett is found during their self-defense/knitting retreat in the mountains overlooking Fort Connor, Colo. It's unclear whether Everett's death was accident or murder. The rancher had a large share of enemies in the area, Kelly and company among them. Just days before his body is found, Jennifer, one of Kelly's nearest and dearest, pinpoints Everett as the man who raped her three months earlier. Staying at the ranch to assist with the knitting workshops, the crew is taken aback by this turn of events, especially when Everett's body is found wrapped in Jennifer's pink knit afghan-a clue that moves her to the top of Detective Peterson's suspect list. Kelly, determined to prove Jennifer's innocence, all but abandons her CPA work (though never her knitting) to find a more probable killer. Kelly pulls her resources together, calling in favors from her network: advanced police information from retired cop Burt, restricted database queries from IT guru Megan, pro bono work from lawyer friend Marty. Meanwhile, Lambspun shop owner Mimi and long-term boyfriend Burt have finally decided to make it official. Now if only everyone can stay out of trouble long enough to enjoy the festivities. Sefton writes the mystery equivalent of the Sunday driver: slow, relaxed, enjoying the view while keeping her characters out of any real danger.

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