Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner
Framed in Lace
Amazon US PB Amazon Canada PB
Monica Ferris
Class/Genre: Mystery Amateur Sleuth Crafts Woman Main Character
Series: Betsy Devonshire # 2
Berkley Prime Crime, Oct 1999, $5.99, 256 pp.
Betsy Devonshire fled the balmy climate of San Diego for the colder air of Excelsior, Minnesota to escape the memories of her former husband. The humiliated Betsy cannot believe her professor of an ex-spouse bed a succession of students. Betsy chose Excelsior because her sister Margot ran the local craft store until someone murdered her.
No longer traumatized by her divorce, Betsy now runs Crewel World. The regulars, who make up a weekly crafting group adopt Betsy as one of their own. They believe she is a competent sleuth having solved her sibling’s murder and demands she works a new investigation. When the town raises a historic street car from a nearby lake, a skeleton buried within the relic over forty years ago accompanies it. Preliminary evidence points towards one of the Crewel World regulars as the culprit. Though she believes she needs to stay out of the investigation, it seems as if everyone drops by to give their favorite detective information pertaining to the case.
Mystery lovers and readers who enjoy cross stitch and other crafts need to read FRAMED IN LACE as Monica Ferris presents an enjoyable, classy tale. Betsy is everyone’s favorite grandma, who proves life begins after fifty. The support characters provide local color and small town atmosphere. The engaging who-done-it nicely works. All this blends together and turns the latest Devonshire novel into a fun to read story.
Harriet Klausner
Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner
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