Needled to Death (Knitting Mysteries, No. 2)

I had read the first book in this series and was delighted with this second offering. It was as cozy and fun as the first. Kelly's problems with knitting also made me feel good because I always have problems too! I like how the author is slowly setting Kelly up to be able to stay in Ft. Connors and setting up her relationship with Steve.

If you like cozy mysteries and knitting, this is definitely the book for you! Definitely a winning new series.

Most of the time, I like to read for fun. I do not think a book needs to say something profound, or be intellectually stimulating, or accomplish anything other than entertainment. On the other hand, I do expect a certain level of quality even in a "cozy" category mystery series.

The first book in this series was so-so, but I decided to give the author a second chance because I love mysteries and I love knitting. Moreover, I am willing to overlook more than a little hackneyed plotting and writing in this particular genre. Sadly, this book was an even greater disappointment than the first.

My primary complaint is that the premise of the series is painfully thin, and the main character is completely unbelievable. Admittedly, it is a challenge to place ordinary people in murder-mystery scenarios over and over again--the genre essentially demands a huge suspension of disbelief. However, this series goes too far.

For example, the main character is astonishingly naive and ignorant for a Washington DC accounting profssional. Her endless agonizing about how she can make ends meet in Colorado (where, I might imagine, there are also large accounting firms!) and her complete obliviousness to the fact that a large cattle/sheep ranch she inherited might be (gasp!) financially valuable are incredibly unrealistic.

Her overall character is also somewhat unbelievable--the premise that she is overwhelmed by personal loss is a good one, but one would think that she would show more angst over that, or at least have interesting emotional responses to the things around her--and, really, what twentysomething woman would feel nothing (not even a little physical tingle) but bland friendship for an attractive, fun-loving, friendly man?

The knitting aspect is also far too contrived. The author does not seem to be an experienced knitter, which is a huge disservice to a series of this kind. It appears that the author is given a checklist of products and techniques to mention in the books, whether doing so drives the plot or not. I am much reminded of another incredibly mediocre category mystery series with unbelievable plots, thin character development, and painfully obvious use of the "category" theme--Monica Ferris' needlework mysteries ("how many times can I mention Kreinik thread or basketweave stitch?").

Fans of mysteries that involve favorite hobbies would be well-served to find books in which the hobby is seamlessly woven into the plot, such as some of Barbara Michaels' books; several of Michaels' gothic mysteries mention things such as needlepoint, knitting, quilting, and vintage clothing, but in a manner appropriate to the plot and bespeaking actual personal interest in the craft. Entertaining reading is a wonderful thing, but a reader should be able to expect good quality entertainment.

"Needled to Death" is the second offering in the Knitting mystery series by Colorado author Maggie Sefton. Set in the summer, a few months after accountant Kelly Flynn has arrived in Fort Connor to deal with her murdered aunt's estate, the mystery revolves around the death of Vickie Claymore, an alpaca rancher. Kelly and her friend Jennifer volunteered to escort a knitting tour group to visit Vickie's alpaca ranch, only to find Vickie's body in her ranch house with her throat cut. Kelly finds herself further involved in Vickie's affairs when she is hired by Vickie's daughter Debbie to help her prepare financial documents for her mother's estate.

Meanwhile, Kelly continues on her journey of learning to knit, with lots of cozy camaraderie with her knitting buddies at Fort Connor's House of Lambspun. Being an avid knitter myself, I really enjoyed reading of Kelly's growth in knitting. I enjoyed the information about alpace ranching woven into this tale. Also, Kelly and her friends take a trip to Wyoming to inspect the ranch which Kelly inherited from her cousin.

This book was a very quick read, and the continuing development of the character of Kelly and her friends kept my attention. The book was a cozy and enjoyable one to read, I was just a little disappointed in the lack of development of the mystery. I hope that the next book in this series has a bit more mystery to it.

I like Maggie Sefton's novels; I really do. Like other reviewers, I'm having trouble keeping all the knitting characters clear in my mind, but I still enjoy Kelly Flynn and her companions a lot. The author continues to use attribution to distraction, and I still take issue with her facts when she leaves the knit shop where she appears to be most comfortable. 300 acres of land doesn't seem all that large to me, given that I vaguely remember it taking two acres to supply feed for a single steer. That acreage certainly doesn't require a hefty road trip to navigate. And she refers to a bull as a steer. Oops. But nit-picking aside, I look forward to the author's third novel in the series, although I'll wait for the paperback edition.

I got very tired of the author's over use of the drawn out vowel. OOOOOkay, weeeeeeeeeell. It seemed a rather unnecessary device used to indicate hesitation, excitement, enthusiasm on the part of the speaker. Surely there was a better way to do this. And Kelly needs to get a life--she is still way too excited to be 'running her hands through the new yarn.'

The actual story was better than the first in the series but I still can't get all of the knitters straight. As a craft enthusiast myself I have a quibble with all of the craft setting mysteries. I know of no-one who spends time every day in their local craft store....maybe once a week at a class but no-one goes to the yarn shop or the card shop or the whatever shop every day.

I love cozy mysteries and I'm an avid reader, so I had high hopes for this book. I knew pretty quickly that it was going to disappoint; the dialog is stiff and heavy-handed, particularly when the characters make what are meant to be humorous remarks. It's a pet peeve of mine, but I don't like when a character 'jokes' rather than 'says' her lines. The mystery itself is secondary to the knit-shop fun and frolic, and it doesn't measure up even to other 'genre' mystery. I was even more disappointed in the knitting content - I know we were all beginners once but I've never met a more obtuse would-be knitter than Kelly Flynn. Of course, when none of her more experienced knitterly friends offers a simple explanation of why we knit every round to achieve stockinette fabric (instead, they urge her to just 'trust the process'), it's hardly surprising that Kelly seems a little dim. Every knitting-related passage in this book seemed to scream "Knitting content here" rather than flowing with the narrative. If you're looking for a decent mystery with a bit of knitting content, try Mary Kruger's "Died in the Wool."

I am an avid knitter and although I found her first book to be entertaining, this follow-up was very disappointing! The plot was so shallow and ill-thought that it was not balanced off by the yarn and knitting descriptions and scenes. I was really sorry that I had wasted my time reading it when I could have been knitting instead!

This is a settle down with a cup of tea and an afghan cozy mystery. I like the details of the knitting and the yarn shop. It's a very good read for ladies who work with yarn.

Have you ever tired of forcing yourself to read a book? I have held so many books on hold because I was trying to finish this book. I finally had to stop reading and finish by skim-reading. I usually race through a book, and I have had to put all my other reading list on hold because I couldn't slog through this one.

Some books just seem to deviate so dramatically from reality that you get a bit annoyed. I thought the first book in the series was okay for the most part though there were plenty of things I really disliked like the main character and her snippy attitude, her over fondness for coffee, instantaneous friendships, yarn groping and every single lady (and I mean single as in not married so supporting herself) having gobs of time to spend knitting at the local yarn etc. type of shop. A friend who loves cozies had lent me the first two books in the series so I had every intention on seeing where the series would go.

I stopped now a little more than halfway through the story and skim-read the rest of the way. I could not take another minute of Kelly & company at her deceased aunt's deceased cousin's place. Having Kelly be the only living relative of not one but both ladies just seemed beyond far fetched. The cousin was married to an abusive rancher whom she left but never divorced. The rancher apparently finally dies off and the estate is now Kelly's. Really? So we are supposed to believe that he also had no family? And this second third or whatever cousin had no one on any other side of her family, but Kelly's aunt? Why does this bug me? Because it took me out of the story. By the time we traipse through this relative's place, I couldn't even remember what the mystery is anymore.

This Montana ranch of 300 acres is not only home to apparently loads of cattle but also conveniently sheep and alpaca. The sheep I get. Cattle and sheep graze on different plants typically, but the alpaca? Really? It seems awfully convenient considering that our most recent murder victim also raised alpaca. I found it hard to believe that this 70-somthing-year-old rancher would now also be an alpaca breeder.

Finally, I gave up as Kelly's buds were discovering antiques on this relative's property. Frankly, I just didn't want to stick around for the oil, silver mine or Hope diamond to pop up. My suspension of belief had sailed so solidly out the window that I could not continue. Everything seems just so wildly convenient for Kelly. I rolled my eyes so many times while reading this book, I simply had to finally give myself permission to stop reading seriously and just get through the book. So feeling I had invested enough time, I skimmed from page 140 to the end.

I read for enjoyment and to learn things. Neither was happening with this book, and when you pick up a book and just keep getting annoyed, you got to let it go. I am bummed, I really did want to like it.

After reading the first book in this series, I was disappointed that there were burning questions concerning the status of the main character's life that were unanswered. So I ordered the second book, "Needled to Death" to find out what decisions she makes. Now I have finished reading book 2 and I still don't know! How long is the author going to string us along?