About
Reviews
Search
Submit
Home

Mystery Books for Sale

[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]


  

KNIT ONE, KILL TWO
by Maggie Sefton
Berkley, June 2005
288 pages
$6.99
ISBN: 042520359X


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Kelly Flynn has returned to Fort Connor, Colorado, from Washington, DC, where she holds a job as an accountant, to deal with the finances surrounding her beloved Aunt Helen's death.

The police have ruled her aunt's murder the result of a burglary gone bad, but Kelly and her aunt's circle of friends -- all devoted knitters -- are not so sure. Aunt Helen was a skilled knitter, but Kelley has never held a knitting needle. Her aunt's friends persuade her that she will soon be as proficient as they are.

Kelly, who handled her aunt's financial affairs, is shocked to learn that Aunt Helen had remortgaged her house and taken a $20,000 loan from a disreputable lender. She cashed the check on the day of her death, but the money hasn't been found.

Close though she was to Aunt Helen, Kelly never knew -- until one of the knitters told her -- that her aunt had a cousin, who lives in Fort Connor. Kelly and the cousin, Martha, become friendly, and, though it seems somewhat improbable on a first visit, Martha confides in Kelly that Aunt Helen had an illegitimate child many years ago. At her family's insistence, she put the child up for adoption.

When Martha is murdered, Kelly is shattered. She fears that her nosiness caused the death. When Kelly finally solves the murder, she uncovers secrets that her aunt would probably have preferred to keep buried.

Kelly and her knitting set are all vivid characters. They bully and cajole Kelly into persevering with her plans to knit the sweater of her dreams. Especially endearing is Burt Parker, a retired policeman who has become an expert at spinning.

I have two problems with the plot. One may just be personal cynicism. Kelly is burdened with a debt of $20,000 and with a cottage she can't sell for two years without penalty. A real estate broker offers her more than the $20,000 and also offers to pay any penalties. As Kelly is an accountant, I would think that sense might overcome sentiment, but she refuses to sell.

Also, Sefton introduces Steve, a very charming man, who shows an interest in Kelly and is helpful in her investigation. There seems to be a budding romance, but he is simply dropped.

Non knitters may wish to skim the passages of Kelly swooning over various yarns.

Reviewed by Mary Elizabeth Devine, October 2005

[ Top ]


QUICK SEARCH:

 

Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]