Unraveled

March 7, 2011
Agatha-finalist Sefton's warm ninth knitting mystery (after 2010's Skein of the Crime) finds Fort Collins, Colo., financial consultant Kelly Flynn turning for emotional support to her friends after breaking up with her longtime boyfriend, Steve Townsend. One friend, realtor Jennifer Stroud, invites her to meet a new real estate client, Fred Turner, but when Kelly and Jen arrive at Fred's cabin on his ranch property, they discover him dead on the floor, an antique pistol by his side. The deceased, a homicide victim rather than a suicide as initially thought, had plenty of enemies, including a client of Kelly's. Kelly begins a search for the history of the gun in an effort to prove her client innocent. While details of Kelly's personal life, including chats with her knitting group at the House of Lambspun, slow the action early on, the pace picks up and leads to a surprising conclusion. Vivid descriptions of Colorado in early spring and credible characters are a plus.

In this installment of Sefton's knitting mysteries, Kelly Flynn and her group of knitting friends become involved in solving the murder of real estate mogul Fred Turner--a man despised by every person who knew him. Narrator Jane Jacobs, with her pleasant voice and expressive intonation, seems to have to work a bit too hard to keep the story moving as it gets hung up on minute details. Conversations between characters sound forced as they're interrupted by the actions of eating cake, sipping coffee, and drinking "Fat Tire Ale." Fans of the series may feel like they're meeting old friends, while newcomers may feel like they've walked into a private knitting circle. M.M.G. (c) AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine