The Drowning Spool

December 23, 2013
In Ferris's diverting 17th needlecraft mystery (after 2012's And Then You Dye), intrepid needlework shop owner Betsy Devonshire has to exercise at Watered Silk, a senior living facility near her home in Excelsior, Minn., because the pool at her regular gym is under repair. When the nude body of a young woman turns up in the Watered Silk pool, it raises several questions. Who is she? How did she get in past the five locked doors? And why is there lavender bath salts in her lungs? The realistic needlework details are germane to the investigation, which includes a second death. Readers will readily accept that Betsy is smarter than the cops and that the police welcome her contributions. A tougher sell is her adoring live-in boyfriend, Connor Sullivan, who cooks, cleans, knits, shops for groceries, makes Betsy tea when she's stressed, and sits quietly by while she cogitates on the crime du jour. And pigs fly. Agent: Nancy Yost, Nancy Yost Literary Agency.

January 15, 2014
Who knew that retirement homes could be such dangerous places? Betsy Devonshire, the amateur sleuth who owns the Crewel World needlework shop, is happy to teach a punch needle class at Watered Silk, a senior retirement home, since she's going there anyhow for water aerobics classes while her usual pool is being repaired. Both classes go well except for the disturbances caused by Wilma Carter, who's in the early stages of Alzheimer's. When the instructor finds the naked body of a lovely young woman in the pool, Betsy is drawn into the investigation by one of her customers, who asks her to prove her nephew innocent. College student Ethan Smart, who had a night job at Watered Silk, monitored all the doors but claimed to have seen no sign of the victim entering the facility. And no wonder, since the autopsy results show that pregnant Teddi Whalberger was drowned in a bathtub and moved to the pool. Teddi and her two roommates were free-spirited party types, and Teddi had quite a few boyfriends, including a married man, who might find it inconvenient to be named her baby's father. During a sleuthing visit to Watered Silk, Wilma shows Betsy an outside door that appeared to be closed off but was obviously the point of entry for Teddi's body. For her pains, Wilma is murdered in a clever way that makes Betsy's hunt for the killer even more complicated. A pleasant addition to Ferris' long string of needlework whodunits (And Then You Die, 2012, etc.) featuring the ebullient Betsy, her gay assistant and her live-in boyfriend. This one is full of needlework lore but doesn't feature much of a mystery.

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February 15, 2014
This seventeenth in the popular series starring Betsy Devonshire, owner of a needlecraft shop in rural Minnesota, finds Betsy taking a swim class in a senior complex called Watered Silk. The body of a young woman is found a few days later floating in the pool, and a young man working the front desk is fired. Betsy, a friend of the fired boy's aunt, is asked by the aunt to investigate. Then a resident of Watered Silk is also murdered. While Betsy talks to the locals, learning more with each conversation, her friends help her chase down leads and run her needlecraft store. Ferris skillfully sews in details about punch needlepoint among scenes discussing the emotionally moving circumstances of the victims. Unlike many overly amiable amateur-sleuth tales, Betsy's suspects lie to her and sometimes turn belligerent, offering a refreshingly realistic break from typical cozy fare. Fans of Livia Washburn's Phyllis Newsom stories, boasting a similar style, may also enjoy Ferris' series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)