Thai Die

October 20, 2008
Thai silk to die for plunges Betsy Devonshire, the proprietor of Crewel World in Excelsior, Minn., into danger in Ferris's winning 12th needlecraft mystery (after 2007's Knitting Bones
). Among the many souvenirs Betsy's friend Doris Valentine brings home from a Thailand vacation is a stone Buddha to be delivered to a St. Paul antiques dealer. When Doris discards the dirty cloth the Buddha was wrapped in, Betsy rescues the cloth, which turns out to be valuable silk more than 2,000 years old. Has Doris become an unwitting pawn in an international antiquities theft operation? After someone ransacks Doris's apartment and murders the antiques dealer, Sgt. Mike Malloy of the Excelsior police and “civilian detective” Betsy find themselves involved in a case more complicated than any needlework pattern she's ever attempted. With more action and a stronger plot than Knitting Bones
, this entry in the popular cozy series offers such choice knitting tidbits as how to spin hair from a 14-pound angora rabbit.

You'd think that a group of ladies and one man who meet weekly at a shop called Crewel World wouldn't get into any trouble, but how wrong you would be. One member comes back from Thailand with a statue wrapped in silk, and the intrigue begins. Connie Crawford's soft tones are ideal for this cozy. She's especially able in her characterization of Betsy Devonshire, the shop's owner, who is no stranger to solving mysteries. Various people wishing to get hold of the silk are depicted with appropriate deceptiveness. Crawford's overall genteel narration contrasts with her delivery of the dramatic scenes. Along the way, we learn interesting tidbits like the fact that angora can be spun directly off the back of a rabbit. Charming, especially if you're a needleworker. J.B.G. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine