One Sharp Stitch

Shelby is returning home, not by choice. Her career managing a graphic-arts company is over as the company was sold, taking with it her hopes for romance with her boss. She’s had a pretty soft landing, though. Her parents are taking a month-long road trip, leaving her to manage the family needlework shop with the free apartment above. Why isn’t she happier? She feels the judgment of nearly everyone around her, from her practically perfect older sister to her old high school mate Kat who has been vying to take over the shop herself. Kat runs her own business, sharpening knives and scissors and designing and selling needlepoint canvases and high-end scissors. The first weekend that Shelby will be in charge, the shop will hold a trunk show of Kat’s merchandise. When Kat doesn’t show up to help prepare, Shelby goes looking for her, finding her in her mobile sharpening van with a knife in her chest. The police and all others rule this a terrible accident, but not our Shelby. Her unauthorized sleuthing isn’t the only tension in the story. She needs to run the business, maintain the proper position in the community and deal with her sister’s tacit criticism of whatever she does. To assist her, Shelby starts building a community of needlepointers of her own age group, men included, and of course adopts a stray cat. The charming town, Shelby’s renewed love of needlework, and her growing group of friends will have readers eagerly awaiting the next installment. Just as many cozy mysteries include recipes, this one ends with needlepoint patterns.