Customer Reviews

Cutwork (Needlecraft Mystery)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In the small Minnesota town of Excelsior, everyone looks forward to the yearly Art on the Lake Crafts Fair. At this year's event, Betsy Devonshire, owner of Crewel World mans the hospitality booth. When she hears sirens and sees people heading toward a booth near her, she stays away from it but people quickly tell her that someone slashed the throat of the woodcarver Robert McFey.

It isn't long before the local police arrest sixteen-year-old Mickey Sinclair for the crime. Mickey's bloody fingerprint is found in the booth and money is found in his home. He denies being at the fair but other people have sees him there. Most townsfolk think he is a troubled person, but they don't believe he is a killer. After all the homicides Betsy has solved, the townsfolk want her to find the real killer so that Mickey's life isn't spent behind bars.

What's very interesting about CUTWORK is that the family, neighbors and friends all believe the suspect is capable of criminal acts but don't believe he is a killer so they band together to pressure Betsy into solving the crime. Betsy doesn't want anything to do with the case until she sees Mickey and believes that he might be innocent of this crime. CUTWORK is a fabulous amateur sleuth tales filled with red herrings and misdirection to prevent the reader from seeing who the killer turns out to be until the final stitch is sewn.

Harriet Klausner

I have always liked Monica Ferris because she writes cozy mysteries which I get into as well. This is an excellent book for the art enthusiasts since it covers other types of artwork other than fabric art. Therefore this book would appeal to all kinds of readers. I don't know anything about pulling and cutting threads from a piece of fabric, but Ms. Ferris explains it very well when she has a character teach it in the shop. That is one of the things I like about Ms. Ferris. The reader does not have to be a fabric artist to enjoy her books. The techniques are all explained so well in her books. I have read all her books and they are so humorous and have a lot of twists. Ms. Ferris is also very kind to define all the terminology used in the fabric arts.

This is one book that expands into other aspects of the art world. It is very interesting. It is hard for the reader to peg down the culprit. I also like Betty Devonshire, the shop owner. Nobody can help but like her and Godwin as well. As the reader gets to read the books by Ms. Ferris, you get to know her characters so well that they become part of your lives. Her characters are also very unique people, you will be very enraptured with them. Also, you will anxiously wait for the next book to come out.

For those who have not yet read anything by Monica Ferris, you will enjoy reading this so much that you will want to begin from the beginning and read everything by her. For those who have read her other books, this will be just as entertaining if not better.

This is my favorite Betsy Devonshire mystery after the debut, Crewel World. The mystery held strong until the very end. Although I was sure who did it, I was surprised at the reason behind it. I loved the surprise for Godwin. I learned alot about the fascinating history of needlework as well as owning a small business. My favorite though was the small exchange about algebra and geometry. It actually became a dinnertime discussion topic! I hope the next installment is as enjoyable as this one was.

Is it even remotely believable that a woman in her 50s with no law-enforcement experience, no credentials and newcomer status in a small town would become a successful amateur detective? Heck no, any more than that there would be several murders a year in and around an upscale small town.
Nevertheless, if you're hooked on any kind of needlework, you'll love the behind-the-scene glimpses of how shops like the one inherited by sleuth/businesswoman Betsy Devonshire use displays, classes and other promotions to attract repeat customers. If you're a multicraft needleworker, you'll enjoy learning a little in each book about something you haven't tried yet (such as Hardanger in this book).
The camaraderie among needleworkers rings true, as do references to the addictive nature of some crafts. I'm not a big fan of cozies, partly because of the obligatory clutter of exaggeratedly drawn oddball characters, but Betsy's co-workers and customers seem less caricatured than most in this subgenre.

There's no "literary" writing here, but the characters do develop, and Ferris, too, is getting better at her craft of writing. The mystery unfolded more or less evenly alternating with the subplot of what's happening in Betsy's shop. (...) clerk Godwin may be steretypical but he's drawn with affection; look for Goddy to grow up a bit here -- without losing any of his boyish charm. Those who remember know-it-all champion needleworker Irene from her troublemaking days in the early books will be gratified to see that she has mellowed with a success of her own.
Betsy herself is a lot more real than her detective work; she can be selfish as well as self-mocking. reluctant to get involved yet brave enough to confront a killer. She's single but not desperate enough to leave her shop, Crewel World, for a lover who has retired to faraway Florida. Betsy can be nosy, but she has an ethical core. She's a useful, vital, often-admired middle-aged woman who's the center of attention in this series, and that's a rarity in popular fiction.
To me, the mysteries in these books (and I've read them all) are not much more than an excuse for a series -- would that there were a category in bookstores for books with continuing characters outside the genre. Reading Ferris's books is almost as relaxing as needlework itself.

Monica Ferris does a great job of developing her characters, but the mystery part could use some work. While employees, customers, and "goings on" at Crewel World hold our interest, very little of the book actually has anything to do with the purported mystery. If you want a pleasant diversion with likeable characters, pick up Cutwork. If you prefer mysteries with more threads to follow and less embroidery, look elsewhere.

I honestly wasn't sure who the killer was until the last few pages. Also, if you like Godwin you will really like this book. He gets some great news!

...so why not five stars?

Simply, the "mystery" solved itself far to early in the story. I want to guess about the villain, not be able to finger him half-way through. Because of some fine descriptions of the background against which the tale is told and because there are some red herrings about the murderer's real motive, maybe this is more of a "why-dunnit" than a "who-dunnit".

Still, it was an enjoyable diversion. Various subplots weave through the story and some of the characters, such as the victim's teenaged daughter, come to life in spare, but tremendously evocative descriptions. Kudos to an author who summons stereotypes apparently to help readers look beyond appearance and cliché.

And cheers, too, for taking on arts and crafts beyond the series' "specialty" of needlework. Metal sculpture, wood carving, and the interminable tension between art and craft receive broad play here and offer readers a glimpse at the world of so-called public art.

This was an interesting book and I enjoyed reading it: hence, four stars. But it was not exactly a mystery.

This book was Great!! I felt like I was meeting up with old friends (some new) to chat and visit with again. Being an avid cross stitcher, I felt right at home in the needlework shop..with a little twist. Murder!! Betsy is great at pulling together all the pieces to solve who done it. Can't wait for her next book!

I've read all of Ferris's Betsy Devonshire mysteries and enjoyed them, even with occasional flaws. But CUTWORK is so mediocre, reading it was more irritating than diverting. Three examples:

-- Betsy and best friend Jill Cross have a falling out over Betsy revealing "privileged" police information she got from Jill. This info was simply that an arrest had been made; this would be a matter of public record, nothing "privileged" about it. This was patently just a plot device, and a weak one at that.

-- Partly because of this tiff, Betsy and the police interview various people independently. This means the reader is subjected to extended passages of duplicate information. These might have been used to provide character analysis, but they don't -- they come across as filler.

-- Betsy believes the accused teenager is innocent, but her "interview" with him consists of one question: "What if I said I believe you?" After meeting with his family, she almost never refers to the boy again. Her motivation is fuzzy at best, inconsistent at worst.

There are enough problems with this story that, half way through the book, I gave up and did something I **never** do: checked the last chapter to see "who done it," and gave the book away.

As a needlework person, I've truly enjoyed the previous books in this series. Compared to this one, however, they're appetizers. This book is so meaty, so inclusive, it's like a huge Medieval tapestry in comparison.

Medieval tapestries usually have one central theme, but if you look carefully around the edges, you'll find numerous little episodes featuring other characters and scenes. So it is with this book. Central to the plot is Betsy Devonshire's needlework store, Crewel World. Since she owns the building that houses her store and her apartment, readers come to feel at home wherever she is. We've also come to know her employees and customers, and several of the local (Excelsior, Minnesota) town folks as well, including the local police persons.

This time, Betsy finds herself in a non-needlework-based mystery. Rather, it's in the field of art; specifically an Art Fair, in which one of the exhibitors is murdered. Artists are all a little nutsy, I think, and while finding it difficult to accept criticism, can also easily find justification for their own motivations in many directions. While Betsy is sorting out the various clues and non-clues, she gets an education into what is-and isn't-`true' art. Chapter 18 should be required reading for anyone with an interest in any of the Arts. It is illuminating, fascinating, and I think, sensible, all at the same time.

Still, however, this is a mystery novel, and I found it excellent on all levels: the writing is engaging, the characters are fully-fleshed out and appealing, while the plot was very realistic. Some erudite folks may have known `who-dun-it' way before the end of the book, but the killer's motivation surely came as a surprise.