Dropped Dead Stitch (A Knitting Mystery) [Hardcover]

Maggie Sefton (Author)

Book Description

Series: A Knitting Mystery | Publication Date: June 2, 2009

The newest installment in Prime Crime's fast-growing mystery series...knitting pattern and recipe included!

Kelly's friend, Jennifer, is a top-notch knitter-and a bit of a party girl. But she's always stayed out of trouble, until one night when she's attacked by a stranger. As she recovers, she leans on Kelly and her close-knit group of friends for support.

A ranch retreat in the mountains, stitching and talking, is exactly what Jennifer needs. But they're all in for a shock-because the owner of the ranch turns out to be Jennifer's attacker. When the man is found dead a few days later, Jennifer is the most likely suspect. Now, Kelly has to pick up the stitches before things get out of hand.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sefton's seventh puzzler to feature Kelly Flynn, crafty sleuth of Fort Connor, Colo., and the House of Lambspun knitters (after 2008's Fleece Navidad) finds them worrying about their friend Jennifer Stroud, who's been raped. Though Jennifer initially refuses to report the attack to the authorities, she agrees to attend a weekend workshop for women who've suffered sexual violence. Kelly and physical therapist Lisa Gerrard are teaching a fiber class for the May retreat at Lazy C Ranch, whose owner, Cal Everett, turns out to be Jennifer's assailant. When Cal's found dead, pushed over the railing of a steep deck with Jennifer's latest afghan project draped over his body, Jennifer becomes a murder suspect. Sefton skillfully handles a sensitive topic while weaving in happier moments for her amateur detectives, such as the marriage of Mimi Shafer, Lambspun's owner, and Burt Parker, a retired Fort Connor detective. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Sefton’s latest starts out strong when Colorado CPA Kelly Flynn learns her friend Jennifer has been raped. It turns out that the rapist, Cal Everett, owns the ranch where a group of assault survivors, including Jennifer, have gathered for a weekend retreat. Not surprisingly, Cal ends the weekend dead. So are the logical suspects responsible? As in previous books, Sefton weaves yarn, fiber arts, and cooking into the mystery in ways that enhance it. Even dedicated fans will be pleased that a cast-of-characters list is included, and, as before, the patterns and recipes add appeal for the target audience. --Ilene Cooper

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Hardcover; 1 edition (June 2, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 042522774X
• ISBN-13: 978-0425227749
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #855,782 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Maggie Sefton grew up in Northern Virginia and received her Bachelor's degree in English Literature & Journalism. After working as a CPA and a real estate broker, she now enjoys the satisfaction and challenge of creating worlds on paper.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not worth the price or your time, June 29, 2009

By 

K. Anderson "andersox" (Aliso Viejo, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dropped Dead Stitch (A Knitting Mystery) (Hardcover)

I wish I could recommend Dropped Dead Stitch. I love knitting; I love cozy mysteries; and, I loved Sefton's first few books of this series.

But, I can't recommend Dropped Dead Stitch. The mystery isn't compelling. Heck, it's not even interesting. Typically, I'm so eager to know whodunit that I turn page after page and read an entire book in one day. The mystery in Dropped Dead Stitch is so dull, I didn't care who did it.

On the plus side, Sefton tackles the difficult topic of rape with respect and sensitivity which gives the book a slightly more serious tone. Sefton also pays off one of the long-term relationships with a wedding and picks up the threads of a romance that was hinted at in Dyer Consequences. Finally, Dropped Dead Stitch drops clues that there may be trouble ahead in Kelly and Steve's relationship, perhaps even a parting of the ways due to financial strain and career goals.

But, I don't care about the characters any more. What makes characters interesting is how they deal with conflict and life changes. Sefton's characters have no conflicts or life changes. They drink coffee, eat pizza, play softball, knit, and play board games. That's no more interesting than my own life. As I read the comments from other reviewers, I see that the frequent descriptions of hum-drum daily life in Dropped Dead Stitch turn them off, too.

As a reader, when I pay hardcover prices, I expect an author to step-up the quality of their work. I'm not looking for the "great American novel," but for hardcover prices, I expect a quality mystery. Dropped Dead Stitch isn't worth the hardcover price or the time you'll spend reading it.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Just what you expect, September 25, 2009

By 

Beth Danielsen (middle Tennessee) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dropped Dead Stitch (A Knitting Mystery) (Hardcover)

I just finished reading this book and am puzzled by other reviewers responses. They all mention that the first few books in the series were good but this one was not. Frankly I am stumped. I too have read all the other books in the series and also felt they were good, not great, but good and truth be told this one is just the same as the rest. The same people, same idealic life, same unlikly senrio's, in short - same formula. That is what I expected and that is what I got. I enjoy these books as easy reads and for the feel good fellowship of the main charecters as well as the knitting lingo. I love reading other knitting fiction as well. So again, why is everyone chiming in with such negative reviews? If they expected more after already reading the earlier books, then that is their issue.

On a more positve note: I made the recipe for gingersnapes out of Fleece Navida, and they were awesome! I took them to our church Christmas caroling party and they were snorkled down in tem minutes flat with rave reviews! I highly recomend these.

Blessings, Beth Ann Danielsen

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Dropped Dead Stitch, June 13, 2009

By 

Marilyn J. Cole "avid mystery reader" (Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Dropped Dead Stitch (A Knitting Mystery) (Hardcover)

I've read several books in this series, but this one was the WORST! The writing was VERY amateur...sort of Nancy Drew meets creative writing class! Too much info not necessary to the story (decription of a game of Trivual Pursuit, description of a softball game..HO-HUM!) and the total OVER use of...tease/teased/teasing as a way to describe how someone spoke as well as the phrases...running her fingers through the Bamboo and silk yarns or just plain running her finger through the yarns!! There MUST be other words available! The book became redundant and VERY diffucult to finish...which I did only because I paid for it! Where was her editor? Or,if she had one, s/he should be fired!!!!