Customer Reviews

Knit One, Kill Two (Knitting Mysteries, No. 1)

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I usually wait to judge a new series until I read the second book, but I am a little taken aback by negative views of this volume. I often find the first book of a series weak, but the author develops assurance as they continue. Or they crash and burn. Ellis Peter's Brother Cadfael became one of my favorite series, but I thought that the first book, A Morbid Taste for Bones, was decidedly mediocre, especially for an experienced writer.

I would agree with some of the other reviewers that the characters need more development and the book certainly needed better editing. The editing is probably hopeless, but the character development wasn't so dreadful as to ruin the book for me and can certainly be improved in further installments. While Kelly's ability to switch to being an off-site employee may or may not be unrealistic in her industry, but it seems more plausible for an accountant than most jobs.

One thing that impressed me about the book was Sefton's description of the sensory overload that some of us go into when we get into a yarn shop. I also prefer amateur detectives who have a little sense when it comes to dealing with clearly dangerous people, and so I am very happy that Sefton doesn't have her heroine going off alone to confront the killer. I would have preferred that Sefton had not fallen into the cliched trap of trying to set up a bickering relationship with the obvious potential love interest. It didn't work too well, and I find bickering a poor substitute for plot.

Since the story involves things that happened decades before, I am glad that Sefton chose the more realistic plot of the characters having gotten on with their lives, generally successfully, and not becoming fixated on the past. I don't like stories, especially series, where the characters continue to have the same problems with the same people with no resolution. (Except for running into an inordinate number of murders, of course.)

I will definitely be checking out the next book, and I hope this will prove to be a successful series. Those interested in the needlework aspects may enjoy Monica Ferris' Betsy Devonshire mystery series, which begins with Crewel World or Debbie Macomber also has an interesting novel called The Shop on Blossom Street, both of which center around knitting/needlework shops.

"Knit One, Kill Two" is the debut offering in a new cozy mystery series with a knitting twist. The book introduces the delightful Kelly Flynn, consulting CPA and newbie knitter, along with a host of knitting friends who all meet at a yarn store called the House of Lambspun. As the story opens, Kelly is recently arrived in Fort Conner, Colorado to attend her murdered Aunt Helen's funeral. The local police department has quickly detained a vagrant and charged him with Helen's murder, writing off Helen's death as a random break-in. When accountant Kelly learns that her financially conservative aunt received $20,000 in cash on the very day of her murder, and the money is nowhere to be found, Kelly begins to doubt the police's solution to her aunt's murder. And when Kelly finds that her Aunt Helen's heirloom quilt is missing from her cottage, Kelly determines to find Helen's real killer in this well-plotted mystery.

The farmhouse that Kelly's aunt and uncle owned has been sold and turned into a wonderful knitting store called the House of Lambspun. Aunt Helen was a passionate knitter, but Kelly never had the patience to learn knitting before. Intrigued by the beautiful garments displayed in the store, Kelly finally tackles knitting with some success. Knitters new and old will enjoy the story line dealing with Kelly's knitting journey.

Author Sefton has introduced a great cast of supporting characters in the diverse group of knitters who gather at the House of Lambspun. Last but not least, the story includes a goofy Rottweiler named Carl who loves to steal golfballs from the golf course behind Aunt Helen's cottage. This book was a very enjoyable, quick read. I am hooked on the knitting theme and characters introduced in this story, and I can't wait to read the next book in the series to learn if Kelly decides to stay in Fort Conner.

The heroine is a feisty single young woman who adjusts to some serious changes in her personal life. When her aunt is murdered, she inherits the cottage and surrounding land in Colorado far from her beloved east coast. While she intended to stay "just long enough to settle the estate," she has questions about her aunt's death and finds herself stretching her allotted time in order to find the answers. The plot moves ahead quickly with frequent "knitting breaks" at the shop across the street, where we meet her supporting cast - a group of friends who welcome her to their small community. This is a good story in a beautiful setting - whodunnit is secondary to enjoying the search. I'm looking forward to the author's next book.

This is a solid mystery. It took me about 1/3 of the way through the book to become involved enough to finish it.

The main character, Kelly, an Accountant in Washington, DC, returns to Colorado after the murder of her only remaining relative, Aunt Helen. Kelly inherits her Aunts cottage, which is across the street from the family's old farm house, which now has a yarn store in one half and cafe in the other half.

Although Aunt Helen's murder is blamed on the town vagrant, Kelly begins to suspect the police have the wrong person when she learns her Aunt took out a high risk mortgage to raise $20k in cash, and the day she cashed the check was the day she was killed. Also a heirloom family quilt is missing, a distant surprise relative pops up, and there is a near attack on Kelly.

Along the way Kelly makes friends with the yarn shop owner, Mimi, the shop regulars, and Jen, a knitting waitress from the cafe. All these women are eager to be helpful and include Kelly in their activities, while keeping an eye out for her. Throw in Steve Townsend, a local developer who has developed a relationship with Kelly's dog Carl, and is hoping to establish one with Kelly herself for the romance aspect.

The actual mystery of who murdered Aunt Helen is good, and even has decent twists. Kelly is somewhat lacking in personality, but I just kept reminding myself she is an Accountant. I found some of the supporting characters, Lizzie and Jen, far more interesting and amusing then Kelly. The descriptions of Kelly's attempts at learning to knit will be familiar to any new knitter.

The drawbacks to the book are the redundancy of terms or activities. Such as the overuse of "resonate" by Kelly to decide what to do next. The author could have used a Thesaurus to vary the term a bit. Also Kelly will be thinking to herself she needs to get back to her life in DC, then 3 pharagraphs later she will say the exact same sentence to one of the knitting goup characters. There are several glaring editing errors. Kelly's constant going on about the yarn colors and textures gets tiresome. As a knitter, I enjoy a good yarn shop, but do not spend tons of time sticking my hands into baskets of yarn. During parts of the knitting group dialog, the speaker is not always identified, making it difficult to follow the conversation. The fact Kelly has very little problem convincing the big accounting firm back in Washington, DC to let her telecommute from Colorado is unrealistic. Any worker in the real world would die to work for a company so accomdating about letting someone telecommute on a mere few days notice. The amount of time Kelly spends drinking coffee, knitting, sluething, playing softball, etc. leaves one to wonder how she is getting any work done, though Kelly mentions her accounts and logging on to the corporate website on a regular basis. It is obvious from the chain of events that Kelly will be staying in Colorado, and due to her inheritances probably helping out her new group of friends financially when needed.

I will try the second book in the series to see if the writing, editing, and character development improve, and also to see if I am correct about what Kelly will be doing next.

This mystery just misses the boat. I nearly gave up one it but kept reading hoping I would change my mind but I didn't. Everything was a little too convenient. Kelly's acceptance into the knitting community, her ease in digging up the clues, her DC job allowing her to work from Colorado, and Burt being a spinner. I liked the setting and the yarn shop. There were too many characters that never got fleshed out. And the final denouement was way over the top. I won't be reading any more of the series. I would recomment Monica Ferris' needlework series and Debbie Macomber's Blossom Street series over this one. While they are cozy, there are layers and character development.

For a first novel, this book isn't bad but it could have been much better. The typos and editing mistakes were rampant throughout the book and that distracted from the story. The story itself was rather flat and uninteresting, as are the characters. The mystery & setup is too much like Crewel World by Monica Ferris to be really good. And Kelly Flynn herself - the main character - is too predictable & stereotypical to be truly likable. The knitting content was good but not too realistic to me.

The book is very standard and not very original at all. I hope the series gets a lot better with the next two books. Since it is a first novel, I will give the next one a chance too.

The plot was okay, but many of the fill-in details seemed clumsily put together. Even though I love knitting, the narrator's descriptions of the yarn store were over the top and her acceptance into the community there was too smooth. And how do so many working women show up in a yarn store for hours every day of the week?

I was also irked by the author's limited use of vocabulary and by the way she keeps reminding you of things you learned only a few chapters back. The book ends abruptly, as well, with a lot of unanswered questions. I won't be reading anything else by this author.

Call me confused. Mediocre story and characters, but a mystery? Sorry...I just don't think this "mystery" has followed the typical criteria. Hardly any clues, and suspects. I couldn't find any, except the vagrant that we knew didn't do it. The ending was very contrived.
I have to agree with another reviewer. It's almost as if this author started off with the romance genre and somebody told her to turn it into a mystery.
And ditto to another review.....enough already with the colors and textures of the yarns....that was way overdone! We got the point after the first five times it was mentioned.
Was really looking forward to a new MYSTERY series and was greatly disapponted.

I knit (a lot!), crochet, quilt, and spin (a little). So, I get lost is stories which involve fiber enthusiasts. I was also able to relive visits with family in Colorado from the (gushing)descriptions of the Rockies, Fort Collins, Estes Park, and other locales.

Ms. Sefton's characters are not particularly deep, but they are likable. They are the kind of people you would like to have around you if you have problems like those Kelly faces.

Is this great writing? No. Is there notable plot or character development? No. Has there been good editing? No - there are too many inconsistencies (forest green yarn becomes emerald a couple of chapters later) and typos ("yard" for "yarn") to go unnoticed.

However, if you would like to have a nice visit with fellow fiber enthusiasts and you are looking for a "beach read," this book might appeal to you. It did to me.

i was looking forward to this series because not only do Ilove knitting I love reading about it in any way shape or form. This book is the first in a series and one can only hope the author improves with practice. Her dialog is just too cute for words as are most of her characters. They are bouncy beyond belief and adorable, too. Of course there is also the obligatory wonderman that falls for Kelly our heroine, but she disdains him until, until ...

Ifyou are looking for good writing, believable characters, good dialog and interesting plot, look elsewhere.