Thread on Arrival: A Mainely Needlepoint Mystery (Mainely Needlepoint Mystery, #8)

by Lea Wait

In this coastal New England town, folks take care of the needy—but someone is killing without kindness . . .
 
Ike Hamilton is a part of the Haven Harbor community just like anyone else, though he’s fallen on hard times and has to make do on disability checks and deposit bottles. Most of the locals do what they can to help him out, and needlepointing partners Angie and Sarah are happy to see him at the annual Blessing of the Fleet, honoring all those lost at sea over the centuries.
 
But when harmless Ike is stabbed, suspicion quickly falls on a troubled teenage boy who’s new in town. Angie’s convinced that young Leo is innocent—but if he didn’t do it, who did? Turns out Ike may have appeared simple-minded, but he knew a few secrets that someone might have murdered him to keep quiet. Angie sets out to trace Ike’s bottle-collecting route to find out what he witnessed—and for this killer, there may be no redemption . . .

• ISBN10: 1643583689
• ISBN13: 9781643583686
• Publish Date: 1 October 2019 (first published 30 April 2019)
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Premier Mystery Series
• Edition: Large type / large print edition
• Format: Hardcover (Library Binding)
• Pages: 500
• Language: English

Reviews

The editor's been dropping the ball on this series. The last three books have been riddled with continuity issues and it's annoying.

The things I like most about this series were absent in this volume. I don't mind the faster pace (although the slower pace was what made the other books stand out) but I would prefer there to be some needlepointing (I mean it's called Mainely Needlepoint, it's kind of essential to include some sort of project more than Angie running around to the post office.) and for the mystery to be a cold case. I think the author does the mix of an old mystery affecting the present really well and it's one of the things I love most about the series.

The mystery in this one isn't bad. It's a decent cosy mystery - meaning you'll probably guess the killer off the bat. It's not as complex as some of the previous mysteries have been but it's enjoyable enough. It's just not what I really expect from this series.

The characters were a little off in this one too. I couldn't quite put my finger on it but something was bothering me with the interactions between them. On the other hand the romance in this series is majorly juvenile to the point it actually feels awkward reading it. Angie seems mostly confident but she turns into a basketcase when it concerns Patrick. But that's not exclusive to this book so whatevs.

This book felt very repetitive too. Angie was constantly relaying all of the information between three or four different people and many exchanges were just slightly rephrased. It made it feel a lot longer than it was and it made it somewhat exhausting to read her back and forth between everyone.

2.5 stars, rounded up to 3 stars.