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A Needlecraft Mystery
Books in series
#1
Crewel World
1999
When Betsy's sister is murdered in her own needlecraft store, Betsy takes over the shop and the investigation.But to find the murderer, she'll have to put together a list of motives and suspects to figure out this killer's pattern of crime...Includes a beautiful embroidery pattern!
#2
Framed in Lace
1999
When the historic Hopkins ferry is raised from the lake, a skeleton is discovered. Unfortunately, the only evidence is a piece of lace-like fabric. But once Betsy Devonshire and the patrons of her needlecraft shop lend a hand, they're sure to stitch together the details of this mystery...
#3
A Stitch in Time
2000
When a damaged tapestry is discovered in a small-town church closet, needleworkers join to stitch together the clues which lead to a crafty crime.
#4
Unraveled Sleeve
2001
The art of needlecraft requires patience, discipline, and creativity. So, too, does the art of detection. Just ask Betsy Devonshire—who’s learning that life in a small-town needlecraft shop can reveal an unexpected knack for knitting…and a hidden talent for unraveling crime. Betsy Devonshire has settled into her new home in Excelsior, Minnesota, as owner of the town’s needlecraft shop. So why is she suffering from terrifying nightmares? She hasn’t a clue—but she thinks maybe it would help to get away for a while. With her friend Jill in tow, she heads north for a “stitch-in” at a remote, rustic lodge. But her nightmares only get worse—especially after she finds a dead woman no one else had seen. Then the body disappears—and she knows she won’t get any rest until she untangles the mysterious threads of the crime….
#5
A Murderous Yarn
2002
The art of needlecraft requires patience, discipline, and creativity. So, too, does the art of detection. Just ask Betsy Devonshire—who’s learning that life in a small-town needlecraft shop can reveal an unexpected knack for knitting…and a hidden talent for unraveling crime.A Murderous Yarn Heavens to Betsy Devonshire! She never intended to get so caught up in this year’s antique car race. But as sponsor of one of the entrants, she can’t help but keep a close eye on the outcome—and it’s not pretty. One of the drivers never makes it to the finish line. His car is found exploded in flames. Now Betsy and her crafty friends must determine if it was an accident or the work of a jealous competitor. The answer may be in a piece of needlework, but pinning down a suspect won’t be easy…
#6
Hanging by a Thread
2003
"Monica Ferris has a talent for vivid detail," raves the Old Book Barn Gazette. And her heroine, needlecraft shop owner Betsy Devonshire, is "a great character" says Midwest Book Review. Now it's up to Betsy to unravel a five-year-old murder case that refuses to die... Betsy is still new enough to Excelsior, Minnesota, to not know a scandal when she causes one. So, when she hires Foster Johns to fix her roof, the resulting uproar has her needled. The whole town has pinned a five-year-old unsolved double murder on him. Betsy believes Johns when he says he isn't guilty. But she'll have to use every stitch of her sleuthing skills to tie up all the loose ends that will prove his innocence once and for all.
#7
Cutwork
2003
After an artisan is murdered at the Excelsior, Minnesota, art fair, everyone is on pins and needles. It's up to needlework shop owner Betsy Devonshire to figure out who had designs on the dead designer.
#8
Crewel Yule
2004
Part-time sleuth and full-time owner of the needlework shop Crewel World, Betsy Devonshire likes to have a hand in anything crafty-from knitting to solving crime. In this latest yarn in the bestselling series, Betsy prepares for a chilling holiday season filled with mistletoe-and murder. This year's needlework convention is tragically interrupted when one shop owner tumbles nine stories to her untimely death. Now Betsy, Godwin, and other knitting hands must unravel the clues that will put the killer to rest...for a long winter's night.
#9
Embroidered Truths
2005
After her friend Godwin has a nasty quarrel with his significant other, John, Betsy Devonshire finds herself with a roommate. But heartbreak turns to grief when Betsy and Godwin discover John dead in his home, and Godwin is arrested for the murder. Betsy sets out to prove him innocent, and finds that John had some dishonest dealings that made him a lot of money—and a lot of enemies. Now Betsy has to untangle a cat's cradle of lies if she's going to save Godwin... before the murderer decides to cut off all the loose ends for good.
#10
Sins and Needles
2006
Owner of the Crewel World needlework shop and part-time sleuth, Betsy Devonshire must help clear Jan Henderson's name when her wealthy aunt is found dead, courtesy of a double-zero knitting needle. Just like the kind Jan knits with. And an embroidered map of Lake Minnetonka, found among the aunt's effects, could lead Betsy to a buried treasure-or to a secret that someone would kill to keep buried.
Author
Monica Ferris
Author · 19 books
A Needlecraft Mystery
Series ·
19
books · 1999-2016
By
Monica Ferris
#11
Knitting Bones
2007
Crime solving is a group project in the latest installment of this USA Today bestselling series. The stitchers of the Embroiderers Guild are thrilled to have raised over $20,000 for charity-but they're less pleased when the representative who accepts the check disappears with it. After breaking her leg in a fall from a horse, Betsy's confined to her apartment and loopy on pain killers-she can't possibly investigate. But Godwin, her store manager, insists that he can do the legwork. Little do they know that a man across town has a similar injury-and he too is wondering what happened to that check. Betsy and Godwin have got to figure it out first, or it'll be a bad break for everyone.
#12
Thai Die
2008
The USA Today bestselling Needlecraft mystery series returns to pick up another deadly stitch�includes a free needlepoint pattern! As full-time owner of the Crewel World needlework shop and part-time sleuth, Betsy Devonshire has become skilled at weaving suspicious threads. But when one of her regulars unwittingly becomes involved in a deadly delivery of exotic antiquities, Betsy fears something is seriously warped.
#13
Blackwork
2009
This Halloween, Betsy Devonshire, owner of the Crewel World needlework shop and part-time sleuth, is haunted by murder. After one too many pints, a local blames bar owner and Wicca practitioner Leona Cunningham for a series of "accidents" that have happened throughout town. When he ends up dead without a mark on his body, Leona's the main suspect. But Betsy being on the case spells trouble for the killer.
#14
Buttons and Bones
2010
A new Needlecraft mystery from the "USA Today" bestselling author of "Blackwork." Owner of the Crewel World needlework shop and part-time sleuth Betsy Devonshire heads for the Minnesota north woods to renovate an old cabin. But beneath the awful linoleum is something even uglier- the skeleton of a Nazi. Betsy's investigation yields the site of a former German POW camp, a mysterious crocheted rug, and an intricately designed pattern of clues to a decades-old crime. Free cross stitch pattern included.
#15
Threadbare
2011
When an elderly homeless woman is found dead on the shore of Lake Minnetonka, she's wearing something that holds the key to her identity but also opens up a mystery. Embroidered on her blouse is her will, in which she bequeaths everything she owns to her niece-Emily Hame, a member of the Monday Bunch at Betsy Devonshire's Crewel World needlework shop! Emily's aunt turns out to be the second homeless woman to be found dead under mysterious circumstances. It's up to Betsy to discover the common thread between the deaths-and to determine if a murderer may strike again...
#16
And Then You Dye
2012
Betsy Devonshire, full-time owner of the Crewel World needlework shop and part-time sleuth, has hooked more than a few crooks in the USA Today bestselling Needlecraft Mysteries. Now Betsy learns the hard way that a murder is still murder, any way you color it… Betsy is a natural-born yarnsmith—so it’s only fitting that some of her favorite items to stock come from the dye-works of Hailey Brent. Hailey makes hand-dyed knitting wool, silk, soy, and corn yarns. She uses only natural vegetable dyes, creating soft and beautiful colors. Which means her yarns are expensive, but well worth it. Unfortunately, someone thinks they’re worth killing for. When Hailey’s body is discovered shot dead in her workshop, Betsy discovers that there was a lot about Hailey she would have never guessed. Like her penchant for stealing other’s property for her own use. Her use of dangerous additives to create her so-called all-natural fibers. And a scheming mind that had made her more than one enemy. Now, Betsy must wring the truth from a bevy of colorful suspects. Because the truth just might mean the difference between living—and dyeing…
#17
The Drowning Spool
2014
In the USA Today bestselling Needlecraft Mysteries, Betsy Devonshire, owner of the Crewel World needlework shop, knows how to untangle even the most knotty of mysteries. But a soggy murder case might have Betsy in over her head… Even though running Crewel World keeps Betsy plenty busy, a little extra cash on the side doesn’t hurt. So when the local senior complex, Watered Silk, asks her to teach a class on the tricky punch needle technique, Betsy jumps at the opportunity to win over some new customers. Unfortunately, the business that Betsy drums up is not of the needlework variety. A young woman is found floating in Watered Silk’s therapy pool, and Betsy’s sleuthing skills are immediately called upon to figure out who drowned her. But the list of suspects is more twisted than any Betsy has encountered before. The young woman had three lovers—each with a motive for the murder. It’s up to Betsy to sort out the snarl of romantic entanglements and find a killer, or the wrong man is bound to get pinned for a crime he didn’t commit… FREE EMBROIDERY PATTERN INCLUDED
#18
Darned if You Do
2015
The USA Today bestselling Needlecraft Mysteries have shown that when it comes to murder, Betsy Devonshire, owner of the Crewel World needlework shop, doesn’t mess around. But when a local hoarder is murdered, she’ll need all her wits to dig a new friend out of a heap of trouble… After a tree falls on Tom Riordan’s house, landing him in the hospital, the police discover a mountain of junk piled high in his home. Locals in Excelsior, Minnesota—including Betsy and her Crewel World Monday Bunch—offer to help with the cleanup while Tom recuperates. But when Tom is found murdered in his hospital bed, the sole heir to his property—his cousin Valentina—becomes the number one suspect. Betsy believes there’s more to the case than meets the eye, but finding clues to the killer’s identity in the clutter Tom left behind will be like looking for a needle in a haystack … FREE CROCHET PATTERN INCLUDED
#19
Knit Your Own Murder
2016
In the USA Today bestselling Needlecraft Mysteries, Betsy Devonshire has her hands tied between running her needlework shop and turning her sharp eye for deduction to solving crimes… The Monday Bunch and other local knitters are participating in a fundraising auction to save a community center, creating a growing pile of stuffed animals and toys right in front of the auctioneers as the audience bids. Among those contributing the most knitted goods is temperamental businesswoman Maddy O’Leary—who keels over halfway through the event. After she is pronounced DOA, an autopsy reveals that Maddy had been poisoned. But how? And by whom? One of the prime suspects is her ruthless business rival Joe Mickels, who lost a bitterly contested property bid to Maddy. When Mickels pleads his innocence to Betsy, she reluctantly believes him. But if Betsy is going to uncover the real murderer’s identity, she must first untangle the knots Maddy made in her relationships throughout her life…