A Needlecraft Mystery Books

Description /Buy link takes you to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn money from qualifying purchases.

Needlecraft Mystery is a series of cozy mystery novels written by Monica Ferris. The books follow a free-spirited woman whose close encounter with tragedy sparks enthusiasm for needlework.

Betsy’s life changes rather drastically in Crewel World, the first novel in the series when her sister is murdered and she decides to hunt the killer down.

Of the two siblings, Margot was always the stable one. At 53, she lived in Excelsior, Minnesota from where she operated a needlework store.

Margot’s husband had a lot of money but you wouldn’t know it from looking at the widow. Margot lived a very simple life, so much so that she often attracted suspicion.

The old woman loved her town. She loved her shop and she loved her craft. So when Betsy came to Excelsior, she immediately found a comfortable position under her sister’s wing, having determined to live off of Margot’s hard work.

Betsy left home at an early age. She found a sailor who could love her and they got married. But their union did not last, and neither did Betsy’s marriage to her second husband.

Margot’s life was complicated enough without Betsy throwing more wrenches into the mix, what with the landlord who was determined to throw her out of her building and the crazy Excelsior resident who had nurtured an obsession with the old woman’s store.

Margot had no idea that her life would end with murder. Her passing shook Betsy to her core.

She was forced to confront all the decisions she had made in life. And once she took a peek at the investigation surrounding her sister’s murder, she realized that she had been availed an opportunity to catch Margot’s killer.

The Needlecraft Mystery series tells Betsy’s story as she learns the ropes of operating her sister’s shop and develops a taste for investigative work.

This series places a lot of emphasis on needlework. For one thing, Betsy’s life revolves around the craft.

Over the course of the series, her love for needlework and embroidery wins her many new friends, most of whom bring new joy into her life.

Additionally, many of the mysteries presented in each book attract Betsy’s attention specifically because of one or more random connections to needlework that they might have.

As is often the case with cozy mysteries, these books spend a lot more time exploring the lives of Betsy and her new neighbors than they do unraveling the mysteries at hand.

Though, Monica Ferris injects a little bit of darkness into her stories. She isn’t afraid to tackle the more difficult and depressing aspects of grief, a fact that might catch some readers off-guard, especially people who read cozy mysteries for their light-hearted plots.

Best Needlecraft Mystery Books

Monica Ferris has been commended for touching upon needlework and embroidery in a manner that appeals to even readers who care nothing for the subjects, with some of the best books in the series including:

Framed in Lace: A historic Ferry has just been raised from the lake. But all the hullaballoo it has generated has more to do with the skeleton they found within its confines.

Normally, skeletons and ferries wouldn’t automatically draw Betsy’s attention. But the skeleton in question has a close association with a lace-like fabric, a piece of evidence that could shed light on the skeleton’s origins.

Betsy and the patrons of her needlework shop waste no time in leaping into the fray, determined to unravel the mystery one stitch at a time.

Stitch in Time: Christmas is approaching. As winter sets in, renovations on a local church begin. The work reveals a long-lost tapestry.

Betsy is among those who immediately volunteer to repair it. In doing so, she is drawn into another mystery, one that involves crime and death.

Other Book Series You May Like

The “Seaside Knitters Society” Series by Sally Goldenbaum is another good read. When Izzy opened a knitting shop in a small seaside village, she did not expect to attract a bevy of women who would make the shop their regular haunt. She also did not expect to stumble into so many mysteries and murders as a result.

You may also like the A Knitting Mystery Series by Maggie Sefton. Kelly Flynn was a corporate accountant living a dull life in Washington DC. Then her aunt died and Kelly moved to Ft. Connor in Colorado to attend the funeral. Now Kelly’s life is filled with more excitement than she knows what to do with.

When she isn’t learning to knit, Kelly can be found solving murders.

What Is The Next Book in The Needlecraft Mysteries Series?

There doesn't seem to be an upcoming book in The Needlecraft Mysteries Series. The newest book is Knit Your Own Murder and was released on February, 2nd 2016.

Home » Series » A Needlecraft Mystery

BookSeries.org