Crewel World

By: Monica Ferris

Narrated by: Susan Boyce

When Betsy Devonshire arrived in Excelsior, Minnesota, all she wanted was to visit her sister Margot and get her life in order. She never dreamed her sister would give her a place to stay and a job at her needlecraft shop. In fact, things had never looked so good - until Margot was murdered. In a town this friendly, it's hard to imagine who could have committed such a horrible act, but Betsy has a few ideas. There's an ex-employee who wants to start her own needlework store. And there's the landlord who wanted Margot out. Now Betsy's putting together a list of motives and suspects to figure out this killer's pattern of crime….

©1999 Monica Ferris (P)2011 AudioGO

Nice cozy mystery

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed listening to this book, and I found I was picking up my needlework more often than usual! Something about the descriptions of yarns, silks, etc, made me want to sink my hands into them. I figured out 'whodunit' about halfway through the book, and enjoyed collecting clues to see if I was right - I was! I plan to purchase more of the series, but I think I'd better visit my local yarn shop first and stock up....

Boring at first

I couldn't finish 3 chapters.
Kept waiting for something to happen.
Do we really need to hear every detail of planning a project, or following a map to the town?
However, reading the synopsis of a later book, I decided to go back to this one and am editing my review.
Now I understand the importance of the project details.
I'm about to start the 4th book in the series and am surprised at how Ferris has come up with plausible mysteries in such unlikely surroundings.

Characters

I disliked so many needlework terms , but there were. good descriptions of actual pieces . The solution to the murder cleverly used details of a lroject

Please Kill Someone Sooner

I got to the point in this book when I just yelled, die someone, die. Too much backstory, present story, fluff. Once someone died, it wasn't too bad. I don't know if this will tempt me to listen to other books in this series. Not bad, not great. Good thing it was short.

Slow to start, but enjoyed it as it developed

The first in the series. Each following book became crisper and the characters more defined. The last two books I listened to, Embroidered Truths and Crewel Yule, appear to be written by someone else. I honestly did not enjoy either one as the characters personalities change in each, becoming meaner, more scattered, not as organized. Part of it could be the change in the narrator who seemed to make Betsy ditzy. So far the series as a whole is interesting and fun. I hope the rest of the books are back to the original flavors.

A new audio find

I have loved reading works by Monica Ferris and Crewel World audio version reminded me of that. Mixing crafting, mystery, and small town life makes for a delightful story. Susan Boyce is a delightful narrator, though I would have liked to hear more of the local accents come through. Overall, this was a wonderful and entertaining story.

Read the series when it was first published

I am thoroughly enjoying this series again. It’s just as good on audio as it was reading the first time

Almost five stars

The tone of the story was too serious. Whether it was the reader, or the author, somewhere there needs to comic relief. It wasn’t suspensive enough to go without it.

The narrator is just too monotone for me!

Would you try another book from Monica Ferris and/or Susan Boyce?

not sure

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

liked the details of and the story

How could the performance have been better?

She is just so monotone!

Did Crewel World inspire you to do anything?

get back to needle point

Like the story. The narrator, not so much.

I think I would like the book better if I were reading it. The narrator's pacing and emphasis is a bit jarring and interrupts the flow of the story.