Genre: Mystery
Trade Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496725998
Kensington Publishing
304 Pages
$10.89; $9.99 Amazon
June 30, 2020
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For a twenty-eight year old single mum, Paislee has knit together a sensible life for herself, her ten-year-old son, Brody, and Wallace, their black Scottish terrier. Having inherited a knack for knitting from her dear departed grandmother, Paislee also owns a specialty shop called Cashmere Crush, where devoted local crafters gather weekly for her Knit and Sip.
Lately, though, Paislee feels as if her life is unraveling. She's been served an eviction notice, and her estranged and homeless grandfather has just been brought to her door by a disconcertingly handsome detective named Mack Zeffer. As if that wasn't enough, Paislee discovers a young woman who she recently rehired to help in the shop dead in her flat, possibly from an overdose of her heart medicine. But as details of the death and the woman's life begin to raise suspicions for Detective Inspector Zeffer, it's Paislee who must untangle a murderous yarn...
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Paislee Shaw is a twenty-eight-year-old single mum with a ten-year-old son, Brody. She owns her own business and lives in the home that was left to her by her grandmother. Her life might not be completely wonderful, but she's doing the best she can.
That is, at least, unless the new detective inspector in town shows up with her estranged grandfather, Angus Shaw, in tow. Telling her that he has nowhere else to go, she reluctantly takes him in. Then she receives a letter from her landlord giving her thirty days to move since he's sold the building. With her business on the line and a new presence in her life, Paislee thinks things can't get worse. Until she goes to see an ex-employee she's decided to hire back, and finds the young woman dead on the floor of her flat. Now Paislee's sure that Isla was murdered, and is determined to find the killer...even if it puts her in danger of being the next victim...
This is the first book in a new series, and it takes place in Scotland. It took a bit to get used to the speech, but after that I fell right into it, and found myself speaking in a Scottish accent in my head (others probably will, too). While the author definitely got the workings of a small town right, I would have loved to have descriptions of the surrounding areas, but perhaps in the next book.
So let's get the things that bothered me out of the way, and then on to the good of the book. After Paislee discovers the type of person that Isla was, she has a conversation with DI Zeffer and tells him that Isla was her protege and that she "discovered her." Paislee is not a world-class knitter known for her sweaters and making exorbitant amounts of money from them, so how was Isla her protege when the girl couldn't even knit? And how did she 'discover' her? All Isla really learned to do was blackmail people, and Paislee wasn't a blackmailer. So perhaps a bad choice of statement on her part. Ah, well...
Then, Paislee goes from one suspect to the next accusing them (to her friend Lydia) of being the murderer, until it's ruled out that they can't be. I would like to see in the next book that she puts more thought into this and doesn't go around accusing everyone in sight. (Although since she's new to sleuthing, it all makes sense, so I would never think of dinging the author for this).
Aside from this, I did think that this is a very good start to a new series. I do like Angus the best, since he speaks his mind, even if there are subjects that are taboo between himself and Paislee. He's lived a long life, and he's set in his ways, but it does seem that there's affection from him toward her, and that goes a long way. Brody is an intelligent kid, who acts like any ten-year-old (being the mother of boys, I can attest to this); and his interactions with Paislee are spot-on. I also like the possible love interest, and the fact it wasn't just thrown into the series immediately. Paislee seems to be the type of person who lives her life carefully, and it wouldn't have made sense.
I like the fact that we get to see Paislee, who might not be the most animated of people; but for the life she lives - which is to earn an honest living and raise her son the best she can. Then her life is disrupted both at home and at work,and she's trying to cope with it. While I felt there were a few questions I would have liked answered, I am hopeful that this will be so in the next installment.
The mystery was solid, with few clues leading to the murderer until the end, when we figure it out just before Paislee does. I do like the fact that she didn't knowingly put herself in the arms of a killer, and was just as well able to figure out how to keep herself alive without help. At the end, everything about the murder was tied up nicely with the reasons why, and that is what you look forward to in a decent mystery. Recommended.
More on Traci Hall's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/h/traci-hall/
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