Embroidered Truths
A Betsy Devonshire Needle Craft Mystery, No. 8
by Monica Ferris
Betsy
Devonshire lives a comfortable life with her cat in an apartment over
her embroidery shop, Crewel World. When her store manager, Goddard,
is inexplicitly thrown out of the house he shares with John, his partner
of 8 years, he crashes in Betsy's spare bedroom while tempers cool.
It isn't long before Goddard is arrested for murder, and Betsy throws
herself into proving his innocence. Based on their belief in Goddy,
her regular customers weave a web of support that would make a spider
proud.
I
particularly liked that Betsy looked the lawyer in the eye and said
she had a talent for investigation, instead of sneaking around and
being coy about her discoveries. I couldn't understand why Ms. Ferris
specifically made him a mixed race character, descended from African-American
slaves and Polish immigrants, unless it was to give his character
unquestioned insight into being judged by other people's ideas of
his limitations. He readily accepts Betsy's suggestion that she
do the leg work and takes her very seriously in this role. The sheriff
is another notable character, conflicted and complex. He doesn't
like Betsy, or any civilian, being involved in police work, but
he respects her findings and even grants her privileges because
of her success.
I
don't care for murder as a way to tidy up the storyline. I got the
impression that the purpose of this book was to move the overall
series plot along; that John had outlived his usefulness and was
murdered as a convenient way to improve Goddard's life. It also
gave Betsy the excuse to become connected with an influential lawyer
who could give her future casework. Your friends reasonably can
have only so many murders for you to solve. There were a few threads
in this book that could be pulled for future stories, such as WHY
did John have such a big secret?
This
story was a light, easy, read that emphasized the value of friendship
and cooperative effort to attain a goal. I enjoyed reading it and
working on the embroidery pattern.
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The
Reviewer |
Beth
E. McKenzie |
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