Thread and Gone by Lea Wait - #review

When a priceless antique is stolen, murder unravels the peaceful seaside town of Haven Harbor, Maine…

Angie Curtis and her fellow Mainely Needlepointers know how to enjoy their holidays. But nothing grabs their attention like tying up loose threads. So when Mary Clough drops in on the group’s Fourth of July supper with a question about antique needlepoint she’s discovered in her family Colonial-era home, Angie and her ravelers are happy to look into the matter.

Their best guess is that the mystery piece may have been stitched by Mary, Queen of Scots, famous not just for losing her head, but also for her needlepointing. If they’re right, the piece would be extremely valuable. For safekeeping, Angie turns the piece over to her family lawyer, who places it in her office safe. But when the lawyer is found dead with the safe and ransacked, the real mystery begins. . .

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MY REVIEW

The town name, Haven Harbor, sounds so calm and peaceful, right?  Well it might sound like that, but it sure isn't that way for some of the residents.  There are, of course, the victims (at least 3, as this is the third book in the Mainely Needlepoint Mysteries), nor the Mainly Needlepointers group, who wind up investigating the crimes.  One would think the most danger in needlepointing is needle-sticking your finger.  Ha!

You see, 17-year old Mary has inherited her grandmother's house and in the process of either get it ready to live in or sell, she comes across some needlepoint that looks old.  What's a girl to to?  Take it to her friendly Mainely Needlepointers group.  Mary is also engaged, and her fiance is pushing to sell the house, or if the needlepoint is valuable, to sell it.  He just seems a little too interested in helping himself to Mary's inheritance.  Angie picks up on that from the first ... but then he is the proverbial bull in the china shop when it comes to his intentions.

The group agrees to investigate the antique needlepoint, and thinking it may be valuable, Angie gives it to her family lawyer for safekeeping.  (You know that isn't going to end well.)  Mr. Fiance and a woman, not Mary, go to the lawyer's home office wanting to see the needlepoint trying to find out how valuable the thing is.

What none of them know for sure right now, is that the piece may have been stitched by Mary, Queen of Scots, and contained clues for a plot to try and free Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, before she met Mme. Guillotine.  Wonderful the way Ms. Wait stitched together these three disparate locales and centuries.   Being able to hold (or at least) an item of historical significance is a whole different reallity to reading about it in a book.

Before the end, you will go down many paths where things (and people) are not always what they seem.  Thread and Gone is an engaging page-turner!

There is a 4th installment in the works, due out later this year.  HUZZAH!

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MEET THE AUTHOR

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Lea Wait lives on the coast of Maine. A fourth generation antique dealer, and author of the Agatha-nominated Shadows Antique Print mystery series, she loves all things antiques and Maine, and she’s learning to do needlepoint. She also writes historical novels for young people set in (where else?) nineteenth-century Maine. Lea adopted her four daughters when she was single; she’s now the grandmother of eight, and married to artist Bob Thomas.

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GIVEAWAY!!!

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Click on the logo to go to the tour page, where you will find links to more reviews and an interview with the author!  You can also sign up to become a tour host while you are there!

(Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book from the author and publishers via Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours in exchange for my unbiased review.  This post may contain affiliate links.)

NOTE:  I read this book in 2015.