Sunday, December 18, 2011

Review and Giveaway: Threadbare by Monica Ferris



Hardcover, 272 pages
Expected publication: December 6th 2011 by Berkley Hardcover

ISBN: 0425243583 (ISBN13: 9780425243589)
original title: Threadbare

From the publisher:

When an elderly homeless woman is found dead on the shore of Lake Minnetonka, she's wearing something that holds the key to her identity but also opens up a mystery. Embroidered on her blouse is her will, in which she bequeaths everything she owns to her niece-Emily Hame, a member of the Monday Bunch at Betsy Devonshire's Crewel World needlework shop!

Emily's aunt turns out to be the second homeless woman to be found dead under mysterious circumstances. It's up to Betsy to discover the common thread between the deaths-and to determine if a murderer may strike again.


Betsy gets drawn into the investigation at the bequest of Margaret, one of her customers. The first homeless woman was Margaret's cousin and there was a bit of bad blood between them. Of course, the police upon hearing of this determined that Margaret was a person of interest. She begs Betsy to look into it since Betsy  has the reputation as a successful amateur sleuth.

The problems begin when numerous motives are uncovered and suspects start to pop up. With the help of Annie, another homeless woman who knew the two deceased women, Betsy carries out her investigation from Excelsior all the way to Fargo.  One of the big problems is who was the intended target? The first body found or the second? Who actually died first? Since they were both found frozen in the snow, it's hard to determine.  Even with some "inside" help, it's going to be a case that is all tied up in knots and Betsy has her work cut out for her untangling all the threads in the lives of these two women.

Although this is # 15 in the series, I don't feel like I missed anything by only having read a couple of the previous books. This one is easily a stand-alone. As far as the mystery goes, this was a good one due to the two deaths that had a lot of things in common. The fact that the women knew each other, both had relatives in town, and both had stayed at the same shelter made for some intriguing reading. The reader is not quite sure who the intended target was if not both. Why on earth would someone have it in for homeless women. Why would a homeless woman who owns next to nothing even make a will in the first place? Veddddy vedddy interesting!

Due to the ever so generous Berkley, I am able to offer a giveaway of one copy of this book. Open to US only with the deadline to enter being Dec 27th at 5 PM (est). Bonus entries are as follows:

+2 for being a follower, old or new. Just remind me how you follow and under what name.
+3 for blogging (sidebar is fine) or tweeting about the giveaway. Leave me a link, please.



If you cannot comment you can still enter by sending me an e mail with Win Threadbare in the subject line. Include your name and e mail and send to florida982002[at]yahoo.com

Good luck!

Disclosure: A review copy of the book was provided by Berkley in exchange for my honest opinion.

21 comments:

  1. I would love to read it, it sounds really good.

    I am a old gfc follower
    debbie
    twoofakind12@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. thanks for the review and the chance to win this.

    +2 I am an old follower.
    pbclark(at)netins(dot)net

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  3. This sounds like a wonderful series. It's nice to know you can pick up this book without reading the previous books.

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  4. Many thanks for this lovely giveaway. saubleb(at)gmail(dot)com

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  5. great review which interests me. Sounds compelling. elliotbencan(at)hotmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sounds like another intriguing mystery for Betsy! Thanks so much!

    +2 I am an old GFC follower.

    JHolden955(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  7. This seems like a mystery that has several different interesting components, and it might make for an interesting read experience. I would love the chance to be entered in your giveaway, and thank you for hosting it. Great review too, by the way!

    zibilee(at)figearo(dot)net

    ReplyDelete
  8. A Minnesota author writing a cozy series set in MN - how have I missed this? Yes, I live in MN!

    +2 - Old GFC follower.

    kpbarnett1941[at]aol.com

    ReplyDelete
  9. Would love to win this book.

    +2 for being an old GFC follower
    +3 for blogging at:
    http://wrensthoughts.blogspot.com/p/contests-and-giveaways-good-luck.html

    and tweeting at:
    https://twitter.com/#!/wfnren/status/148470198574395392

    wfnren at aol dot com
    wrensthoughts.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  10. I've read all the other books in the series and I'm looking forward to this one.

    +2 I'm a follower under the name of Susan and subscribe through Google reader

    sdryburgh at hotmail dot com

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  11. I want to win a copy because I like to cross stitch!! sounds fun to me and right now I'm all about fun!

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  12. another awesome giveaway!! thank you!!!
    i can't wait to read Threadbare!!!

    i'm an old gfc follwer: cyn209

    cyn209 at juno dot com

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm really starting to get into cozies and I'd love to win and read this one!!

    old gfc follower under Martha Lawson

    mlawson17 at hotmail dot com

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  14. Sounds like a good book.

    GFC follower as SandyG265

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  15. Homeless and with a will does sound veddy interesting.

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  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  17. This sounds really interesting. Would love to read it.

    new ghc follower
    Virginia

    lead[at]hotsheet[dot]com

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  18. It is very striking that the homeless woman had her will embroidered on her blouse. I would have never thought of that! That alone shows how creative Monica Ferris is when she writes.

    +2 Old GFC follower

    +3 I tweeted:

    http://kayespenguinposts.blogspot.com/

    CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  19. I really enjoy Monica Ferris.

    blwilstead(at)aol(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  20. Thank you for the chance to win.

    I am a gfc follower (griperang)
    I posted the giveaway on my blog - http://griperangsbookmarks.blogspot.com/p/giveaways.html

    griperang at embarqmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  21. This book sounds wonderful. Please consider me for the giveaway.

    ReplyDelete

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