Tag Archives: Haunted Yarn Shop Mystery

Dyeing Wishes by Molly MacRae

Overview

Title: Dyeing Wishes
Author: Molly MacRae
Series: Haunted Yarn Shop Mystery #2
Rating Out of 5: 4.5 (Amazing, but not quite perfect)
My Bookshelves: Cozy mystery, CraftCrime, Paranormal fantasy
Pace: Fast
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2013

Thoughts

Dyeing Wishes is another wonderful cozy mystery featuring yarn. And ghosts. And all sorts of nonsense. But mostly, I just love that it’s a fun and gorgeous murder mystery which has a wool and yarn shop at its centre. And Kath trying to figure out her way in her new life. With the people she’s come to love, if not quite understand just yet. As with all of this calibre of mystery, I did kind of end up guessing just who the culprit was, but not quite all the way. There were still plenty of surprises and twists and turns to make me smile. And not want to put this down. Definitely not an easy read at the end of the day… I wanted to solve the mystery far too much!

Ultimately, I actually want Kath to end up with Deputy Clod (Cole) further along in the series. But, I’m enjoying them finding out more about one another as adversaries. And that Kath is spending a lot of time with his brother. And also just the fact that they’re constantly butting heads. I love adversarial couples finding their way to one another. It’s that whole opposites attract thing. I might be completely wrong, but I do love the dynamic that is being set up between Kath and Cole from the very beginning. It’s also kind of fun how they’re constantly trying to one up each other.

Kath’s TGIF posse is absolutely precious. I honestly want a group of women like this in my life – one’s from all age groups and walks of life. That are willing to support one another, but not blindly. Plus, they are able to be around one another in a realistic way. It’s not all sunshine and roses, there are plenty of niggles. But, they still present a united front against outsiders (often Deputy Cole, because hilarious). Plus, they are great at supporting Kath through the death of her grandmother and finding her feet in their little town. It all combines to create a great cast of somewhat zany sidekicks. Ones that had me laughing and smiling throughout this entire story.

From the beginning of Last Wool and Testament, Kath spends a bit of her brain power trying to find and decipher the clues left in Ivy’s note. Particularly the whereabouts of Ivy’s journals and just how her powers work. I love that the powers talked about within this are more subtle and work alongside our own world and experiences. And I love that, at the conclusion of this novel, Kath is more open to experiencing all of the wonders that her grandmother’s legacy has given her. Now, it’s time to go to the next journey with Kath and Geneva and the rest of the TGIF posse.

<- Last Wool and TestamentSpinning in Her Grave ->

Image source: Penguin Books Australia

Last Wool and Testament by Molly MacRae

Overview

Title: Last Wool and Testament
Author: Molly MacRae
Series: Haunted Yarn Shop Mystery #1
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Cozy mystery, Craft, Paranormal fantasy
Pace: Medium
Format: eBook, Novel
Year: 2012

Thoughts

This was an absolutely brilliant cozy mystery. And as a Yarn Fondler myself, I seriously appreciated all of the yarn throughout the tale. Cozy mysteries are a genre that I’ve only recently begun to really get into, but it’s definitely one that I love. And the fact that I have found one that features yarn-related crafts made me seriously happy. And kind of inspired to pick up my own projects and fondle my own yarn… there’s also nothing like a bunch of women united by their love of yarn to bust some butt and solve a mystery. The idea of these women being grandmothers and part of the TGIF (Thank Goodness It’s Fibre) group of women just made it all that much better.

Kath is thrown into a fair amount of turmoil before she even arrives at her destination – a cop pulls her over and then starts to make negative comments about her recently deceased grandmother. I mean, this is literally the opening scene and it’s kind of intense. But it works so well. Straight away I wanted to find out what was going to happen next. And figure out why there is such a divide in people’s opinions of Kath’s grandmother. Then, as the story unfolds, you realise that there is murder most foul afoot. And you really want to know about that too. Blackmail, murder and knitting… the perfect mix for my happy little brain.

I love that to add a bit of variety to this mystery is the fact that Kath is haunted by an INCREDIBLY irritating ghost. I mean, theoretically, she tries to help out with the murder solving bit. But mostly she is just whiney and irritating. I really liked her. And look forward to spending more time with her neurotic insanity in Dyeing Wishes. She’s a fantastic bit of comedic relief in some of the darker aspects of this story and a source of continuous entertainment. She’s also redeemable at the end when she actually helps to save the day – after being such a whiney pain throughout the rest of this.

I’m normally great with guessing who the villain of a story is because there are always clues. And although in hindsight there are all sorts of little hints throughout this, I genuinely had no freaking idea who the villain in this story was. Until they were revealed. And I still felt like it could have been someone else… so now I’m trying to figure out if that someone else is evil in a whole other range of ways, or just a bonehead… nothing like that confusion to make you want to dive into the next mystery in the series.

<- More Molly MacRaeDyeing Wishes ->

Image source: Amazon