Snow is not the only thing falling this December—spirits are, too. That's because this year's needlework convention in Nashville is tragically interrupted when Milwaukee shop owner Belle Hammermill tumbles nine stories to her untimely death. At first, Betsy Devonshire thinks the fall was just an unfortunate accident. The trouble is, Belle's unsavory reputation causes suspicions to flare. She has plenty of enemies with more than enough motive. Leave it to Betsy and the other knitting hands to unravel the clues that will put the killer to rest for a long winter's night.
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"Betsy is attending a needlework market in Nashville, Tennessee. During a snowstorm which has everyone stuck in the Opryland hotel, (Tennessee does not deal with storms the way Chicago can!) a guest falls to her death into the atrium of the hotel. Betsy, of course, investigates and discovers that the fall is not an accident and there are three likely suspects. This book makes me want to stay at this hotel, but I looked it up on the internet, and it is VERY high priced, but it sounds and looks (from the pictures) like it would be fantastic!"
— Patt (4 out of 5 stars)
“This charming mystery is engagingly read by Melissa Hughes, who finds distinctive and realistic voices for its many female characters.”
— AudioFile“Ferris’ characterizations are top-notch, and the action moves along at a crisp pace.”
— Booklist" Another great bit of escapism with Betsy and co. Betsy, Jill and Godwin are in Nashville for a needlework market held in a large hotel. Snowed in there, they become involved in sudden death of one of the other attendees. This is written in a slightly different style to the previous books, and the story took place over just two days. "
— Ali, 2/19/2014" this storyline was the best from this series! Very compelling! "
— Laura, 2/7/2014" Better than the last book, considering the lack of technical errors, but she kept shifting back and forth in periods of time for the first few chapters, which really killed any sense of continuity. I have so many of her books that I feel the need to read them all, but it is starting to get a little harder to make myself slog through them. I hope that they start to pick up again soon. She needs to make the murderer far less obvious at the beginning. I've found for the last two books that I'm just waiting for the killer to confess at the end, but I've known for quite a while who it was. It was kinda nice to get a small peek into the retail market, though. "
— Jennifer, 2/5/2014" murder during a needlecraft convention "
— Debbie, 2/4/2014" I didn't enjoy this latest needlecraft mystery as much as I have the others. I'm not sure why, except that I wonder if moving out of the familiar setting of Excelsior was the problem. Here, instead of familiar characters (beyond Betsy, Godwin and Jill) we have a set of new strangers along with a bunch of people many cross stitchers will know by name because they are real people in the needlework industry. Ferris has given real, living people words to say that they have never said and an adventure they have never had. I think this may be my problem as this sort of thing very rarely works for me outside historical novels - and there I still expect the author to have done their research. Not only that, but she took an institution of the industry and moved it around by two months and made it do what she wanted. I feel that if Ferris wanted to write about the Nashville Market, she should have left it in February where it belonged instead of changing everything around. It was like she was trying to be clever, but couldn't make the story fit into the normal set of events so started changing them to suit herself. To me, that's lazy, fannish writing. If it didn't work, she should have changed the story, not the real events. The murder is relatively simple really, with a limited number of suspects, none of whom really engaged me. I guess, all up, I didn't really care for the murdered woman, the suspects or anyone very much. It wasn't a really bad read, despite this, but certainly the lowest of the series. [Copied across from Library Thing; 17 October 2012] "
— Kerry, 1/25/2014" This was the best in this series so far. I enjoyed the holiday descriptions. I'm not a great stitcher, so don't particularly get excited about that part of the series, but the murder and the mystery in this book were really good. Kept me guessing right up until the end. Really enjoyed this one! "
— Joy, 1/20/2014" Loved reading about Betsy, Jill and Godwin again! "
— Heather, 12/19/2013" Ok, most cozy mysteries are not great literature. But parts of this were so incredibly far-fetched that my eyebrows are sore from being elevated! I was hoping that I'd found a fun new series, but probably won't bother with any more of these. "
— Alycia, 12/11/2013" Finished on July 14, 2008. "
— Nancy, 12/11/2013" I really enjoyed this holiday cozy! It wasn't too heavy of a book to read at this time of year, yet it held your interest. It was the perfect book for this busy, hectic time of year. "
— Sherri, 10/5/2013" Quick and easy to read. Betsy, Godwin, and Jill find themselves snowed in at the annual Needlework Market in Nashville. It tuns out that not only do they have needlework and shopping to occupy their time, they also have a murder to solve. "
— Corky, 6/25/2013" I like this series for what it is, but sometimes I think Betsy should be wearing gypsy earrings and carrying a crystal ball. "
— Cece, 6/16/2013" Loved it! Another great mystery that couldn't be put down! "
— Carla, 4/3/2013" I have read a few books in this needlepoint mystery series and they are all fun and easy reads with likable characters. "
— Sherry, 3/29/2013" Not sure how this one got on my to-read list. It was just okay. "
— Angela, 1/29/2013" loved this one. not in excelsior but monica included names of designers of x-stitch. In fact some of the ones mentioned I met at the Creative Arts fair several tomes. itis nice to see good designers like betsey stinner recognized. thanks monica "
— Fmorlan, 10/25/2012" Why am I wasting my time on this mediocre series? I think I am going to stop. "
— Donna, 7/6/2012" Holiday story. Didn't enjoy this one quite as much - takes place at a needlework convention in Nashville. "
— Kitty, 4/28/2012" A Christmas read. "
— Abbygal, 1/5/2012" This was a fun read. The plot is predictable, I agree, but when it's cold and wet outside what better thing to do than curl up with a good whodunit! "
— Deborah-anne, 11/24/2011" Pretty typical, okay mystery but very graphic death in this one...creepier than usual! "
— Natalie, 6/30/2011" I enjoyed the book but the writing style was different and I didn't like that part. "
— Leah, 5/22/2011" This is another one of my fave books in this series. I liked the setting for the storyline . "
— Deb, 4/24/2011" Once she stopped going back and forth in time, the book got a little better. For the first half of the book, it was very hard to keep up with where and when I was, but I finally got past that. It was fun to have a "behind the scenes" look at part of Nashville Market. "
— Melissa, 2/21/2011" Quick and easy to read. Betsy, Godwin, and Jill find themselves snowed in at the annual Needlework Market in Nashville. It tuns out that not only do they have needlework and shopping to occupy their time, they also have a murder to solve. "
— Corky, 12/5/2010" Loved it! Another great mystery that couldn't be put down! "
— Carla, 10/8/2010" The mystery was good, but there was a lot of jumping around in time in the beginning setting up the motives for the three main suspects. It was interesting to have the story take place in an unfamiliar place, at a needlework industry show, and with a time limit. "
— Vicki, 10/2/2010" If you do not like or know anything about needle work ... avoid this book. <br/> <br/>The plot was thin and I did not have much surprises listening to this book. <br/> <br/>Will probably eventually forget that I have listen to it. "
— Sylvie, 7/2/2009" Once she stopped going back and forth in time, the book got a little better. For the first half of the book, it was very hard to keep up with where and when I was, but I finally got past that. It was fun to have a "behind the scenes" look at part of Nashville Market. "
— Melissa, 2/13/2009" Ok, most cozy mysteries are not great literature. But parts of this were so incredibly far-fetched that my eyebrows are sore from being elevated! I was hoping that I'd found a fun new series, but probably won't bother with any more of these. "
— Alycia, 1/17/2009" Finished on July 14, 2008. "
— Nancy, 12/29/2008" Pretty typical, okay mystery but very graphic death in this one...creepier than usual! "
— Natalie, 12/9/2008" So far it's holding my interest "
— Sandy, 11/24/2008" I have read a few books in this needlepoint mystery series and they are all fun and easy reads with likable characters. "
— Sherry, 11/24/2008" Holiday story. Didn't enjoy this one quite as much - takes place at a needlework convention in Nashville. "
— Kitty, 11/22/2008" I really like this series. "
— Luna, 10/1/2008" run of the mill cozy mystery with boring descriptions of needlework patterns. Inane. "
— Linda, 9/4/2008Monica Ferris is the USA Today bestselling author of several mystery series under various pseudonyms. She lives in Minnesota.
Melissa Hughes’ career began in radio, where she was a staff announcer, DJ, and voice-over artist. Working in England for many years, she starred in the BBC Radio drama Trouble Brewing, appeared in numerous plays, and created the screams for the character of Lois Lane, as well as other voices in the film Superman.