Thread on Arrival by Lea Wait

Good Day!  A Twist in the Tail by Leighann Dobbs comes out on May 16.  The first book in The Oyster Cove Guesthouse series.  Southern Sass and Killer Craving by Kate Young will be released on May 28.  It is the first novel in A Marygene Brown Mystery series.  I will feature on May 20 as part of the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour.

Thread on Arrival by Lea Wait takes readers back to Haven Harbor, Maine.  Angie Russo along with her boyfriend, Patrick West are heading to the harbor for the annual Blessing of the Fleet which honors those lost at sea.  They notice Ike Hamilton has a teenage boy helping him.  Ike is on Social Security Disability and supplements his income by collecting bottles to return for their deposit.  Leo, who has been in town three weeks, is helping Ike who injured his back a few weeks ago and living in Ike’s garage with him.  The next day, Angie is at Dave Percy’s when Leo comes pounding on the door.  He has blood on him and blurts out that Ike is dead.  They quickly call Sergeant Pete Lambert who rushes to Ike’s.  Pete calls Detective Ethan Trask because Ike was murdered.  Unfortunately, suspicion falls onto young Leo who Angie and Dave believe is innocent.  Angie talks to various townspeople who provided bottles to Ike and learns that Ike was extremely observant.  He had the tendency of sharing what he learned with others which may have been Ike’s downfall.  Did Ike uncover someone’s secret which led to his death?  Then a second tragedy befalls the town when another resident passes away.  Will Angie be able to uncover the truth, or will the killer make sure that Angie does not celebrate her upcoming twenty-eighth birthday?

Thread on Arrival is the eighth novel in A Mainely Needlepoint Mystery series.  It can be read as a standalone, but I would recommend reading TwistedThreads first.  It will provide you with background information on Angie and the major secondary characters.  It is hard to believe that Angie has been in Haven Harbor for less than a year.  She is managing Mainely Needlepoint, dating Patrick West, has made some good friends and has her adorable black cat, Trixi.  In Thread on Arrival, we are introduced to Ike Hamilton who has fallen on hard times.  He wants to live out the rest of his days in Haven Harbor and, when his home was demolished for safety reasons, he took up residence in the garage.  Ike is an honorable man with principles.  He does not like seeing people harmed or being taken advantage of by those in power.  Angie feels bad that she was unaware that he collected bottles and could have assisted him.  When Leo becomes the prime suspect, Angie wants to assist the young man who has had a difficult life.

 All of the regular characters are in the Thread on Arrival (Gram, Sarah, Anna, Dave, Ruth, Reverend Tom) as they get ready for tourists to soon descend on the town and work on needlepoint projects for Mainely Needlepoint.  I enjoy the descriptions of the projects and the sampler quotations at the beginning of each chapter along with descriptions of the sampler.  Sarah Byrne is Angie’s best friend and owns an antique shop.  We get historical information on political memorabilia (political buttons are valued by collectors) and learned the history of embroidered “pockets” (see above picture).  There are lovely cozy moments as we follow Angie about her day-to-day activities.  I appreciated that we got to know more about Dave Percy in this installment (he has a unique poison garden).  The mystery was thought out with multiple viable suspects.  I was able to identify the killer early in the story, though, based on previous books I have read, and I had a strong suspicion as to why.  The secondary crime was more unique.  I like how the reveal was done and was happy to see this killer taken down.  There are recipes at the end of the book which includes Dave’s lasagna and Angie’s special birthday cake.  My favorite saying from Thread on Arrival comes from Gram "Everyone needs to be needed." Come along to Haven Harbor for good food, antiques, needlepoint, clear skies, and a pesky murder or two in Thread on Arrival.

The next A Mainely Needlepoint Mystery is Thread and Buried which will be out on November 26.  You can find out more about the author and her books on her website.  Thank you for reading my review today.  I plan on sharing my thoughts on Half Finished by Lauraine Snelling tomorrow.  I hope you have a gleeful day.  Take care and Happy Reading!

Kris

The Avid Reader