Amanda Lee is a great cozy writer. I really liked that there was a reasonable number of suspects. This story has Marcy's mother Beverly, a costume designer for a Bollywood film contacting her daughter for her expertise in embroidery. Marcie is learning an Indian form of embroidery called chikankari.

But the jarring thing is that Beverly is the last one to see the star actress, and is suspected of killing. Her mother's reaction to stressful situations is to withdraw and just separate herself and not talk to anyone. That just makes the police more suspicious of her.

I have not tried the type of embroidery mentioned in the book but I have a lot of experience in other times of embroidery and that really made me feel at home with the book.

An added bonus is Angus, Marcy's Irish Wolfhound adds devotion, and humor to this story. ( )

Not the strongest book in the series, they mystery and background stories had the potential to be interesting, though the way it was introduced stretched believablity a bit much even for a cozy, but everything felt kind of flat this time around. There was a lot more talking about what characters were doing and saying and less actual interaction between them.
The ending especially was a let down, it was abrupt and felt like to little pay off for reading through the whole story.
I still enjoyed the characters and the community, but I hope the next book picks up a bit more. ( )

Enjoyable easy read. ( )

Very average read. This series started out strong and has just withered for me as it's gone on. The characters and the dialogue feel flat to me, as if they're reading from a script. Even the romance isn't really much of a romance; the author tried to wring romantic tension out of a triangle that was just irritating, and once the "decision" had been made, there just wasn't anything left. There's nothing concrete to dislike about the characters, but they just down make me want to sit down with them and bond.

The plot idea was fairly well done, a starlet pushed to her death and Marcy's mother being heard arguing with her just before. No concrete evidence to tie anyone to the murder. However, the author wrote in a scene that made the murderer obvious to me from the very beginning and I couldn't actually entertain any of the other suspects as possibilities. Usually that doesn't mean anything for me - I really enjoy the whole story. But this time, without being engaged in the characters much, reading to the end felt like a bit of a chore, and I was relieved when I reached the end.

None of this might sound like a book worth recommending, but I would advise any reader to try at least one of the books in the series (the first one was the best, I think). I feel like my ambivalence is probably just a matter of personal taste and not necessarily meant as a condemnation of the whole series. But I'll not be continuing on after this book. ( )

I have not yet read this book.