Rating: 
Summary: VERY disappointing
Review: I've read all of Ferris's Betsy Devonshire mysteries and enjoyed them, even with occasional flaws. But CUTWORK is so mediocre, reading it was more irritating than diverting. Three examples:
-- Betsy and best friend Jill Cross have a falling out over Betsy revealing "privileged" police information she got from Jill. This info was simply that an arrest had been made; this would be a matter of public record, nothing "privileged" about it. This was patently just a plot device, and a weak one at that.
-- Partly because of this tiff, Betsy and the police interview various people independently. This means the reader is subjected to extended passages of duplicate information. These might have been used to provide character analysis, but they don't -- they come across as filler.
-- Betsy believes the accused teenager is innocent, but her "interview" with him consists of one question: "What if I said I believe you?" After meeting with his family, she almost never refers to the boy again. Her motivation is fuzzy at best, inconsistent at worst.
There are enough problems with this story that, half way through the book, I gave up and did something I **never** do: checked the last chapter to see "who done it," and gave the book away.
Rating: 
Summary: A Wooden Death
Review: Betsy Devonshire, owner of the needle craft shop, Crewel World in Excelsior, Minnesota is helping out at the art fair. Sitting in the information booth, she's not doing much business in the pouring rain.
Things really pick up when Irene Potter goes into the tent of wood carver Robert McFey and finds him dead on the floor, his throat cut and his cash box looted.
How could someone have killed the artist in an open booth in the middle of an art fair.
Mike Malloy, thinks he knows what happens and immediately arrests young Mickey Sinclair, a teenager who's been in trouble with the police before. Mickey's scared and when Betsy is asked to help him, she's goes to the jail where they have a talk. She's sure Mickey's lying about not stealing the money, but she believes him when he says he didn't commit the murder.
So who did? Robert McFey had been a prosperous advertising man before he was diagnosed with terminal hepatitis. Selling his business, he decided he wanted to live out his life doing his art. That was okay when he was dying, but Robert wasn't going to die. He'd been misdiagnosed. Even with that news, he had refused to go back to work.
This didn't set well with his wife, Pamela, who would now have to go back to work. Not only was their house in foreclosure, but their son Coy wouldn't be able to go to college. Only his teenage daughter was upset by his death.
She points the finger at her father's former partner, Banner Wilcox, who had gone to work for and bought stock in the company that had purchased their old company. Unfortunately, the new company went bankrupt and he lost everything.
And what about Robert's friend Ian Masterson who had purchased one of Robert's life insurance policy when he thought the man was dying. Was he tired of waiting to collect.
By putting together all the clues, Betsy is able to solve the crime and save an innocent "sort of" teenager from prison.
Highlights:
The mystery. I figured out what the clue was that would lead to the killer, but I guessed the wrong one and thought the wrong person was the killer.
Godwin - Betsy's makes it legal that he will take over Crewel World if anything should happen to her and gives him a management position. He just can't decide what his title should be.
Godwin's first decision as manager is to have a newsletter. "Hasta la Stitches."
Betsy's meeting with Godwin's lover, John.
Sergeant Jill Cross - who passed the Sergeants test and Deputy Lars Larson, who refuses to take it because he likes being a patrolman, coming up against the rule that there can be NO fraternization between the ranks. Of course, these two law abiding cops would never break the rules, much to Betsy's disgust.
Betsy & Jill's first major fight when Betsy can't resist gossiping about a clue that Jill had told her in confidence.
Lowlights.
Very disappointed in Shelly.
Good solid read. Can't wait for the next book to come out. Luckily I have the new Mary Daheim & Leslie Meier books to read.
Rating: 
Summary: Lost And Found!!!!
Review: I have always liked Monica Ferris because she writes cozy mysteries which I get into as well. This is an excellent book for the art enthusiasts since it covers other types of artwork other than fabric art. Therefore this book would appeal to all kinds of readers. I don't know anything about pulling and cutting threads from a piece of fabric, but Ms. Ferris explains it very well when she has a character teach it in the shop. That is one of the things I like about Ms. Ferris. The reader does not have to be a fabric artist to enjoy her books. The techniques are all explained so well in her books. I have read all her books and they are so humorous and have a lot of twists. Ms. Ferris is also very kind to define all the terminology used in the fabric arts.This is one book that expands into other aspects of the art world. It is very interesting. It is hard for the reader to peg down the culprit. I also like Betty Devonshire, the shop owner. Nobody can help but like her and Godwin as well. As the reader gets to read the books by Ms. Ferris, you get to know her characters so well that they become part of your lives. Her characters are also very unique people, you will be very enraptured with them. Also, you will anxiously wait for the next book to come out. For those who have not yet read anything by Monica Ferris, you will enjoy reading this so much that you will want to begin from the beginning and read everything by her. For those who have read her other books, this will be just as entertaining if not better.
Rating:
Summary: Lost And Found!!!!
Review: I have always liked Monica Ferris because she writes cozy mysteries which I get into as well. This is an excellent book for the art enthusiasts since it covers other types of artwork other than fabric art. Therefore this book would appeal to all kinds of readers. I don't know anything about pulling and cutting threads from a piece of fabric, but Ms. Ferris explains it very well when she has a character teach it in the shop. That is one of the things I like about Ms. Ferris. The reader does not have to be a fabric artist to enjoy her books. The techniques are all explained so well in her books. I have read all her books and they are so humorous and have a lot of twists. Ms. Ferris is also very kind to define all the terminology used in the fabric arts. This is one book that expands into other aspects of the art world. It is very interesting. It is hard for the reader to peg down the culprit. I also like Betty Devonshire, the shop owner. Nobody can help but like her and Godwin as well. As the reader gets to read the books by Ms. Ferris, you get to know her characters so well that they become part of your lives. Her characters are also very unique people, you will be very enraptured with them. Also, you will anxiously wait for the next book to come out. For those who have not yet read anything by Monica Ferris, you will enjoy reading this so much that you will want to begin from the beginning and read everything by her. For those who have read her other books, this will be just as entertaining if not better.
Rating:
Summary: The best in the series
Review: I honestly wasn't sure who the killer was until the last few pages. Also, if you like Godwin you will really like this book. He gets some great news!
Rating:
Summary: The best in the series
Review: In the small Minnesota town of Excelsior, everyone looks forward to the yearly Art on the Lake Crafts Fair. At this year's event, Betsy Devonshire, owner of Crewel World mans the hospitality booth. When she hears sirens and sees people heading toward a booth near her, she stays away from it but people quickly tell her that someone slashed the throat of the woodcarver Robert McFey. It isn't long before the local police arrest sixteen-year-old Mickey Sinclair for the crime. Mickey's bloody fingerprint is found in the booth and money is found in his home. He denies being at the fair but other people have sees him there. Most townsfolk think he is a troubled person, but they don't believe he is a killer. After all the homicides Betsy has solved, the townsfolk want her to find the real killer so that Mickey's life isn't spent behind bars. What's very interesting about CUTWORK is that the family, neighbors and friends all believe the suspect is capable of criminal acts but don't believe he is a killer so they band together to pressure Betsy into solving the crime. Betsy doesn't want anything to do with the case until she sees Mickey and believes that he might be innocent of this crime. CUTWORK is a fabulous amateur sleuth tales filled with red herrings and misdirection to prevent the reader from seeing who the killer turns out to be until the final stitch is sewn. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous amateur sleuth tale
Review: In the small Minnesota town of Excelsior, everyone looks forward to the yearly Art on the Lake Crafts Fair. At this year's event, Betsy Devonshire, owner of Crewel World mans the hospitality booth. When she hears sirens and sees people heading toward a booth near her, she stays away from it but people quickly tell her that someone slashed the throat of the woodcarver Robert McFey. It isn't long before the local police arrest sixteen-year-old Mickey Sinclair for the crime. Mickey's bloody fingerprint is found in the booth and money is found in his home. He denies being at the fair but other people have sees him there. Most townsfolk think he is a troubled person, but they don't believe he is a killer. After all the homicides Betsy has solved, the townsfolk want her to find the real killer so that Mickey's life isn't spent behind bars. What's very interesting about CUTWORK is that the family, neighbors and friends all believe the suspect is capable of criminal acts but don't believe he is a killer so they band together to pressure Betsy into solving the crime. Betsy doesn't want anything to do with the case until she sees Mickey and believes that he might be innocent of this crime. CUTWORK is a fabulous amateur sleuth tales filled with red herrings and misdirection to prevent the reader from seeing who the killer turns out to be until the final stitch is sewn. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: A cozy that's not too cute
Review: Is it even remotely believable that a woman in her 50s with no law-enforcement experience, no credentials and newcomer status in a small town would become a successful amateur detective? Heck no, any more than that there would be several murders a year in and around an upscale small town.
Nevertheless, if you're hooked on any kind of needlework, you'll love the behind-the-scene glimpses of how shops like the one inherited by sleuth/businesswoman Betsy Devonshire use displays, classes and other promotions to attract repeat customers. If you're a multicraft needleworker, you'll enjoy learning a little in each book about something you haven't tried yet (such as Hardanger in this book).
The camaraderie among needleworkers rings true, as do references to the addictive nature of some crafts. I'm not a big fan of cozies, partly because of the obligatory clutter of exaggeratedly drawn oddball characters, but Betsy's co-workers and customers seem less caricatured than most in this subgenre. There's no "literary" writing here, but the characters do develop, and Ferris, too, is getting better at her craft of writing. The mystery unfolded more or less evenly alternating with the subplot of what's happening in Betsy's shop. (...) clerk Godwin may be steretypical but he's drawn with affection; look for Goddy to grow up a bit here -- without losing any of his boyish charm. Those who remember know-it-all champion needleworker Irene from her troublemaking days in the early books will be gratified to see that she has mellowed with a success of her own.
Betsy herself is a lot more real than her detective work; she can be selfish as well as self-mocking. reluctant to get involved yet brave enough to confront a killer. She's single but not desperate enough to leave her shop, Crewel World, for a lover who has retired to faraway Florida. Betsy can be nosy, but she has an ethical core. She's a useful, vital, often-admired middle-aged woman who's the center of attention in this series, and that's a rarity in popular fiction.
To me, the mysteries in these books (and I've read them all) are not much more than an excuse for a series -- would that there were a category in bookstores for books with continuing characters outside the genre. Reading Ferris's books is almost as relaxing as needlework itself.
Rating:
Summary: Pleasant enough
Review: Monica Ferris does a great job of developing her characters, but the mystery part could use some work. While employees, customers, and "goings on" at Crewel World hold our interest, very little of the book actually has anything to do with the purported mystery. If you want a pleasant diversion with likeable characters, pick up Cutwork. If you prefer mysteries with more threads to follow and less embroidery, look elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Pleasant enough
Review: Monica Ferris does a great job of developing her characters, but the mystery part could use some work. While employees, customers, and "goings on" at Crewel World hold our interest, very little of the book actually has anything to do with the purported mystery. If you want a pleasant diversion with likeable characters, pick up Cutwork. If you prefer mysteries with more threads to follow and less embroidery, look elsewhere.
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