Book Review: Spinning in her Grave by Molly MacRae

In the third book in the Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries, the town folk in Blue Plum are looking to celebrate the Blue Plum Preserves, with a festival and a skit that has been nicknamed the "Piglet War". However, not all is fun and frivolity when a person is accidentally shot during the skit. However, afterwards it seems that it wasn't an accident at all.

This is how much I love the Haunted Yarn Shop Mysteries: before purchasing this book I didn't even read the synopsis at the back. I know that every new mystery by Molly MacRae I will love, and they are always auto-buys for me. I was ready to dive in with the Thank Gosh It's Fiber group! Having done this I had no clue who the victim was, which was actually a fun experience. Straight off I saw a few disliked people that could be the victim, and actually guessed right! However, finding the killer.... well I never saw that one coming!!

I'm a bit of a yarn geek and I loved reading about everyone's projects, and the spinning... oh yes I loved the spinning demonstrations during the festival. I also loved learning more about Kath's friend, the friendly ghost Geneva. Her story is slowly unfolding, and I love how we get to hear a little bit more of it with each books. I'm happy for this story to drag out, because if Kath solves Geneva's own death, will that mean no more Geneva? That would be very sad, because Geneva definitely brings a element of fun and spontaneity to the stories.

This is a fun series and the latest book is a fantastic whodunit. Even though the killer seemed obvious when it was revealed, I never solved it in time. Maybe I will next time!!

Audiobook Review: Dyeing Wishes by Molly MacRae

Kath Rutledge is settling into life in Blue Plum, operating the yarn shop her grandmother left her, and dealing with a ghost-in-residence in the way of Geneva. On a visit to Cloud Hollow Farm, Kath and her friends expect to learn more about dyeing yarn but instead they discover what looks like a murder suicide. The victim is Bonnie's daughter and a man who ran off years ago. Bonnie is devastated and looks to Kath to try to uncover the truth.

Being a lifelong knitter and crocheter I really enjoyed Molly Macrae's first novel, Last Wool and Testament. It called out to love of all different types of yarns and crafts. For the second novel in this series, I chose to listen on audiobook and see if my love of this series carried over on audio. I'm glad to report it did.

The second book is even better than the first. The reason why? Well apart from a great mystery that fills the reader into a bit of history of the town, with Will Embry having run off years ago accused of a crime, it also lets us into more of the close friendship amongst the TGIF (Thank Goodness It's Fiber) group. But the main reason is the funny, flighty ghost-in-residence, Geneva. I absolutely adore Geneva and her growing friendship with Kath.

In Dyeing Wishes we do get a few more details as to Geneva's past, but not enough that Kath is able to figure out why Geneva is hanging around. For my own selfish reasons I hope Geneva stays around for a long time because I find her absolutely delightful. I never know what she's going to say next and she's a hoot a minute!

Emily Durante is fast becoming one of my favorite cozy mystery narrators. I loved the voices she used for the characters of Blue Plum, especially the Spivey twins - she got those just perfect. She has a great pacing and it felt like I was right there alongside Kath trying to solve the mystery.

Dyeing Wishes was a great read and I can't wait for the third book in this series to be released next week.