Thread the Halls

There’s no time for Angie Curtis and Patrick West to linger under the mistletoe this holiday season. Patrick’s, mother and movie star Skye West wants a perfect white Christmas. She brings her co-star, screenwriters, and director home for the holidays and hopes it will help solve the issues that have been plaguing the movie set and actors. With his mother’s long list of wishes, Patrick’s needs help to get everything done before her arrival. The Mainely Needlepointers offer to help decorate Skye’s Victorian mansion and create needlepoint pillows as gifts for the guests.

Hours after the celebrities invade Haven Harbor, a tragedy occurs. Skye’s co-star is murdered in her backyard. Someone delivers poison Christmas cookies to Patrick, and Skye blames Angie. Before Santa arrives at the town pier on a lobster boat, Angie and the Needlepointers need to trim down the naughty list, catch a cold-hearted killer, and wrap up the case.

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Series: A Mainely Needlepoint Mystery – Book 5
Author: Lea Wait
Genre: Cozy Mystery/Holiday/Career/Hobby
Publisher: Kensington Books

Rating:

Thread the Halls is a delightful adventure for the holidays with plenty of action and a great cast of characters. Lea Wait has created a fun, fast-paced story with a colorful location. This book will delight readers no matter how many cozy’s they have read.

Angie Curtis wants to reclaim her childhood Christmas’, everything from the experiences she had as a child, to the decorations on the tree and in her heart. Skye West, her boyfriend’s famous mother wants a picture-perfect postcard Christmas for her guests. Neither of them will get exactly what they want this year.

Recapturing our childhood is something most people want at some point in their life. Unfortunately, like Angie, we learn that we can’t really make this happen, but we can come close. Angie wants to go back and feel those special moments from holidays gone by. But… things keep getting in her way, including murder.

The cast of characters in this book is well-rounded and easily relatable. Even the killer is someone you feel you may know or someone in your life just like him/her. Angie’s grandmother is an understanding and caring woman that readers will want to learn more about. Angie and Patrick’s relationship is still in the new stage but progresses throughout the story to a very satisfactory conclusion. Even though Skye is a famous actress, she is very down to earth and loves her son. She wants Christmas to be special and happy, but she doesn’t become dramatic when things don’t go according to plan.

The setting in the town of Haven Harbor, although fictional, could easily be any small town where people know their neighbors and take care of each other. The food described in this book sounds delicious and makes the reader hungry. The townspeople are down-home and in many cases set in their ways, but they treat each other with respect and dignity.

Thread the Halls is the 5th book in the “A Mainely Needlepoint Mystery” series and is a wonderful addition. The plot is straightforward and does not deviate from the main storyline. The story flows smoothly, and the writing is flawless. This book and series are highly recommended to those who enjoy a whodunit with humor, intrigue and old-fashioned holiday fun.