Marcy Singer traded her San Francisco lifestyle to become proprietor of a needlework store in Tallulah Falls, Oregon. When an elderly woman brings in a fascinating piece of embroidery dating to the 19th century into her shop and dies while muttering something about finding Ivy, Marcy feels compelled to honor the dying woman's wish. The woman was poisoned. The embroidery piece is less valuable because it had been altered--and the word "ivy" does appear in the altered quote stitched. What did the woman mean by "ivy"? Was it the plant? or was it a person? As Marcy probes into the woman's life, she learns more about her and the secrets she harbored. Then one person to whom Marcy turns for help turns up dead before she can ask her question. It's a nice puzzle, and I did determine who did it and why pretty early--but enough red herrings were thrown out that I re-evaluated my conclusion from time to time to determine if there was a reason to change it. ( )

An elderly woman comes to Marcy Singer's embroidery shop with an antique sampler and is asking for help finding “ivy”. Unfortunate she dies before she is able to explain what, or who, ivy is.
This is the second book in the Embroidery Mystery series, and I found it as fluffy and enjoyable as the first one.

The characters were as enjoyable and fun to read about as in the first book and while the mystery wasn't particularly dramatic I found I enjoyed the more intimate nature of it, how it delved a bit more into the small towns history. I also really enjoyed the inclusion of the sampler, what they are and their place in history, and I really liked how much respect the author had the main character show the sampler and her work to preserve it.

Again my biggest gripe is the love triangle, it needs to go away.

Still, even with that, it was a quick fun read and I'm really looking forward to the rest of the series. Just please resolve the love triangle soon! ( )

Lots of interesting characters, I almost figured out whodunnit. ( )

I think it might have just been the mood I was in - but I didn't love this book as much as I did the first one. I liked it, and I'll read the next one, but just didn't love it. The plot was a very good one and although I knew in the back of my mind who the murderer was, the author did a very good job of making you second guess yourself. I will say though, that the author never explained why the old lady ever asked for the progragonists help in the first place. As I said, I think it might have just been the mood I was in when I started the book. :) ( )

Marcy Singer's embroidery shop seems to be the site where people come to die - not really but when Louisa Ralston comes to ask for Marcy's help and then has a heart attack, it seems a bit coincidental. Finding out that it wasn't a natural death but one brought on by poison, Marcy feels that she needs to find the killer before people stop coming to her shop out of fear.

I thought this story was a sweet new take on an old tale and the characters really made me feel their interest in solving the murders but not just for their own curiosity but out of respect for the victims.

I look forward to the next one! ( )