Cast On, Kill Off

Cast On, Kill Off by Maggie Sefton
June 2012 - Berkley Publishing / Penguin Group
Original Review Date: July 18, 2012

I really wanted to like this book. I tried really hard, but it just fell short for me. The gang at House of Lambspun are excited to be planning a wedding for one of their regulars. All the events have been organized, menus are finalized and the ladies are putting the finishing touches on the shawls they're knitting to go with their bridesmaids dresses. Everything is perfect until Zoe, the seamstress making the gowns turns up dead. Who would want to murder the dressmaker? Everything points to her abusive, alcoholic husband.Or is it her sister Vera who steps up and takes care of finishing sewing the gowns and slips easily into running the shop. Then there's Leann who publicly accused Zoe of stealing her (award winning) wedding gown design.

There are plenty of suspects for amateur sleuth Kelly to ponder.  All while balancing her flourishing accounting career, rekindling her love life,  playing softball, knitting the shawl, and drinking copious amounts of coffee. (They're all very busy people!)

So why didn't I like this book? Because of the dialog. It's stiff and proper and way to formal for a group of young friends hanging out at the yarn store, or at dinner, or driving in the car. It made the characters all feel flat and phony. I just didn't believe anything that they told me. It was like a poorly acted Sunday movie - you know the kind I mean.

I know there are those of you who will enjoy this book so I won't tell you who did it. Sadly, as much as I love fiber arts this one has way too many dropped stitches for me!

Here's what a few reviewers from Amazon had to say:

1.0 out of 5 stars "sporty car. . .nosed into traffic. . .sly smile.. .set down her... As did most of the other reviewers, I was able to quickly figure out the identity of the perp. Monotonous, repetitive dialogue, repetitive coffee references, repetitive sly smiles. Read more Published 2 months ago by KCG

2.0 out of 5 stars No More Coffee!!!! I have enjoyed all this series books but am very tired of the excessive coffee addiction statements. Read more Published 2 months ago by Denise Sanders

1.0 out of 5 stars agree I agree with 'my two cents' . Not only are they predictable, the have become laborious to read. Six pages describing a volleyball game? Really? Read more Published 2 months ago by anon.

1.0 out of 5 stars Easy to see whodunit! You don't even need to be good at guessing to know who was the murderer, as it is pretty obvious by page 50. Read more Published 2 months ago by Miss Marple Not

3.0 out of 5 stars Typical Maggie Sefton I have read all the books I this series because I am an avid knitter and enjoy fiber cozies. This one is very typical in the series. Read more Published 3 months ago by K. Sullivan

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Wishing you all the happiness words can bring!
Robin

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