It's a Crewel World

In Darned If You Do, a Needlecraft Mystery, author Monica Ferris combines a hoarder, valuable jewels, auction fraud and murder. When local hoarder Tom Riordan's home is damaged during a storm and he is injured, Betsy Devonshire and her Monday Bunch volunteer to help with the cleanup while Tom recuperates. Betsy is the owner of Crewel World, in Excelsior, Minnesota.

Everyone in town knows Tom, or Tom Take, as he is jokingly called because he takes small shiny objects that interest him, but then most times returns them. But no one realizes how much he has accumulated in his home. His social worker reaches out to Tom's only living relative Valentina Shipp to come to Excelsior and be granted emergency conservatorship. When Val goes to see Tom at the hospital, he begs her not to throw anything away because he know where everything is and he has some valuable items in the house. She agrees and begins to work with Betsy and friends to sort through the house.

During the clean up some valuable coins, a cache of expensive jewelry and a unique red box carved

with fish and flowers containing tiny white carved mice are found. While the helpers break for lunch, the red box goes missing. Meanwhile in the hospital, Tom is found murdered.

Signs point to Val as the murder, but is she or is there  to the thefts and the murder than meets the eye?  Betsy keeps poking and soon unravels the solution to the murder.

I always enjoy these books although I have never embroidered nor creweled in my life. The motley mix of characters adds to the fun of this book.

The first book in the series is Crewel World.