High Strung

When I saw the cover of High Strung A Glass Bead Mystery by Janice Peacock, I was very interested in reading it. I love glass beads and any kind of beadwork. The author certainly knows her way around crafting glass beads, but crafting a mystery plot - not so much.

Jax O'Connell inherits a home and a substantial amount of money from her aunt's estate. The catch is the house is in Seattle and Jax currently lives and works in Miami. Dissatisfied with her job and her current relationship, Jax decides to head to Seattle and live in the house. She joins a beadmaking group and is on her way to producing beads.

A weekend event of workshops and demonstrations presented by JOWL (Jewel-makers of Washington League) provides Jax with the opportunity to learn new techniques, demonstrate her own skill and maybe sell some beads.

There's lots of conflict among the characters including the abrasive owner of  Aztec Beads, Rosie

Pareda and just about everyone. I'm not sure how someone who crafts such lovely sounding beads is so grouchy and rude. And here's where the plot fails. After witnessing several arguments with Rosie and practically everyone in the place, Jax finds Rosie falling down a flight of steps with a necklace around her neck that is caught on the railing and choking her. Jax frees her and Rosie is whisked to the hospital.

The next morning Jax finds the body of a young beader in a dumpster behind the shop. When questioned by the police, she immediately implicates pretty much every person at the workshop. She accuses Rosie of killing Misty, then she accuses Rosie's daughter Tracy, then possibly the shy Dylan. Her theories bounce all over the place and is it any wonder the police don't pay her much attention. Then throw in her good friend Tessa and the plot thickens.

In the relationship area, Jax is interviewed by a local reporter who she proceeds to spill her drink on. He flees, sticky with mimosa, and seems never to return. Their next two encounters are even stranger leading the read to wonder what the heck the fuss is all about.

Anyway the murder is solved and has been committed for a petty reason. I loved all the detail about bead making and glass bead making, but the motive for the crime was seriously absurd.

I would like to read the next one in the series as I am especially interested in bead making, but I might read it as a tutorial rather than a mystery.