Tightening the Thread

After searching for years for a family connection, Australian Sarah Byrne has found her uncle Ted Lawrence in Maine. In Tightening the Threads by Lea Wait, Ted plans to introduce Sarah to his children at his 75th birthday party.

Sarah asks her friend Angie Curtis to come to the party to support her when she meets the family. It's a busy day as the family begins to arrive. They misidentify Sarah as a housekeeper. None are friendly to her nor to each other, but Ted wants them to enjoy the weekend.

At the party, he introduces Sarah as his niece and he tells them he is planning to change his will. He plans to leave all his famous artist father Robert Lawrence's paintings to Sarah. Possibly worth millions, the three children are furious. He also reveals he has lung cancer and does not have long to live.

Needless to say he is right - the next evening at the clambake, he
falls ill and dies. Could he have eaten a clam from a Red Tide flat or was it murder? The family

seems more concerned that he hadn't changed his will rather than his death. As everyone searches for Ted's will tempers start to fray. When son Luke finds Jeremy trying to open the safe in Ted's office, he fires a gun into the safe to try to open it. The bullet ricochets and shatters a stained glass window.

Angie is worried about Sarah's safety and encourages her to leave the house. When more mayhem occurs at the house, Angie feels she needs to investigate. What her investigate reveals could make your head spin.

I very much enjoyed this latest in the Mainely Needlepoint Mysteries although I did miss the interplay between the Mainely Needlepointers and Angie's grandmother.