Monica Ferris – författare

When adoptee Lucille Jones comes to town researching her roots, Betsy Devonshire notices that she bears a remarkable resemblance to local Jan Henderson. Betsy introduces the look-alikes and they quickly hit it off. But then Jan''s wealthy great-aunt is found dead, helped to her grave by a stiff metal wire—a double-zero knitting needle, in fact. Just like the kind Jan knits with.

Lucille begs Betsy to help clear her new friend''s name. And while going through her aunt''s effects, Jan finds an old pillow lined with an embroidered map of Lake Minnetonka. Betsy intends to follow the threads. Who knows—it could just possibly lead to buried treasure. Or, perhaps, to a secret that someone will kill to keep buried.

Unraveled Sleeve

Betsy Devonshire has settled into her new home in Excelsior, Minnesota, as owner of the town’s needlecraft shop. So why is she suffering from terrifying nightmares? She hasn’t a clue—but she thinks maybe it would help to get away for a while. With her friend Jill in tow, she heads north for a “stitch-in” at a remote, rustic lodge. But her nightmares only get worse—especially after she finds a dead woman no one else had seen. Then the body disappears—and she knows she won’t get any rest until she untangles the mysterious threads of the crime….

A Murderous Yarn

Heavens to Betsy Devonshire! She never intended to get so caught up in this year’s antique car race. But as sponsor of one of the entrants, she can’t help but keep a close eye on the outcome—and it’s not pretty. One of the drivers never makes it to the finish line. His car is found exploded in flames. Now Betsy and her crafty friends must determine if it was an accident or the work of a jealous competitor. The answer may be in a piece of needlework, but pinning down a suspect won’t be easy…

"Entertaining...Fans of Jessica Fletcher will devour this book." --Rendezvous

"Filled with great small-town characters...A great time!"Rendezvous

Part-time sleuth and full-time owner of the needlework shop Crewel World, Betsy Devonshire prepares for a chilling holiday season filled with mistletoe--and murder.

Betsy is still new enough to Excelsior, Minnesota, to not know a scandal when she causes one. So, when she hires Foster Johns to fix her roof, the resulting uproar has her needled. The whole town has pinned a five-year-old unsolved double murder on him. Betsy believes Johns when he says he isn’t guilty. But she’ll have to use every stitch of her sleuthing skills to tie up all the loose ends that will prove his innocence once and for all.

After her good friend Godwin has a nasty quarrel with John, his significant other, full-time needlework shop owner and part-time sleuth Betsy Devonshire finds herself with a roommate. Betsy doesn''t mind having company, though Godwin is restless and unhappy over the sudden break-up.

But sadness turns to grief when Betsy and Godwin discover John dead in his home, and Godwin is arrested for the murder. Betsy knows her friend couldn''t be the killer, and sets out to prove it. What she learns is that John had a cat''s cradle of secret dealings that had made him a bundle of money, and a lot of enemies. Now, Betsy has to untangle a web of lies if she''s going to save Godwin—and find the murderer.

As owner of the Crewel World needlework shop and part-time sleuth, Betsy Devonshire has become skilled at weaving suspicious threads together. Just back from a trip to Thailand, Doris Valentine is eager to show her stitching friends her souvenirs, which includes dazzling Thai silk. She also has a small stone Buddha that she agreed to deliver to an antique store in St. Paul. It''s wrapped in a dirty rag, which she throws away. When she meets the dealer, he is surprised that she unwrapped it, though relieved the statue''s delicate hands aren''t damaged. The next night, Doris''s apartment is broken into, and the things she bought in Thailand are taken. The antique shop owner is found murdered and his shop ransacked. The Buddha is gone. Then someone confronts Doris with a gun, demanding the "Thai silk." Meanwhile, Betsy starts to wonder about the dingy wrapper she retrieved from the trash.

The stitchers of the Embroiderers Guild raised over twenty thousand dollars for charity—but the representative who accepted the check at the annual convention disappeared with it. It turns out that he''s the husband of the local chapter president, Allie Germaine, who insists on his innocence. But if Bob Germaine didn''t pocket the check, who did? And where is Bob now? Since needlework shop owner Betsy Devonshire has broken her leg horseback riding, solving the latest crime will have to be a group project.

When adoptee Lucille Jones comes to town researching her roots, Betsy Devonshire notices that she bears a remarkable resemblance to local Jan Henderson. Betsy introduces the look-alikes and they quickly hit it off. But then Jan''s wealthy great-aunt is found dead, helped to her grave by a stiff metal wire—a double-zero knitting needle, in fact. Just like the kind Jan knits with.

Lucille begs Betsy to help clear her new friend''s name. And while going through her aunt''s effects, Jan finds an old pillow lined with an embroidered map of Lake Minnetonka. Betsy intends to follow the threads. Who knows—it could just possibly lead to buried treasure. Or, perhaps, to a secret that someone will kill to keep buried.

Owner of the Crewel World needlework shop and part-time sleuth Betsy Devonshire heads for the Minnesota north woods to renovate an old cabin. But beneath the awful linoleum is something even uglier—the skeleton of a Nazi. Betsy''s investigation yields the site of a former German POW camp, a mysterious crocheted rug, and an intricately designed pattern of clues to a decades-old crime.