“The Quick and the Thread” by Amanda Lee

I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of this book from author Amanda Lee. It’s the first in the series about female-sleuth Marcy Singer, and this title will be released on August 3, 2010. Best Wishes, Amanda!

Marcella (aka Marcy) Singer is an accountant living in San Francisco who yearns for yarn: she really wants to own an embroidery shop. Her current job is depressing. Until one day she gets a call from her former college roommate Sadie: the hardware store next to Sadie’s coffee shop has gone out of business, and Sadie thinks it would be the perfect opportunity for Marcy to open her dream store.

Sadie lives on the Oregon coast in a quaint little town called Tallulah Falls: quite a change from the hustle and bustle of the city by the bay. But Marcy decides to go for it, so she moves herself and her Irish wolfhound, Angus, up to Oregon.

Marcy names her shop ‘The Seven Year Stitch’ since she is a fan of classic movies. This name is a take on the Marilyn Monroe film “The Seven Year Itch” and Marcy even has a life-sized female mannequin next to her cash register that she’s dressed up with a short blond wig to look like Marilyn.

(Now I’m hoping that Marcy’s customer’s don’t think ‘The Seven Year Stitch’ refers to the length of time it will take to complete an embroidery project. I've known people who have taken that long to get their craft projects done!)

Soon opening day arrives and Marcy’s shop is full of customers purchasing supplies and signing up for classes. That same evening she has a grand opening party, and many of the townspeople are there including former proprietor Timothy Enright of the hardware store that used to occupy Marcy’s store.

He says he must speak to Marcy. But he is slurring his words so she thinks he is drunk and avoids him all evening. The next morning she finds the words “Four Square Fifth W” scratched onto a storeroom wall by a tapestry needle. The person who did that, Timothy Enright, is lying dead in her storeroom.

(Stay tuned for more posts about this book).