Tightening The Threads is the fifth book in the A Mainely Needlepoint Mystery series.

This series is one of my favorite series. Ms. Wait does a wonderful job of describing the town of Haven Harbor and the surrounding area and adding some of its interesting residents.

Angie Curtis has been friends with Sarah Byrne since she returned to Haven Harbor bur know almost nothing about her except she is from Australia and runs an antique store. So when Sarah invites Angie over for a “girls night”, Angie feels that Sarah will put to rest some the rumors going around town that Sarah is romantically involved with local artist and gallery owner, Ted Lawrence. Those rumors are reinforced when she a huge oil painting gracing the wall of Sarah’s apartment. Angie soon learns that the painting is actually a Robert Lawrence, Ted’s father, original and possibly worth a million dollars or more. Finally, Angie is able to learn that Ted Lawrence is actually Ted’s niece and no one knew of the other son of Robert’s.

Ted is planning a 75th birthday party with his three children, Abbie and her husband, Silas, Luke and Michael. The Lawrence family is far from a loving and caring family and the children wonder what the big announcement is that their father has promised to make. After everyone had their fill of the delicious lobster bake and dessert is being eaten, Ted. makes his announcement that Sarah is his niece and he will be rewriting his will. His plan is to leave his father’s paintings. a large part of his estate, to Sarah and much to the disgust of children and Jeremy. As everyone is beginning to pack up the leftovers from the bake, Ted becomes very ill and is rushed to the hospital where he is soon declared dead. When it is learned that he died Red Tide, Angie begins to speculate on who might have wanted to see the will not change the most.

Angie soon finds out that all the children need the monies that they would inherit, some more than others. Jeremy, who has been managing Ted’s art gallery for a number of years had hope that the business would be left to him seems to be on the short end if he ends without the painting to sell and draw in customers.

Another wonderfully descriptive story situated in coastal Maine. I really enjoy this series by Lea Wait as she skillfully weaves in a vivid description of locale, it’s thoughtful residents into an exciting mystery. One can almost hear the waves crashing and get the feel of the sea mist.

Will definitely be watching for Thread The Halls, the next book in this engaging series.

Sarah is an antique dealer here in town and Angie is friends with her. When Sarah admits she's found relatives in town and is to meet the rest of her cousins, she asks Angie to come to the event with her and help. She wants her mostly for moral support. She's going to need it...

Kensington Books and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you). It will be published March 28th.

Ted runs an art gallery and has some very expensive paintings from his father's work. What he didn't know was that he had an Aussie relative from war days. He embraces Sarah, though, and is changing his will. That's why he invited his family home his for 75th birthday. However, things don't work out as planned. Ted dies at the lobster bake. Then his son-in-law dies during a swim the next day. Who's the murderer?

Angie works on trying to find the truth. It's hard for her and Sarah to believe a family member killed them but that's all they had with them that day except for Angie and Patrick. They weren't killers.

The further they dig, the worse it gets. No one in this family is a sparkling rose; there are too many thorns.

I was surprised by the ending because there were two different motives. This is the second book in this series and I'm enjoying it.

It's now fall, and Angie Curtis has seen a lot of death in Haven Harbor in the four months she's been in town. As much as I like this series, I think she should take a trip back to Phoenix for a while where a dead body or two won't have as much impact. In Tightening the Threads, Angie comes across a mystery of her own while clearing a huge tree that fell during a storm, but her best friend's dilemma takes priority.

For those of you who, like me, enjoy Lea Wait's ensemble cast in this series, you won't find much of them here, except for Dave whose poison garden comes in handy for answers to some of Angie's questions. The action has Sarah front and center over a long weekend. Although the truth behind her relationship to Ted Lawrence is really interesting, as the family dynamics unfold Ted is seen as a rather despicable man. His children have all gone their separate ways, haven't kept in touch with each other, and don't really seem to care about each other-- which points to something in the solution to the murder that rang false with me, although I can't talk about it without giving things away.

Tightening the Threads isn't the strongest book in this series, but it's still a good read. I love Wait's blend of setting, art, history, and Maine traditions; they all create the perfect backdrop for a cast of characters I've grown to care about a great deal.

This was a did not finish for me. I was just put off by the writing style. It seemed too dark and meandering for a cozy mystery, and did not have the fun and lightness I go to cozy mysteries seeking. I had trouble connecting with the characters, and found myself uninterested in continuing further.

I continue to enjoy this series, even if the time span for the number of murders is pushing it a bit. The characters are interesting, the set up works and the murder mystery plot is well thought out and executed. I'll keep reading, even if 5 murder cases in 4 months is a bit much.

Tightening the Threads by Lea Wait is the latest addition to her Mainely Needlepoint series and was an enjoyable read.
I enjoy visiting Haven Harbor, Maine in each book as this is definitely a small town that I would love to visit, especially during "leaf peeping" season. I'm beginning to like the main character, Angie, more as she has settled back into her home town. In this book we get to know a lot more about Sarah Byrne, an antiques dealer and best friend of Angie's. Many of the secondary characters in this book were new to this storyline but added to the twists of the story. The mystery kept me guessing until the reveal.

This is the first book I’ve read in this series and don’t feel that I am missing a lot by not having read the first four books.
Angie Curtis is invited to Ted Lawrence’s 75th birthday party by her best friend Sarah Byrne. Angie is let in on a big secret right before the event, Sarah is Ted’s niece, granddaughter to the famous painter and Ted’s father, Robert Lawrence. Sarah was nervous because Ted was going to make an announcement to his children at the party about their newly discovered cousin and wanted Angie there with her. Attending the birthday celebration are Ted’s daughter, her husband, both sons, Sarah, Angie, and both Jeremy and Patrick who work at Ted’s Gallery. Sarah’s relationship wasn’t the only bomb dropped that night. Ted announced that he was going to be changing his will so that Sarah will also inherit. Needless to say, Ted’s children were not happy and didn’t want the changes.
The next evening, Ted becomes ill after eating some clams. He later passes and most everyone believes it’s from Red Tide. The next thing you know, Ted’s son in law drowns in the ocean.
Angie is asked by Ted’s eldest son Luke to investigate whether or not Ted’s death was an accident, or if it was in fact murder.
I enjoyed the story, no spoilers here, so I won’t even be hinting at the killer. The writing is solid. The characters are well fleshed out. My issues were that for some reason I could not connect with any of the characters, so I could not get invested in the story and I did not like the notes about different samplers that were quoted at the beginning of each chapter. I felt it pulled my attention from the actual story.

Angie is in the middle of another murder investigation but this time the suspect is her best friend Sarah. Sarah has immigrated from Australia in search of her father's family. Her new found uncle welcomes her into the family just before he is poisoned. I love this series set in Maine and centers around the local needlework shop and its group of regulars. A good cozy and it can stand alone even though it's #5 in the Mainely Needlepoint series.

Tightening the Threads by Lea Watts is the fifth book in the Mainely Needlepoint Series. The cozy mysteries all take place in Haven Harbor, Maine. Sarah Byrne runs an antique store downtown and is a member of the Mainely Needlepointers. She is from Australia and rarely speaks about her past. Lately Angie Curtis feels Sarah has been too busy and avoiding her, only to find out that Sarah has found a long lost relative in gallery owned Ted Lawrence. That starts all the problems. Ted calls his family together to introduce her and his children are horrified at adding her to the will. Things go downhill from there including ‘murder, most foul’.

The Mainely Needlepointer’s Series is a fun set of reads. I love how each member of the Mainely Needlepoint Group seems to have a role in the books. I love reading about how Angie and her friends are able to ask the right questions. The series by Lea Watts is a fun read and Tightening the Threads is a fun addition to the series.

This was a good book. I enjoyed the characters. This appears to not be the first in the series, so I missed exactly who Angie is, why she moved to Haven Harbor, etc. But I still was able to follow who all the characters were and how they were associated. Maine sounds lovely and it so different from where I live (in a desert climate). I would like to read the earlier books to get all the background. This is a fun cozy that is easy to read. The plot had a few twists. The suspects are all brought together and questioned again which is when the actual murderer is revealed.

In Tightening the Threads, we finally learn the background and reasons for Aussie transplant Sarah Byrne's move to Haven Harbor, ME. She has always been very secretive, even with her best friend, Angie Curtis, the owner of Mainely Needlepoint. Author Lea Wait also shines a light on a little-known episode in British and Australian history. In the years after WWII and up into the 1960's, the British foster care system was overflowing and the solution was to send children to Australia. The idea was to supposedly give the children a better life. In reality, many faced slavery and abuse on Australian farms. Sarah's father was one of these children who was sent out, leaving a teenage unwed mother behind. Sarah's mother died when she was an infant and her alcoholic father hung himself two years later. Raised by her Australian grandmother, Sarah had a happy upbringing and had little interest in learning about her parents until her grandmother was near death and told her the history. Upon her death, Sarah left Australia to find her British grandmother. She did find her, but the British grandmother died shortly after. It turns out that Sarah's American soldier grandfather was Robert Lawrence, the deceased famous artist and Haven Harbor resident. His son, Ted, is also a painter and still has a gallery in the village. Over the course of months, Sarah has formed a friendship with Ted and finally reveals her identity. Ted's response is to invite his three adult children home to celebrate his 75th birthday, introduce Sarah to them and announce that he will be including her in his will.

Sarah is delighted that she will be meeting the family that she always wanted and nervous as well; so nervous that she asks Angie to be at the family gathering. It turns out that the three siblings are predictably displeased. After a blow-up at the dinner, Ted insists that they have a family clambake regardless the next day. When Ted dies at the clambake, they assume he ate a clam contaminated with Red Tide. But further investigation determines that he was poisoned. Who did it? Was it the grasping children, Sarah, or someone else? There is plenty of motivation, as Ted turns out to have been a pretty poor father to his own children.

Tightening the Threads is another solid entry in this cozy series. I was kept guessing until the end, especially since there is another death after Ted's. The Mainely Needlepoint series is packed with Maine charm and characters that continue to evolve. Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for an advance copy. The opinions are entirely my own.

RATING- 4 Stars

Okay, I had this mystery figured out at least eight times, and I still got it wrong. It definitely kept my attention. My only complaints would be that the person who died was someone I liked and I wanted to keep on liking, but so much came out about this person after they died that you really couldn't. Also I was hoping there'd be more about needlepoint than there was. Definitely not complaints that spoiled the book for me.

Tightening the Threads is the fifth installment in the Mainely Needlepoint series set in Haven Harbor, ME and featuring Angela "Angie" Curtis. Angie has settled into her role of running the Mainely Needlepoint business and is adjusting to being back in her hometown.

Angie's best friend Sarah Byrne invites her over for pizza and opens up about her relationship with gallery owner and town elder, Ted Lawrence. Ted is hosting a clambake in honor of his seventy fifth birthday and has asked Sarah to organize the event. Feeling apprehensive about meeting Ted's estranged children for the first time she asks Angie to accompany her for the weekend's festivities. The arrival of the dysfunctional siblings puts Angie on edge and after a shocking announcement by one of the family members, it's not a big surprise when one of them keels over at the clambake.

Angie, with help of Patrick West, soon discovers a tangled family history that includes drownings, infidelity, alcoholism and valuable artwork. With each family member harboring resentment, Angie has plenty of suspects to investigate.

A fast paced storyline revolving around a cast of well rounded characters, this series continues to get better with each new edition. The perfect elements for a cozy: seaside community, friends and family, romance and cute pets.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley via Kensington Publishing. While not required to write a review I am more than happy to offer my honest opinion.

I absolutely love Lea Waits books and this cosy mystery series. Being an embroiderer myself I love reading about the samplers, one of the best parts of the book! I didn't guess who the killer was. I can't wait for the next book in this series. Thank you for letting me read and review this book, another good one by Lea!

The books in this series just keep getting better.
Angus Curtis has grown a lot in this quirky series by Lea Wait.
In this story, Angie helps out her friend Sarah. She is organizing a family reunion for her friends 75th birthday.
When secrets and truths are revealed and a murder takes place, not even the wealthy find themselves able to fight against greed.

I voluntarily read an ARC of this book provided by the publisher and NetGalley.

Angie does it again, helps solve another murder (or two) in beautiful, picturesque Maine. The needlepoint historical quotes are a nice touch. Can't wait for the next one.

Good continuation of the series--I really enjoyed learning more about Sarah's background as well as watching the fallout from both Ted Lawrence's decision to change his will and the different deaths that took place in the middle of the book. I know some readers want a body within the first chapter or two, but that plot pattern gets old after a while. This author does a nice job of unfolding plot and letting potential suspects' motivations simmer before knocking someone off.

In the end, the weakest elements for me were the saga of Angie's bone discovery at her house and the minor bit of the morning towel miscommunication between Angie and Patrick. Both aspects didn't read (to me) as crucial additions to the narrative or to character development.

Sarah Byrne has asked her friend, Angie Curtis, to help at a family gathering at the home of her friend and newly discovered uncle, Ted Lawrence. The moral support will be much needed when Ted announces to the family changes he has made to his will with inclusion of his new niece. Tempers rise faster than the tide and so does the body count. Angie has her hands full when she is approached by one of the suspects to investigate.

There are some series that feel comfortable from the first installment. That is the way I felt when I read Twisted Threads, the first in this series. Wait’s characters are a delight and could be neighbors or family, All members of the Mainely Needelpoint group, you are able to quickly bond with them making you care about their well-being. She gives each one a rich back story from the author of erotica to the high school teacher with the poison garden. The storylines are suspenseful and well plotted. This is the fifth in the series and it just gets stronger and more intriguing. Each installment has been a delight and this one doesn’t disappoint.

An easy read reminiscent of Murder She Wrote. Enjoyable and easily picked up .

Angie Curtis is helping her friend, Sarah Byrne, set up a birthday party for Ted Lawrence, a wealthy old gallery owner and artist. After Ted Lawrence’s estranged family arrives, he announces that Sarah is a long lost relative. Ted also states that he is dying of cancer and is changing his will and leaving the bulk of his estate to Sarah. The next day, at a lobster bake, Ted is poisoned to death. Now, Angie is investigating to find out who killed Ted Lawrence.
This was a great addition to this wonderful series. I always thought there was more to Sarah’s character, and you learn a lot about her in this story. I liked how the author showcased different families and how children are affected more by the lack of love than the lack of money. This well-plotted cozy mystery’s ending was a surprise and made me look forward to the next installment. An Advanced Reading Copy was received in exchange for an honest review.