Another good series where the characters are interesting. This one was very focused on Angie, Patrick, and Patrick's mother Skye.

Thread the Halls is a well written mystery. Loved the plot and the author's writing style. I will be looking for more books by this author.

Lea Wait's Thread the Halls is the sixth book in the Mainely Needlepoint Mystery series. It is Christmas in Haven Harbor, Maine. Angie has big plans for Christmas that get side tracked when her friend Patrick's movie star mother plans to visit with several famous guests in tow. When one of those famous guests is murdered, Angie finds herself in the middle of yet another murder mystery. The setting of this series draws me in every time. The characters are a nice mix, and Angie is a great heroine. This book easily stands on its own, but I recommend reading the entire series!

That was simply amazing. The setting was beautiful, yet dangerous. The mystery was wonderful and a bit shocking. I do have to admit that I ended up putting the book down after a few chapters. The needlepoint descriptions inspired me to pick up a cross stitch that I've been meaning to get to for over a year.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Snow is falling in Haven Harbor, Maine and movie star Skye West has decided to come home for a white Christmas and bring the people working on her current movie with her. This means her son Patrick has his work cut out for him to get her mansion all decorated for the holiday. She also wants needlepoint gifts for everyone so the Mainely Needlepointers have a last minute job to take of.

Angie is a little disappointed, it is her first Christmas since coming home from Arizona and she had wanted to have a quiet Christmas with Patrick. She decides any time with him is a gift after all he has been through so she helps him get everything ready for his mother’s arrival. Skye and her entourage arrive but before they spend one night in Maine, one of them is found dead in the snow. Patrick’s mother decided the show must go on and doesn’t let a murder ruin her holiday plans until Patrick is poisoned and rushed to the hospital. Angie knows they are a limited number of suspects but she is stumped about who killer could be. There is a definite chill in the air and it’s not from the typical Maine winter weather. There is a killer near by, she just needs to figure out who before it is too late.

This was a very entertaining story. Haven Harbor has its own holiday traditions like Santa arriving on a lobster boat. Skye adds a snowy hayride for her friends too.

Angie grows more in each story. She is really getting comfortable running the needlepoint business and her own needlepoint skills are improving. But she does keep finding those dead bodies. She tries to stay out the investigations but she always ends up right in the middle of them. I loved the part of the story where Angie decorated her tree, trying to bring back the Christmases she remembered. Angie’s relationship with her grandmother always warms my heart.

I always have to adjust my thinking about Skye whenever she arrives on the page. She is a pushy and demanding women but there is no malice in her actions or requests. It is just the way she is. Patrick knows how to handle his mother and even though she sometimes forgets he is a grown man he still loves her. After the fire any mother can understand where she is coming from. They have a close relationship. I hope they both start to fit more into the fabric of Haven Harbor and be less like “the rich people in town” where they expect people to cater to them. Patrick is starting to make progress in that direction as his relationship with Angie gets more serious.

The story unfolded at a comfortable pace with several twists. One I had worked out in the back of my mind. The climatic ending really took me by surprise. I knew something had to happen soon because we were getting to the final pages but I never expected what happened. Kudos to Ms. Wait for a very exciting ending!

Again the author has stitched together a fantastic mystery with memorable characters in a spectacular setting. She also sprinkles humor throughout the story in all the right places. A perfect escape for the holiday season.

*I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley which I voluntarily chose to write an honest review for.


Book six in the Mainely Needlepoint series. Welcome to the Christmas season in Maine which seems rather festive I must admit. In the week before the holiday Angie thinks she is busy enough but when Skye decides to come home for the holidays and bring her film cast with her things really heat up as they try to get everything done in time while still keeping the famous people happy. As if the extra tasks are not bad enough Angie stumbles across the dead body of the main male actor in the film. This adds just the right extra touch of drama to the events already going on to make for an excellent holiday cozy mystery book. I really enjoy Lea's writing and this book held up to the reputation of the series. I highly recommend it to fans of crafty cozy mystery novels. I really enjoyed it so it gets 4/5 stars.

It's Christmas in Haven Harbor, ME, seven months after Angie Curtis moved back to her hometown. A lot has happened in those seven months. Angie has reconnected with old friends, made new ones, taken over her grandmother's needlepoint business and helped solve several murders in the small seaside village. She is in a fledgling relationship with Patrick West, the son of Hollywood star Skye West, who recently renovated a local estate. When Skye contacts Patrick to announce her unexpected arrival in Maine for Christmas, bringing her co-stars and writers of her troubled current project with her, Angie's plans are upended. Skye wants everything to be perfect for her guest. Angie somewhat reluctantly agrees to help, despite her busy schedule, and the two transform the estate into a Christmas wonderland. The murder of one of the co-stars and some suspicious Christmas cookies delivered to Patrick threaten the wished-for peace of the season and Angie's future.

The Mainely Needlepoint Mysteries are well-plotted cozies, loaded with local color. For anyone who loves Maine, they are a great "fix" for those who are missing the Downeast way of life. Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for an advance digital copy. The opinions are my own.

RATING- 4 Stars

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC copy of this book! I discovered Lea Wait and her Mainely Needlepoint series a few months ago and I'm so glad I did!! This is a great cozy mystery series, the characters are very well developed and I am seriously ready to pack up and move to Haven Harbor Maine!! I can not wait until the next installment when I can catch up with Angie and company :)

Thread the Halls is the sixth installment in the Mainely Needlepoint series set in Haven Harbor, ME and featuring Mainely Needpoint owner Angie Curtis. With Christmas right around the corner Angie is looking forward to the holidays spent with boyfriend Patrick West, friends and her family.

Patrick receives a call from his mother Skye, renowned actress that she will be taking a break from filming and returning to the West estate, Aurora along with several of her cast members to celebrate the holidays. Skye would like Angie and her fellow needlepointers to create personalized pillows for the film crew, and Patrick enlists her help along with half the town to get Aurora decorated for the famous celebrities.

Shortly after Skye's arrival, Angie and Patrick discover the body of actor Paul Carmichael while walking the grounds of Aurora. Unsure if the man has been accidentally shot by a hunter or if someone had a grudge against the man, Angie finds herself drawn into the investigation to find a killer. When Patrick is poisoned by cookies that Angie is accused of baking, hopes for a happy holiday quickly melt away.

A fast paced storyline that features many recurring series characters, a cozy town and plenty of suspects. The only thing that I am beginning to dislike about the series is that Angie seems to always put Patrick and his family before her own needs. The relationship between the two doesn't evoke warm and fuzzy feelings for me and I'm almost wishing that another love interest will move into Haven Harbor.

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

Thread the Halls by Lea Wait is the sixth book in A Mainely Needlepoint Mystery series. Angie Curtis is looking forward to a quiet Christmas in Haven Harbor, Maine with her family, friends, and boyfriend, Patrick West. Then Patrick gets a call from his mother, Skye West that she is returning for Christmas and bringing some movie people with her. Patrick needs help getting Aurora (their estate) prepped for Christmas in two days (there goes Angie’s quiet Christmas). The Mainely Needlepoint group help Patrick prepare for the holidays including custom embroidered little pillows for Skye’s guests. After the guests arrive, Patrick and Skye are taking a walk when they discover one of the actor’s dead in the snow. Was it an accidentally killing by a hunter or was it deliberate? Then Patrick eats poisoned cookies and Angie is blamed. She is determined to find the culprit and get her Christmas back on track!

Thread the Halls is nicely written and has a nice pace which makes it a quick read. The emphasis in Thread the Halls is on Christmas, friendship, food and family. The murder does not occur until the 25% mark in the story. There is little investigation in the book and it is child’s play to solve. There might as well be a giant neon arrow pointing to the culprit. There is a little surprise near the end that some readers might not anticipate. It was interesting to read about various Maine Christmas traditions including the Christmas boat parade (we have a similar one in my area). My rating for Thread the Halls is 3 out of 5 stars. Thread the Halls can be a standalone book. All the pertinent details are included in this installment. I was not a fan of Patrick West (or his mother) in this book. He assumed his money would get him everything he wanted done (which is mentioned several times). I did tire of the repetition of information. The same details are repeated throughout the book. I would have preferred more substance and less fluff. If you are looking for a cozy mystery that is big on Christmas spirit, then check out Thread the Halls.

Princess Fuzzypants here:
Angie and Patrick are going to spend their first Christmas in Maine together and it is going to be perfect. That is until his movie star mother brings some of her film buddies back to rework a script that is in trouble.. She wants them to create a fairy tale environment. It turns into a scary one when the male lead of the movie is shot to death in a snowy field behind her mansion. Things slide further downhill when Angie becomes a suspect.
As the story evolves, secrets that are best left alone come to the forefront and it gets very messy before all is revealed. It is a good story complete with an exciting Nor’Easter, lots of Christmas stuff, interesting characters and a good plot. I did figure out who was the villain but not why and there was an extra wrinkle that was unexpected. It was an enjoyable read that I can recommend.
I give it five purrs and two paws up.

Loved it! Home for the holidays takes us on an interesting and exciting ride through the snow and cold. Nice to spend time with Angie, her grandmother, the Mainely Needlepointers and more. Lots going on in addition to the holiday activities. Clever mystery with some surprises, some pleasant, some not.

This is a great book with a wonderful story and well developed characters. The story flowed very well and was very enjoyable. This book will keep you reading long into the night and you will not want to put this book down until you finish. This was such a great read and full of surprises. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader’s copy of this book. The free book held no determination on my personal review.

Lea Wait continues the Mainely Needlepoint mysteries with Thread the Halls.Angie and her fellow Maine needlepointers are preparing needlepoint cushions for Angie's boyfriend's mother, a famous actress Skye West. An actor in Skye's party is murdered and Angie has to find out the murderer before Christmas. Small town Maine in the holiday season is beautifully conveyed. Admire the cover of Thread the Halls and dive into the interesting plot. Merry Christmas.

This is a wonderful holiday cozy mystery. Great characters and excellent writing made this a very enjoyable book for me. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I can’t wait to read more.

I’ve read and enjoyed all six books in this series. While I think this book could be read stand-alone, I recommend reading the series in order as the character development and relationships are built from book to book.

The series is set in a fictitious town on the shore of Maine. My husband grew up in Camden, Maine and he tells me that Lea Wait is spot on in her descriptions of the types of individuals who live in Maine, the look and feel of the small towns that dot the coast line and also in her history of the state.

I am most interested in the mystery which I found to be interesting though I felt that a bit of the whodunnit was dropped on the reader towards the end of the book.

In this story, set at Christmas, Angie is called to help out at Aurora to decorate and assist Patrick in getting the house ready for his mother, actress Skye, when she decides, at the last minute, to spend the holiday there with some actors and others who are working on her latest movie project. Angie has to put aside her own plans and then gets caught up in solving the whodunnit when one of the visitors ends up dead.

Notwithstanding that, I enjoyed the book and look forward to where the next book will take the characters. I’m hoping that Patrick will develop a little more backbone where his mother is concerned and that Angie (his girlfriend and the main sleuth in the series) will put her foot down when Patrick or his mother (Skye) ask for too much of her.

I was provided a digital advance reader copy of this book by the publisher via Netgalley.

Moving back home to Haven Harbor, Maine after ten years away, Angie Curtis is getting ready to celebrate her first Christmas with her friends and family. While having a tree decorating party at her home with everyone, her new beau Patrick West, son of famous actress Skye West, asks everyone's help in decorating his mother's mansion - Aurora - for the holidays. It seems he just received a phone call from her where she's filming in Scotland, and she wants her costars, screenwriters and director to experience a 'real Maine Christmas.' But with Christmas only days away, how can they get ready in time?

Everyone already has plans of their own, but with the offer to pay well and the fact they like Patrick, they agree. Everyone in the Mainely Needlepointers has agreed to make small gifts for the guests, and others have offered what they can - knowing the extra money wouldn't hurt. They've even convinced a local widow to become a live-in cook at Aurora during the visit. It's not going to be easy, but Angie, with some trepidation and the help of her friends and family, thinks it can be done in time; although it means changing some of her own holiday plans.

Once everything has been done and the guests have arrived, Patrick asks Angie to come and meet everyone. But before they enter the home, they decide to take a walk around the estate to look at the stars in the clear night sky. On their way back, Angie sees something in the snow, and even though Patrick tells her it's probably nothing, her curiosity - and the fact that she worked for a private eye in Arizona for ten years and has a natural instinct - tells her to look closer. She discovers that it's a body, and calls in the local police.

The dead man turns out to be one of the actors from the movie, but no one seems to remember him going outside or seems to have any reason to kill him. Yet he's dead, so someone must have had a motive. They soon realize that the murderer had to be someone from the house party, but who? They were nearing the end of the film, and why would they jeopardize all their jobs for murder?

Angie tries to stay out of the investigation as she has other things to worry about. A storm is heading their way, everyone has been invited to the Christmas Eve party at Aurora, and there's an annoying potential customer from Texas who's enthralled with Skye and keeps showing up at Angie's unannounced peppering her with questions and trying to get her to introduce her to Skye. When it becomes apparent the killer has another target in mind, Angie begins to wonder if her life is going to crumble like Christmas cookies before she's able to wrap up a murder...

I love reading about Angie and her friends. Although I do have reservations about the newest addition to her circle - Clem - who showed early on (no spoiler here since it's almost immediate) that she's not much of a friend at all. Angie's grandmother Charlotte is settling into her new life as the wife of Reverend Tom, Angie and Patrick are well on their way to becoming a couple, and reading about the local trimmings - home grown trees, handmade wreaths, food, etc., is a nice way to bring you into the Season.

The mystery itself is done well. We're drawn into the story early on, and looking for clues along with Angie into who would want Paul dead. Even Angie herself is considered the main suspect at one point. The mystery is interspersed with the sights and sounds of Christmas, including an old-fashioned (sort of) sleigh ride, a parade, and the arrival of Santa Claus by boat. It's a delightful way to investigate a murder.

All that aside, there is enough action to keep one interested, a few red herrings and people of questionable behavior, and a tight little mystery to solve. The characters are convincing, with a sweeping descriptions of Haven Harbor and what it must look like during Christmas. We are brought into the town as if we were there, a place that would be wonderful to visit. All in all, it's a pleasant way to spend an evening.

When we come to the end and the murder is solved (as we know it must be) it is satisfying and yet a bit sad. There is also a bit of a surprise attached to it, and given the circumstances, I don't think anyone would know how they might react in the same situation. This is the sixth book in the Mainely Needlepoint Mysteries, but can be read as a stand alone. If you choose to go back to the beginning, the first book is titled Twisted Threads. I look forward to the next in the series. Highly recommended.

This was a fun mystery. Angie is ready to celebrate Christmas in Maine and then murder happens. Her boyfriend's mother is a movie star and she has a home in Maine. She brings several of her colleagues home to enjoy a Maine Christmas. This mystery has several suspects and I was not sure who the murderer was. I had guesses but wasn't positive. There is a surprise at the end. I like the characters and the town and citizens sound lovely. I have read one other book in this series and I enjoy it as well. Will read more books by this author.

Brilliant book . I couldn't put it down . I enjoy reading the verses of historical samplers done by young people at beginning of each chapter .
Angel come through in the end . Never guessed the who the killer could be a lot of red herrings throughout the book . I would definitely recommend this book . Thanks to net galley and Kensington books for letting me read and review this book .

Lea Wait brings readers a wonderful Maine Christmas in this sixth book in her Mainely Needlepoint series, which has been one of my favorites from the very first book. Since Angie worked for a private investigator for ten years while living in Phoenix, she has the background to make her one of the strongest amateur sleuths you'll find. She shares all her findings with the local police, and she doesn't do anything stupid-- both things that I really appreciate.

There hasn't been much needlepoint being done in the last few books, but that's not really a problem. Wait begins each chapter with a quote from an historic sampler, and those quotes can tell readers quite a bit about the embroiderers and the times they lived in. (People really can live on through their stitching.)

The mystery is a good one with a large suspect pool, and the motive for the crimes isn't easily deduced. I had my eye on one suspect in particular, and I enjoyed watching the mystery unfold. What I didn't enjoy were Skye West and her son.

A week before Christmas, and this woman decides that she wants her large Victorian mansion lavishly decorated, a never-ending gourmet food supply on hand, and needlepoint gifts stitched for each of her guests. Everyone in town is supposed to drop what they're doing and dance to her tune because-- after all-- she does pay well for what she wants. (Her son behaves the same way.) I won't tell you what my response would have been, but you can tell that I felt like a put-upon member of the Mainely Needlepoint family.

Chances are excellent that you will, too. A wonderful Maine setting, strong mysteries, and an excellent cast of characters. Come join the family. I promise I won't make you learn needlepoint!