With help from her friend Belinda, Lia Geiger is starting over after the death of her husband. Lia’s an avid knitter and Belinda runs a weekly craft fair in an historic barn. Thanks to Lia’s weekly knitting group, she has plenty of options for shoppers to choose from in their booth.

Belinda’s ex-husband is the vindictive sort. As part of his payback for her daring to divorce him, he plans to buy the barn and tear it down, putting Belinda out of business. A local historian is opposed, the vendors, too. When Lia arrives at the barn early, she finds Belinda standing over her ex’s body. The list of those who wanted him dead and gone is long, but a spouse is always the number one suspect. To help Belinda, Lia asks a few questions here and there. It seems natural since she’s new in town and doesn’t know all the players.

In the midst of a downturn of business at the barn, low key snooping, and adjusting to her new lifestyle, Lia’s daughter, Haley, is giving serious thought to a different job, if not a career change. Lia worries this is just a whim. There’s also a possible romance brewing for Haley that might have something to do with her change of plans. And then there’s the cat. Lia’s knitter friend, Jen, asks Lia to keep Daphne, a Ragdoll cat, for a few days. Will she be able to give the cat back?

When a second body turns up, Belinda’s alibi is shaky, but she’s not arrested—yet. Trying to find a common interest between the two victims is proving to be difficult. Will Lia be able to stitch the clues together in time to prevent more deaths?

This is the first in a new series. Lia and Haley are people you’d definitely want to know and their relationship is a good one, with Lia respecting Haley’s decisions. Daphne steals the show and, thankfully, is in many scenes. With the knitting group, the crafters at the barn, and new people Lia meets, readers will have to pay attention to remember who is who, but Caldwell drops reminders, making it easy. I had an inkling of the murderer’s identity but not the motive, making for a satisfying read. I hope the next book will be coming soon.

Typical start to a cozy mystery series. A woman is out to prove her friend’s innocence. Another murder complicates matters. When her daughter is kidnapped, all bets are off.

What a fun new cozy mystery series!

Lia Geiger is still coming to terms with her husband's death after 11 months without him. She has moved to a new town and made some new friends (while keeping in touch with her old ones). She loves the craft sale family that she has become a part of. But when the manager of the sale's ex-husband is found murdered right after it comes out that he is threatening to tear the barn down, Lia is determined to help out her friend. Can Lia and her daughter get to the bottom of the crime before it's too late to save the craft sale?

I had a fun time reading this first book in a new series. I normally read the cozies with younger protagonists because I have an easier time relating to them, but this one was a delight to read. I really liked Lia and her daughter. I loved their relationship. I found the town really charming and the craft sales each weekend so cute. The ending came as a big surprise. I had no idea it was going to end that way. I look forward to reading more from this fun series!

This was a cute, first in a new cozy mystery series. I liked that it featured a mother-daughter duo since, while I find that many cozies feature family members solving crimes together, I have somehow not seen this one before (though I'm sure they are out there!). I also liked all the knitting descriptions, as well as the craft fair visits. The mystery was ok but it worked for me. I would read more in this series!

It is no surprise that I love cozy mysteries so when I see that there is a new series coming out I have to jump on it! This is book 1 in the A Craft Fair Knitters mystery by Emma Caldwell. After Lia Geigers husband dies she moves to a new town in Pennsylvania and joins a knitting club that her best friend Belinda is in charge of. However, during a craft fair for Mothers Day weekend Lia finds Belinda standing over a dead body---her husbands dead body. Lia jumps in as amateur sleuth to help clear her best friends name!
This was such great debut novel! The mystery aspect is great and definitely keeps you on your toes as you try and figure out who committed the murder.

I'm old and I love an older protagonist. And knitting? Yes, please. This story was very good. All the characters were so well done and no one got short shrift. I was engaged through the whole book.

This was a good book and you don't have to know how to knit to appreciate it.

Lia Geiger is starting over in the town of Crandalsburg, PA. She recently lost her husband, Tom, downsized and retired from nursing. She maintains her friendship with a group from her prior town of York, PA known as the Ninth Street Knitters. Together the knit all kinds of products to be sold at the Crandaslburg Craft Fair. However, when the man proposing to buy the structure housing the craft fair winds up dead and Lia's friend Belinda is framed for the murder, Lia turns amateur sleuth to help exonerate her friend.

I liked the cozy feel of this mystery and the fun atmosphere created by the craft fair. Lia is a likeable protagonist and I appreciated all her interactions with her daughter, Hayley. I wish there had been more about the knitting group, but understandable since they live 30 minutes from Lia. I did NOT figure out whodunit, which is always a bonus for me but the author tied everything together quite nicely.

A good start to what I hope is a new cozy series. Sign me up for the next one!

Fans of crafting cozies will be thrilled with this new series. It has been awhile since a new crafting series has caught my attention from the beginning. Great characters and the story was well written. I couldn't put this book down and I highly recommend you read it.

This was such a fun debut cozy! I love the yarn theme, and I adore the characters. The mystery was a lot of fun, and I didn't guess who the murderer was. Very well-written!

A good start to a series for crafters. Fun characters. Believable plot. Looking for the next one.
#netgalley

A Wicked Yarn is the first book in a new crafter cozy mystery series by Emmie Caldwell. Released 29th Dec 2020 by Penguin Random House on their Berkley imprint, it's 304 pages and available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is an engaging and well written crafter cozy (with cat). I enjoyed the characters and the development of the mystery which although admittedly comfortably predictable and trope-y, is also appealingly well written and paced. The characters are fleshed out and interact believably with one another. There are some early exchanges between Belinda and her ex-husband (in the role of first corpse) which are fairly clunky - but the dialogue improves quickly and I didn't find myself being yanked out of the story after the first chapter.

All-around comfortable cozy with an amateur group of knitters. I'm looking forward to future installments.

Four stars. (Clean language, no sexual content).

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Ms. Caldwell first book in a new cozy mystery series, Craft Fair Knitters, was a delight to read from beginning to end.

Lia Geiger is a widow living in a small community in Pennsylvania. She is a retired surgical nurse and keeps herself busy knitting now that she has recently moved to Crandalsburg. The developing characters were all likable except for one who I found to be too rough around the edges. Lia and her daughter, Haley, are strong characters that I liked immensely as I got to know them. The mystery is smoothly paced with plenty of clues that provide the twists and turns and the suspects were quite plausible. The reveal was dramatic and totally unexpected. I never guessed who was behind the murder and mayhem.

A Wicked Yarn by Emmie Caldwell is an excellent cozy mystery that is the first installment of a new series: A Craft Fair Knitters Mystery. This is a great start to what is sure to be an enjoyable series.

This book has a great combination of like able and relative characters, creative overall theme, a fun and interesting murder/mystery plot that kept me guessing, and plenty of characters for a nice continuation for further books to come.

This series takes place in small-town Crandalsburg, Pennsylvania and is a perfect location to create a wonderful niche and an eclectic and fun array of characters. I loved meeting our main character, Lia Geiger, her daughter Hayley , all of the Ninth Street Knits, and the full cast of locals. I enjoyed Lia as a main character overall, I felt she was realistic, fit the narrative perfectly, and someone I could identify with.

I also enjoyed the murder/mystery plot. There were plenty of suspects, and it kept me guessing throughout.

A great start to a new series.

5/5 stars

Thank you NG and Berkley for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR, Bookbub, Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts immediately. Book published on 12/29/20.

A WICKED YARN is my first book of 2021. All I can say is, if the rest of the books I read this year are half as good, I'm in for some fabulous reading!

Author Emmie Caldwell's (Mary Ellen Hughes) debut book in the Craft Fair Knitters is going to be a lot for the author to live up too. Like the pilot of a TV series, the first book in a series is all about introducing the characters and setting, so it can be often be slow going. That was not the case with A WICKED YARN. By the end of the first couple of chapters I felt like I was in a familiar place with wonderful friends.

As for the mystery, is was very well written. I tried to get into the author's head for just a hint of who the baddy was, but I was stumped. Protagonist Lia and I learned the killer's identity at the same time. Totally worth sitting up half the night to read.

Full of charm, mystery, and delightful characters, this is a story you will not be able to put down. A twisty story line , yet full of fun!

We are introduced to Lia, her daughter, and an assortment of friends whose portrayal play a role in this enjoyable read. This was a well-written and evenly paced tale with a comfortable tone, a solid plot with twists and turns that enhanced how well this story was being told. The author did a great job in staging this mystery that kept me in suspense and intrigued to what was going on. With visually descriptive narrative, the author put it all out there with engaging dialogue, a craft that I could get into, a lovable, yet quirky cast of characters, a small-town atmosphere and a drama that kept me immersed from beginning to end. Overall, this was a fun book and I look forward to more adventures with Lia and her friends.

Lia Geiger is enjoying working at her knitting circle’s booth at the Crandalsburg Craft Fair. An assortment of crafts are readily available and Mother’s Day weekend promises to bring a lot of tourists- and a lot of potential sales- for everyone. Unfortunately, a local businessman has offered to buy the barn and the fate of the craft fair is at stake. Worse yet, the local businessman is the ex-husband of the craft fair manager, Belinda Peebles. Things take a nasty turn when Darren is found dead and Belinda is the primary suspect. Lia is determined to help clear Belinda’s name, but can she uncover the real murderer?

Emmie Caldwell does a marvelous job at introducing us to the various craftsmen at the fair, as well as some of the residents in the town. In particular, we learn a lot of background information about Lia’s history and her ties to Belinda that help make sense of her determination to assist Belinda. Lia is a relative newcomer to the town, so it’s fun to see her explore the various shops and other businesses as she investigates what happened to Darren.
Emmie Caldwell also adds in another underlying mystery, as Lia’s daughter, Hayley, unexpectedly arrives home and drops the bomb on her mom that she’s thinking about quitting her job but won’t give any reason why. I loved watching Lia navigate this sticky situation, as she seeks to balance her duties as a parent (even to an adult child) with her love and desire for Hayley to find her own path. Hayley is a bit more of an enigma than Lia, and I look forward to getting to know her better in future books.

And oh, how could I not mention the delightful wares at the Crandalsburg Craft Fair? I want to sample a bit of everything, from Zach Goodwin’s honey to Olivia Byrd’s herbal soaps. I love how Emmie Caldwell allows us to see just a portion of the various crafts available at the fair, while hinting at so many more. I can’t wait to see what other craftsmen and their crafts she has in mind for us to explore in future books.

A WICKED YARN is a fun start to A Craft Fair Knitters Mystery series! Emmie Caldwell has written a delightful cozy mystery in which the craft theme is thoroughly integrated into the story line. I look forward to spending more time at the craft barn and with Lia’s knitting circle as the characters are just sheer fun. The warm and caring friendships shine through the pages so clearly and I’m excited about what Emmie Caldwell has in store for us in future installments of A Craft Fair Knitters Mystery series!

*review is in the editing queue at Fresh Fiction*

This book is perfect for crafters who enjoy visiting and participating in established craft fair venues. The petty jealousies that often surface among talented people who share a passion for creating beautiful things.

Emmie Caldwell's characters are well developed and you feel like you know them all by the time the story has unravelled itself completely. A murder is caught, and life-changing decisions are made along with some new friends as well.

A little bit of a slow read, meaning I was able to put it down to finish later and didn't mind that it didn't get picked up again for a couple of days.

I'm not a knitter (or crafty by any means, for that matter!), but you don't need to be to enjoy this fun debut by Emmie Caldwell. The character development is wonderful and relatable, especially with the relationship between main character Lia Geiger and her adult daughter. The mystery itself was done well, with enough red greetings thrown in that although I correctly guessed the killer fairly early on, I was still second-guessing myself until the reveal. I'm definitely looking forward to the next book in this series!

A Wicked Yarn is an entertaining and well written cozy mystery. Good plot and quirky characters. Mystery fans will love this book. I received an advance ebook from the publisher and Netgalley and this is my unbiased review.