Wreath of Deception
Mary Ellen Hughes
Berkley, Sept 2006, $6.99
ISBN: 0425212246

When the acetylene torch that Mike used in making his metal sculptures exploded killing him and destroying his loft, his wife Jo was totally bereft. Her best friend Carrie convinced her to leave New York and move to Abbotsville, Maryland. Jo leaped at the chance to start over and after months of planning opens up Jo's Craft Corner in the small town of Abbottsville. Her opening is a success except for the constant whining and complaints of Cuddles the Clown aka Kyle Sandborn who was hired by Jo to entertain the customers.

After the store closes, Jo goes into the back room only to find Kyle on the floor covered with blood. The police inform her that he was murdered with her knitting needles as the weapon and that someone slipped a sedative into his drink. The officer in charges zeroes in on Jo as the only suspect as she had the means and opportunity though the motive remains elusive. Her customers in her craft classes convince her to investigate because the police will continue to ignore anyone but her. She acquiesces and almost becomes the killer's victim.

This first Craft Corner mystery is a charming and colorful cozy due to the eccentric fully developed ensemble, the craft ladies, who encourage the spunky heroine to not only get on with her life, but to solve the murder mystery. Readers will admire and like Jo, who believes her new endeavors will bring her some happiness that has been lacking since the accident. Mary Ellen Hughes provides a refreshing writing style that produces a refreshingly original who-done-it that readers will enjoy.

Harriet Klausner