A Twisted Skein

Book excerpt: Summer is on the wane in the charming Massachusetts village of Sea Harbor, but there’s plenty of excitement in store courtesy of a fashion show that’s keeping the Seaside Knitters busy—along with a chilling killer with secrets to hide. Like every coastal town, Sea Harbor needs tourists and their dollars. But there’s something special about that time of year when summer people return to their normal lives, and the wide sandy beaches welcome back locals with their dogs and strollers. And this year, even as the season cools down, Izzy Perry’s Sea Harbor Yarn Studio is heating up, thanks to an upcoming fashion benefit . . . The show will feature hand-knit garments, and enthusiastic knitters flock to the shop for supplies. Yet Seaside Knitter Birdie is enjoying flocks of a different kind, thanks to a rekindled interest in bird-watching, a hobby she enjoyed with her late husband. Along with a small group, she often spends weekend mornings looking for warblers or keeping watch for gannets and grebes. The group members themselves are almost as fascinating as the birds. It’s a lovely time—until Birdie stumbles upon a fellow birder’s body amid a tangle of branches. At first, it appears to be an accidental fall, but an autopsy reveals otherwise. When police discover a clue linking the victim to a young woman from Sea Harbor, the web of suspicion grows. Now, before the knitters have cast off the final rows on their runway projects, they’ll have to unravel secrets and ties strong enough to bind friends and neighbors together—and some that may press a killer to take another life.