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Summary
Summary
Anastasia Pollack's dead louse of a spouse has left her with more bills than you can shake a crochet hook at, and teaching craft classes at her mother-in-law's assisted living center seems like a harmless way to supplement her meager income. But when Lyndella Wegner--a 98-year-old know-it-all with a penchant for ruffles and lace--is murdered, Anastasia's cantankerous mother-in-law becomes the prime suspect. Upon discovering that Lyndella's X-rated craft projects--and her scandalous behavior--made her plenty of enemies, Anastasia sets out to find the real killer before her mother-in-law ends up behind bars.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
When Anastasia Pollack's curmudgeonly Communist mother-in-law, Lucille, falls under suspicion after someone strangles Lucille's roommate at the Sunnyside of Westfield Assisted Living and Rehabilitation Center, Anastasia can't resist the temptation to sleuth in Winston's entertaining third cozy featuring the New Jersey magazine crafts editor (after 2012's Death by Killer Mop Doll). As luck would have it, a weekend art therapy vacancy at Sunnyside offers the perfect cover as well as cash that Anastasia, a recent widow, and her two teenage sons sorely need. It also plunges Anastasia into a surprisingly fraught stew of jealousy, greed, and sex to rival the shenanigans at Casa Pollack, particularly those of her own much-married mother. The Sopranos-worthy lineup of eccentric characters and Anastasia's droll reaction to the gutter balls life rolls her more than make up for the predictable plot. Agent: Denise Dumars, the Ashley Grayson Literary Agency. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
A crafts editor's endless streak of bad luck entangles her in yet another murder. Anastasia Pollack's spouse compounded his lying and cheating by dying and leaving her and her two boys with piles of unpaid bills and the mother-in-law from hell. Now, Lucille Pollack, an old-line Communist, is recovering from brain surgery at Sunnyside, an assisted living and rehab center. No sooner does she arrive than she threatens to strangle her motor-mouth roommate, Lyndella Wegner, a 90-something Southern belle with a real talent for crafts. When Lyndella is duly found strangled, Anastasia has to start sleuthing even though her life would be easier with Lucille in jail. Luckily, her decision to substitute for a pregnant friend by taking a part-time job as leader of arts and crafts at Sunnyside has put her right on the scene. The Sunnyside director is rude and overbearing, but most of Anastasia's students are remarkably talented and almost all of them hated Lyndella. A careful reading of Lyndella's craft journals, which Anastasia recovers before they can be thrown in the trash, reveals an amazing past. Lyndella was a prostitute and then a madam with a long list of high-profile customers. Thanks to hormones and Viagra, she was still enjoying an active sex life with just about every male patient at Sunnyside. Anastasia gets support from her hunky tenant, just back from a photo session in Africa, but her own live-in mother, on the hunt for another husband, ignores the family's struggles as she spends her money on new clothes. Soldiering on after the arrival of her husband's hitherto unsuspected half brother, Anastasia puts herself in danger to catch a killer. Winston (Death by Killer Mop Doll, 2012, etc.) provides a long-suffering heroine, amusing characters, a pretty good mystery and a series of crafting projects featuring cloth yo-yos.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
The third adventure starring crafter Anastasia Pollack finds her taking on a second job teaching crafts at a senior center on weekends. Her cranky mother-in-law resides there and complains nonstop about her roommate, Lyndella. Anastasia wants to do an article on Lyndella's beautiful crafts, but Lyndella is murdered in her bed before that happens, with Anastasia's mother-in-law as the chief suspect. When another senior crafter is also murdered, Anastasia tries to piece together clues from Lyndella's craft binders. In between, she arranges an art show for seniors, mothers her boys, dates boyfriend Zack, and deals with an annoying relative of her dead husband. Winston peppers the twisty and slightly edgy plot with humor and plenty of craft patterns. Fans of craft mysteries will like this, of course, but so will those who enjoy the smart and snarky humor of Janet Evanovich, Laura Levine, and Laura DeSilverio.--Alessio, Amy Copyright 2010 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Anastasia Pollack has her hands full with Lucille, her firebrand mother-in-law, currently in an assisted-living facility for rehab after brain surgery. When Lucille's roommate, a nonagenarian madam who's only semiretired, is strangled in her bed, Lucille moves to the front of the line of suspects. Anastasia, who's on site at the facility as a part-time crafts coordinator, endeavors to identify the victim's other enemies before Lucille ends up in the clink. Some of the residents have a more colorful past than they might readily admit, and, this being New Jersey, anything's possible. VERDICT Chuckles begin on page one and the steady humor sustains a comedic crafts cozy, the third (after Death by Killer Mop Doll). Fabric yo-yos are the featured craft, which will appeal to Depression-era fans and quilters. Recommend for Chris Grabenstein ("John Ceepak" series) and Jess Lourey readers. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
