Threads of Evidence by Lea Wait

"Aurora" has been sitting vacant for twenty-five years.  When a famous actress wants to restore it to its natural beauty, she hires the local antique shop owner and the needlepoint business to help her clean and save what can be restored.  Angie thought it was all about needlepoint until someone tried to kill the actress...

Kensington Books and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published August 25th, so you can grab a copy in a few days.

Angie is actually a bit over head in this book.  She wants to do a good job taking over the needlepoint business, her grandmother is getting married, and the actress and her son want Angie's help in solving a 45 year old murder from the past.  She did dabble in the private investigator's field for a while, but she's no homicide detective.  The actress is sure that the young girl that was her friend was murdered. It's a little late to prove it.  Unfortunately, asking questions proves the killer is still alive.

Angie and the actress are both asking questions and snooping back through history but when the carriage house where the actress was staying is set on fire with her in it, the police finally get interested.  It gets even more interesting when they find pieces of hair woven in with the thread on the needlepoint pictures.  When it's analyzed, it turns out that the hair is moose and it has arsenic on it.  Since that was used to try to kill the actress and the rumor was that was what killed the young girl so many years ago, this could be a significant clue.

This is a mystery tied to the past and the present both.  The victim was a young girl who had money and an ego to match it.  She had a lover at home and in the city.  She was also pregnant at the time of her death.  Was the father of her child the killer?

I enjoyed this mystery.  I also have an opinion over which man I think Angie should get involved with.  But I'll have to read more in this series to see if it happens...