Maggie Messina owns the Black Sheep Knitting Shop, and like most knitting shops, Black Sheep has a dedicated group of knitters that make up a regular knitting group. When local bride-to-be and knitter Rebecca Bailey has to push up her wedding plans, Maggie volunteers the knitting group to help out. This seems pretty reasonable until they discover that Rebecca is not only knitting her own wedding gown, but shrugs for the bridal party and an outfit for the flower girl, as well. But they all industriously set to work, eager to help. The hard work pays off when Rebecca and her bridal party all march down the aisle in matching knitted outfits.

But Rebecca and her new husband, Jeremy, don't live happily ever after. Shortly after the wedding, he is killed in an explosion at his office (he had to wrap some things up before the honeymoon). As the Black Sheep knitters comfort Rebecca and their family, they can't help but wonder if there's more to this story than meets the eye, especially after Maggie ends up sitting near Jeremy's family and overhears some particularly juicy gossip about the woman Jeremy dated prior to Rebecca.

Despite her best efforts and being warned not to, Maggie slowly but surely pokes her nose into the investigation. Maggie is intrigued by the man who used to be Jeremy's father's partner in the chemical business that exploded -- the same man who is caught burglarizing Rebecca's apartment. Are Jeremy's death and this burglary related? And what does it mean when Maggie's car is vandalized? Who is trying to warn her off?

In the meantime, the rest of the knitters in the group are dealing with the tragedy in their own ways, each while coping with their own lives. Lucy has just agreed to let her boyfriend Matt move in, and she's trying to remember how to co-habitate with someone. The other women in the group - most of them either married or divorced - are all too happy to offer advice.

This was a fabulous mystery, and it kept me guessing. I thought the red herring character was a bit heavy-handed, but that may have been on purpose. I actually found myself wanting to know more about the women in the knitting group than I did about Maggie, who seemed to be main character. My main criticism, though, is that this book is set primarily in a local yarn store, but Ms. Canadeo misused common knitting terms. For instance, as an experienced knitter, it took a moment to figure out that she was referring to "circular needles" (or "circs") when she wrote about "round needles" (because there actually is such a things as "square needles").

Book Summary

Planning a wedding can really be murder!

Maggie Messina, owner of the Black Sheep Knitting Shop, has volunteered her knitting circle to help a local bride who is barely holding her wedding plans together by a thread. With the big day rapidly approaching, perhaps Rebecca Bailey was a bit ambitious when she decided to knit her own gown. Most girls dream of wearing pearls . . . but purls? Fortunately, the five close-knit pals can easily stitch their way through this challenge. The shocking events after the ceremony are not so easily untangled.

Wedding bouquets are quickly exchanged for funeral wreaths when a mysterious explosion rocks the chemical company owned by the groom’s wealthy family. As the Black Sheep knitters offer comfort, they are drawn into a complicated pattern of deception, secrets, and betrayal. Is the blushing bride spinning a yarn? Or are her privileged new in-laws a very crafty clan? It’s clear someone in Plum Harbor has donned sheep’s clothing, and the knitters must unravel the clues before this wolf strikes again . . . and picks off one of their own./b