Marcy Singer owns a successful embroidery shop, Seven-Year Stitch, in Tallulah Falls. Marcy and her boyfriend Ted are in the beginning stages of their relationship, but Marcy feels that things are getting off to a great start. Things are also going well for Marcy's mother, Beverly, a Hollywood costume designer, who recently got a deal to work on a Bollywood- type biopic starring the newest diva, Babushka "Babs" Tru. Marcy is thrilled that part of the shoot will be local, which means that she'll be able to spend some time with her mother. Even more exciting, though, is that she and some of the local embroiderers have been asked to do some intricate work that will be used on the costumes!

Unfortunately, just as the shoot gets underway, Babs is murdered, and as luck would have it, Beverly is the last person people saw with her. While it was no secret that Beverly and Babs weren't getting along on set, Babs had plenty of other enemies, as well; she was, after all, a diva. Marcy immediately does what she can to figure out who really killed Babs, but the suspect list is as long the rolling list of credits after an epic drama!

Marcy's attentions are somewhat divided as Ted is also trying to chase down some people who nearly shot him. Marcy can't shake the feeling that she's partially guilty for the near-shooting, as she feels she had distracted him just as the shooter took his shot then got away. However, as the case unravels, it turns out that the culprit is part of a larger team and could be extremely dangerous. Can Marcy cope with being in a relationship with a man who has such a dangerous job?

While the overall plot was a good once, I guessed who the culprit was the second time the person made an appearance. Every subsequent appearance by the culprit further confirmed my suspicions, and no other potential suspect ever swayed me. I was disappointed when I found out that my guess was correct, although I was kept guessing by the motive. Because I figured out the mystery so quickly, I got frustrated that it took Marcy so long to piece things together, although perhaps it was because she was dealing with her own stress as well as watching her mother increasingly sink further into depression.

As always, Marcy's character is full of humour and intelligence, and she shines in this cosy. I really enjoyed seeing her relationship with Ted evolve from when she wasn't even sure if he was the man for her. While Beverly has made cameo appearances in past books, it was nice to see her have a larger appearance in this book so I could watch how Marcy and Beverly relate to each other. It was also nice to get a behind-the-scenes glimpse of Hollywood, as well as learning about more intricate embroidery work and the varying embroidery talents of Marcy's friends.

Book Summary

Embroidery shop owner Marcy Singer is about to find out that show biz and sew biz don't mix!

Marcy's mom Beverly is the costume designer for a lavish, Bollywood-style production...and she suggests Tallulah Falls as a great place to shoot part of the film. Everyone at the embroidery shop, and around town, is in a flutter that a glamorous movie production is taking place in their midst. But when the star of the film is found murdered, the police suspect Marcy’s mom, who made it no secret she did not care for the diva’s attitude regarding her wardrobe.

Marcy might as well issue an open call for suspects, because the star had a long list of enemies. To save her mom’s career and keep her from accessorizing with handcuffs, Marcy and her friends will need to stitch together the clues to catch one crafty killer who may have designs on Marcy next…