Cast On, Kill Off, by Maggie Sefton (review)

Category: Mystery (contemporary cozy)

Where I got the book: Public library

Cast On, Kill Off, the tenth in the Kelly Flynn series, is typical Maggie Sefton knitting mystery fare: a quick, light read, suited for summer reading and written for cozy mystery lovers.  

CPA and hobby knitter Kelly Flynn and her friends are in the the midst of preparations for Megan's wedding.  When the designer and seamstress of the bridal party's gowns is shot, Kelly is drawn into the investigation.

Fans of the series will be pleased to encounter the usual cast of secondary characters, including Kelly's former (and perhaps future) boyfriend, Steve.  But they may be somewhat disappointed in the mystery itself, which is even easier to solve than in previous books.  I spotted the true killer early on, and from a few other reviews I've read, I'm not the only one to have done so.  In fact, the last several Kelly Flynn mysteries have lacked some of the sparkle and fun of the early books in the series, though I felt Cast On, Kill Off was at least better than its immediate predecessors.

If you love Sefton's knitting mysteries, you will probably enjoy Cast On, Kill Off.  If you're new to the series, start at the beginning with Knit One, Kill Two.  (See below for a description of the series and a list of the titles in order.)

A little background on the series:  (adapted from a 2010 post on this blog)  Set in a thinly-veiled Fort Collins, Colorado, the Kelly Flynn mystery series features CPA and novice knitter Kelly Flynn and her growing circle of friends at the House of Lambspun yarn shop, which sits next door to the house Kelly has just inherited from her murdered aunt. (The shop, too, is based on a real store.)  The series belongs in the cozy genre without being overly light, and the characters are, for the most part, not mere cardboard cutouts, a serious flaw in some other "light" mystery series. The books are entertaining and sometimes funny, although the crimes themselves are serious.  Kelly herself is an engaging character: curious to a fault,  impetuous and a bit too quick to jump to conclusions (and into dangerous situations), but courageous and fiercely loyal. 

My main quibble with Sefton's books, and it's a small one, is that Kelly is a dangerous person to be around: book after book, her acquaintances keep turning up dead. Still, that's a fault of many amateur-detective series; if you're prepared suspend disbelief on that point, the books are quite fun, and the Colorado setting is a plus.  A secondary quibble, as I alluded to above, is that several recent titles have fallen a bit flat. Despite these flaws, I've enjoyed Sefton's series enough to follow it through ten books as of this post.  

Incidentally, you don't have to know how to knit to enjoy reading these books, but if you do knit, there is a free and simple knitting pattern at the end of each book.

The Kelly Flynn Mysteries in series order:   

Knit One, Kill Two

Needled To Death

A Deadly Yarn

A Killer Stitch

Dyer Consequences

Fleece Navidad

Drop Dead Stitch

Skein of the Crime

Unravelled

Cast On, Kill Off