Author: Monica Ferris

Monica Ferris is the mystery-writing name used by Mary Monica Pulver Kuhfeld, an American novelist whose Needlecraft Mystery series centres on a Minnesota needlework shop. Cutwork is the seventh book in that sequence and again places shop owner Betsy Devonshire at the heart of a local puzzle. The book begins during a public arts event, where an attack on a young woodcarver draws Betsy into questions surrounding the artist’s work and relationships. Ferris uses the fictional town of Excelsior and the Crewel World shop to join an ongoing community cast with a new investigation in each volume. Penguin’s series record places Cutwork between the sixth and eighth installments, clarifying its position in Betsy’s development as an observant amateur investigator. The craft setting is functional as well as atmospheric: patterns, makers, customers, and shop conversations supply the social network through which clues and motives emerge.