This is the first book in the Bait & Stitch series by Ann Yost, which centers around the Finnish-American community life in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan aka the Yooper, specifically a peninsula known as Keweenaw, which is actually a real place. I always turn my inner search nerd on when I come across a place that’s a real vacation destination in a book. I found more info on Keweenaw Peninsula on the official Michigan vacation site. When we visited Mackinac Island last September, we thought it would be fun to go even farther north. Maybe Keweenaw needs to be soon on our vacation list.
My Goodreads review:
A Pattern for Murder by Ann Yost
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a nice start for the series. I’ve had this book and been meaning to read it since it came out. Even though some of the names aren’t easy to pronounce, I thought it was cool that the people on the peninsula were of Finnish descent and continued some of their ancestors’ traditions. That was what made Hatti, the main character, decide that she wanted to open a knitting store inside her stepdad’s bait shop. Since he and her mom were away on a second honeymoon, I’m guessing that the shop will open in the next book.
As a couple of the characters mentioned, this book did seem like “And Then There Were None.” Was someone killing off the older people who lived in the Lighthouse Retirement Home? The first body was the man whose mother had left the lighthouse and a trust fund to the county for taking care of the older lower-income residents. How many more would die before Hatti and her friends could figure this mystery out? I actually did guess the killer fairly early on and kept wondering when the people–especially Hatti– would realize–then I had to remember that I’m a reader of these mysteries and the main character was new at all of this mystery-solving. Of course she might end up trusting the wrong people. 😉 I really liked all the main characters and definitely found myself caring about what happens to them next, so I do plan to read on in the series.
Cuddle Up With a Cozy Mystery 