Buttons and Bones

 

I finished reading Buttons and Bones on February 7, 2013.  Bones are found in a kitchen so I am using this for What's in a Name 6.  It also fits the Alphabet Feb. Mini-Challenge as there is Romance and love in it.

 

Betsy Devonshire owns the Crewel World needlework shop and also owns a company called New York Motto.  New York Motto buys homes and businesses whose owners have "gone bankrupt." She  helped her friends Jill and Lars Larson purchase some property on the shore of Thunder Lake.  When Betsy goes with the Larson family to visit the cabin they bought.

 

They worked togethre to lift the moldy carpet and the two layers of linoleum that were underneath. They discovered an old-growh pine floor.  In the middle of the floor they discover a trapdoor.  Jill goes down the steps and discovers a skeleton.  Lars goes to the Lone Wolf General Store in order to call the police.  The police come and everyone believes the body is that of a German P.O.W. who escaped from a near-by prison camp during WWII and was never captured.

 

 

Jill who is an ex-cop asks Betsy to help her find out more about the former owners of the cabin especially when the daughter of the original owner wants to find out what happened to her father who everyone thought was a deserter from the service.. 

 

Part of the book deals with Betsy's romance with Connor.  Connor's daughter at first does not approve of Betsy.  Though Peg winds up helping solve the mystery of the bones.  We also learn about the romance of Helga Farmer (the 2nd wife of the original owner) and Peter Ball.  

 

Godwin, Betsy's assistant in the shop, has been having problems with his partner.  His partner loves golf and Godwin has developed a slice.  So Betsy tells him he should go to a driving range and hit some balls.  Though Godwin said it did not help. 

 

I was introduced to Monica Ferris' work by a librarian friend who sold books at the Science Fiction Conventions I attend.  I am so glad that I bought the first book and have fallen in love with the series.  Though Betsy's cat is not a major character, I enjoyed reading about how Betsy has to adjust the cat's food at home because her customer's continue to feed it even though there is a sign sayin the cat is on a diet.  When they visit the lake, you can almost hear the loons when they do.  I certainly would recommend this book to any one who loves mysteries.