Goldenbaum - A fatal fleece: a seaside knitters mystery

A Fatal Fleece

OTHER SEASIDE KNITTERS MYSTERIES

BY SALLY GOLDENBAUM

Death by Cashmere

Patterns in the Sand

Moon Spinners

A Holiday Yarn

The Wedding Shawl

A Fatal Fleece

A SEASIDE KNITTERS MYSTERY

Sally Goldenbaum

AN OBSIDIAN MYSTERY

OBSIDIAN

Published by New American Library,

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First published by Obsidian, an imprint of New American Library,

a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

First Printing, May 2012

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

Copyright Sally Goldenbaum, 2012

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the authors rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA:

Goldenbaum, Sally.

A fatal fleece: a seaside knitters mystery/Sally Goldenbaum.

p. cm.

An Obsidian mystery.

ISBN: 978-1-101-58537-5

1. Knitters (Persons)Fiction. 2. ReclusesFiction. 3. Right of propertyFiction. 4. MurderInvestigationFiction. 5. City and town lifeMassachusettsFiction. I. Title.

PS3557.O35937F38 2012

813.54dc22 2011049867

Set in Palatino Designed by Elke Sigal

Printed in the United States of America

PUBLISHERS NOTE

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

ALWAYS LEARNING

PEARSON

To Luke, Atti, Ruby, and Jules
the dazzling lights in my life

F irst, grateful thanks to Cheryl Erlandson, a talented designer and owner of In the Loop yarn shop in Norfolk, Massachusetts, who designed Gabbys purple sweater in A Fatal Fleece. Along with Gabby (and Birdie, Nell, Izzy, and Cass), I thank her for sharing her artistry with all of us. Visit the In the Loop shop Web site: keepyourneedles happy.com/shop/. A special thanks to Mary Bednarowski, Nancy Pickard, and Sr. Rosemary Flanigan, who spent lots of time with me and with Finnegan, the old fisherman in A Fatal Fleece, exploring his life and his relationships and helping me figure out what he was all about. As always, thanks to my supportive, wise, and intuitive anchorsAndrea Cirillo and Christina Hogrebeand to the wonderful Sandy Harding, whose magical spin brings the best out of my words. Thanks to my friends and to my familyTodd and Laila, Aria and John, Danny and Claudand always, always, to Don. They truly make this whole business a family affair.

THE SEASIDE KNITTERS

Nell Endicott: Former Boston nonprofit director, semiretired and living in Sea Harbor with her husband

Izzy (Isabel Chambers Perry): Boston attorney, now owner of the Seaside Knitting Studio; Nell and Ben Endicotts niece; recently married to Sam Perry

Cass (Catherine Mary Elizabeth Halloran): A lobster fisherwoman, born and raised in Sea Harbor

Birdie (Bernadette Favazza): Sea Harbors wealthy, wise, and generous silver-haired grande dame

THE MEN IN THEIR LIVES

Ben Endicott: Nells husband

Sam Perry: Award-winning photojournalist married to Izzy

Danny Brandley: Mystery novelist and son of bookstore owners

Sonny Favazza and Joseph Marietti: Two of Birdies deceased husbands

SUPPORTING CAST

Alphonso Santos: Wealthy construction company owner; once married to Sophia Santos, then Liz Palazola; Gracie Santos uncle

Andy Risso: Drummer in Pete Hallorans band; son of Jake Risso

Annabelle Palazola: Owner of the Sweet Petunia restaurant; Liz and Sheila Palazolas mother

Angus McPherran: Enigmatic old man called the Old Man of the Sea by the locals

Archie and Harriet Brandley: Owners of the Sea Harbor Bookstore

August (Gus) McClucken: Owner of McCluckens Hardware on Harbor Road

Beatrice and Sal Scaglia: Councilwoman and her husband, manager of the towns deeds annex

Beverly Walden: Artist; Moira Finnegans daughter

D. J. Delaney: Owner of Delaney & Sons Construction; wife, Maeve; son, Davey

Ella and Harold Sampson: Birdies longtime housekeeper and groundsman

Esther Gibson: Police dispatcher (and Mrs. Santa Claus during holiday season)

Father Lawrence Northcutt: Pastor of Our Lady of Safe Seas Church

Finnegan: An old fisherman and longtime resident

Gabrielle Marietti: Birdies ten-year-old granddaughter

Harry and Margaret Garozzo: Owners of Garozzos Deli

Jane and Ham Brewster: Former Berkeley hippies, artists, and cofounders of the Canary Cove Art Colony

Jake Risso: Owner of the Gull Tavern

Jerry Thompson: Police chief

Laura Danvers: Young socialite and philanthropist, mother of three, married to banker Elliot Danvers

Mae Anderson: Izzys shop manager; twin teenage nieces, Jillian and Rose

Mary Pisano: Middle-aged newspaper columnist; owner of the Ravenswood B and B

Mary Halloran: Pete and Cass mother; secretary of Our Lady of Safe Seas Church

Merry Jackson: Owner of the Artists Palate Bar & Grill

M. J. Arcado: Owner of M.J.s Salon

Nick Marietti: Birdies brother-in-law

Pete Halloran: Cass younger brother and lead guitarist in the Fractured Fish band

Rebecca (Marks) Early: Lampwork artist in Canary Cove

Tommy Porter: Young policeman

Willow Adams: Fiber artist and owner of the Fishtail Gallery

I n Birdie Favazzas mind, city council meetings were about as bland as white bread. But tonights meeting, from which she was mysteriously absent, would surely make her eat her words.