Died In the Wool: A Knitting Mystery    by Mary Kuger Order:  USA  Can Pocket, 2005 (2005) Paperback, e-Book     Reviewed by Pat Elliott The first in Mary Kruger's new cozy knitting-themed mystery series starts with murder. Ariadne Evans, owner of a yarn and knitting store called Ariadne's Web, finds sometime customer Edith Perry dead on the floor of her shop, purple homespun wool yarn forming a crude garrote around her neck. Ari is not fond of Edith for several reasons, the biggest and most damaging being that Edith was about to buy the building Ari rents and raise the rent. Ari finds herself detective Josh Pierce's number one suspect. Edith is known all over town as a snoop and a cheat. Several characters emerge who did not like her - Summer and Kaitlyn, both employees of the shop; Aunt Laura, Ari's not so silent partner; and Ari's best friend Diane. As clues are untangled, Ari convinces Josh she did not kill Edith and they join forces to track down the murderer. Ari discovers that Diane, would have lost her farm if Edith had succeeded in purchasing land near by. Since Diane's husband was seen in the area early on the morning of the murder, Josh promptly arrests him. Ari is convinced that none of her friends could have murdered Edith but every clue seems to draw the yarn tighter around Diane's husband. In addition to the murder, Ari has to deal with her daughter Megan's fears, ex-husband's Ted's paranoia, and Aunt Laura's constantly redecorating the shop. To top it off, someone is stealing her original knitting designs. Just when it seems the tangle is more than Ari can knit together, she and Josh solve the murder and the design theft. Enjoy three knitting projects from Ariadne's Web in the back of the book, and look out for the next episode in this cozy knitting series, Knit One, Die Two. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Mystery books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews