Brenda H. (booksinvt) - , reviewed on 9/25/2016 + 457 more book reviews

Dangling by a Thread is the 4th in the Mainely Needlepoint series featuring Angela "Angie" Curtis. Angie has been in Haven Harbor, ME for the past six months running her Grandmother's needlepoint business and settling in to her empty family home now that her Grandmother has married Reverend Tom and moved to the rectory.

Jesse Lockhart is the man the locals call the Solitary. He is an army veteran suffering from PTSD who lives as a hermit on King's Island, just a few miles east of the Mainland. Jesse co-owns the island with his cousin Simon, and is devoted to the protection of the threatened Great Cormorants who use the island as their nesting refuge.

Patrick West is back in town after months of rehabilitation for the burns he suffered during the construction of Aurora, the large mansion he owns with his movie star mother, Skye. Patrick's Uncle Gerry Bentley and his pregnant wife float into town on their mega yacht and soon have their hearts set on buying King's Island and evicting both Jesse and his birds.

Dave Percy, one of the Mainely Needlepointers, is Jesse's closest friend. The man shows up on his doorstep agitated and upset that Simon and Gerry along with local realtor Jed Fitch are trying to have him found mentally unstable in order to force him from the island. The next day Dave and Angie set out for the island in order to visit, but feeling threatened by the visitors Jesse takes a shot with his bow and arrow, severely wounding Dave. Jesse is now wanted for questioning and is facing attempted murder charges, Angie volunteers to go out to the island to convince him to come to the Mainland and discovers the man bludgeoned to death.

There are plenty of suspects and Angie is determined to find Jesse's killer and protect the Cormorants habitat. Along with her investigating she has adopted one of the feral kittens from Dave's barn and named her Trixi, short for Beatrix. Unfortunately, it seems as though the author is about to introduce the dreaded love triangle and fingers are crossed that she doesn't.

A fun, fast paced storyline that features returning characters although there is not much interaction between the needlepointers in this installment, Angie's best friend Sarah Byrne is very distant as she seems distracted by a new relationship. While not absolutely necessary to read this series from the beginning, I would encourage it only to better understand the different characters and their backgrounds.

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