Review: The Silence of the Llamas

The Silence of the Llamas (Black Sheep Knitting Mystery - Book 5) by Anne Canadeo

Publication Date: 01/22/2013
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Imprint: Gallery Books
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Pages: 304
ISBN-10: 1451644795
ISBN-13: 978-1451644791

(Received for an honest review from Gallery Books)

Purchase: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Indiebound, itunes

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Books in the series: 

1. While My Pretty One Knits
2. Knit, Purl, Die
3. A Stitch Before Dying
4. Til Death Do Us Purl
5. The Silence of the Llamas
6. A Dark and Stormy Knit

Coverart: Click the Image for a larger, clearer view of the covers in this series.

Excerpt from, The Silence of the Llamas, courtesy of Amazon's Look Inside feature.

Synopsis:

Llama Drama! 

Ellie and Ben Krueger arrived in Plum Harbor eager to live out their dream—tending a herd of gentle, friendly llamas for fun and profit, on a farm just beyond the village. Their grand opening fiber festival kicks off on a bright note but abruptly ends in malicious mayhem. Knitting shop owner Maggie Messina and her friends soon learn that this is not the first time a vicious visitor has called. 

The Kruegers suspect that Justin Ridley, their eccentric neighbor, is the troublemaker. A misfit and loner, he’s known to roam the woods all night, though no one knows for sure what he’s hunting. Then there’s Angelica Rossi—the lovely owner of a rival fiber farm—who’s been as busy as a spider, spinning spiteful lies about the Kruegers’ yarns. Or, are the naïve newcomers merely caught in the tangle of Plum Harbor politics, and an intense land protection debate? 

Suddenly, vandalism turns to murder—and the Kruegers’ dream descends into a nightmare. The Black Sheep knitters must pull the threads together and uncover this crafty menace . . . before more lives—and more llamas— are lost.

Thoughts:

Anne Canadeo brings readers the fifth book in her Black Sheep Knitting Mystery series, The Silence of the Llamas. Canadeo has created a series that will intrigue the mystery enthusiast and soothe the soul of the knitters and crafters. With an eclectic cast of characters and plenty of twists and turns this light cozy mystery has something for many different types of readers. Readers looking for something a little unusual will love all of the llama drama this book has to offer.

What I liked:

I am a big fan of llamas in fact a friend of mine raises them for their wool and I was especially intrigued with this book, because of that connection. Canadeo obviously knows her subject matter and I'm not talking solely about llamas, I mean, knitting and spinning and crafting all of the things that go along with it. I felt like her knowledge was authentic and realistic. She didn't push it on the reader, but it was an essential part of the story. Often times I find that mystery doesn't always relate to the theme of the series, but that was certainly not the case with this one. It was an integral part.

I liked the Black Sheep knitters a lot. This being my first read in the series, I had a little trouble following who was who, but the cast profiles at the beginning of the book were helpful with that. After I finally got the hang of which one was Maggie, and which one was Dana and so forth it was not hard to follow. I didn't feel like I was missing a lot by not having read the other books in the series and found it pretty easy to pick up on things and establish relationships and so on. That's often hard to do because so much history and nuances have passed in the previous books, but this made a good standalone. I am however going to go back and read the others, because the women were so interesting and I felt like they had such a wonderful connection. Each personality was different but they all clicked so well as a group whether knitting or sleuthing.

The Laughing Llama farm was having a bit of trouble with their llamas. It was obvious that someone didn't want Ellie and Ben moving in on their territory. There was an element of animal cruelty that was a little hard to read, but definitely made the point of how serious the situation had become, with both animal and people. When Ben is accused of murder, Maggie and the knitters are out to prove his innocence. The mystery itself was well written and clue based. I liked the way the author sort of leaves a trail of breadcrumbs for the reader to follow. I was not at all sure I had the killer pegged until the final few chapters. 

Bottom Line:

The Silence of the Llamas, certainly had it's drama. At the heart of this series there is a group of ladies who know their knitting and their sleuthing. I loved meeting them and deciphering all of their quirks and idiosyncrasies. The mystery was interesting and had enough red herrings to keep me off track. It's a good read as a standalone, but it will just make you want more of the Black Sheep Knitters!

The Silence of the Llamas is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.

I'm giving this one 5 out of 5 apples from my book bag!

About the Author:

Anne Canadeo lives and knits in Northport, New York, with her husband, daughter, and canine office assistant. She is the author of the Black Sheep Knitting mystery series, and writing as Katherine Spencer, she has also authored the popular Cape Light and Angel Island series.