The Lacemaker's Secret (A Chloe Ellefson Mystery, 9)

by Kathleen Ernst

Paperback, 2018

Status

Available

Call number

813.6

Collection

Publication

Midnight Ink (2018), 408 pages

Description

Chloe discovers a body on a farm outside Green Bay while she's visiting a historic site and conferring with a friend about Belgian lacemaking.

User reviews

LibraryThing member kimkimkim
A solid 3-1/2 stars rounded up.

I enjoyed the back story of the orphaned sisters, Octavia who remains in Belgium, and Seraphine who leaves to marry and resettle in Wisconsin. Both are devoted to the lace making industry. The history of Belgian lace making is fascinating and I only wish even more
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time had been devoted to it. I have travelled to Bruges and visited the lace museum. I have watched the women weave their bobbins at dizzying speed. It is a sight to behold. I purchased a remnant of antique lace for a small fortune and look at it every day and remember my visit to the convent and the city of Bruges.

The story of the Belgian Walloon immigrants’ struggles in Wisconsin was also well told, informative and heartbreaking. The telling of their stories as part of the current story is powerful and allows the reader to become well acquainted with their history. Unfortunately I didn’t feel the modern day story was nearly as strong. Yes there is a mystery and it gets deeper and darker but there were too many tangents that I found distracting. I credit Ms. Ernst with being a good storyteller by tying it all together but still found some of it superfluous.

A minor point but some of the expressions, e.g. “Hunh”, “Holy Toboggans” just struck a discordant note. Thank you NetGalley and Midnight Ink for a copy
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Language

Original language

English

Physical description

408 p.; 8 inches

ISBN

0738753548 / 9780738753546
Page: 0.1022 seconds