The Silence Of The Llamas (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
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! A married couple that are friends of Dana, a member of the Black Sheep Knitting circle, move into Plum Harbor to raise Llamas and sell fiber arts and supplies. Ben and Ellie Krueger soon find that life isn't so sweet on the farm as they had dreamt.During a 'Welcoming' Fiber Arts festival held by the Kruegers, the llamas come under attack and are physically injured. Shortly thereafter one dies by crime, and when a next farm owner, who is also a vocal political activist, dies, well the entire group of the knitting circle must become involved to help take the target off the new friends.There is more than one farm's sabotage happening though and soon the fear escalates among the Black Sheep ladies, Maggie, Lucy, Dana, Suzanne, and Phoebe. Could there be developers involved and are the Kruegers so innocent as Dana believed?This was a true cozy murder mystery. It is the fifth novel in the series and will please persons liking this fabric genre.
What do You think about The Silence Of The Llamas (2013)?
Likeable characters - plot was thin and editing was bad - lots of sentence fragments.
—charr
OK story. I had it figured out early on, but it was a an ok story.
—FierceEgo
