Thai Die

Betsy Devonshire runs Crewel World, a needlework shop, and moonlights as an amateur detective. In this installment of the Needlecraft Mysteries, she is drawn into trouble when one of her regular customers gets caught up in a deadly delivery.

Doris Valentine has returned from Thailand and invites Betsy and their stitching circle over to admire her travel finds. Among them is a small stone Buddha that Doris has promised to take to a local antiques store. The dealer who receives it is startled that she discarded the grubby cloth it came wrapped in, but he is glad to see the statue's fragile hands are intact.

That same night, burglars enter Doris's apartment and make off with several of her souvenirs. Soon afterward, the antiques dealer is found dead, and the Buddha has vanished. Betsy keeps thinking about the filthy wrapper she pulled from the trash, a silk piece embroidered with unusual, exotic needlework. Is the statue itself dangerous, or does that silk covering hide something more than carved stone?