Tatting Tangle, The: A Cozy Mystery of Looped Larceny and a Knotted Nuisance

?? Tatting artisan and vintage lace expert Tess Tuttle is preparing for the Heritage Crafts Fair when the fair's wealthy patron—a collector known for her sharp deals—is found dead in Tess's studio, strangled with an intricate piece of tatted lace. The police suspect a robbery gone wrong, but Tess recognizes the lace pattern as one from a stolen antique collar and notices the victim's collection contains forged Victorian pieces. With her studio sealed as a crime scene and the tatting community in turmoil, Tess must shuttle through the clues to clear her name. Assisted by her tatting circle and the handsome textile archivist documenting historic lace patterns, Tess uncovers a scheme involving lace forgery, stolen shuttle designs, and a black market for antique tatting patterns. From suspicious thread consistency that reveals modern materials to knot patterns that don't match historical techniques, every picot and ring tells a story. But when Tess discovers the victim was systematically acquiring—through fair means or foul—every piece of a rare 19th-century tatting collection, she realizes the killer is protecting a textile treasure more delicate than any lace. With the crafts fair approaching and the real culprit still weaving deception, Tess must untangle this knotted web before her own thread gets permanently cut.