A Fatal Fleece
Authors: Sally Goldenbaum
Tags: #Fiction, #Mystery & Detective, #Cozy, #Women Sleuths, #Amateur Sleuth, #General
A Fatal Fleece
OTHER SEASIDE KNITTERS MYSTERIES
BY SALLY GOLDENBAUM
Death by Cashmere
Patterns in the Sand
Moon Spinners
A Holiday Yarn
The Wedding Shawl
A Fatal Fleece
A SEASIDE KNITTERS MYSTERY
Sally Goldenbaum
AN OBSIDIAN MYSTERY
OBSIDIAN
Published by New American Library,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto,
Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
Penguin Books Ltd., 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Ireland, 25 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2,
Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd.)
Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell,
Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty. Ltd.)
Penguin Books India Pvt. Ltd., 11 Community Centre,
Panchsheel Park, New Delhi - 110 017, India
Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, Auckland 0632,
New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd.)
Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., 24 Sturdee Avenue,
Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa
Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices:
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
First published by Obsidian, an imprint of New American Library,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
First Printing, May 2012
1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2
Copyright © Sally Goldenbaum, 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
OBSIDIAN and logo are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA:
Goldenbaum, Sally.
A fatal fleece: a seaside knitters mystery/Sally Goldenbaum.
p. cm.
“An Obsidian mystery.”
ISBN: 978-1-101-58537-5
1. Knitters (Persons)—Fiction. 2. Recluses—Fiction. 3. Right of property—Fiction. 4. Murder—Investigation—Fiction. 5. City and town life—Massachusetts—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3557.O35937F38 2012
813’.54—dc22 2011049867
Set in Palatino • Designed by Elke Sigal
Printed in the United States of America
PUBLISHER’S NOTE
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.
ALWAYS LEARNING
PEARSON
To Luke, Atti, Ruby, and Jules—
the dazzling lights in my life
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
F
irst, grateful thanks to Cheryl Erlandson, a talented designer and owner of In the Loop yarn shop in Norfolk, Massachusetts, who designed Gabby’s purple sweater in
A Fatal Fleece
. Along with Gabby (and Birdie, Nell, Izzy, and Cass), I thank her for sharing her artistry with all of us. Visit the In the Loop shop Web site: keepyourneedles
happy.com/shop/
. A special thanks to Mary Bednarowski, Nancy Pickard, and Sr. Rosemary Flanigan, who spent lots of time with me and with Finnegan, the old fisherman in
A Fatal Fleece
, exploring his life and his relationships and helping me figure out what he was all about. As always, thanks to my supportive, wise, and intuitive anchors—Andrea Cirillo and Christina Hogrebe—and to the wonderful Sandy Harding, whose magical spin brings the best out of my words. Thanks to my friends and to my family—Todd and Laila, Aria and John, Danny and Claud—and always, always, to Don. They truly make this whole business a family affair.
Cast of Characters
THE SEASIDE KNITTERS
Nell Endicott:
Former Boston nonprofit director, semiretired and living in Sea Harbor with her husband
Izzy (Isabel Chambers Perry):
Boston attorney, now owner of the Seaside Knitting Studio; Nell and Ben Endicott’s niece; recently married to Sam Perry
Cass (Catherine Mary Elizabeth Halloran):
A lobster fisherwoman, born and raised in Sea Harbor
Birdie (Bernadette Favazza):
Sea Harbor’s wealthy, wise, and generous silver-haired grande dame
THE MEN IN THEIR LIVES
Ben Endicott:
Nell’s husband
Sam Perry:
Award-winning photojournalist married to Izzy
Danny Brandley:
Mystery novelist and son of bookstore owners
Sonny Favazza and Joseph Marietti:
Two of Birdie’s deceased husbands
SUPPORTING CAST
Alphonso Santos:
Wealthy construction company owner; once married to Sophia Santos, then Liz Palazola; Gracie Santos’ uncle
Andy Risso:
Drummer in Pete Halloran’s band; son of Jake Risso
Annabelle Palazola:
Owner of the Sweet Petunia restaurant; Liz and Sheila Palazola’s mother
Angus McPherran:
Enigmatic old man called the Old Man of the Sea by the locals
Archie and Harriet Brandley:
Owners of the Sea Harbor Bookstore
August (Gus) McClucken:
Owner of McClucken’s Hardware on Harbor Road
Beatrice and Sal Scaglia:
Councilwoman and her husband, manager of the town’s deeds annex
Beverly Walden:
Artist; Moira Finnegan’s daughter
D. J. Delaney:
Owner of Delaney & Sons Construction; wife, Maeve; son, Davey
Ella and Harold Sampson:
Birdie’s longtime housekeeper and groundsman
Esther Gibson:
Police dispatcher (and Mrs. Santa Claus during holiday season)
Father Lawrence Northcutt:
Pastor of Our Lady of Safe Seas Church
Finnegan:
An old fisherman and longtime resident
Gabrielle Marietti:
Birdie’s ten-year-old granddaughter
Harry and Margaret Garozzo:
Owners of Garozzo’s Deli
Jane and Ham Brewster:
Former Berkeley hippies, artists, and cofounders of the Canary Cove Art Colony
Jake Risso:
Owner of the Gull Tavern
Jerry Thompson:
Police chief
Laura Danvers:
Young socialite and philanthropist, mother of three, married to banker Elliot Danvers
Mae Anderson:
Izzy’s shop manager; twin teenage nieces, Jillian and Rose
Mary Pisano:
Middle-aged newspaper columnist; owner of the Ravenswood B and B
Mary Halloran:
Pete and Cass’ mother; secretary of Our Lady of Safe Seas Church
Merry Jackson:
Owner of the Artist’s Palate Bar & Grill
M. J. Arcado:
Owner of M.J.’s Salon
Nick Marietti:
Birdie’s brother-in-law
Pete Halloran:
Cass’ younger brother and lead guitarist in the Fractured Fish band
Rebecca (Marks) Early:
Lampwork artist in Canary Cove
Tommy Porter:
Young policeman
Willow Adams:
Fiber artist and owner of the Fishtail Gallery
Chapter 1
I
n Birdie Favazza’s mind, city council meetings were about as bland as white bread. But tonight’s meeting, from which she was mysteriously absent, would surely make her eat her words.
“He’s gone loony tunes, that’s what. The old codger has a screw loose.” D. J. Delaney’s booming voice echoed off the walls of the city hall meeting room.
Finnegan’s land was the last item on the night’s short docket, and most people had stayed to hear what the council would decide to do about it. Or perhaps that’s why they’d come in the first place.