I really enjoyed the characters in this story. The author really created a strong sense of friendship and it was nice to get to know the places in Abbotsville. The story itself was also intriguing and I enjoyed the mystery. I felt a little hit over the head with the characterization sometimes. For example, Carrie would ignore her health in favor of helping Jo or her children, so we see that she is a rather selfless person. However, the author would also actually say that in the next line or so.
There were a few other little things I didn’t like so much, though. It seemed unrealistic to me that Jo wouldn’t own a computer and wouldn’t think to google her suspects until halfway through the story. She is rather successful, and she owns her own business. She moved from NY to Abbotsville. In this day and age, I don’t think it’s likely that she wouldn’t own one.
I also stumbled over some of the dialogue. It seemed a bit wordy and unrealistic at times. To me, this made Jo a little too perfect, as well.
I read this book when it first came out and really liked it. I’m a crafts-type person, and I liked the connection to crafty things in the book along with the mystery and characters. I’m not too picky about small points in a book as long as the overall story is good. This book worked very well for me.