One Sharp Stitch

by Allie Pleiter

Overview

When thirty-something Shelby Phillips returns to her quiet hometown just outside of Asheville, North Carolina, she reluctantly takes over her mother’s Nimble Needle needlepoint shop—and gets entangled in a murder investigation…

It’s only temporary. That’s what Shelby tells herself when she returns to excruciatingly harmless Gwen Lake after her promising graphic arts career implodes. Her plan is as simple and fool-proof as a tent stitch: manage the family needlepoint shop during her parents’ month-long RV vacation. It’s not as if they’re retiring . . . right?

When Shelby becomes responsible for hosting a trunk show with local vendors, she’s determined to pull it off. Even if that means dealing with former classmate Kat Katsaros, a rising entrepreneur specializing in needlework scissors. Kat has changed since high school—and she’s angling to take over the Nimble Needle herself. The tension unspools when Shelby makes a terrible discovery on the morning of the event: Kat’s dead body.

Shelby can’t believe the death was an accident, and she’s set on exposing the killer. She finds help in a new friend, a potential crush, and the surprising support of her sister and the Nimble Needle stitchers. Still, Shelby must move quickly to stop the crafty culprit before her maybe not-so-temporary new life in Gwen Lake comes apart at the seams . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781496752017
Publisher:	Kensington
Publication date:	02/24/2026
Series:	A Nimble Needle Mystery , #1
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Allie Pleiter is an internationally bestselling author, an accomplished productivity coach, and an avid knitter and needlepointer. In addition to 6 nonfiction books, she has written dozens of popular fiction, mystery, and romance novels with more than 1.6 million copies sold. The creator of The Chunky Method, a time management system, she teaches creative people how to be more productive and productive people how to be more creative through her coaching practice and nationwide speaking engagements. She also is a regular speaker within the crafting and knitting community, appearing at yarn and craft shops as well as national events including Stitches Midwest, Vogue Knitting Live, and the Wanderstitch Cruise onboard Norwegian Cruise Lines. An alumna of Northwestern University, she is a member of Sisters in Crime, the American Needlepoint Guild and the National Speakers Association. She lives with her husband and adorable dog near Charlotte, NC, and can be found online at AlliePleiter.com.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for ONE SHARP STITCH

“Plenty of quirky characters lead up to a surprising denouement in this promising series kickoff.” —Kirkus

“The charming town, Shelby’s renewed love of needlework, and her growing group of friends will have readers eagerly awaiting the next installment.” —firstCLUE Review

From the Publisher

2025-01-18
Babysitting her mother’s needlework shop plunges a young woman into a morass of murder.

Now that Shelby Phillips has lost her job as office manager for a graphic design firm, she agrees to manage Nina’s Nimble Needle while her parents leave North Carolina for their dream RV trip. Shelby is sure that Jessica, her perfect older sister, could do it better, but her mom insists she’s the one for the job. Her mom’s friends, known as the NYAGs (for “Not Your Average Grannies”), are eager to help, especially with a trunk show featuring the work of Gina “Kat” Katsaros, a geeky type Shelby knew in high school, who now makes beautiful needlework designs and craft scissors that are “closer to silverware or jewelry than to standard scissors, fashioned as birds or flowers or delicate, ornate shapes.” The new Kat is totally different than she was in school, driving a wildly decorated van, sporting a purple streak in her hair, and giving off a vibe that unsettles Shelby, who’s been told by her mother that Kat would like to take over the Nimble Needle someday. On the morning of the trunk show, Kat is late, and when Shelby goes looking for her, she finds her dead in the van she uses for sharpening knives, an expensive one in her chest. The police seem to think she had an accident while she was sharpening it, but Shelby has her doubts, especially since the prickly Kat had quite a few enemies, even among her own family members. Kat’s brother has always wanted her van and is happy to have Shelby sell his sister’s valuable designs and scissors so he can score some cash. With help from old and new friends and even her sister, whose perfect life is spiraling out of control, Shelby searches for answers to her many questions about Kat’s death.

Plenty of quirky characters lead up to a surprising denouement in this promising series kickoff.

Kirkus Reviews