Kath Rutledge is travelling home to the small town of Blue Plum, Tennessee, for the worst of reasons - the memorial service of her grandmother, Ivy McClellan, and to settle Ivy's affairs. Ivy was well known in Blue Plum for her craft store, Weaver's Cat, which had a loyal group of fiber and needlework artists known as TGIF - Thank Goodness It's Fiber. The TGIF group meets at the Cat, which Kath finds out she has inherited. This turns out to be the first of several surprises in store for Kath.

Before Ivy's death, there was a murder in Blue Plum, and it seems that many think Ivy is the logical suspect. Kath doesn't understand how people can think her elderly grandmother can possibly be guilty of killing someone, and she wants to prove her innocent. As she's reading a letter her grandmother left her, Kath discovers that Ivy has bequeathed her a gift besides the Cat - that of being "kind of a witch." Kath's powers kick in that night when she starts seeing, hearing, and talking to a ghost -- a woman who ends up being the wife of the man who was murdered.

Soon, Kath, the TGIF members, and the ghost are all working together to solve the mystery. But Kath has some other problems to take care of in the meantime. Apparently, Ivy sold her house before her death and now Kath can't get into it to recover Ivy's possessions. And two of Ivy's workers have offered to buy the store before Kath can figure out what she even wants to do or where her future lies.

LAST WOOL AND TESTAMENT a Haunted Yarn Shop mystery is fun to read, and Kath is a great character. The town is populated with fun characters, although some of them fall into the "love to hate" category. While I found most of the TGIF members to be fun and relatable, Ivy was so central to the book, I wish she hadn't been dead before the story even started. I was disappointed that I had most of the mystery solved before Kath did. Another disappointment was that the series is called Haunted Yarn Shop but the ghost really has nothing to do with the Weaver's Cat. LAST WOOL AND TESTAMENT itself, though, is a promising start to a new series.

Book Summary

Kath Rutledge is about to learn the true meaning of TGIF— Thank Goodness It’s Fiber.… That’s the name of the spunky group of fiber and needlework artists founded by Ivy McClellan, Kath’s beloved grandmother. Though Ivy has recently passed on, the members still meet regularly at her fiber and fabric shop, The Weaver’s Cat, which Kath has now inherited. But that’s only the first in a series of surprises when Kath returns to the small town of Blue Plum, Tennessee, to settle her grandmother’s affairs.

There’s been a murder, and it turns out her grandmother was the prime suspect. Before she can begin to clear Ivy’s name, Kath encounters a looming presence in the form of a gloomy ghost. It turns out the specter has just as much interest in solving the murder as Kath. So, with a little help from the members of TGIF—and a stubborn spirit from beyond—she sets out to unravel the clues and hook the real killer.…