60 pages in and this book falls in the category of "life's too short and my TBR pile is too high". I haven't even gotten to the murder yet, but these characters are so unlikeable I find myself hoping for a mass lynching.

Della, the MC, starts off by calling Jane, her best friend, flaky because she believes in ESP and tarot and talks about how she wants to roll her eyes over Jane's "feelings". Della's love interest (who's also supposed to be her best friend since childhood) makes snide comments about how high her heels are, how bad a cook she is, and makes cracks about how she has to stick her nose into everything and "investigate".

I suspect the author is trying for snarky camaraderie but she's failing rather badly - I love snark and sarcasm, but this feels like a group of frenemies instead of the scooby gang. Disrespectful and unkind.

The first book in this series, Looming Murder started off so well, I remember being really excited about having another great series to look forward to. It all went downhill in the last part of that book, but I had my fingers crossed it was just a first-book-blip. Nope. Tapestry of Lies is worse, and if I'm hoping one of the MC's is the murder victim, it's time to walk away. ( )

My enjoyment of the cozy Weaving series continues with this second book (after Looming Murder). There's just enough information about weaving to make the crafty part of me happy, and the mystery kept me engaged throughout by way of a long suspect list and some excellent misdirection.

But-- like any cozy mystery worth its salt-- it's the characters who make or break a book, and author Carol Ann Martin has created a winning cast. Della's friends are a diverse group, and I like how they've all banded together, not only in friendship, but in the quest to earn a living through their artistry. Della's romantic yearnings for Matthew in conjunction with the matchmaking manipulations of their mothers adds zest and humor to the book.

Carol Ann Martin's Weaving mystery series is rapidly becoming one of my favorites-- light, fun reads to curl up with in the afternoon! ( )