All the regular Monday Bunch is at Betsy Devonshire' needlework shop, Crewel Word, waiting for Doris Valentine to get there and share her experiences from her trip to Thailand. Doris is just over the moon telling about the wonderful people she met, the great food she ate, and she has brought back some silk floss for each of the Bunch. She has also done a favor for an American she met over there -- Doris is to deliver a box to an antique dealer in St. Paul. Everyone wants to see what is in the box and they discover it is a Buda, but not the sitting, big stomach one. This one is standing with his hands stretched upwards. He is also wrapped in a filthy rag, which Doris throws in the trash and uses bubble wrap to protect him.

After delivering the box to the dealer, who asks her about some silk she knows nothing about, Doris goes on her way. When she arrives back at her apartment, it has been trashed. The police question her about her visit to the antique dealer, as his shop has also been trashed, and he has been murdered. A few days later, Doris is accosted by a woman with a gun who wants to know where the silk is. Soon, more bodies are piling up, and the missing silk seems to be the key to everything.

Amateur sleuth Betsy decides she must step in and help her friend. Where is the missing silk and what is its importance? The answer is dizzying, and Betsy is soon right in the middle of a life or death situation.

THAI DIE is a clever, fast-paced, cozy mystery with fantastic characters, especially Betsy. This is the twelfth book in this needlecraft series, and the stories keep getting better and better, if possible. Returning characters have grown with each tale, and it is so nice to visit with them.