Dyeing for the Truth
(2026)(The third book in the Havenwood Mysteries series)
A novel by Alisson Bento
In the charming town of Havenwood, the deadliest secrets are dyed in the wool.
Maren Cole is drowning. She is single-handedly keeping her grandmother’s beloved yarn shop, Vine & Thread, afloat while desperately hiding a massive balloon payment that threatens to take it all away. When she impulsively buys a battered steamer trunk at a local estate sale, she only expects to find resellable yarn. Instead, her expert dyer’s eye catches a deliberate, jarring sequence in the hand-dyed colors. It is not a pattern—it is a desperate message hidden in a cipher by Iris Marsh, a local dyer the town insists moved away three years ago.
To unravel a code that reads like a confession, Maren needs someone who understands history’s missing pieces. Enter Silas Ashby, Havenwood’s rigid, meticulous, and infuriatingly handsome new archivist. Silas has spent his life making sure no one vanishes unrecorded, and he refuses to let Iris's cryptic message go unanswered. Together, the chaotic, warm-hearted artisan and the grumpy, rule-bound archivist must decode the yarn and the knitting stitches left behind.
But the truth they uncover is dangerous. The message points to a deadly 1911 mill fire cover-up, where twenty-three workers died instead of the officially recorded six. And the powerful founding families of Havenwood—who are preparing to bulldoze the evidence to build luxury lofts—will do anything to keep the past buried. With an arsonist targeting her shop and a ticking clock on the demolition, Maren and Silas must race to find Iris and expose the town's darkest lie before they become its newest victims.
Will they pick up the dropped stitches of history, or will the truth unravel completely?
Trope List
Maren Cole is drowning. She is single-handedly keeping her grandmother’s beloved yarn shop, Vine & Thread, afloat while desperately hiding a massive balloon payment that threatens to take it all away. When she impulsively buys a battered steamer trunk at a local estate sale, she only expects to find resellable yarn. Instead, her expert dyer’s eye catches a deliberate, jarring sequence in the hand-dyed colors. It is not a pattern—it is a desperate message hidden in a cipher by Iris Marsh, a local dyer the town insists moved away three years ago.
To unravel a code that reads like a confession, Maren needs someone who understands history’s missing pieces. Enter Silas Ashby, Havenwood’s rigid, meticulous, and infuriatingly handsome new archivist. Silas has spent his life making sure no one vanishes unrecorded, and he refuses to let Iris's cryptic message go unanswered. Together, the chaotic, warm-hearted artisan and the grumpy, rule-bound archivist must decode the yarn and the knitting stitches left behind.
But the truth they uncover is dangerous. The message points to a deadly 1911 mill fire cover-up, where twenty-three workers died instead of the officially recorded six. And the powerful founding families of Havenwood—who are preparing to bulldoze the evidence to build luxury lofts—will do anything to keep the past buried. With an arsonist targeting her shop and a ticking clock on the demolition, Maren and Silas must race to find Iris and expose the town's darkest lie before they become its newest victims.
Will they pick up the dropped stitches of history, or will the truth unravel completely?
Trope List
- Grumpy x Sunshine Romance
Small-Town Secrets and Murder
Forced Proximity and Sleuthing
Cozy Mystery with High Stakes
Hidden Codes and Puzzles
Found Family (The Skein Society)
Genre: Mystery
Used availability for Alisson Bento's Dyeing for the Truth