A Stitch in Crime by Betty Hechtman
Berkley
February 2010
Format: Paperback, 304 pages
First line: “Molly, please try to get through the weekend without any dead bodies,” Mrs. Shedd said, pushing the rhinestone-encrusted clipboard across her desk to me.
From the back cover: Molly Pink and her crochet group friends are packing up for a creative weekend away. But with danger following them, trying to solve the latest mystery might just prove trickier than a back post double crochet stitch…
Summer’s wrapping up – and it’s time for the annual creative retreat hosted by the bookstore where Molly works. This year, her boss has dropped out at the last minute, dumping the responsibility all on Molly, But even with the stress of organizing, it should be an exhilarating weekend out on the Monterey Peninsula, complete with crochet classes and campfires. Unfortunately for one teacher, though, the breathtaking scenery is where she’ll take her last breath…
It’s Molly who stumbles over the dead body of crochet teacher Izabelle Landers. Now Molly will have to solve a murder and find a replacement instructor. Fortunately her pals from her crochet group, the Tarzana Hookers, are around to help her untangle this tightly twisted yarn…
My thoughts: This is the fourth in Betty Hechtman’s Crochet Mystery series and it was pretty good. This time around, the setting isn’t in Tarzana, but at a retreat on the Monterey Peninsula where the gang is attending the creative retreat that the bookstore that Molly works at hosts. At the last minute, Molly finds out she will be in charge and gets possession of the sparkly rhinestone-encrusted clipboard. Once there, things seem to go from bad to worse. First, there’s a complete white-out from the fog that prevents guests from arriving. Then, one of the instructors is found dead and Molly being Molly takes it upon herself to solve the murder. She has her fellow crochet pals with her and they set out to figure things out. This leads to some rather funny moments as well as some harrowing ones, too.
I enjoy reading this series. I like the mysteries and am usually stumped as to who did it until the very end. This time was no exception. I also love when the group gets together to crochet – it always makes me want to get my crochet stuff out and as soon as I finished this book, I did just that. I even went as far as to buy a whole bunch of new yarn for some projects to work on this fall. At the moment, I am working on a large granny square blanket that I will be donating to Project Linus with some left over yarn. Then I have a few baby blankets to make for family members that are expecting. Do you crochet? If so, where do you find your patterns? What’s your favorite thing to make?
(I borrowed this book from the library.)
Books in this series:
- Hooked on Murder 5. You Better Knot Die
- Dead Men Don’t Crochet 6. Behind the Seams
- By Hook or By Crook 7. If Hooks Could Kill – due out Nov 2012
- A Stitch in Crime
Sounds a really cosy read! mystery and murder and a crochet group. Nice.
It's a fun series and there have been some good patterns included in some of the books.
Oh I didn't realize there was a crochet series—runs over to amazon to put on wish list 🙂 I so need it if for any reason to learn what other uses my crochet hook might have LOL
Great review! It does sound like it did everything a cozy is supposed to do: have fun, be quick, and KISS (Keep it simple)!
It is definitely a fun series…and the patterns that have been included have been pretty good.
Thanks for the review. Sounds like a great series to curl up with this fall.
It's fun, light and quick…with some good crochet patterns included!!!