Peggy Ehrhart

I picked this one up because I liked the cover (yes, really!) and the idea that here was yet another cozy mystery with knitting involved. The fact that it opens with a St. Patrick's Day singalong was an added bonus. And it's #4 in the Knit and Nibble series with a pattern for a Knit Egg Cozy and a recipe for Irish Coffee Truffle. All in keeping with this genre.

Sadly, I was not that impressed. While there was a knitting group that meets weekly (I think), with a really diverse group of knitters, the main crafty details were the cooking. From the first few chapters with a St. Patrick's Day dinner, to the main character's breakfast and watching the drip coffee every morning, to pies and cookies, the details about knitting seemed to take a back seat to all the sweet treats Pamela and her best friend Bettina ate constantly.

Pamela lives in a small New Jersey garden-area town with a job as an editor for a Fiber-oriented magazine. Which is great - she gets to review articles on the Shakers and a medieval depiction of the Virgin Mary knitting in an anachronistic method, then send them to her editor. Her daughter is at college, she is widowed and still living in the home she and her husband fixed up after he died, And she had a romance with the guy next door, till it ended, and now some new romances seem to be blossoming.

I liked the fact that Pamela is a woman in her 40's, her best friend is an older woman who writes for the weekly town paper, and the diverse characters: a guy knitter (a lawyer whose therapist is encouraging him to relax), a Wiccan in the town who explains how St. Patrick was not necessarily a great guy towards women in his world, and the murder victim who was a bit of a wild child in the (gasp!) long ago 60's. Oh, and there's the abundance of cats. Always good to have a kitty or two in a cozy mysterday!

But I was really not that infatuated with the vast amounts of food consumed, described, and prepared, and the constant visiting that Bettina bestows on Pamela seems a bit excessive. I like my neighbors in the area, but if they came to my door every day at breakfast, and then later in the afternoon when they think they've maybe solved the case? I would quickly set some boundaries.… (mais)

local-law-enforcement, small-town, small-business, New-Jersey, widow, neighbors, friends, knitting-pattern, knitting, recipes, pet-dog, murder-investigation, murder*****

The victim was a ghost debunker found dead in her own kitchen by the local knitting group in the town she recently moved to. So, of course, the knitters had to get into finding out more. I have read all the previous books, but still think that it could stand alone (followed by a binge read just for fun). The characters are so well done that I feel like I have met them in person and the investigation is well done with sneaky red herrings and a couple of interesting twists. Loved it!
I requested and received an EARC from Kensington Books/Kensington Cozies via NetGalley. Thanks!… (mais)