Get Crafty: Knitting Mysteries!

Amber's Comments: I LOVE knitting and any other kind of craft. Recently, I’ve found myself reading a lot of knitting mysteries and thought it would be good to compare some of what’s available in this genre.

First of all, it helps if you enjoy knitting, or can at least appreciate it. The characters in these books often rely on the relaxing rhythm of knitting or the club gatherings to help sort out their thoughts and clues to eventually unravel (ha ha) the mystery. Many of these books also come with knitting patterns to help you get started on your own project.

And if you’re looking for knitting inspiration, visit our Get Crafty display upstairs! GPL has a lot of wonderful knitting books. The Get Crafty display also has books on crocheting, bead and jewelry making, quilting, cross-stitch, sewing and scrapbooking - whatever your crafting fancy is!

But if you’re more interested in reading about crafts than actually doing it, here are reviews on two knitting mysteries I have read recently. Both books are the first in a series.

Knit One, Kill Two (Knitting Mystery, Book 1), by Maggie Sefton (check status at GPL)
Kelly Flynn has just returned to Colorado, where she spent her summers as a child. Unfortunately, this time it is not for pleasure - her Aunt Helen (who has been like a mother to her) has been murdered.

Once Kelly arrives, she finds an instant support group in the ladies who frequent the knit shop across the road from her aunt's cottage. They all knew and loved her aunt, and warm to Kelly immediately. Kelly also learns the joy of being in a knit shop (all that lovely yarn!) and how to knit.

As the sole inheritor of her aunt’s assets, Kelly learns from her aunt’s attorney that she had taken out a new mortgage to get a $20,000 check just a few days before she died. Why would her aunt, who is on a limited income, do such a thing? Kelly also inherits her aunt’s cottage and is immediately pressured by a local real estate agent to sell up. None of this sits well with Kelly, and she starts to do her own investigating with the help of the knit shop ladies and a hunky local architect.

Kelly learns a lot about her aunt which she would have never guessed, including some dark family secrets. She also learns a lot about herself, and that with a little patience she can create beautiful things through knitting.

A good read for knitting enthusiasts and mystery readers alike. I am just getting ready to start the second one in this series, Needled to Death (check status at GPL).


Death By Cashmere (Seaside Knitters Mystery, Book 1), by Sally Goldenbaum (Check status at GPL)

Izzy is a bright young woman who has opened her own knitting store in the quaint village of Sea Harbor. After training as a lawyer and winner her first case, she decided the law was not for her and returned to the village where she spent most of her childhood summers. Her knitting shop is now very successful, and she is surrounded by a group of supportive friends and doting aunt and uncle.

Izzy rents out the space above her shop to Angie, a Sea Harbor native who has returned to the area after leaving it a few years ago. Angie works at the library and is dating a sweet young man, also a local. Izzy likes Angie and lets her borrow an amazing one-of-a-kind sweater to wear on a date. That night, Angie and the lovely sweater both disappear. Angie is found stuck in a lobster trap the next morning.

With Izzy’s heavy involvement with Angie, her smarts and her successful business, it seems logical that she would be the main character. But she isn’t. Her Aunt Nell is the main character and she seems fairly limited in world view. She clings desperately to the idea that Sea Harbor is a tight-knit (ha ha) community, and everyone there is too nice to commit murder. Obviously, this is not true and Nell has a hard time adjusting to this.

Overall, it was an ok read with a surprising ending.

More crafty reads!!

If neither of these interest you, the library has a lot of other crafty mysteries, including:

Knitting Mysteries series
Died in the wool, by Kruger, Mary

A Someday Quilts mystery series
The lover's knot, by Clare O'Donohue

Needlecraft Mysteries series
Crewel world, by Monica Ferris

While my pretty one knits, by Anne Canadeo