A Cozy Murder Mystery and Cats

While My Pretty One Knits 

by Anne Canadeo

I have been very lazy lately.  I have been finding it easier to listen to audio books instead of reading them.  Well, this one I did read and I could not put it down! A great cozy murder mystery that moves fast with good solid clues (not stitches) dropped along the way.

I know this is an older book (2009), but I just discovered Anne Canadeo.  Of course, I always love a good murder mystery and better yet, one with a tight knit group of crafty ladies…no pun intended!

Lucy is the main character.  After her divorce, she moves to a small town to live in her deceased Aunt’s house.  For once, I am not reading about how nasty or pigheaded the ex-hubby is or was during their marriage.  There’s just enough background covered to let the reader know how Lucy is feeling about her divorce.

Most murder mystery women/sleuths end up in a relationship with either a detective or a lawyer or some other kind of law associated professional.  Hurray for Lucy!  She finds a man in a different profession.  Thank you! Lucy also rescues a dog despite the fact that the Vet’s bill will be high.  Animal lovers understand this completely.  We are guilty of paying high Vet bills with two of our adopted cats.

This story is about Lucy’s friend and experienced knitter/shop owner, Maggie.  She is suspected of murdering another yarn shop owner.  Soon, the whole knitting club is there for Maggie.  All the Black Sheep Ladies are the kind of friends I love to sit down with and get to know.  Conversations are light and witty.  They have a wonderful friendship full of support for each other as they try to solve the murder.  The best part – no one declared “we should solve this murder!”

I’m not a knitter, but anyone with a love of working with their hands will enjoy reading about the knitting projects.  Lucy is working on Sock Monkey hats for her nieces, but it is not overdone.  Just enough to keep you interested.  At the end of the book, Anne added two websites on Sock Monkeys.

I did learn some odd facts while trying to solve this mystery - like Brad Pitt and Russell Crowe are knitters.  I googled this just out of curiosity and I only found something about Russell Crowe knitting.  I thought that was very interesting.  I also learned that wool yarn can be dyed with Jell-o.  Apparently, it does not work on cotton.  Too bad – dying with Jell-o might have been fun to try with some muslin.  There is a link to Jell-o dyeing at the end of the book as well. 

Anyway, Anne has two more Black Sheep Knitter’s series and I plan to read both.  I found Anne’s FB page and I just learned she has a fourth book coming out soon.  Well, I better get to reading so I’ll be caught up for book #4.

The Never-ending Saga of Cat Grooming

You need a good grooming.

Wait!  Is anyone watching?

Ahhh!  It's okay.  Now let me finish grooming you, Fish-Breath.

Hey! I can't help it if your breath smells like fish!