"Knit, Purl, Die" by Anne Canadeo

Product Details:
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Pocket; Original edition (December 29, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 141659812X
ISBN-13: 978-1416598121

Product Description from back cover of book:

Counting on each other...
Meet the Black Sheep knitters -- five smart, funny
women who love to knit, gossip, and solve crimes.


Gloria Sterling had it all -- money, looks, and a new sexy young husband. So when she's found floating face down in her own swimming pool, shock waves ripple through tiny Plum Harbor. At the Black Sheep Knitting Shop, Maggie Messina and her circle are devastated to lose their dear friend -- a woman as colorful as her fabulous yarn creations.

The police are quick to call it an accident, but sorting out Gloria's final hours leaves too many loose ends to satisfy her friends. The vivacious, fiftysomething cougar had her French manicured tips in more than a few pots, and the threads of some inside deals stashed in her chic knitting tote.

Who was the last person to see Gloria alive on that quiet summer night? Two empty wine glasses suggest she wasn't home alone knitting the entire evening.... The Black Sheep need to know the truth and set out to unravel -- stitch by stitch -- the weighty secrets that pulled poor Gloria under.

My thoughts:
I received Knit, Purl, Die from Pocket Books for review purposes. It is the second book in the Black Sheep Knitting Mystery series. I have not read the first book in the series but it is now on my TBR list. When I read the title and the synopsis I was intrigued by the concept and wanted to give it a try. Often times either a title or the cover art for a book jumps out at me which I guess makes me very susceptible to advertising or marketing.

I liked this close-knit group of women who are all friends and support one another. While the women see each other regularly during the week at Maggie’s knitting store they meet formally once a week at one of their homes for dinner and knitting. They share a common interest and are very invested in each others lives. This mystery involved the death of one of their friends when she was home alone at night knitting by her pool. She was found dead in her pool with both alcohol and medicine in her system and the police deemed it an accident, due to the drugs it was even rumored to be a suicide. At times during the novel the mystery even seemed to just be in the women’s heads, as if they didn’t want to believe that their friend might have been so troubled and not shared it with them.

The friends in this novel are Maggie, Phoebe, Dana, Lucy and Suzanne. Maggie owns a knitting shop in a small town by the beach, Phoebe lives above the store and works there, Lucy is a graphic designer who is recently divorces and works from her cottage, Dana is a counselor married to a lawyer, and Suzanne is a real estate agent married to a contractor. Most of the story is about the women and their meetings and lives, very little time is devoted to their husbands or boyfriend and outside interests. The main character of the five for this story was Lucy, but I wondered if the POV rotates between them in the stories because it seemed like with the first one Maggie might have been the central character.

Knitting has often appealed to me, I even tried to pick it up one time but didn’t really give it the effort that it deserved. I fully believe at some point I will try it again. Perhaps if I could find a way to knit and read at the same time I would be more inclined to learn it.

I really liked how the book ended with letters to the readers from each of the main characters as well as recipes. It added a nice homey touch to the book and made it seem more like you as the reader was a friend rather than a reader. Also I liked how the novel focused on their friendship and their shared experiences and showed how women can really support and be there for one another.

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Knit, Purl, Die: January 20th
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