Murder Wears Mittens

July 10, 2017
When unassuming Dolores Cardozo is found dead in her home and single-mom Kayla Stewart vanishes, the Seaside Knitters—Cass Halloran, Izzy Perry, Nell Endicott, and Birdie Favazza—shift into sleuthing mode, in Goldenbaum’s comforting 12th cozy set in Sea Harbor, Mass. (after 2016’s Murder at Lambswool Farm). The four friends discover some unsuspected truths in the course of investigating Dolores’s murder and figuring out what happened to Kayla. Meanwhile, they take time to enjoy a martini, a glass of champagne, or just a nice cup of coffee. As usual, the mystery element is slight, with clues doled out in between family reunions, meals, and walks on the beach. Goldenbaum has created an idyllic world in which good friends, good works, and discussing the passing of time and changes in the community are as important as solving crimes. A knitting pattern for socks rounds out the volume. Agents: Christina Hogrebe and Andrea Cirillo, Jane Rotrosen Agency.

June 15, 2017
The Seaside Knitters go all out to solve another murder.The charming Massachusetts seaside town of Sea Harbor has already had enough homicides for a series (Murder at Lambswool Farm, 2016, etc.). But when kindly old Dolores Cardozo is found dead and a mysterious young mother is implicated, the knitting ladies and the men they love quickly find themselves involved. The Knitters include wealthy octogenarian Birdie Favazza; retired nonprofit director Nell Endicott; her niece, Izzy Perry, proprietor of a yarn shop; and Cass Holloran, who owns the local lobster company. The suspect is waitress Kayla Stewart, whose bike turns up at the scene of Dolores' murder. When Cass discovers her son, Christopher Stewart, at a laundromat, he takes off on his bike, leaving some clothes behind. Kayla herself is found wandering in a daze with a concussion and short-term amnesia. Birdie is shocked when she's named executor of Dolores' will and even more surprised to learn that Dolores is a wealthy woman who's been secretly supporting many area nonprofits and people in need. At length, Kayla remembers going to Dolores' house, finding her dead, and getting knocked out by an unseen assailant, but she refuses to say why she went there, and her past is a closed book. Although she's also in possession of some of the $50 bills Delores kept stashed around her house, the Knitters, after spending time with her and her children, are convinced of her innocence. After all, there are bound to be many suspects where so much money is involved, even when the victim has been so generous. The team of sleuths must use all their local contacts and reasoning skills to get Kayla off the hook and find the real killer. Although Goldenbaum's cozies are all plotted along very similar lines, this one keeps you guessing a bit longer than usual and features such caring sleuths you can't help but like them.

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