Genre: Mystery
Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9780425279458
Berkley Publishing
304 Pages
$7.99; $7.99 Amazon
November 1, 2016
⭐⭐⭐
The Tarzana Hookers' Yarn University has been a big success, and the classes have drawn in a slew of new crochet devotees. A less welcome arrival is the boxy monstrosity in the yard behind Molly's house. She hasn't met her new neighbors, but when she sees a couple struggling on the balcony and later spies what looks like someone lying on the ground, Molly wastes no time calling in her ex, homicide detective Barry Greenberg.
To Molly's shock, Barry reports that nothing is amiss with her neighbors and asks her to lay off with the amateur detecting. Molly knows she wasn't just seeing things, but with no body to prove her case, she'll have to unravel the evidence on her own -- because someone in Tarzana is tangled up in murder...
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Molly Pink is a widow who works at a bookstore as Events Coordinator/Assistant Manager. She and her fellow Tarzana Hookers, their crochet club, use their free time to get together and crochet. They have some new members, including a woman named Lauren, who won't talk about her past.
But there's more going on in Molly's life. Her parents have moved back to Tarzana and her mother, member of a girls' group called The She La La's is practicing their dance steps at Molly's so they're always underfoot. Molly's gentleman friend, Mason, a celebrity attorney, is having both professional problems with a client and the fact that his ex-wife Jaime and daughter Brooklyn are living with him, leaving no place for them to get together. Then, her friends Dinah and Adele are both getting married and having problems of their own.
To add to the confusion, there's a huge house going up behind Molly's and she's sure she's seen nefarious doings. She's convinced someone was murdered, but when her ex, homicide detective Barry Greenberg, goes to investigate, he finds nothing and tells her to leave it alone. Of course we know she won't; and when she involves her best friend Dinah they manage to garner a clue. Albeit a small one, but a clue nonetheless.
What makes it worse is she discovers the people she's investigating are celebrities themselves -- members of their own group, the ChLiLas, and their leader, Cheyenne, has temporarily joined the group, and what's more, agreed that she and her sisters will perform at the bookstore. This gives one of the owners an idea to have musical events, which only add to Molly's duties and frustration, as one more problem pops up.
Now, with very little time and very little clues, she's convinced someone is dead. The problem is: who is it, and where is their body?...
I have read all of these books so far, and I must say, for some reason that after reading this one I felt dissatisfied. It wasn't anything specific that I can put my finger on; the murder was solved and the murderers were caught, as we always know they will be. I think it is more that I am getting frustrated with Molly and her actions. She claims to always be in a relationship, but never spends any time with the person she's involved with. How is that a relationship? I have a better one with the cashier at my grocery store than Molly does with either her ex, Barry, or her current love, Mason. That, and the fact that we never get anywhere before the book ends. It's becoming annoying and distracting from the murder investigation. She needs to sit down and talk with someone about why she won't open up instead of complaining about others not opening up to her.
I think I'm also getting tired of Adele's hysterics. I get that it's supposed to be humorous, but it's grating most of the time and I just want to slap her and tell her to get it together. Jeez, she's a grown woman. Handle your problems, lady.
Other than these things, the mystery itself was fine, and I enjoyed looking for clues. I was surprised by ending, but that's not a bad thing; the murderer was not anyone I would have suspected. So, it was a decent mystery and it took less than a day to read, making it an easy one to get through.
More on Betty Hechtman's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/h/betty-hechtman/
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