Genre: Mystery
Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496733900
Kensington Publishing
320 Pages
$8.99; $6.99 Amazon
February 22, 2022
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Pamela has organized a weekend-long knitting bee as part of a conference on fiber arts and crafts at Wendelstaff College. But when pompous Professor Robert Greer-Gordon Critter, the keynote speaker at the conference, crashes the bee, he seems more interested in flirting than knitting. The man's reputation as a philanderer supersedes his academic reputation. After coffee and cookies are served, the professor suddenly collapses, seemingly poisoned -- but how? Everyone had the coffee and cookies. Joined by her bestie Bettina and the Knit and Nibble ladies, Pamela sorts through everything from red socks to red herrings to unravel tne means and motives of a killer dead set on teaching the professor a lesson...
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When Pamela Paterson's employer couples with Wendelstaff College to give a conference, all seems to be going well. That is, until the speaker, Professor Robert Greer-Gordon Critter, is heckled by his ex-wife. Hoping everything else will run smoothly, Pamela discovers it won't...when he's visiting the local ladies who are knitting, it's to have coffee and cookies and discuss his books and knitting. But he never gets that far -- as he drops to the floor, unable to breathe, and later at the hospital is pronounced dead. When Pamela discovers that he's been poisoned, no one knows how, as everyone else had the same food and drink as the man, and they're all fine.
Now she, along with her reporter neighbor Bettina, are off and running once again to find a killer. But with so many suspects in the mix, it could be quite a problem to untangle a killer...
This is the eighth book in the series and I have read every one. First off, the bad: while I do love this series, I also get tired of hearing every single time anyone eats, the pottery (or china) that they are eating on. Who really cares? We get that Bettina has sage-green pottery, but does it matter to the food that is plated? No. Also, there is a lot of food mentioned in the book, like, every single detail of every single thing that they eat. Again, who cares? Do we really need to know each ingredient in a salad? Is is relevant to the murder? No. So I would like to see less of this in future books. And again, I believe that I have mentioned this before, but we get an awful lot of information on food, but Pamela's grooming habits are atrocious. Does she ever take a shower? She gets out of bed and dresses -- no mention of showering, and only once of brushing her teeth, and that's because her neighbor gave her a toothbrush!
Also, I don't see why she gets upset at Bettina when she wants to know about Pamela's dates. Is it a secret? They're friends. And Bettina is a reporter, so she's naturally curious. Pamela keeps it too close to her chest, and that's not normal. Getting mad at Bettina seems so off the wall to me. Ah, well...
However, the mystery itself was done really well, and there were very few clues to the murderer. I did discover the killer before Pamela, but then again, maybe we were supposed to. I did enjoy visiting her home and friends again, and, of course, the cats. I was glad to see that they also played a role in the books and weren't just relegated to the cover.
When Bettina and Pamela start questioning people at the college, they don't think it could be as hard as it is, but each person they question leads them to someone else. It seems the professor was not well-liked, and no one mourns him. Finding a murderer among them takes more thought than either knew, and in their travels we learn more about the surrounding areas and even a local outdoor market that sounds unique. All of it was intriguing, and looking for the killer was even more so.
In the end, it all came together very nicely, with the ends woven in together tightly and the finished product something you can enjoy while reading. I think the author did a very good job with this book, and I do look forward to the next in the series. This book can be read as a stand alone. Recommended.
I received an advance copy from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.
More on Peggy Ehrhart's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/e/peggy-ehrhart/
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