You Better Knot Die by Betty Hechtman

I love to crochet. So when I first discovered this series that featured crocheting I was ecstatic. It's a pretty darn good mystery series as well. And I'm pleased to see that the series has broken into hardback fairly quickly. Of course since this is a series I collect, that means my book expenses have gone up, but that's OK.

Book Summary:

Her crochet group, The Tarzana Hookers, is working overtime for the holidays-but Molly Pink is having trouble finding time to crochet so much as a snowflake. The bookstore where she works is adding a yarn department, and planning a huge launch party where the mysterious author of a popular series will reveal his or her true identity.

But before the author appears, another person disappears. The husband of Molly's neighbor is missing. When a suicide note arrives, it appears the husband has jumped off the Catalina Ferry- but Molly smells something fishy. Despite the protestations of her detective boyfriend, Molly's soon hooked on unraveling another mystery. She better watch out-or her sleuthing may get her on someone's naughty list...

 I find Pink to be a fairly grounded character considering all the crazy things that happen to her. She's caught between two love interests. Her two adult sons treat her with a great deal of condescension. Craziest of all is that she has to put up with Adelle, a knitting hating, over confident co-worker who horns in on everything. (I guess we all have an Adelle in our lives and that's just one of the aspects of this series that makes it easy for the reader to connect.)

In this latest installment, Hechtman taps into the vampire craze by featuring a secretive author who writes books about a vampire who controls his blood lust by crocheting.  I'm not sure you would find a real series about a crocheting vampire, but it makes this book a fun read. Hechtman has even included a crochet pattern for a "vampire" scarf.

There were a few twists and turns in this installment that makes this my favorite of the series so far. If you enjoy cozy mysteries with a dash of comedy, this is a series for you.