You Better Knot Die [Mass Market Paperback]

"You Better Knot Die" is the fifth in a series of crochet mysteries featuring Molly Pink and a cast of quirky and fun characters. You do not need to crochet to enjoy this book, nor do you need to read these books in order. I have read (and enjoyed) them all, and this book is now my new favorite of the series.

Brief summary (no spoilers): Molly Pink is now a 49-year-old widow, who is the event coordinator in a bookstore in Tarzana, California. One of the regular events at the bookstore is a crochet group, of which Molly is a member. The crochet group makes projects to give to charity. In this book, the crochet group itself takes a little less of the focus than in previous books, but there's still lots of crocheting. Somehow in each book, Molly gets tangled up in a crime investigation, and part of the fun is seeing how Molly manages to get herself involved. Each book includes a couple of craft patterns and recipes that are featured in the story. In this book, Molly's neighbor is missing and Molly wants to help his wife by finding him. Everything unfolds from there. The plot includes some very timely topics. Oh, yes, and did I mention that Molly has two suitors? One is a detective and the other is an attorney, and both are helpful to Molly as sounding boards while she solves these crimes (although often the detective tells her not to get involved--he worries about her safety--but Molly just can't seem to leave a crime unsolved).

I relate so well to the characters (particularly Molly) that I would swear they are real. The action in this book starts immediately on page 1, and I found it hard to put the book down. There are actually two separate mysteries in this book with lots of twists and turns along the way, including incidents that will leave you chuckling. There are crazy characters and crazy antics, and it all adds up to fun. Author Betty Hechtman crafted a series of events that hook together into a satisfying ending when the two mysteries are resolved. For fans of this series, Adele is back and more fun than ever. There is a bit of a cliff-hanger at the very end, which leaves me eager to read the next book in the series as soon as it is released.

I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.

It's not necessary to read the books in this series in order, but here's the order of those released to date for reference:

1. Hooked on Murder
2. Dead Men Don't Crochet
3. By Hook or By Crook
4. A Stitch in Crime
5. You Better Knot Die

Happy reading!

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.

Best of this series. Although the plot was fairly easy to see coming, still had trouble finding the villain. Interesting and very current with story lines of a vampire book series and ponzi scheme. One of those books you don't want to put down. Neat scarf pattern included that is woven into the story.