Angela: (waves) Hi, everybody!
Amanda: (waves) Hello!
Angela: Oh, my goodness, you guys are already commenting. That is so sweet and amazing. Thank you for being here! And I am so excited to introduce y’all to the Knitted Librarian aka Amanda, and she just told me she made that shirt, so that is perfect for tonight’s knitting theme. I almost want to give you a round of applause because that is incredible. I knitted scarves and blankets, but you have actual details.
Amanda: Oh, there are so much better knitters than me and I know a lot of them are actually in this Club too! So, yeah.
Angela: Oh, my goodness. I am so excited for this livestream because there are so many knitters. So, I tried, let’s see if I can do this without knocking anything over. Before I was having all of the fun livestream difficulties, so I have all the wires and stuff, so I was working on a blanket in honor of the book, but this is the best I can do, and, apparently, in the book, they are really into it and they have patterns and they’re crocheting and knitting actually is part of solving the mystery. Oh, my goodness. So, I also want to just tell y’all in advance and kind of just explain, I’m going, “Which way is it?” (points to the side of screen) The Murder, She Knit avatar, because I have my iPad up here and Max, apparently, wants to say hello because he saw his mommy struggling. (picks up Max) So, we have the iPad and then we have the computer for audio because, apparently, technology was not my friend today, so Max wanted to be here as a little, I guess, emotional support. (places Max down)
(displays comment “Hellooooo!!!!”) Oh, the Get Cozy podcast! She is so sweet. If you guys are obviously cozy mystery lovers, as Max abandons me, he’s like, “You’ve had enough of my support for today.” So, if you guys are interested in listening to authors discuss their work, there’s going to be a guest episode with yours truly, and she also happens to be amazing so I’m just going to give Christie a shoutout for the Get Cozy podcast. I was really excited to see that pop up.
(reading comments) Oh, thank you. Yes, I can talk this month. I also want to say Colleen’s in the comments, she was a godsend last month. She stepped up to the plate and helped me when I didn’t have a voice, so I just want to give Colleen a shoutout; there she is, and she is also acknowledging how perfect Amanda is for tonight. So, I’m going to kick it off and ask you, what did you think of the book? What did you think of Murder, She Knit?
Amanda: You know, I actually liked it. This is the first and, surprisingly, because I am an avid cozy mystery reader and a knitter, but I’ve never read a knitting cozy mystery. This is the first one I’ve ever read in all the years I’ve read cozy mysteries. But it was fun. Somebody mentioned on Instagram how the knitting talk maybe wasn’t as up-to-date or as accurate as it could be, and I kind of agree with that. But as far as the murder and who did it, I was stumped to the end and that doesn’t usually happen, so I liked it for that reason.
Angela: I have to admit the murder kind of caught me off guard because I did not predict the whodunit, and I thought I was following along with the clues. But, again, I don’t know how deeply you want to get into spoilers right off the bat, but there was a huge moment that sort of went right over my head because you didn’t know it was a moment of flashing what’s in your knitting bag. But, apparently, showing people what’s in your knitting bag is, it’s almost as if they say your books represent your soul. Well, your knitting bag represents who you are as a human, apparently.
Amanda: Well, gosh, I hope not because you wouldn’t want to see mine. It’s a big mess. But I totally missed that part. Like, at the end I was like, “That happened?” and I actually had to flip back to find it because I completely missed that part. So, I did not know, I had my mindset on one person throughout the whole thing, and I was still convinced that maybe that was the person at the very end and it just didn’t happen that way for me.
Angela: So, who did you think it was?
Amanda: I thought it was Dorrie and she had every reason to do it. She had every reason. So, I was pretty certain, and I was still at the end, even though I knew who did it, I was like, “I’m still not sure it wasn’t Dorrie.”
Angela: Okay, so, I first read the book and then me being me, I’ve mentioned how I always go back and then listen to the audio, this way, I can remember who the characters are. I have my notebook in front of me and I need to actually grab it at some point so I don’t forget all the names. But I’m reading and, all of a sudden, I’m going, “There is a good chunk left,” and I was reading it in the eBook so I didn’t quite know the percentages, but then when I was listening to it on audio, we had the big sort of reveal and then, all of a sudden, I look at the timestamp and there is forty-eight minutes left, so I kept waiting for the other shoe-to-drop, like, “Who else is invested in this? Is the husband going to come back and help her? Is this going to be a thing?” I kept waiting for another co-conspirator or something. I almost didn’t understand what happened at that point because the book kept going.
Amanda: Yeah, it was kind of, and I don’t even remember what happens after, “Oh, it’s just the Thanksgiving,” and the, “That’s right.” And then it was hard to read Thanksgiving in July. I have to tell you because I’ve been wanting Fall. I’ve been doing the countdown to Fall in my house. I think it says we have fifty-nine days till Fall now. So, I was like, “I wish it was Thanksgiving now.” But, yeah, I almost missed it too, and I was still waiting for it too.
(responds to comment by Crystal Tea Knits “I thought it was the protestor”) Oh, Crystal, I agree, once I met the protestor, I thought, “Oh, it could have been the protestor.”
Angela: I was going to say our other knitting expert, she mentioned, I think she was the one before that y’all were referring to who was talking about knitting being updated in the book. And she was also one of the co-hosts who stepped up last month. So, Crystal Tea Knits, Tara, thank you again. I was so appreciative of you and Colleen. So, they’re in the comments, so giving them some shoutout and love.
Yeah, I almost forgot about the protestor. That was a really good red herring, but it kind of just was a red herring and then didn’t go anywhere after that. They go to the campus, we have what, two professors who had problems because of our victim. One of them didn’t get the promotion she deserved, and then the other one ended up getting fired somehow and he was married to the woman who was missing the needle; the knitting needle.
Amanda: Yeah, she was missing her needles. I didn’t think he got fired. I think he just didn’t get his contract renewed.
Angela: Oh, that’s what it was. So, he was kind of let go. There was a little bit of a drama there. I kept waiting for more information because at the very end it was just a matter of him getting another professor job at a different university.
Amanda: Right, and I didn’t understand the connection between our victim, whose name is escaping me; Amy, I think.
Angela: Yes.
Amanda: And him not getting his contract renewed. I didn’t know, were they in the same department? I missed that connection as to why we were supposed to think that it was her fault.
Angela: I’m curious how big, I think it was the Interior Design department, how many professors are there? Because aside from RISD, the Rhode Island School of Design, and a couple of other artsy places that come to mind, I can’t really picture the Interior Design department in a university being large enough for multiple full-time professors.
Amanda: Uh, it depends, I don’t know. Right, now, I work at a very small university and all of them are full-time, and they’re all small departments.
Angela: Okay, I mean, maybe because my undergrad was at a business university, so maybe just because of that, we had the English department and it was just, “I’m the expert for Shakespeare.” – “I’m this expert.” Everyone had their own specialty and if there wasn’t a specialty involved, it was just a sort of, “Okay, you’re going to be teaching one class and that’s it.” So, maybe, because they all kind of came across as generalized or they didn’t have any specialties, I was kind of waiting for that. Maybe if one of them was doing old school or they explained how each of them had their own sort of, “Oh, I am doing Victorian.” – “I’m doing modern.” So, maybe, that was supposed to be implied, but that went over my head.
Amanda: You know, it seemed like an afterthought too. I wasn’t sure, I think it might have just been an afterthought red herring that we were supposed to follow this because she was really leading us down the path with Dorrie. I’m still not convinced that she didn’t do it, even though I know the truth.
Angela: So, just jumping ahead to the end, and I understand Dorrie does ice sculptures, I understand that is what she does for work, but why would you give that as a gift to someone who’s just, I mean, it’s just going to melt.
Amanda: You know, I don’t know, and I didn’t really understand because the way she described what she made her self-portrait, it didn’t sound like, wasn’t it this jagged triangle thing? And I’m like, “She doesn’t seem like a jagged straight-edged person.” She’s actually very nice so I didn’t understand that at all. But they sound like they were cool photographs of the ice sculptures that were hanging in the gallery, so that I would’ve liked to see.
Angela: Her entire, I mean, I thought that was great when we find out she’s an ice sculpture artist and I thought, “This is such a unique profession that I don’t think I’ve really seen in other cozy mysteries.” There’s a couple of Hallmark movies where ice sculpting is a huge deal. There’s a competition one, and I’ve seen them all. And, so, I just thought it was a different one to have in the book, but I almost wanted more explanation of it, of, “How did you get into this? Or, why did you choose this?” And I kind of think Peggy Earhart had the opportunity when she was talking about the sibling rivalry because she could have kind of gotten into the dialogue of, “Oh, this was something that was just mine and I was good at this and Amy was never artistic in this way.” So, I almost thought there was a missed opportunity with that as the profession and doing something so different.
Amanda: Well, and there were so many artists in this book; everybody seemed to have their own art, which I really liked, and what was his name? Roland? Is that the one in the knitting group with the cable?
Angela: Yes, the lawyer.
Amanda: He became my absolute favorite character because I know what it’s like to start off knitting and make something so horrendous, but you just don’t want to give up on it. So, I absolutely loved him. He was even an artist because the little dog sweater, how it came out at the end sounded really cute.
Angela: That was adorable. I have a dog, as you saw before, who apparently is doing something under my chair. I hope that he’s not digging into my carpet, but I trust him. I do put sweaters on him in the winter. So, I just had this visual image of the dog and the sweater and it made me so happy. I would love to see that in a Hallmark movie if they did an adaptation; the little dog running around, you get to actually see it in action. And I have to admit, I felt protective of him going, “Oh, just leave him alone. He’s knitting. He’s enjoying himself. Let him be.” I kind of felt badly when they kind of put him on the spot going, “Oh, do you remember where you left off? Or, do you remember your count number?” I’m just going, “Oh, leave him alone.” The whole point is to not stress him out, and they were stressing him out, accidentally. Oh, poor guy.
Amanda: Yeah, they were sort of critical about his knitting, and I’m like, “You know what? There are people who knit for money, but most of us knit for fun.” So just have fun.
Angela: Yeah, again, I don’t really knit beyond the blanket or the scarf because part of it has to do with the fact that I always feel as if I need to be productive, and I always feel as if I have to be doing something and it’s very difficult for me to just relax. And one of the things I found is if my hands are busy, well, then I just have to watch the episode of Murder, She Wrote in front of me or I can just listen to the podcast and enjoy it. I’m not on the computer as I’m listening to this thing and multitasking to infinity, so I don’t want to keep count in my head and I give credit for everyone who can do the in-depth designs because they were making me feel very amateurish with my, “I’m just going to do my little blankets and scarves,” because they seemed as if they were going for the really intricate stuff. They’re making the elephants with crocheting, so I was impressed and intimidated.
Amanda: Well, you shouldn’t be. I’ve been knitting for twenty-two years and I only started using patterns in the last ten years, so I just would make long rectangles in big squares for ten years. And then I decided, “You know what? I’m going to try something different.” And I don’t even remember now why I started knitting, but I enjoy it so much.
Angela: I don’t know if you can hear him barking, I mean, I got this little guy who’s a very cute, very cute cozy companion, but I just want to acknowledge because as we’re talking and I see the book cover pop up, can someone explain the cat storyline narrative? That entire narrative was very questionable to me because wouldn’t you be a little, I don’t know, skeptical or want to go take a cat to the vet before they came in your house and slept on your chest or before you dubbed it a member of the family? Plus, the cat was very finicky, so I was just curious about that as my little guy… (looks down at Max)
Amanda: I don’t think she had a choice because I think Catrina, even before she had the opportunity to stop her, and I don’t think they found her for a while. She was just hanging out in the house and they didn’t know where she was. But we have a black cat who actually lives behind our house and I feed him pepperoni but I haven’t let him in the house yet.
Angela: I think it was really sweet. I see the comment about her having to build trust. I thought it was really cute. I almost had to fully suspend my disbelief and just go with this story. Because in my head, I’m thinking, “Oh, there’s a stray cat.” I would never let a stray cat into my house. I wouldn’t know what it had or I’d be worried about its health and, yes, I have the dog, who I’m not sure would like the cat competition. But for the sake of the story, waking up with the cat on the chest was so sweet, and then finding out it’s sleeping under the lawn, sleeping with the washer and dryer, I thought that was just adorable. And having to sort of place the bowl in different places, it was really cute. So, I think for me, there was a difference between reality and cozy mystery reading.
Amanda: Well, I actually in my twenties, when I was in college, I actually did let a stray cat into my house several times and let it hang out. I always left the door open, though, because it would freak out if you closed the door. But, yeah, I can relate. I don’t do that now that I’m older and a little wiser, but I have let stray cats in before, so I get it.
Angela: (reading comments) Okay, so there are people who will let the cats in their house. You guys are more understanding. Maybe it’s because I’m a germophobe. Maybe that plays into it a little bit. I make people take their shoes off at the door. I’m sorry, I apologize in advance.
Amanda: Oh, I was going to say, and what’s funny is I’m totally allergic to cats but I will still let them in.
Angela: It’s so funny because, again, with the multiple camera angles here, I bought this for our Fall livestream, (gestures to her sweater – orange pumpkins with black cats) but then it came literally two days later and so I missed, I put this aside and it’s been in my closet since the last livestream and I am so happy that I actually have the opportunity to wear it. But I feel like this encompasses the entire story. We have the black cat and the Fall being with the pumpkins so this book felt as if we were reading it at the wrong time of year almost because we have the pecan pie for Thanksgiving and they actually have Thanksgiving. We have the description of all the Fall flowers and there’s Christmas in July, but now we almost have an autumn burst or something.
Amanda: Yeah, and the turkeys running down the road was my favorite scene; the wild turkeys.
Angela: Oh, that was adorable because I’m from Massachusetts. This was also something that I noticed and made a note of. So, the university is in Massachusetts. We have a lot of universities in Massachusetts. She never named that college, but we do have the wild turkeys and I’ve seen them and several of them have startled me because they were randomly in parking lots, so it’s accurate.
Amanda: Yeah, I remember the first time we were living in Florida, I was working on a PhD and I just saw eight to ten birds just running down the street and I was like, “What are those?” and my husband says, “They’re wild turkeys. They’re everywhere,” and it was wild. I remember the first time I’d seen it.
Angela: (looks down) Apparently, Max feels as though we’re talking about animals. He’s going, “I need to be a part of this.” Yes, all of the treats in the world. So, hopefully, he’ll be quiet. I was just looking at some of the comments. So, yeah, some people would let the cats in. I actually don’t remember where I got the sweater from. I’ll have to look it up and let y’all know. I’ll post that on Instagram and Twitter for you because I don’t want to tell you the wrong website, but I do remember I got it On Sale. I do remember that, and I was very happy and proud of myself.
So, I saw the comment about her talking to the cat and it was really sweet because I felt as if the cat was almost an emotional support for her. It was her hidden little secret friend or a little secret, I don’t know how to describe it, so, she’s a widow and I almost felt as if the cat was just hers where she had her best friend who was always with her. And then you had the daughter telling her, “Don’t sleuth, don’t do this.” Whereas the cat was the only one who was just sort of there in the quiet.
Amanda: Yeah, they had a special relationship and I don’t think she ever tells us how she started feeding her (image and sound freezes for a few seconds) and she’s just there and she made it come inside. I think it’s the turkeys, actually. Is that when the cat first came in? Yeah, I think it is.
Angela: I love how she thought something was going on in the street. Okay, so she’s the one who’s, I kept waiting for Murder, She Wrote because of the title Murder, She Knit. I was waiting for more Jessica Fletcher vibes or finding the bodies like Jessica Fletcher. So, maybe, just finding the bodies is her Jessica Fletcher moment because I think this street was sort of haunted with the dead bodies. I think when she heard the noise the first time, again, I read it, and it kind of, I was just, I’m not numb to it but I didn’t pick up on it as much. And then I think maybe it was the narrator, how they were emphasizing the words, she made it seem as if the noises were making her fearful for her life, and I’m going, “It’s the wild turkeys.” That’s great. I felt like that was supposed to be a fun little joke moment.
Amanda: Yeah, maybe it was just because it happened after all the dead bodies. There were two dead bodies, right? Did we have two bodies in this book?
Angela: Yep.
Amanda: We did, yeah. Yeah, that’s a little much. But if I started hearing noises outside after two dead bodies that I found…
Angela: Can you grab a weapon of some kind?
Amanda: Oh, absolutely. You know I have a golf club right by my door, so anytime I hear anything my putter goes with me.
Angela: Okay, so I like this comment (by Renee) “The most Murder, She Wrote thing was the surprise killer moment.” That’s true. Maybe the big reveal was the, “Oh, it’s you,” and you have to love a sleuther who’s alone with the bad guy at the end, then they have their monologue of why they did it. That’s Murder, She Wrote sometimes or more likely Jessica Fletcher having her monologue at the killer knowing why they did it. Oh, my goodness.
I’m curious if y’all, what y’all thought of the book? If there are certain scenes, characters, dialogue you wanted to talk about tonight? I almost forgot because, again, I think I was just very thrown off and flustered with the technology when we first started with the livestream. Every comment tonight goes towards a giveaway for a book that just came out today, No Parm, No Foul (by Linda Reilly). We have the second book. Yes, Max, it’s called A Grilled Cheese Mystery series, which I think is an awesome title. So, second book in the series, this is your giveaway moment. I also think the dog looks like Max. So, they gave me an extra copy and it will be someone’s by the end of the night. So, thank you Poisoned Pen Press aka Source Books. Thank you! We’re going to put that down and he will be a good boy.
Amanda: So, Colleen mentions how it was kind of creepy that the doctor was parked right in front of her house and I thought so too. And I don’t remember them ever saying there was a church next door to her house and that’s why he was parked in front of her house. But I was like, “He is the guy,” even though I was still kind of having Dorrie in the back of my head and I didn’t feel like there was that much justification for why he had to park in front of her house and not next door at the church, I still thought, because he seemed like he was giving her a hard time the entire book.
Angela: The doctor was kind of sketchy.
Amanda: Yeah.
Angela: I don’t want to cough. Excuse me. He just read me the wrong way. And, again, when it comes to cozies with the representation of men, if they come across as a little aggressive and they’re just a little, “I know this,” or “I’m here, this is my space,” you kind of think of them as a bad guy.
Amanda: Well, there was two guys. So, the doctor and Roland both came off as sort of aggressive and territorial, but I instantly liked Roland and I did not like the doctor. And I still don’t really, even though we had this kind of moment with his mother at the end that’s supposed to soften him, I still didn’t like him. I was just like, “Yeah, he seems really rude.”
Angela: Oh, here’s the other one. So, I agree. I did think it might have been the apartment landlord for a minute. I actually had him on my list of suspects because he was there when she found the body. He didn’t exactly get super upset at finding the body either. He just wanted to have a cigarette and he acted like it was normal that she’s going through the trash all the time; it’s normal to find the dead body. So, he’s just sort of standing there; that was a little suspicious.
Amanda: You know, I didn’t actually, I wasn’t suspicious of him. I think he was not really weirded out by her going through the trash because he did too. Didn’t his whole suit that he wore for Thanksgiving come from there?
Angela: (nods) True.
Amanda: He was just too much of a gossip to want to be the killer, I thought, so.
Angela: That’s very true. I think there is something to hometown cozies where there’s that one character in the hometown who knows everyone’s business and will tell the sleuther everything they’ve ever needed to know, “Here’s your backstory,” and this is the author’s easy out but it just works because it’s true.
Amanda: Right, and it’s never the gossip because you need the gossip to move the story forward. So, I was like, “Oh it’s not him. I know that for certain because he’s the gossip.”
Angela: (reading comments) You guys are talking about the book covers. They are adorable. I love the book covers. (looks down at Max) Hi Puddin. I thought they had just the most adorable scenes with that cat. I don’t know where they are in my bookcase, but I love how colorful they are and they have the crafting with the cozy companion. Kensington has some of the best book covers. I don’t know how they find their designers but they’re worth every penny. I think they should get paid all the money. They do such a good job.
Amanda: Yeah, some of my favorite, I want to actually get just prints of some of my favorite book covers. I love the Jenn McKinlay book covers. They’re always the bibliophile ones. They’re the best book covers I’ve ever seen.
Angela: (picks up Max) He’s been staring at me. I don’t know what his little deal is. He’s been looking at me like, “Mommy, don’t forget him down here.” So, hopefully, he will be quiet and join us for a little bit. Hopefully, I can maneuver the laptop, iPad and notebook. So, apparently, we’re going to test my dexterity and my coordination just a little bit.
Did anyone think it was Karen or Nell or any of the other Nibble and oh, my, gosh, what’s the title, Knit & Nibble members?
Amanda: I didn’t actually, I didn’t think it was any of them.
Angela: They just seemed so adorable.
Amanda: Well, and they all passed by the shrubs and they were all inside, right, by the time they found the body. So, I just didn’t think that they had the opportunity to do it.
Angela: Okay, I missed some of the comments. So, which one? Okay, which one was Pamela?
Amanda: She’s our big character, isn’t she?
Angela: Oh, my gosh, that just went right over my head. (responds to comment by Victoria Hamel) So, you did not like Pamela that much. So, what did we think of our heroine? Did we like her? Did we get annoyed with her?
Amanda: I wasn’t annoyed with her.
Angela: So, my biggest complaint was at the very end where everyone wants her to end up dating her next-door neighbor and they went to kind of great lengths to set her up with him and I don’t think she needed to actually do the whole matchmaking moment, but they really wanted her to just go over there and meet him and his daughters and be with them after all of the sleuthing and they knew she was okay, and I felt badly that she skipped out on the potluck, “I know you’re tired, you need a nap, but eventually the night’s going to come, you can sleep then.”
Amanda: She did see her life flash before her eyes and found out that one of her longtime meeting friends was a murderer. Yeah, I wouldn’t go either if I were her.
Angela: Oh, yeah, okay, so I just felt a little badly with that moment because I thought the daughter really kind of blossomed apparently at that party. And I think she might have enjoyed seeing that up close and personal, seeing her make friends with the daughters or seeing her learn or get that compliment on the sweater that she knit and see the eyes light up of, “Oh, she does like it after all.” I think there could have been fun moments with it too.
Amanda: Yeah, plus, up until she found out that those were his daughters and not his girlfriends, she still didn’t like him because he just left his trash out there for weeks. And, all of a sudden, she’s supposed to change her mind because he’s good looking? I don’t know.
Angela: And, apparently, his jeans were not too old, but not too new. There was something about the jeans were very Goldilocks-esque where they were just right.
Amanda: There was a lot of time spent talking about his jeans and the way he wore them.
Angela: Okay, so the best friend was just so there for her. So, Bettina, and, again, I hope I’m pronouncing that correctly, was your favorite character. And I have to admit, she was a very good sleuthing sidekick because she was there for the sleuthing. She did not hesitate to kind of get down and dirty with it.
Amanda: And Bettina’s husband, Wilfrid, was awesome.
Angela: I loved him. I thought it was so cute when he was the one vacuuming. I thought that was adorable. She’s going, “I heard a hum in there,” and then he’s just in there doing the little household stuff and it was really cute that when they did the potluck, he saw her wanting the out of having them leave and he helped her going, “Yeah, the box is getting heavy with the food, let me go deliver it,” and he got them out of there for her. So, he was the husband but he was also there for the wife’s friend, which I thought was cute.
Amanda: He was the good balance for Bettina. He kept her from going overboard because I could see Bettina being super pushy if she wanted to be.
Angela: I’m seeing the comments. Yeah, so, she did not hesitate. So, this is also me being super nitpicky, but I’ve gotten my neighbor’s mail before. I usually bring it to the door or I knock and a few times the front desk has given me the wrong package. I, usually, again, bring it to the neighbor and so when she ever said, “I’ll give it back to the mailman or, sometimes, I’ll come deliver it to you,” I’m going, “Wouldn’t you do either or and usually just walk across the street with it instead of making a huge deal of him having to go and wait for the mail?” So, I wasn’t sure about her giving the mail back to the mailman.
Amanda: Well, I wonder if she didn’t want to actually give it to him, personally, because she felt so offended by his trash all over the yard and how he never picked it up; that really bothered her. So, maybe, she’s just like, “Well, he can go get it from the mailman,” kind of thing.
Angela: (reading comments) I’m seeing all the love for Wilford and Bettina. I think that’s very sweet that everyone loves them. I almost kind of want them to have their own little spin off of being their own sleuthing duo.
Amanda: Oh, yeah, they would be awesome.
Angela: (places Max down) Okay, he has to defend the apartment because people are in the hallway. He was being so nice and calm and cute. Apparently, he’s getting it out of his system. So, can you just talk about this special yarn and how I was appreciative that it was a real clue and it played into the story? But yeah, we got to talk about the special yarn.
Amanda: I was telling my husband, I was like, “So would you wear a sweater that I knit you that was made out of dog hair from our dog who passed away?” And he’s like, “That’s weird.” And he’s like, “Wait a minute, actually I might.” So, I had that reaction like, “That’s super weird but wait, that’s actually really sweet.” So, I wanted to find out what other people, because it depends on the dog. I had a border collie and he had really soft fur, but I don’t know how I’d feel about the turmeric dye. That seems like it would just bleed off on you.
Angela: I thought it was cute when Roland, who’s a grown man, had the yarn on his lap and he goes, “I just want to pet it.” I think I enjoyed the scenes with the yarn more than the backstory of the yarn, if that makes sense.
Amanda: Yeah, you know, I was kind of hoping it would be more James Bond-y with the yarn. Like, there was something inside of it that was secret diamond and that’s why she was killed. But I don’t know, yeah, I did want more from it, too, but I liked how they pet it and I liked how it showed, especially with Roland, everybody became softer after they held that yarn and petted it. So, it was nice.
Angela: It was one of those stress balls or something.
Amanda: And I think those of us who knit, we like to squish it, so I think we could appreciate that. But I wonder what it would’ve smelled like because it was dog fur and turmeric. I can’t imagine it smelling nice.
Angela: That’s very true. I didn’t even think of the smell. I mean, people usually you say wet dog is not a compliment, it’s used as an insult. (responds to comments) Yeah, so, some people are not really feeling the dog-hair storyline.
Amanda: I could see why she’d want it back and I don’t know if I’d wear it but I might knit something out of it; but man, that’s a lot of hair to make a sweater out of.
Angela: What did they say? There were four different rolls of it.
Amanda: I think there was four skeins, so it wasn’t enough to make a sweater, but still, she said she could get her enough to make a sweater, and I’m like, “That’s a lot of dog fur. You’re going to have to be collecting that for a long time.”
Angela: Again, this is me because I am a dog person, even though I find it quite peculiar, I know people stuff their deceased pets, but knitting a sweater out of their hair or fur is a new one for me. But I kind of felt badly with this woman who lost her yarn and then at the very end, Pamela still hadn’t returned it and so I kind of…
Amanda: Oh, she didn’t, did she?
Angela: No, it was on her to-do list.
Amanda: Oh, that’s terrible, yeah, because it’s like she lost a dog again.
Angela: Ah-huh, so, it was on the to-do list to be returned, but again, there was forty-eight minutes left of the audiobook and I kept waiting for something dramatic to happen. So, you had a lot of time in which to return that yarn. So, Pamela, I hope she’s returned it by book two.
Amanda: We probably will never know. I forgot that she didn’t return it. That’s kind of sad, especially after she found out the emotional reason why she wanted that yarn so badly.
Angela: I have to admit, though, when it comes to your pets, my little guy is my baby so if a part of him was missing or I was really fond of something, I mean, his first baby toy is a prize possession. Again, I call it his baby toy. When he was a little puppy, he had his first toy, and that’s one of those things where it’s a very special little gator, it’s gotten beat up over the years, but that’s his first toy and so you put it aside. I mean, I understand when it comes to the pets. So, I was kind of a little emotional with that one. I don’t really understand the yarn being the sweater, but I understood her need for wanting to keep the dog close.
Amanda: Yeah, I would keep the yarn, but I don’t think I could knit it or wear it because it seems really uncomfortable, and if you want to know the truth, I just couldn’t imagine wearing that.
Angela: Does anyone knit and walk at the same time?
Amanda: I’ve knit socks and walked.
Angela: You are amazing.
Amanda: No, no, it’s easy if you have just a little ball. If you get to the point where you don’t have to look and it’s just simple straight stockinette, it’s pretty easy. But that whole contraption that the protestor had, I’ve never heard of one of those. And, so, I went on Amazon and was looking for one because I thought that sounds really neat. It sounded like she could do it with one hand, and I don’t know if anyone’s seen that, but that would be really cool to have.
Angela: It looks like most people gave this Four Stars with the poll, so a lot of people enjoyed it, which I appreciate and I’m glad about. I’m glad people were enjoying this month’s book. I did like it. I do think it was a calm, cozy mystery read. (responds to Max barking) Yes, apparently, so, I don’t really always do star ratings, but I’m glad people are enjoying it. (picks Max up) He’s back.
Amanda: I don’t think he liked the book probably because of the cat as the star.
Angela: Oh, it’s a black cat and I have a white dog; the total opposite, right? He’s my cutie, I don’t know why he growls like that. I know he does, but he’s so happy once I picked him up. (places Max down)
Okay, so, I was just looking at the comments, was there something else y’all wanted to talk about when it comes to the characters or scenes or anything in particular? Because I do think we have to talk about the big killer and the big reveal. Because, nobody, people seem surprised. So, I did not see that one coming. Did you? You didn’t see it coming either?
Amanda: I didn’t, I completely missed, so, I remember at the funeral when they talked about the embezzlement of money, I do remember that. But for some reason, I was just like, “Yeah, that happened,” how unfortunate for the Morgans. I should’ve paid attention to that more because why would they say it if it wasn’t important? But I was already stuck on the person I was stuck on. She made me just, this is the person, she has chainsaws and pickaxes. She’s our killer, but I still didn’t understand, I actually don’t understand when the murder happened and how no one heard it or saw it because that neighborhood was populated and there was a church next door, so I was going to ask other people, “How did nobody know when that happened?” and it sounds like they dragged her under the bush, too, so there was a lot of body movement and noise. How did nobody hear it or see it?
Angela: So, I’m with you. I thought this was me being my little sleuthing self and looking at the plot going, “Oh, I have time left in the book. There’s a twist coming.” I thought the husband would’ve been the one to help her roll the body or get the body away, or even with the second murder because the body was in the trash, so, I’m thinking, you had to lug her there and I don’t think he could’ve just killed her in that spot. So, I was thinking the husband was going to be in on it, and then at the very end, he was going to go back after her when she was asleep and she said, “Oh, there’s something in the room.” I thought it was going to be him hovering over her and not the cat-cute moment there, but I was waiting for the husband or someone to come back and go, “I was there to help her.” So, I thought maybe he was in on it, and that would’ve been like a fun addition to the story but clearly that didn’t happen.
Amanda: Are you talking about the lady who lost her needles and that was the weapon?
Angela: Well, I was talking about, so, the killer, Jean, her husband didn’t know that she had the false identity. So, I thought maybe she would’ve called him when she needed help or something like that, and maybe he knew about it because they had all the money now. I was kind of waiting for something along those lines or maybe she had a co-conspirator who helped her embezzle and they also helped her get rid of the body. I was waiting for someone else or the other shoe-to-drop. But there was just forty-eight minutes left of audio after the big reveal so she did the very slow denouement.
Amanda: And at the big reveal, when we find out it’s Jean and she chases her all over the backyard, it was very anti-climactic, because when the cops got there, she didn’t put up a fight. She’s just like, “Whatever. I have to tell you something terrible, husband, I embezzled a lot of money and I killed some people,” and then, “Take me away.” I was just like, “That’s it?” That’s after all this drama. That’s what we get?
Angela: So, again, I was rewriting that scene as I was reading it or I was anticipating stuff that never happened. I was thinking, “Oh, the husband’s coming.” He’s going to side with the wife and try and get the gun away from our leading lady over here. When the police come, he’s going to point at her and he’s going to try and get the suspicion away from the wife or something. I was waiting for him to kind of get involved with the drama, but she just said, “You don’t know things about me,” and hugged him and that was that.
Amanda: And he just accepted it. It’s like, “Really? You’re not going to defend her?” He actually walked out there, saw Pamela pointing the gun at his wife and just like, “What’s going on?”
Angela: Okay, Maximus, you’re very cute. We know you’re adorable. He’s on the lap, so, hopefully, he’ll stay quiet. Okay, thank you. This is also part of it, right? She had all of this determination to hide her identity and make sure no one found her.
Amanda: For years and then, (responds to comment) yeah, like Michelle said, and then she goes, “Oh, I give up.”
Angela: Yeah, she didn’t try and run from the cops. I mean, apparently, the woods were very close by. She could have done something, run to the treeline or tried to…
Amanda: Regina brings up an interesting point too. She’s like, “So Jean must have killed Amy before the group and she didn’t look like she had killed someone.” There had to be a struggle or something and she’s just put together as usual, and I don’t know, it was really weird.
Angela: Especially because she’s the very fashionable and very conscientious of her appearance. So, you would think maybe there would be a description of her hair being a mess and, all of a sudden, she’s wearing the sweatshirt from the backseat of her car or something.
Amanda: I guess we were supposed to presume there wasn’t a lot of blood, so that’s why there was no blood on her clothes. I don’t know if you stabbed someone with a knitting needle, wouldn’t there be blood? Especially, it was in the chest. I don’t know, I’m trying to imagine what that would look like.
Angela: I thought she was there, but maybe I’m wrong. We need to double check that. I thought she was at the first meeting.
Amanda: I thought she was too because didn’t we meet her there?
Angela: I thought so. Maybe this should have also been part of the clue for her being suspicious because I almost feel as if this has to do with who cozy mystery readers are and what we see in books all the time. She was the only one who purchased the cookies and didn’t bake and her house was pristine and she had the landscapers do the setup. So, she wasn’t the one who was creative with the seasonal decorations. I thought there was something to that where, again, most of our sleuthers are DIY and our leading lady is going through trash to get her vintage. I don’t even know how to describe it, her finds, but maybe because the other ones were all baking, even Roland, at the end, he had difficulties with his cake, but he was baking his cake. Pamela was baking. They were all kind of doing their own little things, but she was the only one who didn’t bake and didn’t do the yarn. So, maybe, that was supposed to be part of a clue.
Amanda: You know, now that you mention it, I could see that. I just assumed that she was a new knitter and new to trying to doing things DIY, so she just hadn’t got that far yet; that’s what I had assumed. But I have to say, if I had a Knit & Nibble Group, you wouldn’t want me baking for you. I would have to buy cookies and bring them.
Angela: Yes, maybe, that’s also part of why I didn’t think of it until the end where I was going back trying to figure out the hints after the fact. So, again, I did not expect it to be her, and then when I was listening to it on audio, that was when I was kind of going, “Oh, maybe that was supposed to be part of this,” and “Maybe that was supposed to be a moment we’re looking at her.” I, also, maybe this is nitpicky, but I think we missed the chance when it came to her showing the knitting bag because we didn’t really get to see inside the knitting bag. We just kind of got it a little generalized, “Oh, all of the colors were there.” We didn’t know it was the exact same yarn.
Amanda: Yeah, I don’t think she mentioned it. I don’t remember actually hearing even gold yarn, because I think at that point Pamela already had the yarn and she was already, she’s already had it in her mind, so I think she would’ve noticed it right away. But do we even know why she still had that one ball of yarn from Amy’s yarn? I don’t even know if we got that explanation.
Angela: I was going to say, even though it’s an amazing ball of yarn and everyone loves it and wanted to pat it, she’s the filthy rich member of the group. She could afford to buy some more yarn. You didn’t have to keep the evidence in your yarn kit.
Amanda: Why would she have kept it? A memento of the kill? I’m not even sure why you’d want one ball of unique yarn.
Angela: Yeah, I’m not really sure what you could make with that. Maybe one of the little elephants? I was just looking at the comments. So, they did walk in together. So, it was Jean and Nell. I think Nell was the oldest member of the group. Maybe we were supposed to think, “Oh she has poor eyesight,” or something. I don’t know, maybe we’re trying to give Nell a pass.
Amanda: Nell did notice things a lot, though, because wasn’t she the one who picked up on Roland’s stitches being wrong and all that? So, no, I think they just missed the opportunity to actually have that. I think they glossed over it and kind of tried to bring it back. Like, “Yeah, we did actually mention this, but you just didn’t pay attention.” I think the only clue we really got was the embezzler of the money. I think that was the only legitimate clue we actually received.
Angela: I also think the second murder sort of threw me for a loop because we didn’t know who the victim was for a pretty decent amount of time.
Amanda: Right, but I don’t think it actually mattered, though, because the way they described she was dressed, I think we were supposed to assume that it was from the town something branch that Amy was from because all the ladies at the funeral were described as dressed like that and, for some reason, they don’t dress like that in Pamela’s town.
Angela: I also didn’t really pick up on the embezzlement story because there were a lot of name drops when they were doing the story. And, so, I was writing the names down because I’m thinking, “Oh, are these going to be characters?” I was focusing more on the names than I was the story, which is the wrong emphasis in that moment.
Amanda: Yeah, and the funeral was a big name drop thing and I still wanted it to be Dorrie. I like Dorrie, but I still wanted it, she fit so perfectly into the puzzle. (Max barks) He wanted it too.
Angela: Yeah, he agrees, apparently. I’m not really sure what he’s barking at, but I do think the fact that her husband was in love with her sister should have been explained or explored a little more.
Amanda: I mean he cried at her funeral like real crocodile tears.
Angela: Yeah, because especially with his, the art gallery manager knew he was in love with her and she was the subject of his paintings, not the wife. There was definitely more to that story.
Amanda: Maybe, in book two, Dorrie will kill her husband.
Angela: You really want to get rid of Dorrie, don’t you?
Amanda: I liked her as a murderer. I just thought she was the perfect murderer.
Angela: Yeah, for some reason, you’re going, “She really fits the profile.” I mean, especially, okay, when one of the funniest scenes for me was when Pamela asks Dorrie if Amy had a boyfriend and she yells over her shoulder across the room to the grieving parents, “Ma, did Amy have a boyfriend?” I’m just going, “Oh, that is so cringeworthy and awkward.” That is something someone very suspicious would do.
Amanda: Well, and just slashing her painting, and just cleaning out her apartment so quickly and, “Here, have my sister’s garbage.” Everything she did was so suspicious.
Angela: Okay, again, I’ve seen every episode of Murder, She Wrote quite a few times and there is an episode, there are multiple episodes with slashed paintings. One of them had to do with an insurance thing and then another one had to do with the woman whose almost fiancé found out about her past and he was mad and he slashed it and he used lipstick to mark it up so I was kind of hoping there was going to be a Murder, She Wrote tie in with the slashed painting. But maybe, just because I’m a little bit of a super fan with that, it was just one of those, “Oh, where’s my Jessica Fletcher moment with that?”
Amanda: Yeah, (responds to comment) Stephanie says that Dorrie wouldn’t have any trouble killing with the knitting needle. She wheels that ice pick really well. I think it would be child’s play.
Angela: It’s got to be difficult to really (gestures stabbing motion).
Amanda: I don’t know, it sounded like it was a pretty small gauge. I don’t know what you call it. So, wouldn’t it bend? I mean, you have to really jam that in.
Angela: I understand it’s metal.
Amanda: They’re aluminum, they’re not real metal. I don’t know. I’ve bent needles just knitting on them too often, so I just don’t understand how you could get that through. Maybe really quick, I don’t know.
Angela: There must have been a lot of strength there. Maybe she’s putting her money towards her gym memberships and Pilates and all the other stuff to get the force behind it. I can’t really see the piercing of the skin; let alone, going so far into the person that you reach the heart and do irreparable damage. So, maybe, she had a she-hulk moment.
Amanda: Yeah, and didn’t he use them to do treehouses? Wasn’t that his thing?
Angela: Yeah, he ended up being a really cutie, he ended up being a cutie patootie, but she at first really wanted to dislike him. He was a lothario. That was one of the descriptive words. He was a lothario.
Amanda: Well, he had these young girls going in and out of his house. He just left his garbage everywhere but he looks good in jeans and he builds treehouses out of recycled materials, so, yeah, those are his saving graces, good in jeans and treehouses.
Angela: And the daughters were apparently very nice and very fashionable. (Max) He found his bag of treats. (shows Pup-Peroni) I bribe him to be good. I know it’s the worst way with kids giving them sweet treats for bad behavior, but it keeps him quiet.
(responds to Cristy Ephlin) I did just see the comment pop up. So, there is an episode, yes, that’s true. I love how it’s only Murders in the Building, and then there’s a podcast within the podcast where it’s only Murderers in the Building with Tina Faye. But, yes, knitting needles play a part in that, and that actually was part of the season one premise with Selena Gomez picturing herself defending her well-being with knitting needles. She pictured killing people with her knitting needles and then, at the very end, someone was killed with knitting needles.
Amanda: Is the new one on Hulu?
Angela: (nodding) Yeah.
Amanda: I haven’t seen that one yet.
Angela: I saw the first season twice. I watched it and then I wanted to go back and pick up the clues. So, it has cozy mystery vibes to it but it does go a little bit, I feel, beyond the cozy mystery kind of parameters. But it is an interesting show and they do a good job with it.
(responds to comment) So, it seems as if Lady Gizmo likes the next-door neighbor, it was very sweet of him to think of his daughters, and he is very generous so we can see the love interest happening.
Amanda: I could see it probably happening. They both like to make things. I don’t know how long it’ll take her to get over him leaving his garbage out there for like a week. She just kept mentioning that. What was the note? “I wish you would pick it up because it’s the view from my kitchen window.” Oh, and that he didn’t like her yellow kitchen so there’s big disagreements there already.
Angela: Oh, yeah, right. If you don’t like the yellow kitchen, apparently, that is a deal breaker. I mean, I would’ve thought there were way worse deal breakers than a yellow kitchen. But who am I to think that?
Amanda: Well, I don’t know. I didn’t really like Pamela, so I think he could probably do better.
Angela: I was kind of curious about the interactions with the daughter; what you guys thought of Penny because she tells her mom not to sleuth; she was worried about her. But to me, she kind of read a little young. I know she’s supposed to be eighteen-nineteen to be the freshman in college, but the way she was talking, I almost thought she was fourteen-fifteen with the daughters telling her how to do this scarf and she’s reporting back to the mother, “Oh, they complimented me this and they thought that!” I know you’re still, you are susceptible to influences when you are in college, and that’s part of it, of learning about the world, but I don’t know, for me, she felt very high school-esque.
Amanda: Yeah, I would agree with that, especially, as a person who makes people sweaters, and if you don’t like them, that’s okay. But she didn’t want to wear the sweater anymore because it wasn’t cool until some cool girls told her that it was cool and then she wanted another one. And I’m like, “No,” I would just be like, “Too late. You lost your chance at home-made sweaters.” So, yeah, she’s still very influenced by other people.
Angela: I felt so badly for Pamela when the daughter says, “Oh, people don’t really wear things like that up there.” I’m sorry, but you can wear whatever you want, first of all, and if your mother takes the time to knit you something that is incredibly sweet and thoughtful and kind, and if you’re getting homesick, that would be the perfect thing to help you. I’m thinking of all the positives and I was not a fan in that moment. I really was hoping for a little bit more of an apology versus, “Oh, I’m just going to put on the ones you’ve already knitted me.”
Amanda: Yeah, and then to ask for another one. Yeah, I really didn’t like her in that moment either but she could be more grown up when she wanted to, like, when she wanted to drink wine at dinner. Oh, suddenly, she’s like in her twenties.
Angela: Yeah, because it happened a couple of times when they went over for the potluck, when they were hanging out the first time. (responds to Crystal Tea Knits) I’m seeing the comment about wanting to fit in as a freshman. She definitely wanted to be the college girl. She wanted to wear what her classmates were wearing. She wanted to do what they were doing. She wanted to wear the scarf like the other ones wear the scarf. I kind of read her as the very malleable character as if we don’t really know her wants or desires quite yet. It’s almost as if she’s going to probably have to grow into her own throughout the rest of the series and then the latest book or however many books there are currently. So, I kind of feel as if we didn’t really get to know the real Penny.
Amanda: I hope not. I hope she actually grows into being more secure with what she actually wants to be and not just what’s around her.
Angela: (responds to comment by Mia Snow) I love how you say it could be the study sweater. That is so cute. I was thinking of wearing it in her dorm room because when you’re in your dorm room, people are walking around the hallways in pajamas. You can wear whatever you want in the dorms. I remember dorm life, it’s an interesting experience.
Amanda: Yeah! Well, I remember my undergrad. I mean, people wore pajamas to class. I think people didn’t even wear shoes half the time so it really doesn’t matter what you wear in college.
Angela: Yeah, it’s true. I think that she could have gotten away with the knitted sweater but, apparently, the girls in her class were wearing other things.
(turns to look at Max) I don’t know what he’s doing over there. I hope he doesn’t start barking. He’s very cute, but he’s being very peculiar.
(reading comments) So, people are talking about Penny. Was there anything else that you wanted to talk about when it comes to the characters or the dialogue or a certain scene?
Amanda: I liked this book and I think I rated it Four Stars, too, because I was completely surprised by the killer. I liked the interactions at the knitting group. I did not like the knitting talk. They were really judgmental about a lot of different things and like the needles, the acrylic yarn, and that’s so not the vibe of, you know, we make this stuff for ourselves and they were all just knitting for fun. None of them were business owners trying to design fancy things so I was a little put off by that. The old patterns, people have their things, that’s okay. But for a knitting cozy, it could have had a lot more knitting and they could have been a little nicer and less judgmental about the knitting, and there were characters that I really liked. I liked Roland and I loved his wife. She was so understanding.
Angela: Yeah, I liked her.
Amanda: I hope we see more of her in future books. But I did not like the main character, and I don’t know, that might keep me from reading the rest of the books. But I did like that I was surprised by who did it and the reason for doing it because I did not see that coming.
Angela: I have to admit the big reveal, I think, probably does push it up a star or at least give you a little bit of, “Oh, yeah, this really was a mystery,” and I didn’t solve it. And we get to see her do some sleuthing, but I’m just nodding my head going, “Yes, yes.” I loved Melanie the wife at the very end of the book. I wanted her to join the knitting group, first of all, I wanted her to stay and I wanted more scenes with her. I’m going, “Oh, we’re just getting you and your cuteness. You have to stay in this series. Nothing can happen to you, and you and Roland can never get separated.” She was just such a sweetheart with the members of the group, and her husband joined the knitting group because of his stress level, and he is pretty high strung. He’s in the kitchen, he’s swearing and she goes, “Honey, the bean grinder, you put it out already,” and “Oh, no, I think that everything is still fine, it’s just the edges that are a little burned, it’s fine in the middle.” She was such an optimist and such a sweet character. I’m going, “You have to be in future books.” I need more Melanie in my life.
Amanda: He was so supportive and I kind of had the idea he liked that group. But when we were at his house and he was going through all that trouble to make the nibbles for them, I thought, “He loves this group and they’re not nearly as nice as they could be to him for as much as he loves this group.” So, yeah, I liked them as a couple. I really did.
Angela: I’m actually surprised as well that he enjoyed the group as much as he did because he was struggling with the knitting, and because I did think they put him on the spot a couple of times. I have a memory of my grandmother trying to teach me to knit, and she was doing that, “Oh, now you do this,” and it was more of the critical kind of vibe of, “Oh, you dropped one of the pearls there,” and I ended up getting the needles so tight you couldn’t get the yarn around or through because I was just so, “Okay, I’m not getting this right.” I was like shaking by the end; it was the most stressful thing. I forget how old I was, but I was very upset and I couldn’t actually get the needle through the yarn because I was pulling it so tight, so I felt for him in that moment. But apparently, he didn’t mind, and he’s just there to learn. And, apparently, he’s turning his briefcase into a knitting kit, which I think is adorable; how he uses an actual briefcase for his knitting supplies. So, he’s been converted to the knitting, he’s been converted.
Amanda: I could just see him going to court, pulling out his briefcase, pulling out his ball of yarn and his needles and just knitting there while he’s in the middle of a trial or something. I could just see him doing that at some point.
Angela: That would be really funny because he does still have the high-strung lawyer vibe up until the very end of, “Oh, he found the recipe on the Internet,” and he is trying to do what the group does; he’s trying to fit in with them.
(responds to comment by Lady Gizmo “I was surprised Dorrie slashed the painting of Amy because she was so angry Amy stole her boyfriend away from her – sad tale of sibling rivalry”) Oh, okay, so this fits in with you and Dorrie fitting with the murder vibes. Yeah, the slashing, she slashed the painting.
Amanda: Well, it was her husband, right? It was not her boyfriend; it was her husband and he loved her. Even though I wanted her to be the killer to even right in this moment, I still liked her as a character and I would like to see her come back.
Angela: (Max barks) He agrees with you, right on cue. Where was this? I saw the comment. (responds to Sandra Zack) Knitting groups should be one hundred percent nonjudgemental. I think that should be one of the cornerstone rules of Nibbles & what is it? Why can’t I say this? Knit & Nibble.
Amanda: Yeah, because in other, oh, what’s the series? I think it’s Kate Carlisle with the Crafternoons. I can’t remember. It’s a library series. (A Library Lover’s Mystery) They make all kinds of things and the main character in that book is terrible at all the crafts, but nobody judges her for it because we’re just having fun. I just don’t understand that. That really put me off. Somebody made a comment in the group early in the chapters about the acrylic yarn and I’m like, “Hey man, when you’re first learning to knit, you want to use acrylic because it’s sturdier and you’re going to rip it apart a lot of times. (responds to comment by Marta’s Magical Mystery Class) So, yeah, Jenn McKinlay’s Crafternoons, yeah.
Angela: That’s okay, that’s what I was thinking; that’s what I was about to say with the Crafternooners, Crafternoons. Yes, that was exactly what I was going to bring up because it’s true, I think the emphasis on getting that cardigan or sweater, because he didn’t know what he wanted to do with it, getting it right versus the process, you’re supposed to enjoy the process versus the end result, so I think the emphasis or they need to change that point of view a little bit.
(responds to comment by Crystal Tea Knits) But I just saw someone point out that they weren’t friends in the group. I just got this flashback to last month. Not last month, the month before The Secret, Book and Scone Society (by Ellery Adams) where the women formed a friendship when they created their society. So, when they formed this knitting group, they didn’t do it because they were friends or because they were all brought together, it just seems as if, “I like knitting. You like knitting. Group.”
Amanda: That’s true, yeah, and, maybe, that’s why they were so judgmental and maybe they were competing with each other, which is a terrible way to have any group.
Angela: Maybe they’re going to become best friends over the course of this series and the next time that Pamela gets married, they’re going to be her bridesmaids and Roland’s going to be one of the groomsmen or something, the ushers, we don’t know. I’m hoping maybe they become a little bit closer and they are inviting each other into their homes so I thought that would play a part of it. I mean, you don’t just invite anyone in.
Amanda: Although, now that you think about it, would they actually want to become friends? Because I would be immediately suspicious of who else’s backstory don’t we know since we don’t really know anyone who else could be a killer in this group.
Angela: Yes, “Who else has a knitting needle sharp enough to do damage? What’s your backstory?”
Amanda: Take up crochet so they don’t have any sharp implements to stab each other with.
Angela: That was one of the best parts of the entire book when she was doing the detective interview, and he goes, “Okay, who besides the crochet person is a suspect?” Like, he immediately pulled out the crochet woman as a suspect. He said that in the dialogue, “Who else besides the crochet person?”
Amanda: You can’t stab someone with a hook. I mean, come on.
Angela: I just thought that was so great, though, because he didn’t say, “Oh she does both,” or “Just give me everybody.” He goes, “Okay, aside from the crochet, give me the names.”
Amanda: All the people with sharp sticks, “Who has the sharp sticks?”
Angela: (reads comment by Mia Snow) “Finger knitting for the win!” Oh, my gosh, I love it! Have you seen the videos where people have the thick, thick yarn and they use their arms to do the weaving for the blankets? Oh, I love those. I am always so impressed. People are so coordinated and creative.
Amanda: They’re like gymnasts. They come out with those huge blankets. That’s something I actually couldn’t do because I would get so frustrated with, you know, it’s like playing Twister with yarn. I couldn’t do it.
Angela: (responds to comment by Victoria Hamel) Oh, I almost forgot she (Pamela) pointed them (the cops) towards poor Karen. Yeah, she threw one of her members under-the-bus.
Amanda: And, eventually, Karen’s probably going to find that out, and would Karen still want to come to the group knowing that Pamela was like, “Hey, she might be a murderer.”
Angela: Yeah, Pamela actually thought every single member at one point was a suspect and one of them actually was the killer. But she actually thought every single person was a suspect, so that’s a little nerving.
Amanda: Except for Jean, right? I don’t remember ever hearing her say that Jean was a suspect.
Angela: I don’t remember her ever saying Jean was a suspect, and I also don’t remember her ever looking at the friend as a suspect, because her and the BFF, Bettina, were the only ones who were friends outside of the group. But everyone else, Roland, I think, she even mentioned him at one point, I think every other person had a question mark on them until the very end.
Amanda: Yeah, because Roland showed up at the funeral and she’s like, “That’s suspicious,” and I was like, “No, that’s actually really nice.”
Angela: (leans over to Max) He wanted some of my water, apparently. He was staring at me, my weird little man, I love him.
(responds to comment by Stephanie Gonzales “Which one was Karen?”) I almost had a moment of, “Which one?” I was going, “Oh, her name’s Karen,” and now the name Karen always has that little connotation with it. I’m going, “Oh, Karen.” Yeah, it was the young wife with the professor who lost her needles. She was the newest knitter who was married to the professor who did actually look like a pretty good suspect, I have to admit. But I don’t think losing your knitting needle should make you a murder suspect.
Amanda: Well, I have to admit, she came back into my radar when she stabbed the knitting needle that Pamela gave her back into the ground with such vehemence. It’s like, “Hmm, maybe she did do it.” I don’t know.
Angela: (tapping her finger tips) “Maybe you’re not so quiet.”
Amanda: “Maybe you do have a vicious side to you. Where were you when Amy was in the bushes?”
Angela: (looks down at Max) Hi, I love my little guy. He’s so cute. But I just thought, it just clicked for me, Catrina for the cat. Cat, Catrina, I just got that.
Amanda: Well, I listened to the book after I read the book and she said Catrina, but when I was reading it, I saw it as Cat-Rina so I kept in my mind it was Cat-Rina because I saw the cat stand out for some reason, you know.
Angela: Yeah, that just clicked in my head for some reason. I know that just sounded very tangent or digression moment, but that just clicked, I was just going, “Oh, that was supposed to be one of those things,” because I was thinking we never got the backstory of how she named the cat Catrina, and then it hit me of, “Oh, that’s why she named her Catrina.”
Amanda: So, she must have gotten a pretty good look at the cat to know that it was female at some point.
Angela: I was wondering about that because she hadn’t taken her to the vet yet and, I mean, she also hasn’t picked up the cat as far as we know. So, I don’t know what this little guy’s doing. He’s trying to kick me out of my chair, I guess. (Max sits down behind Angela)
(reading comments) I love how we’re getting all the characters confused now. I’m going, “Is she?”
Amanda: Awful in prison.
Angela: Yeah, Melanie is Roland’s wife. Karen was the one married to the professor, so, no.
Amanda: Yeah, knitting needles.
Angela: No, Roland’s married to Melanie. Roland’s married to the very cute, sweet one at the very end. Yeah, you are correct, you are correct. Karen is married to the professor.
Amanda: Melanie or Melissa. Oh, I don’t remember what her name is now.
Angela: Her name is Melanie, I’m pretty sure it’s Melanie.
Amanda: And I’m going to have to look up what dump cake is because that sounded intriguing and it probably would be easy to make if Roland was successful at it.
Angela: Yeah, he didn’t actually mix the cake mix.
Amanda: Just dump a bunch of stuff in the pan. It sounds like that’s what the recipe was, and I can go for that. Just dump it all in and hope for the best.
Angela: (responds to comment by Stephanie Gonzales) Yeah, I just saw the comment of, if we’re getting them confused, is that a good thing? No, it’s not. It’s not that we got confused with that. I had my little notepad and my notebook out going, “Let me write down my names.” I almost wanted distinctive names. She did do the right thing for the writerly perspective of giving them different letters with the J and the K. You’re never supposed to do the same first letter for all of the characters because it’s going to get messed up the quicker you read. But I think maybe if she had done something to make the names a little bit more unique because they were more just everyday names that you encounter. Or, maybe, she could have done something with the characters of, “Oh, here’s this person’s backstory,” or “They went out to coffee and they had this conversation,” because we see them as a group pretty much the whole time and, so, you don’t really see Nell without Karen and, so, they’re right next to each other the whole time, and you’re going, “Wait, which one is the older woman?” – “Oh, yeah, it’s you.”
Amanda: Yeah, we didn’t really get a lot, actually, a lot of the characters were pretty one-dimensional. I think somebody mentioned that about Penny, but now that I think about it, even Pamela was kind of just flat.
Angela: Okay, I’m going to make this switch. I am really hoping that I’m not about to do something to mess this up. You’re getting a very close-up moment where I’m switching the power from my laptop to the iPad. So, hopefully, you can still hear me.
Amanda: Yes, we can still hear you.
Angela: Okay, I just got the ten-percent battery warning with that, and I’m going, “Oh, please, if I plug in something don’t be mean.” Yeah, we have to look this up because I don’t think I’ve ever had or seen the, what is it called, the dump cake?
Amanda: Yeah, at first, I thought he was trying to make monkey bread, which seems harder than what he was doing. But dump cake, that was just intriguing.
(responds to comment by Regina Williams “The police weren’t very present. I expected to see the detectives to keep coming around and questioning Pamela”) Yeah, they really weren’t, were they? The police, they came around for the arrest and the initial questioning and it didn’t even seem like they were that interested in the questioning part.
Angela: I was very perplexed with the one detective who would come after the fact and make her repeat the same story. I thought that was funny because he did it both times. And then when she ever said that the second victim was stabbed and there was no knife, there was no murder weapon around, he turns on her, giving her the dirtiest look going, “How do you know that?” So, he didn’t exactly seem like he was always on her side. I was trying to think how to phrase it. It seemed as if he was very much trying to give her the vibe of, “Oh, I’m here for you except when you’re going to say something and I’m going to turn.”
Amanda: I thought she was their number one suspect, but for being their number one suspect, they really didn’t take that much interest in her.
Angela: (shakes her head) Because she did find both bodies and I understood the first one; it’s in her yard. But, I mean, I understand that the landlord said that she goes around in the trash, but I don’t know as a police officer if I would’ve totally bought that.
Amanda: Well, I’m trying to think when I did my undergrad at Boulder, I have to say we found a lot of, like, most of our furniture, my husband and I when we were freshman in college, most of our furniture came from not the dumpster, but it was near the dumpster, so, because we were poor students, we didn’t have money. So, I understand that; but as an older person with a job, I wouldn’t do that today.
Angela: I understand the things near the dumpster and when you see the chair and you can take it because she did like her antiques, I get those, but she was moving around the trash bag. She wasn’t just getting things that were large, but she was actually moving them, which is where I think she lost me a little bit because it wasn’t just the items. Because, again, with my apartment building, there are a lot of students here because it’s in the middle of DC; they will leave their bookcases and chairs and sometimes you’ll see lamps and they’ll just say it’s free, come and get it and grab it; other times, it will end up down there and then you see someone walk off with it. So, I understand the furniture, but it was when she picked up the trash bags that I kind of went, “Hmm.” I don’t know, if I was the cop, if I would totally think of this as a full-on alibi.
Amanda: I know Mr. Gilly, he opened bags and went through them, right?
Angela: Yes.
Amanda: That’s how he found the clothes that he found. Did she do that too? Was she opening trash bags and looking for clothes?
Angela: She was moving stuff around at least. She was moving the trash bags.
Amanda: Yeah, I would question her a little more, and I think it was Regina said they didn’t, she didn’t even go down to the station to make a statement. They just came to her house and sat in her uncomfortable chair. So, yeah, they really didn’t care.
Angela: Yeah, there was a murder in this town; it’s low-key, okay.
Amanda: Yeah, it’s two in a row in like a week’s time, eh.
Angela: Yeah, and the same woman found them. eh, that’s not a big deal. I have to admit, though, so, I just did the Buddy Read with Christie for the Get Cozy podcast there and it was For Whom the Book Tolls and it had one of the most aggressive, awful cops who’s just going, “I’m going to pin this on you. I think all the evidence points to you!” He was terrible, so I almost thought this was refreshing because the cops weren’t trying to say, “Oh, you’re the killer,” you’re this. And I almost didn’t mind that they were absent because I just had the experience of the truly awful detective who was always there, always saying the wrong thing, so I almost would rather have them say nothing than everything. (reading) Oh, I’m missing comments.
Amanda: (responds to comment) Yeah, Mia, I agree. It did feel like it was missing a motive. Although there were people with motive and they were not at all our killers. So, like, I think the biggest motive in the book, even moreover knowing that these people knew that “You embezzled a bunch of money” is “You stole my husband.” I would be like, “That’s the biggest motive.”
Angela: Yeah, I think Dorrie definitely came across as the best suspect with the husband having slashed the painting, having the sibling rivalry with the weird interactions at the funeral. She was definitely set up to be the one with the other knitting needle.
Amanda: So, do we get a good description of what Pamela looks like? (responds to comment) Because Stephanie brings up an interesting point, they just always believe her even when she’s got the gun pointed at Jean. They believe that she’s innocent, and I don’t remember what she looks like, and I’m trying to think, are we supposed to just, “Is she small? Is she an older woman? Is she a woman that doesn’t look like she has strength to kill someone?” You know how they sometimes make those characters, “She was so weak and frail, just a slip of a thing.”
Angela: You need to narrate some sort of audiobook at some point in time. The way you said that was brilliant. That needs to become a GIF. That was amazing. If I am wrong, please correct me. But I think that they described her as being rather tall and blonde at one point or maybe I’m getting into the other book For Whom the Book Tolls confused with it. But they said she was pretty so she also currently did not look her age, that much I know. I do not know, I could be wrong about the hair color or height, but I know that we have a couple of descriptive details, but yeah, we really don’t know much about Pamela. (responds to comment by Marta’s Magical Mystery Class) Thank you, I’m pretty sure they said blonde and tall.
Amanda: Yeah, maybe the fact that she made no impression on me whatsoever and I forgot her name until I saw somebody mention it in the comments early on, I was like, “Yeah, that’s who she was.”
Angela: (responds to comment by Victoria Hamel “I think this book would have been much better if at the very end we found out Pamela was the murderer”) You just made me cough, Victoria! If she was the murderer, that’s great.
Amanda: That would’ve been, you know, they’d never do that in cozies, do they? Give our narrator the actual killing role, that would be really…
Angela: I mean, we’ve had mystery novels told from the perspective of the killer or you have that narrator, who’s just watching the killer as they live their life. And, so, we have those mysteries but, yeah, we don’t really get those in cozies because we’re not supposed to root for the killer and we’re supposed to root for our sleuther.
Amanda: Well, I didn’t really root for Pamela though. She was kind of, I kind of felt like the police with her, I was just indifferent to her most of the book and I’m like, “Just get to the climax.” So, yeah, it would be interesting, though, if somebody wrote like a cozy from like The Murder of Roger Akroyd, where we have the killer, the whole time, is telling us the story.
Angela: That would be a very interesting experiment because with cozies you’re supposed to be rooting for our amateur sleuth, and I’m kind of curious how they would go about it. Would you be trying to solve your own case?
Amanda: Or, redirecting, so it would look like you’re trying? I don’t know. It would be really interesting, uh, it would be a different kind of read.
Angela: You would also have to really not mind that they killed someone so that victim better be the worst character you can create. So, we have a challenge for someone who’s listening and participating tonight; if you want to draft this book, I am very curious how you would do it.
Amanda: Well, what was the book we read? It was this year, I think, where the killer was also the victim. I loved that one because he was a terrible person with his clicky shoes and he was the victim and the killer. I mean, it was perfect.
Angela: (nodding) Then There Were Crumbs because he wanted to kill the owner of the bakery, so he spiked his rum, but then he used the rum when he was baking and he gave the baked goods to the man and he ate his own poison without realizing it.
Amanda: I mean, that was just perfect. And I don’t know what the second book of that series was because I don’t know how you come back from that because that was just so perfect; he ate the poison himself.
Angela: I have to admit, I think Eve Calder was very clever because I haven’t read the third book in the series, but I did read book two. And, again, she’s able to do the killer with the victim where nobody is really in jeopardy too much. But then when the killer’s revealed, you’re going, “Oh, that makes sense,” and “Oh, okay,” so we have a little bit of backstory here. I won’t give the big reveal, but I enjoyed book two. She’s a good writer.
(reading) Oh, all the comments. (reads comment by Marta’s Magical Mystery Class) “I feel like we had a sidekick murderer.” Okay, I saw someone else mention, where was it? Someone was talking about having the sidekick be the killer. So, there are some things that people can do with cozies that haven’t been done yet. So, it looks like we have a lot of inspiration for people who want to write books. (reading comments) Yeah, I like how people actually want the main character to be the killer. So, we have that, and then some of y’all really didn’t like Pamela and then some of you, okay, where was the passionate hatred, which one was that for?
Amanda: Let’s see, I don’t remember where I saw that come up, and it went by so fast. Let’s see, I’m not sure what Nancy’s referring to about that.
Angela: (responds to comment by Regina Williams “I was all for Jean’s wardrobe choices”) Oh, no, I will just say I wanted Jean’s wardrobe as well because her house sounded beautiful.
Amanda: Yeah, yeah, and how come the person with the nicest house and the nicest wardrobe had to be the killer. Now they can’t have Knit & Nibble at the nicest house anymore.
Angela: (reading comments) Oh, okay, we’re all caught up. So, Tara aka Crystal Tea Knits was not a fan of the book. Okay, I’m in the loop now. Oh, yay! Someone else enjoyed book two of the Cookie House Mystery series. I was a fan of book one. I love that book, and it’s so funny that this is a natural conversation topic.
So, I finished editing, I also will just throw out there that the Knitted Librarian aka our guest hostess will also be featured on our podcast in the coming weeks/months, but the very first official episode for Chatting Cozies is going to be my discussion of book two in the Cookie House Series by Eve Calder with Ben @botanyandbooks, so that’s going to be the first Tuesday of the month. And this just naturally came up, so this was a perfect little time, but you are also going to be featured. I think she has, honestly, y’all, I think Amanda has the best voice. I think she needs her own podcast or to narrate because you really do have a way with how you present your thoughts and enunciate and, yes, apparently Max agrees with me.
Amanda: Well, I’m going to have to get book two of the Cookie House, is that right? I know, because I really, that was my favorite book we read this year for the Cozy Mystery Book Club. I loved that one because I have never read a book where the victim killed himself. It was just so amazing.
Angela: I thought the writing was so clever with that book, and I love the details with the main character, the baker, who the main character ends up working for, who’s the suspect. How his wife’s name was a flower and he put that flower into the window as a thoughtful moment and she built the cookie house in gingerbread and gave it to him as a gift. All the small details just made me so happy with that book. That’s why, so, the whole premise with Chatting Cozies is reading the next book in a series or reading something that’s different from one of our Book Club reads and, so, I knew right away I wanted book two to be a part of that podcast because I loved book one so much. I just want to stay, I think it’s called Coral Cay, I believe that’s the name –
Amanda: Yeah, I think so.
Angela: I just want to stay there in that town with these characters because it does give you all the cozy vibes. And Maxie, I believe, is the best friend’s name, she was awesome. I just wanted to stay with that character in that entire scene.
Amanda: Is that the series that has the community dog?
Angela: (nodding) Oliver.
Amanda: Yes, yes, yeah, I definitely have to read more of that series.
Angela: And he eventually kind of chooses her as his person. My heart.
Amanda: (nodding) He was the best dog! I think, was it Kate Lansing that writes the Colorado Wine Mystery series?
Angela: Killer Chardonnay, yes.
Amanda: Yes, her cats are the best cozy companions and, then, Oliver, the community dog is the second best.
Angela: (Max barks) I think Max didn’t like that. That was perfect timing.
Amanda: You didn’t like? Well, yes, I know.
Angela: He went to the groomers. Doesn’t he look like a little puppy without all the extra fur?
Amanda: Yeah.
Angela: I think he looks so cute, and it’s the snout because, now, you can see the full face. I’m such a proud mama with him, right? He’s barking, and I’m going, “Isn’t he cute?”
(reading comments) I know, now, we got to read book three, but I don’t think anyone’s scheduled for a podcast chat on that one. So, that’s why I haven’t read book three yet. So, wink-wink, nudge-nudge. I think Ben maybe said he was going to read book three to do a comeback for the podcast because I really love that, those first two books. So, I want to just stay there.
(responds to comment by Victoria Hamel “Max is the #1 cozy book club companion) Aww, yes, Max is our cozy companion. It’s so cute, too, because we have him for Celebrating Cozy, which is one of the sister accounts, which is aside from my Twitter account, the sister Twitter account that just celebrates cozy mysteries. So, it’s @CelebratingCozy and he’s the image. Max was the inspiration in his own little Sherlock costume for the logo for that Twitter account because we have Purrlock Holmes who’s a cat and he’s the dog representing the other side of Cozy Mystery. So, Max was a little inspiration for that logo, if y’all didn’t pick up on that. Max is actually having his birthday. He’s turning nine years old. My baby. He’s still a baby. He’s a forever puppy. Yes, so, he is my little Sherlock Max. (reading comments) Okay, yeah, so, we got the dog fans here. We had the black cat with Murder, She Knit and, apparently, Max is representing the dogs tonight.
Amanda: I could go either way, dogs or cats. I’ve always loved cats and I’ve always wanted a cat, but I’m so allergic to them. Maybe that’s why I love them so much because I can’t have them.
Angela: I’ve never really minded cats. It’s not as if I’m a dog person and I’m going, “Oh, cats down with them.” I like cats. I like going to the Cat Café here in DC. I’ve been there a few times now, and there was one cat I met, his name was Jerry. I would’ve gone home with him that same day, but someone else had already adopted him, which broke my heart because I love this little guy. So, I would be willing to get a cat, it just has to be the right cat. Max does not have a little brother or sister quite yet but maybe.
(reading comments) Aww, thank you. Yes, the little guy, he has his birthday coming up. I love how I’ve been talking about today’s date forever, but his birthday is in three days, so it’s coming up, as the little paw is just over my arm. He’s adorable. He was my little source of calm when I was having my tech difficulties before and, so, it’s nice that he’s being calm right now because during the livestream he was not, but it’s coming back around. As he’s looking at the door and probably about to bark.
So, anywho, was there anything else about the book y’all wanted to talk about? A character, scene, something in particular? Because I think we’ve covered a lot. I definitely think there was a lot to talk about, but I think we’ve covered pretty much everything. What do you think?
Amanda: I feel pretty good. A lot of people brought up a lot of good points, and I think I’m not alone when I say eh, Pamela, so that was nice because it’s always hard when you don’t like the main character.
Angela: I didn’t really dislike her, but I wasn’t rooting for her going, “Oh, I’m your biggest fan, I love you,” either. I love how I’m blanking on her name as I say how much I love the series with the Cookie House series. I loved that main character. I just wanted to be her friend whereas I didn’t think Pamela as, “Oh, I want to be your friend” or “I want to be you.” I was just reading about a character. So, there wasn’t any strong feelings for me either way with that going, “Oh, I’m going to love you and root for you.” I was just watching the story unfold. (reading comments) “Oh, poor Pamela.” So, yeah, I mean, I’m not saying it as a bad thing, I honestly think this actually might be a smart move. And, again, this is where reading book two and three and the rest of the series comes into play because she can grow over the course of the narrative because she has, I don’t know how to explain it more of a…
Amanda: Well, we didn’t know a lot about her, so there’s really a lot to come up with her. I just was really indifferent to her. She had a cool job, but other than that I was just like, eh.
Angela: Yeah, I kind of thought of her as a blank slate almost, if that makes sense. I was trying to think of a way of phrasing it because we didn’t get the background of who her husband was to her and their relationship and I can’t even remember how he passed away off the top of my head. So, we didn’t really get into her grief or the empty-nest syndrome with the daughter going off to college. I think there are a lot of things to explore with her that we just didn’t get to do with book one. But that’s not to say it’s not going to come up in book two and three and the rest of the series.
Amanda: Yeah, she didn’t make an impression at all because I couldn’t even remember what she looked like.
Angela: Oh, Pamela, hopefully, in book two if Amanda decides to read you, she will love you, if she decides to read book two.
Amanda: Well, I have to know, for those who have read the rest of the series or at least book two, did they get a little nicer in the knitting group? Because if they don’t get nicer in the knitting group, I’m not in.
Angela: (responds to comment) Colleen has the best memory, thank you. “It was an accident on a construction site (how her husband died)” That could be a mystery into itself. Was it an accident? Was there an insurance scandal? Did he notice something and they were trying to get rid of him from blowing the whistle? There are so many things you could do with that. It’s so much more interesting than he had a heart attack.
(responds to comment “Amanda, you were such a fun co-host!Thank you so much!”) And, yes, Lady Gizmo, isn’t she an amazing co-host? I love Amanda so much. And, again, with her username, isn’t she just the perfect person to talk about Murder, She Knit, the Knitted Librarian, it was just meant to be. I also have to admit, I love the photo that I found for you, and I put in the thumbnail image when I was making the Canva. I was using Canva to make the image. It shows one of her creations with the scarf. It shows that she knitted. I’m proud of you with your knitting creations. I’m very impressed.
Amanda: Thank you. I am a mediocre knitter, but I enjoy everything that I’ve made.
Angela: Well, that’s the whole thing, when people are doing hobbies, you’re not supposed to become the best painter in the world. If you want to paint nothing but flowers, you go paint nothing but flowers. If you want sunflowers every single time, you paint those sunflowers; you do you. And if that’s knitting for me, again, I do scarves and blankets, eh, it’s fine!
Amanda: (responds to comment “Love Amanda’s backdrop [yarn emoji]) Oh, thank you, Lady Gizmo. That is actually all my yarn that I have to knit up so I can buy some on Black Friday. My husband says, “If you don’t knit half that shelf, you can’t buy any in November,” so.
Angela: He’s holding you accountable. I love that. He’s holding you accountable. He’s going, that’s what people do with books they see, they’re going, “Have you read these?” I’m going, “No.”
Amanda: Well, you know, just half I have to use, so I think I might be able to make it by November.
Angela: Oh, I was going to say your little fingers are going to be very busy in the coming weeks and months. You’re going to have a lot of knitting to do.
(reading comments) Oh, my goodness. You guys are so sweet. Oh, I’m so glad that you guys, even if there were some things about the book that jumped out at you, I’m glad you enjoyed it for the most part. And, yes, little fluffy, apparently, I don’t know if you just heard the little growl with that because, apparently, he’s getting tired.
I was going to ask if there was anything else y’all wanted to talk about, bring up. I am going to go pull up, again, I learned how to use these things so I might as well actually pull it up. (displays large colorful chart The Cozy Mystery Book Club in 2022 by month and book cover) So, our next book is Cloche and Dagger (A Hat Shop Mystery) by Jenn McKinlay, and we were talking about the Library Lover’s Mystery series earlier and that was one of our most well-received reads pretty much ever so I have very high expectations for this book. So, that is next up on the Book Club read for August.
And, yes, here’s the image (displays fun YouTube livestream image for tonight) I was talking about before. I just wanted to show off one of your creations. (Amanda wearing a beautiful, detailed, brown-purplish scarf) I was so impressed with the design, so I just wanted to give you the shoutout you deserve. So, if you’re not already following Amanda, my incredible guest hostess @Knitted Librarian over on Instagram, look at what she made in that image. I love how I have the mug because I thought, “Oh, we have the black cat and the mug matches,” but your knitting, so, go you!
Amanda: I had so much fun and thank you so much for inviting me to do this with you.
Angela: Oh, my gosh, I’m so happy to chat with you again because, again, as I mentioned before, she is going to pop up on a certain podcast that I’ve been working on. So, I’m glad to do a different format and chat with you live and do something this way because you are so sweet and you have been a part of the Book Club for so long. You’re always so sweet with your posts and, so, when it came to this topic, when the books were voted on and chosen, I had my little list going of potential hosts. I’m going, “I know exactly who fits with this theme!” I was very happy you said, “Yes.”
Amanda: Well, I was really surprised you asked me and I cannot wait for next month. I haven’t read this series, but Jenn McKinlay is my favorite so I’m super pumped about next month.
Angela: I am really looking forward to it. That was one of the books, every so often this will happen with me, I know someone’s going to recommend a book and I will add it to a future (TBR). I have my notebook and every time someone recommends a book, I always write it down and we are on I think the third notebook. It’s become, again, you guys don’t see what goes on behind the scenes, so, it’s become a clear container where I actually will just now put the notebook and the post-it notes of the book titles that people recommend. So, we are voting on our 2023 reads right now, and I did that because it’s going to take a while to get the complete 2023 TBR, and I also wanted to leave time for vote offs if there’s a tie, which has happened on more than one occasion.
But I write all the titles down and we have hers, she came up multiple times with this series and so, at one point, the book was On Sale or I came across the book and I purchased it. So, it’s been sitting there on my bookcase, and I’m going, “I’m going to read Cloche and Dagger someday and I’m probably going to do it with the Book Club,” and then it was one of the Book Club voted-on titles, I’m going, “Yes, I finally get to read this book!” So, I’ve had this on my shelf for a while now.
(responds to comment by Marta’s Magical Mystery Class “There’s even a crossover between McKinlay’s Hat series and Cupcake series and Library series ALL together in Book 8: Death in the Stacks) That was the other one, yes. So, apparently, I have Jenn McKinlay’s name down multiple times, but other people had recommended her Sprinkle with Murder the Cupcake Bakery Mystery series. I believe that was in a previous poll and it came in second by a single percentage, if I remember correctly. She’s a very popular author with the cozy mystery group.
(reading comments) Oh, yay! I’m glad people are excited about next month’s read. I already have the YouTube URL all set up. So, hopefully, everything with that technology will go swimmingly that evening. I’m glad. Lady Gizmo mentioned she liked this format. So, this happened because I have my iPad here and my computer here, so I’m looking forward to Jenn McKinlay’s conversation topic with Cloche and Dagger being a technology easy night.
Oh, okay, so, people are talking about more, I think Jenn McKinlay might actually be a conversation topic for an entire livestream episode because she’s so prolific, which I think is just, “Hi!” (Max) He wants to apparently talk. Oh, look at the little face goes right into the crook of the arm. He’s such a little cutie pie. But I’m so appreciative of you taking the time to read the book and chat with me and be here tonight. And I love that you wore a shirt that you knitted and I agree with Lady Gizmo, you have the sweetest background and I’m so appreciative of you. So, all the shoutouts and love to Amanda, and, again, if you’re not already following her, she’s the Knitted Librarian and I highly recommend you check out her Instagram account because it’s knitting and books and that’s what we’re talking about tonight.
Amanda: Well, thank you.
Angela: You are very welcome. And I think I touched on all of my notes for this evening with the current reads are being voted on. I know I’m a planner, but we have twelve months of books to vote on, so if I leave each poll up for an entire week and I leave time, if there’s a potential tie, it works out. So, far, we only have one read that’s been selected and our January 2023 read is Pies and Prejudice by Ellery Adams, and we are currently voting on the February 2023 read. I believe, as I go over on Twitter, I believe that there’s one book that’s currently in the lead, but any book can win right now. So, it is Buried in a Good Book, Chapter and Curse, Double Booked for Death, and Murder at the Lakeside Library, and I linked all of the books, all the titles have their Goodreads pages linked under the pinned tweet. So, that is the pinned tweet for you to vote on. And, yes, it is still any book’s game right now. So, right now Buried in a Good Book is in the lead at 32.8% but Chapter and Curse is at 28% and Murder at Lakeside Library is at 22% so any book can win.
Please make sure you visit the Twitter and vote for your favorite, and if you don’t have a Twitter, just let me know and I will vote for you via one of my personal accounts. I am very conscientious when it comes to the Twitter voting. I never vote myself because I feel very uncomfortable doing that. Again, these books are chosen by you, voted by Book Club members and that’s very important to me. So, if there is a title that you want voted on but you don’t have a Twitter, let me know and I can vote for you from mine, and I will vote on your behalf.
(reading comments) Oh, you’re welcome. Thank you for joining tonight and I appreciate y’all taking time out of your lives to read this book and celebrate cozy mysteries with me and Amanda tonight. And I am just always honored that you guys are a part of the Book Club and you guys are so sweet with your comments. And just thank you so much for being a part of The Cozy Mystery Book Club and celebrating cozy mysteries.
I hope you guys have just the best night ever and you enjoy the rest of your July and you stay safe, happy, healthy, and you enjoy your next cozy mystery so much it becomes a five-star read and just all of the happiness to you guys.
Thank you for joining tonight and thank you, again, to Amanda, the Knitted Librarian, shoutouts and love to her. So, if you’re not already following her, please check out her Instagram account and thank you all for being here tonight.
I think we’re going to hit End Broadcast and, hopefully, you guys can get some more cozy mystery reading done tonight. So, thank you for joining. Bye, everyone!
Amanda: Bye.
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