Blog Tour & Giveaway: Knit, Purl, Die by Anne Canadeo

Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Pocket; Original edition (December 29, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 141659812X
ISBN-13: 978-1416598121

From the back cover: "Gloria Sterling had it all--money, looks, and a new sexy young husband. So when she's found floating face down in her own swimming pool, shock waves ripple through tiny Plum Harbor. At the Black Sheep Knitting Shop, Maggie Messina and her circle are devastated to lose their dear friend--a woman as colorful as her fabulous yarn creations.

The police are quick to call it an accident, but sorting out Gloria's final hours leaves too many loose ends to satisfy her friends. The vivacious, fifty-something cougar had her French manicured tips in more than a few pots, and the threads of some inside deals stashed in her chic knitting tote.

Who was the last person to see Glora alive on that quiet summer night? Two empty wine glasses suggest she wasn't home alone knitting the entire night . . .The Black Sheep need to know the truth and set out to unravel--stitch by stich--the weighty secrets that pulled poor Gloria under."

My thoughts What a fun cozy! Canadeo does a great job of introducing the diverse members of the Black Sheep knitters: widowed Maggie who owns the Black Sheep Knitting Shop, college student Phoebe, divorcee Lucy and two married women Dana and Suzanne make up the group. She also sets the scene of the crime with flair. While Gloria's realtor, Suzanne, is showing the home to well heeled clients the last thing she wants them to find is a body in the pool.

While their marital status and ages are diverse, the Black Sheep knitters all have two things in common: they love to knit and they want to find out who murdered their friend Gloria. Yes, murdered! There is no way Gloria would move her chair from the terrace to that end of the pool. She didn't even like to get wet never mind go for a swim at close to midnight. When the friends start to do some amateur sleuthing, someone's feathers are ruffled and a threatening note is left at the Black Sheep Knitting Shop. Will the five friends figure out who didn't want to see Gloria live to knit another stitch?

This is a new author for me but I was immediately drawn in due to several factors; the location is coastal Massachusetts and the group of friends are knitters. The clues are believeable and there is more than one viable motive and they all involve some pricey and or shady real estate deals. I really enjoyed the mystery, the recipes and the knitting links at the end of the book. Although this is the second book in the Black Sheep Knitters series, I don't feel that I missed anything by not having read the first one. 4****

About the author: Anne Canadeo began her Black Sheep Knitting Mystery series with While My Pretty One Knits. She is the author of more than 30 books, including the bestselling Cape Light series, which she writes as Kathleen Spencer. A novice with needles, she finds many similarities between knitting and writing-inspiration, peristence, and good thing happening by accident. Anne lives in Northport, New York.

Now for the giveaway details: Pocketbooks is allowing me to give away two copies of the book to:

Residents of the USA only
Followers of this blog.
Be sure to include an e mail address. Bonus entries can be earned by:

+5 posting about it and leave me a permalink
+2 putting a link to contest in sidebar

Deadline to enter is Feb 3rd at 5 P.M. Good luck!

Disclosure: A review copy of the book was provided by Pocketbooks. Thank you, Sarah.