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Seaside Knitters Mystery #7
Angora Alibi
The sun is shining in Sea Harbor and a group of friends, the Seaside Knitters, are spending Thursday evenings knitting the sweetest of gifts—a baby blanket. But as the due date draws near, they find they must take time away from their needles and yarn to confront a murder and untangle a mystery before a certain baby is brought into the world....
It’s an exciting time for yarn shop owner Izzy Chambers Perry. She and her new husband are expecting a baby, and all of Sea Harbor seems to be rejoicing with them. As a mother-to-be, Izzy is having a heady summer—full of bike rides, runs along the shore, and time spent with her aunt Nell and the other Seaside Knitters—until the day she spots an abandoned baby car seat and hand-knit blanket on the beach. Izzy immediately recognizes the blanket’s material—a soft yellow angora yarn she displayed in her shop window last fall. Maybe it’s the hormones, but Izzy has a terrible premonition, and when she realizes no one is claiming the car seat, she shoves it in her trunk. Soon it starts taking over her thoughts and her dreams. What happened to the baby who once sat inside it?
Unfortunately, Izzy’s fear of something bad happening comes true when a young man who did odd jobs at her doctor’s clinic is killed during a scuba dive. When Izzy discovers the man was actually murdered and is connected to the abandoned car seat, the crime becomes too close for comfort and Izzy asks her aunt Nell and knitting pals to investigate. It’ll take the Seaside Knitters’ careful attention to patterns—and their fierce commitment to bringing Izzy and Sam’s baby into a peaceful town—to knit this mystery together....
It’s an exciting time for yarn shop owner Izzy Chambers Perry. She and her new husband are expecting a baby, and all of Sea Harbor seems to be rejoicing with them. As a mother-to-be, Izzy is having a heady summer—full of bike rides, runs along the shore, and time spent with her aunt Nell and the other Seaside Knitters—until the day she spots an abandoned baby car seat and hand-knit blanket on the beach. Izzy immediately recognizes the blanket’s material—a soft yellow angora yarn she displayed in her shop window last fall. Maybe it’s the hormones, but Izzy has a terrible premonition, and when she realizes no one is claiming the car seat, she shoves it in her trunk. Soon it starts taking over her thoughts and her dreams. What happened to the baby who once sat inside it?
Unfortunately, Izzy’s fear of something bad happening comes true when a young man who did odd jobs at her doctor’s clinic is killed during a scuba dive. When Izzy discovers the man was actually murdered and is connected to the abandoned car seat, the crime becomes too close for comfort and Izzy asks her aunt Nell and knitting pals to investigate. It’ll take the Seaside Knitters’ careful attention to patterns—and their fierce commitment to bringing Izzy and Sam’s baby into a peaceful town—to knit this mystery together....
303 pages, Hardcover
First published May 7, 2013
89 people are currently reading
1405 people want to read
About the author
Sally Goldenbaum
38 books907 followersSally Goldenbaum is a philosophy teacher, knitter, editor, and the author of more than two-dozen novels.
Series:
* A Seaside Knitters Mystery
*
Series:
* A Seaside Knitters Mystery
*
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 143 reviews
June 8, 2013
As I skim other reviews of this book, I see it is popular with knitters. I don't knit, so maybe I didn't feel a connection to this group of women who knit together while they solve murders in their quaint little town in Cape Ann. That's pretty much all they do. Sit and knit and constantly rehash the details of the latest murder, over and over again. And just in case you didn't think of this yourself, there are constant comparisons between knitting something and solving a murder. There's I think we're getting close. But it's still a little bit like this sweater. We need to weave the ends in." and "...Nell refreshed their memories, lining up pieces of conversation they'd all been privy to over the weeks. They lay there in front of them like pieces of yarn, ready to be stitched into the whole." There are plenty more references but I think you get it.
The mystery itself was interesting. Sure, I figured out pretty quickly who it had to be by eliminating all the obviously red herrings thrown my way. I wish it was a little tighter, with fewer knitting sessions, and a tad more action. But I guess that's why most people read them. It is book #11 in "The Seaside Mystery" series. So please note, not the right match for me but others may love it.
The mystery itself was interesting. Sure, I figured out pretty quickly who it had to be by eliminating all the obviously red herrings thrown my way. I wish it was a little tighter, with fewer knitting sessions, and a tad more action. But I guess that's why most people read them. It is book #11 in "The Seaside Mystery" series. So please note, not the right match for me but others may love it.
October 17, 2019
Sally Goldenbaum writes stories that make you want to go visit the place, sit with Izzy, Nell, Birdie and Cass sharing knitting and wine and smelling the sea!
Izzy is pregnant and she and Sam (and pretty much everyone else in Sea Harbor) are looking forward to the new arrival, but Izzy starts to get jittery when she finds an abandoned child car seat and blanket near the beach. Her nerves are even more shaken when a distant cousin of the much loved local nurse is killed and then there is another death. Now the four friends need to knit the clues together at the same time as knitting baby clothes so that Baby Perry can have a safe arrival in Safe Harbor!
Izzy is pregnant and she and Sam (and pretty much everyone else in Sea Harbor) are looking forward to the new arrival, but Izzy starts to get jittery when she finds an abandoned child car seat and blanket near the beach. Her nerves are even more shaken when a distant cousin of the much loved local nurse is killed and then there is another death. Now the four friends need to knit the clues together at the same time as knitting baby clothes so that Baby Perry can have a safe arrival in Safe Harbor!
December 2, 2013
I first found out about the Seaside Knitters Mystery series when I read a review that my aunt had written on Goodreads. I had read all of them but not too long ago I discovered that there was a new book Angora Alibi. When I was looking this up, I further discovered that there was a book before this one that I hadn't read called A Fatal Fleece. I will be reading that one soon.
In this book, Izzy is getting ready to welcome her first baby into the world and the knitters have been busy knitting up a wardrobe for the infant. Life in the quaint beach town is disrupted when Jane's distant troubled relative is found dead and not long after an old resident is found dead at his home. With a heavy dark cloud hanging over the town, the knitters are putting their heads together to try and make the pieces fit, revealing who the murderer is. Everyone wants it to be an outsider who was passing through but with the second murder no one can hold onto that idea. They want this mystery to be solved before the baby arrives. Will it be possible?
I love the characters and the setting is incredible. Reading about how often the friends get together and what Friday nights on Ben and Nell's deck are like makes you want to move there. That is until you think about the homicide rate in this little town by the sea. Delightful read that keeps you guessing "who dun it".
In this book, Izzy is getting ready to welcome her first baby into the world and the knitters have been busy knitting up a wardrobe for the infant. Life in the quaint beach town is disrupted when Jane's distant troubled relative is found dead and not long after an old resident is found dead at his home. With a heavy dark cloud hanging over the town, the knitters are putting their heads together to try and make the pieces fit, revealing who the murderer is. Everyone wants it to be an outsider who was passing through but with the second murder no one can hold onto that idea. They want this mystery to be solved before the baby arrives. Will it be possible?
I love the characters and the setting is incredible. Reading about how often the friends get together and what Friday nights on Ben and Nell's deck are like makes you want to move there. That is until you think about the homicide rate in this little town by the sea. Delightful read that keeps you guessing "who dun it".
August 6, 2018
This was a good one. I always enjoy my trips to the cape with the seaside knitters. This one kept me guessing but I was very excited to figure it out before the reveal (which was quite an exciting few pages). Looking forward to seeing what happens next.
February 21, 2019
This one involves drugs, murder, a private beach, diving, pregnancy, and a health clinic. The mystery was okay. I liked the beach but not what happened there. I also liked the food and knitting. The characters are still delightful.
February 16, 2019
Love this series!!
May 11, 2014
A member of the seaside knitters club and yarn shop owner Izzy and her husband Sam are having a baby and with the demands of pregnancy and life Izzy tries to stay in shape with running along the sea shore, then one day she sees a abandoned infant car seat with a blanket in it she has seen before. She recognizes it as yarn blanket displayed in her shop window, then Izzy can't stop thinking about the car seat and the blanket inside when she decides to put the car seat in her trunk then strange things start happening....
A friend of Izzy's distant relative, Justin dies when he is scuba diving and soon every one in the seaside knitters club discovers that Justin was murdered and then another local man that lives along the shore, Horace is murdered. The Seaside knitters are soon on the case and try to weave together the pieces of the puzzle to discover that someone in their town is a murderer.
This book hooked me from the first page, I became lost and transported in this Sea Harbor world of the Seaside Knitters Club and a murderer, beautiful writing with many animated characters. I don't knit but always wanted to learn and if you are a knitter or not you will enjoy this story, it was the cozy aspect of this cozy mystery. Even the covers of this series beckon me to want to read them and become part of their world.
A friend of Izzy's distant relative, Justin dies when he is scuba diving and soon every one in the seaside knitters club discovers that Justin was murdered and then another local man that lives along the shore, Horace is murdered. The Seaside knitters are soon on the case and try to weave together the pieces of the puzzle to discover that someone in their town is a murderer.
This book hooked me from the first page, I became lost and transported in this Sea Harbor world of the Seaside Knitters Club and a murderer, beautiful writing with many animated characters. I don't knit but always wanted to learn and if you are a knitter or not you will enjoy this story, it was the cozy aspect of this cozy mystery. Even the covers of this series beckon me to want to read them and become part of their world.
March 8, 2022
When there is a mystery that you can't bring yourself to care about, and all the characters run together, well, that makes a difficult read for me.
I lost faith in the book early, when a valuable necklace is stolen, and its owner says not to report it to the police, and that it was fine because the necklace was insured. Aaargh! You'd need to report the theft to the police to be able to collect on the insurance!
This is my second book in this series I've read, and maybe I should leave these alone. They are not for me.
I lost faith in the book early, when a valuable necklace is stolen, and its owner says not to report it to the police, and that it was fine because the necklace was insured. Aaargh! You'd need to report the theft to the police to be able to collect on the insurance!
This is my second book in this series I've read, and maybe I should leave these alone. They are not for me.
January 7, 2018
This book is part of a series set in an idyllic town on Cape Ann, Massachusetts. I had a lovely holiday in the same area eight years ago. Part of the reason I like the books is because it brings back happy memories of my holiday! These book are murder mysteries, but are a very relaxing read, nothing gory, and apart from the murder nothing particularly violent! A great holiday read, I love the knitting and food references throughout the story.
November 10, 2013
ARGH STOP IT, you did not invent being pregnant. Treacle!
September 17, 2022
Izzy Perry owns the knit shop in Seaside Harbor, Massachusetts where this occurs. She’s pregnant with her first baby, and she’s dealing with the hormone rollercoaster that often accompanies a pregnancy. While running on the beach one morning, she discovers an abandoned infant car seat with a blanket inside made from a yellow angora yarn she sold in the shop in the fall. The seat gives her the chills; it unsettles her; she has premonitions that bad things are afoot in town. She sees the seat there for days as she runs; one morning, she picks it up and puts it inside her trunk.
Then, the distant cousin of a well-beloved nurse in town dies at the hands of a killer while scuba diving. That leads to plenty of angst in town, especially among the seaside knitters. How can Izzy bring a precious, peaceful baby into a turbulent world where a murderer goes unpunished?
The knitters vow to employ their knowledge of patterns to find a killer. But someone else dies before they can.
These people seem unreal to me. They incessantly hug, and they booze it up like the world could end today. There’s a lot of cloying behavior among these people, and it’s verging on the almost-creepy zone. Are there really places left in the country where the hyper-community spirit like that described in this series exists? I guess I hope so for people who crave that kind of eat, drink, hug, eat, and drink more connection. Jan Carron’s small-town North Carolina scenes feel much more realistic to me than these east coast small-town ones. Strip out the murders, and you’d have a post-return-of-Christ society in this little town. It just feels a bit off. That said, I’ll keep reading because I enjoy the narrations. After all, I’m seven in, I may as well finish the series; there aren’t many more of them.
Then, the distant cousin of a well-beloved nurse in town dies at the hands of a killer while scuba diving. That leads to plenty of angst in town, especially among the seaside knitters. How can Izzy bring a precious, peaceful baby into a turbulent world where a murderer goes unpunished?
The knitters vow to employ their knowledge of patterns to find a killer. But someone else dies before they can.
These people seem unreal to me. They incessantly hug, and they booze it up like the world could end today. There’s a lot of cloying behavior among these people, and it’s verging on the almost-creepy zone. Are there really places left in the country where the hyper-community spirit like that described in this series exists? I guess I hope so for people who crave that kind of eat, drink, hug, eat, and drink more connection. Jan Carron’s small-town North Carolina scenes feel much more realistic to me than these east coast small-town ones. Strip out the murders, and you’d have a post-return-of-Christ society in this little town. It just feels a bit off. That said, I’ll keep reading because I enjoy the narrations. After all, I’m seven in, I may as well finish the series; there aren’t many more of them.
July 30, 2024
To start with, I'm not one of those people who derives joy from guessing the ending before we get there. I much prefer to let it sink in and watch the story unfold before me and enjoy the ride and the mystery before being pleasantly surprised at the final conclusion.
Unfortunately this one was a bust for me. The solution was so obvious that, charitably, I assumed it was a red herring. As the women figured out the details one by one, however, I soon realized with a grim sense of foreboding that no, this was indeed the mystery, such as it could be called.
Additionally, the motivation for the knitting club to solve crimes treads some well-worn ground - and possibly belabors the point. Yes, there's a dark atmosphere over the town that can only be cleared up once the murderer is found. The truth is, most readers only need a bare shade of a wisp of a reason for an amateur sleuth to get involved; we know the score and we're prepared to overlook silly details of reality to get our fix. But Goldenbaum trots out the same reasoning and then continually hits you over the head with it again and again in each book, until it grows tiresome.
So why three stars?
Because the characters and the town, which is a character unto itself, are so well drawn. They're a delight. I find myself rooting for their successes, sad for their tragedies, and swept up in the salty sea breeze just outside the yarn store's windows. There's something - well, cozy about it all, something so familiar and enticing, where everyone treats each other with civil gentility even in the midst of a murder investigation. The women themselves are such close friends that reading about them makes you feel like you're one of the group, helping yourself to a sumptuous Thursday dinner while casting on and discussing possible suspects.
All in all, it's a weak addition to the series, but one still worth reading for the sense of place and people.
Unfortunately this one was a bust for me. The solution was so obvious that, charitably, I assumed it was a red herring. As the women figured out the details one by one, however, I soon realized with a grim sense of foreboding that no, this was indeed the mystery, such as it could be called.
Additionally, the motivation for the knitting club to solve crimes treads some well-worn ground - and possibly belabors the point. Yes, there's a dark atmosphere over the town that can only be cleared up once the murderer is found. The truth is, most readers only need a bare shade of a wisp of a reason for an amateur sleuth to get involved; we know the score and we're prepared to overlook silly details of reality to get our fix. But Goldenbaum trots out the same reasoning and then continually hits you over the head with it again and again in each book, until it grows tiresome.
So why three stars?
Because the characters and the town, which is a character unto itself, are so well drawn. They're a delight. I find myself rooting for their successes, sad for their tragedies, and swept up in the salty sea breeze just outside the yarn store's windows. There's something - well, cozy about it all, something so familiar and enticing, where everyone treats each other with civil gentility even in the midst of a murder investigation. The women themselves are such close friends that reading about them makes you feel like you're one of the group, helping yourself to a sumptuous Thursday dinner while casting on and discussing possible suspects.
All in all, it's a weak addition to the series, but one still worth reading for the sense of place and people.
November 22, 2021
Not my favorite book in this series, but fine really.
The Seaside Knitters are busy making things for Izzy Chambers' soon to be born baby. But their happy plans are interrupted when a young man is found murdered. No one can quite figure out what happened, because though he was not the most upstanding citizen, he was pleasant, and always friendly to most people.
When Izzy finds an empty baby car seat that appears to be discarded in the parking lot near where she does her daily run, she wonders what might have happened. After seeing it there for a few days, she realizes that the worn blanket in the seat is knit from yarn purchased at her shop. She puts it in her car trunk to try and figure it out.
It turns out that the car seat and the murder are related, not necessarily as you might expect.
By the end of the book, things have been resolved, and Izzy has had her baby.
As I said, this is not my favorite in the series, but I do enjoy the main characters, and love hearing what knitting project they work on, as well as the wonderful food and drink throughout the book. But mostly, I love that it all takes place on Cape Ann in Massachusetts, which is one of my most favorite places in the world.
The Seaside Knitters are busy making things for Izzy Chambers' soon to be born baby. But their happy plans are interrupted when a young man is found murdered. No one can quite figure out what happened, because though he was not the most upstanding citizen, he was pleasant, and always friendly to most people.
When Izzy finds an empty baby car seat that appears to be discarded in the parking lot near where she does her daily run, she wonders what might have happened. After seeing it there for a few days, she realizes that the worn blanket in the seat is knit from yarn purchased at her shop. She puts it in her car trunk to try and figure it out.
It turns out that the car seat and the murder are related, not necessarily as you might expect.
By the end of the book, things have been resolved, and Izzy has had her baby.
As I said, this is not my favorite in the series, but I do enjoy the main characters, and love hearing what knitting project they work on, as well as the wonderful food and drink throughout the book. But mostly, I love that it all takes place on Cape Ann in Massachusetts, which is one of my most favorite places in the world.
March 10, 2023
The Seaside Knitters ponder the varying types of innocence: new babies, discovering their world; young, confident pre-teens, assured of their welcome; suspects in the darkest deeds of humans, innocent under the law until proven otherwise. All three come into play, when a reckless, irresponsible young man comes to Sea Harbor, disrupting the quiet lives of its residents. His inattention to consequences leads to various scrapes - and then, murder. When he dies while scuba diving, it soon becomes apparent it was intentional - his equipment had been tampered with - and suspicion soon falls on one of his few friends - in fact, his cousin. And she’s not the only one - a doctor in the practice she’d been working in is also on the list, or any of a variety of merchants from whom he’d been stealing. But the Knitters think it runs deeper than any of that - and set about to find the truth, before the innocent suffer.
July 28, 2021
Izzy is pregnant and is due very soon. Izzy is determined that the baby come at the right time, and she's been having a bad feeling. When the person who does odd jobs at her OB's office is found dead, Izzy and her group of Thursday night knitters must solve the crime so that the baby comes into a safe world.
I really enjoy these characters and getting little glimpses into their lives. I like Izzy and her Aunt Nell. I love getting to know them. I just wish that so much didn't happen in between books, it feels like I'm missing so much. I thought this mystery was so interesting and there were so many twists and turns. I'm so happy for Izzy and her family! Trigger warning for pregnancy loss and pregnancy complications.
I really enjoy these characters and getting little glimpses into their lives. I like Izzy and her Aunt Nell. I love getting to know them. I just wish that so much didn't happen in between books, it feels like I'm missing so much. I thought this mystery was so interesting and there were so many twists and turns. I'm so happy for Izzy and her family! Trigger warning for pregnancy loss and pregnancy complications.
July 23, 2021
The characters in this series are enjoyable enough that the quality of the mystery is secondary. With that in mind, I enjoyed the continuation of my literary “friendship” with the knitters and town folk but the mystery was pretty easy to figure out.
What is probably a weird compliment, so many cozies have titles using puns that have absolutely nothing to do with the book. Kudos to the author for actually working “angora alibi” into the content of the story, even if only one brief mention during a conversation.
What is probably a weird compliment, so many cozies have titles using puns that have absolutely nothing to do with the book. Kudos to the author for actually working “angora alibi” into the content of the story, even if only one brief mention during a conversation.
June 23, 2024
3.5 time is getting close fir Izzy to have her baby and the knitters are knitting up a storm but a storm is also brewing when a young man is drowned after someone tampered with his scuba equipment
Unrest in the cove and it’s important for the knitters to get to the bottom if this and they get together to brainstorm . Another person is murdered an old man who is everyone’s favorite a man who listens along with his dog and takes nite what is happening after dark
Let there be peace before this baby is burn
Unrest in the cove and it’s important for the knitters to get to the bottom if this and they get together to brainstorm . Another person is murdered an old man who is everyone’s favorite a man who listens along with his dog and takes nite what is happening after dark
Let there be peace before this baby is burn
August 8, 2017
This is the story of Izzy and Sam and the arrival of baby Perry. Izzy is feeling unsettled and doesn't want the baby to be born until everything feels right. Part of the unsettled feeling is the fact that two murders have occurred in Sea Harbor and the knitters are trying to figure out the whys and whos. The book was a quick easy read.
February 11, 2023
I love the characters and well knitted plot of this series. I’m not a knitter or a seafood lover, but I fell in love with the Seaside Knitters from the very first book. It’s the relationships and the community that makes these books so wonderful. If food and yarn crafts don’t interest you, then this series is not for you.
May 19, 2023
Fun glimpses of a group of women who all knit and their families regularly get together to share a meal. Their amateur sleuthing, justified by "we can't have that hanging over our heads or in our town", seems a bit on the dangerous side to me but at least they're not breaking and entering as in so many novels
February 10, 2017
The Seaside Knitters Mysteries are like a warm hug. I keep fearing that the newest one will disappoint, but they never do! They feature compelling plots, lovable characters, and a beautiful setting. I will continue to read them as long as Sally Goldenbaum will keep writing!
July 29, 2017
This was an audiobook.
I love the characters in this series. The stories are good, but I really look forward to the camaraderie, the delicious meals, and Izzy's storefront window displays. The pace of life is dreamy, in spite of the murders! On to the next (audio) book in the series.
I love the characters in this series. The stories are good, but I really look forward to the camaraderie, the delicious meals, and Izzy's storefront window displays. The pace of life is dreamy, in spite of the murders! On to the next (audio) book in the series.
March 19, 2018
This author has really done a good job in the first books about keeping the reader guessing (or at least me) but this one was TOTALLY predictable. I'll read the next one because I really love the characters & I hope the next book will redeem the series for me.
June 5, 2018
I am a knitter but this book didn't engage me that way at all - it seems all they do is go out to eat!
This is the only book in the series I've read and I don't believe I'll read any more.
The mystery was OK, but not that engaging.
June 11, 2019
Number 7 and I still enjoy this series. The people of this seaside town feel like friends and I love to imagine coming up on Thursday nights foe Nell’s pot luck dinner, A glass of Burdys favorite Pinot Grigio and knitting with friends. The mysteries still stump me and I am glad for the visit.
April 19, 2024
Another great who done it story line, keeping me guessing until the very end. With lots of interesting sub plots envoled. And at the end of book an intregging baby blanket pattern encluded. might give it a ty.
October 17, 2017
I really like it and this series. This is the first one though I was able to figure it out before the end.
March 8, 2018
This book was a reminder to never ever start a series with a book far from the start.
February 27, 2019
Can't wait for the next adventure
March 4, 2019
Great series
I love the characters in Dallas
I love the characters and story lines in tis series of BOOKS. There at subplots I like too as they keep my ATTENTION.
I love the characters in Dallas
I love the characters and story lines in tis series of BOOKS. There at subplots I like too as they keep my ATTENTION.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 143 reviews