Knitting Up a Murder

The Yarn Genie Mysteries series #1

by Celeste Bennett

Imogene Dalmat, a knitting agoraphobic, believes her new husband wants her billion dollar inheritance and is willing to kill her to get it. On the run, she sheds her rich identity and navigates life without servants or money. When she chooses undercover FBI agent Frank Bachman's car to hide in, she begins the wildest journey of her life. When her husband is found murdered by her knitting needle, Imogene enlists Frank's help to find the true killer and recover her stolen money. Imogene and Frank must sidestep their growing attraction in order to unwind the web of deceit that surrounds her. As the truth unravels, Imogene learns the truth about her life, her marriage and why more than one person wants her dead.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Cozy

194 pages, Paperback

First published January 4, 2015

About the author

After spending 28 years enforcing consumer protection laws, Celeste Bennett retired from her position as Consumer Protection Director for the Michigan Department of Agriculture intending to dabble in her yarn crafting and creative writing hobbies while spending more time with her three children. Once her children were well entrenched in college life, she pursued her writing in earnest, having several novels in progress.

Celeste draws from her science background, her years in enforcement, her sense of humor, and her creativity to bring a sense of realism to the stories she wants to share with readers.

Reviews

[Celeste Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just re-read this book this weekend. Is it conceited for an author to say they love their own book? I hope not, because I've been humbled by the writing experience and have new admiration for anyone who has the dedication and drive to write a novel.

This book was a joy to write, a pain to edit, and re-edit, and re-re-edit, but I am pleased with the end result. I hope my readers find it a fun read, as was intended.

[Kristen Freiburger · Rating 1 out of 5]

I forced myself to finish this book because it came from a little store in my hometown. It was absolutely terrible. The spelling errors, punctuation errors, lack of character development…no idea how this was published. May I please have my money back?

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

My daughter bought me this autographed book from a local author. I have never read anything by her before, but I liked it, although there were some missing words here and there. Imogene is a very wealthy recluse, who works as her aunt's secretary for her mystery novels. She meets someone from Albania, and marries him. A few months later, her aunt is dead, and she hears a conversation that leads her to believe her new husband wants her dead to. Running from him, she hides in someones car...a car that belongs to an FBI agent. On hearing her story, he decides to help her. Soon, she is accused of killing her husband with one of her knitting needles. Can Frank find a way to save her?

[Amitola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hayastan is not another name for Albania

It’s the Armenian language make for Armenia. That’s just one if he annoying typos and misspelled words and grammar mistakes in this book. It’s a good story, nicely convoluted with surprising twists. If you like a silly romance, that’s there, too. It’s a good beach read at the least.

[Kirsten · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. This book was in desperate need of an editor. So many mistakes. The mystery had moments of greatness but then the mistakes caught up and hurt it. As a knitter I was also disappointed with the knitting.

[L Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly, I quite enjoyed this book. The mystery was good with lots of surprises at the end. The characters were starting to flesh out - it’s the first in the series so there has to be something left to learn. The reason I am surprised is that I don’t usually care to read romance. This book was so nicely written that I couldn’t stop reading. And I might have to read the next book to see how Imogene gets along after all this drama.

[J.T. Macek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished reading "Knitting Up A Murder" by Celeste Bennett. A cute and funny cozy mystery! Celeste writes humorous phrases that made me laugh. She kept me interested with her fast-paced story of an heiress and FBI agent.

[Karin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned that if you can’t understand them, don’t marry them!!! I did enjoy the story and recommend the book.

[Elizabeth F. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very intriguing story/mystery. Lots of twists and turns. Quirky characters. Well written fun read. Highly recommend!

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This made me pick my knitting again

[Niki · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick cozy mystery.

[KnitGen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd give this a 3.5. I hated Imogene at the beginning of the book. So clumsy and wimpy and afraid of everything. Throughout the book, she did become stronger, more capable and intelligent. I liked the Imogene at the end of the book. I wish the author had started with her like that. She was still clumsy and clueless on how lots of things worked but clever and able to solve problems. The author didn't have to make Imogene so unlikable. She could still be a shy homebody without being so unlikable/useless. I get this was to show how easy it was for Imogene to end up where she did but really didn't need to go that far. Plus, if she really was agoraphobic and afraid of talking to people so much so she couldn't of been such a huge help to her aunt. and she wouldn't of been able to survive the way she did. After the first 1/3 of the book, once we met the FBI agent, it got much better. I enjoyed the mystery aspect, that was fun.

[Angela Griffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quirky

Imogene's story is a bizarre cross between screwball comedy zaniness and film noir darkness and danger...and, somehow, it works! I'll admit that I spent the first quarter of the book despising her weakness, phobias, and entitled existence to the point of tossing this book. Once the storyline took a turn I began to appreciate the author's writing style highlighted by Imogene's unique viewpoint. The result is this oddly beguiling start to the Yarn Genie Mystery series; I'm interested in knowing what choices Imogene will make, and I hope to see more of Gordon, Frank, and Janey.

[Debra · Rating 3 out of 5]

The present tense the author chose to use drove me crazy. I was always told this was sloppy, awkward writing and I had a very hard time finishing it. I almost quit and I am glad I did not because the mystery itself was pretty good. Her weak attempt of veiling common stores, items, etc., i.e. RMart., was unnecessary and distracting as well. I would hope the author would alter her style in the future and I would read more of her work, should that be the case. She had a good story to tell, and maybe there will be more.

[Celest · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took a few chapters to get me hooked

This is a new author for me, so I guess I have a brand new style and way of weaving a mystery to enjoy. I will admit that it took a little while for me to get into this one, but the more I read the more I enjoyed the story. The main character has a lot going on in her personal life which takes us on an unusual adventure. There were many twists that kept me guessing and not knowing who to trust. Great book. I am starting the next one right away.

[Stephanie Tadlock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Knitting cozy

Give this book a chance. Imogene and Frank are the main characters in this knitting mystery. The first three chapters built the story, pay attention to the clues. This is a first book in a new series by Celeste Bennett. If you are a knitter there is a scarf pattern at the end. #Celeste Bennett. #YarnGenieKnittingMystery

[Dona R. Gant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unravel this

A wildly spun tale of who's in, who's out and what's it really all about. If you think that has you guessing, you should read this book. That's the only way you'll know. Easy read for summer.

[Deb Sharp · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic first book for a series!

WOW! This book was full of surprises I loved all the twist and turns, the main characters were interesting leaving me excited to start the next book in this wonderful series.

[louise b janelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still laughing

Celeste Bennett is a funny, clever writer . Her book had me laughing from start to finish. She deserves better proofreading and editing than were given to this book. There's no excuse for the many errors in this book except that possibly the editor never read it.

[Marie · Rating 1 out of 5]

The main character was dumb and unlikable. This book was annoying and life's too short to read annoying books.

[Nancy Bodie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed

This was a well written story. The characters were well developed. The storyline was complex and detailed. I look forward to the second book.

[Teresa Hinkle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review

I like this book lots of unexpected things.
Very well developed characters.
Celeste Bennett is a writer worth reading, a very good book.

[Brenda Garvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed reading this book looking forward to the next .