Gone with the Wool

Yarn Retreat Mystery #4

by Betty Hechtman

The national bestselling author of Wound Up in Murder spins a deadly yarn of knitting bees, butterflies, and beauty queens.
 
Every October, thousands of monarch butterflies flock to California’s Monterey Peninsula to spend the winter there. To welcome their colorful guests, Cadbury by the Sea holds a weeklong festival complete with a butterfly queen and her court.
 
Eager to show some town spirit, Casey Feldstein finds herself fluttering back and forth between setting up a yarn retreat, baking and helping out at the festival. But when a former butterfly queen is found dead with a knife in her back after a Bless the Butterflies service, Casey must set her loom aside to hook a killer with a score to settle.

Includes knitting patterns and a recipe!

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Audiobook, Knitting, Cozy, Romance

290 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 5, 2016

About the author

I grew up on the south side of Chicago and in a very busy weekend, got married, graduated college and moved to Los Angeles.

Although my degree is in Fine Arts, all I ever wanted to be was a writer and I've been doing it in one form or another for as long as I can remember. My shining moments in elementary and high school always involved stories or poetry I'd written. I wrote news stories and a weekly column in my college newspaper. My first job out of college was working on the newsletter of a finance company. I worked for a public relations firm and wrote press releases and biographies. Later I wrote proposals for video projects and television shows that went through various stages of development.

I tried writing screenplays and wrote three. I sold one and another was a winner in a Writers' Digest contest.

I was lucky enough to be a stay-at-home mom and did all kinds of volunteering at my son's schools including editing and writing several newsletters.

I wrote essays and small pieces that ran in the Los Angeles Times, the Daily News and Woman's Day among others. My short romantic and mystery fiction appeared in Woman's World, and Futures magazine.

From time I was a thirteen-year-old babysitter cooking for the kids I babysat, I dreamed of writing a book about babysitting. It took a little longer than I'd expected, but BLUE SCHWARTZ AND NEFERTITI'S NECKLACE was published in 2006.

My affair with crochet began in Las Vegas. I had always had a fascination with crochet, particularly granny squares, but thought there was some magic involved with making them that was beyond me. And then everything changed that day in Vegas when I saw the kids' kit in FAO Schwartz. If the instructions were easy enough for kids, I thought they might work for me.

My first granny square was missing a corner, but when I tried again, all four corners were there. I was in awe of my own accomplishment. I had found the magic. I went granny square crazy until pretty soon I didn't need directions anymore. Then I learned there were more squares than just basic grannies and I made squares with sunflowers in the middle and other patterns. I moved beyond squares and made flowers, hearts, bookmarks and more.

I was in love with crochet and began to make scarves, purses, afghans, and shawls. I started carrying my hooks everywhere. A plane trip became a pile of granny square wash cloths, or part of a shawl. A vacation in Hawaii turned into a tote bag.

And now I get to write about it...

** Sourced from authors website

Series:
* A Crochet Mystery
* Yarn Retreat

Reviews

[JoAn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am "hooked" on this series by Ms. Hechtman. The setting is a cozy small town on the Monterey Peninsula and the characters are becoming old friends. The plot in this one was well-crafted and I never guessed "who done it" until the reveal.

[JoAn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very enjoyable afternoon read. Casey, Lucinda, Bree, Scott and Olivia are all engaging characters. The plot is quickly paced and the twists kept me guessing.

[Cozybooklady · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun cozy mystery

This author happens to he a favorite of mine, so reading this book was an absolute pleasure.
I love the idea of a yarn retreat, Nuevo will gladly pass on the whole murder thrown in.
This book takes place during the Butterfly Festival, and when a resident meets a tragic end, it's up to Casey to put the pieces together.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I still find these books entertaining, mostly because I enjoy hearing the fiber arts references and descriptions of desserts, but the lack of character growth is starting to annoy me. Okay, okay, maybe I shouldn't be reading cozy mysteries for character growth, but since nothing is changing, Casey and Sammy's inability to stand up to their parents, despite the fact that they're grown adults in their mid-30s is becoming annoying. I also find it difficult to relate to the fact that Casey's "big" problem is having a loving, but helicopter parent mother who has secured her spots at not one, but two professional schools (pastry school and private investigation). Woe is Casey
#9point9percentproblems.

I also ended up being annoyed that everyone kept saying that Chloe could never expect to be Monarch Queen" (some small town election thing) if she didn't change the way she dressed, and in a series that's so obvious about it's "lessons," the author doesn't believe that girls shouldn't be slut shamed for wearing revealing clothes, or that people's character and skills shouldn't be judged by their non-conforming appearance? Casey never corrects Dane when he says stuff like, "I don't know where I went wrong [in raising Chloe]" because she's wearing a short skirt and has brightly dyed hair :/

[Micky Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I so want a real yarn retreat to exist and I want Casey to be in charge so I can come to learn and enjoy the fun in person! A real yarn retreat, minus the murder, would be a blast and I might actually not only learn to start, but get to finish a project for once! This installment in the yarn retreat series is even better than the last as it brings the town and supporting characters more into focus for the Monarch Festival! Of course what is a festival without a bit of drama!?! You definitely need to put this series on your must read list or even better, your must listen list as so far the entire series has been available on audio!

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Purchase for Save Our Cozies, I have read this author's Crochet and thought it was one I haven't read. My surprised to find it is the latest book out in a different series. I have always enjoyed books by this author and this one did not disappoint.
The monarch butterflies return every fall to Cadbury, California to winter over there. The town has a major festival every year to honor the butterflies. Casey Feldstein is holding a Yarn Retreat to include the town's activities in her plans. During a display, the leader is stabbed in her back. Casey discovers an extortion attempt to become a partner in the town business. Who kill dislike woman I have increased my TBR pile again. I recommend the book.

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a crocheting murder mystery by this author and liked it. I don't crochet by the way. This series follows instead a knitting and yarn class which enjoys a 'retreat', in other words a friendly workshop weekend without WiFi. The town is also hosting a festival because the black and orange Monarch butterflies come to the area each year. This aspect is interesting and enjoyable but I found it just background, as no visiting biologist or pesticide manufacturer gets involved in the murder.

During the festival a few mentions are made of food poisoning from muffins so I was pleased by the nice misdirection because a stabbing occurs instead of a poisoning. The concerns are all local and as always the police ask the amateur sleuth to stay out of their business. But a yarn working class full of gossiping ladies is hard to beat for passing information.

Have fun! You will find some recipes and patterns at the end.
I was sent an ARC copy for an unbiased review.

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Purchase for Save Our Cozies, I have read this author's Crochet and thought it was one I haven't read. My surprised to find it is the latest book out in a different series. I have always enjoyed books by this author and this one did not disappoint.
The monarch butterflies return every fall to Cadbury, California to winter over there. The town has a major festival every year to honor the butterflies. Casey Feldstein is holding a Yarn Retreat to include the town's activities in her plans. During a display, the leader is stabbed in her back. Casey discovers an extortion attempt to become a partner in the town business. Who kill dislike woman I have increased my TBR pile again. I recommend the book.

[Dez Nemec · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bought this thinking it was part of the author's other series. It was not great. Too much was going on at once, and how many thirty-somethings live in such fear of their parents?!

[Stormi (StormReads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

n book 4 of The Yarn Retreat mystery series we are back at Cadbury by the Sea for another festival but this one involves butterflies! This is an enjoyable series.

Casey is the owner of a yarn retreat and she bakes goodies for the town bakery and now she is helping with the festival and she is having a time doing all of them. Especially after a former butterfly queen is murdered and everyone thinks it was a young girl who is a bit different than the typical butterfly pageant person. She is also detective Dane's (Casey's sort of boyfriend) sister and Dane is off the case so he has to let Casey do her thing in hopes she can figure it out. 

Also, things are a bit dicey because her ex-boyfriend who is still a friend has told his parents they are together so they don't find out he quit being a doctor to be a magician. So she has to pretend to be with him, while trying to figure out things, run her retreat, etc. She is a busy lady in this one!

I really like the characters in this series. From the MC Casey to the side characters, especially the returning yarn retreaters! I also think it had a good mystery.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to thank Betty Hechtman, author and Goodreads First Reads Giveaway for the paperback copy of Gone with the Wool (Yarn Retreat Mystery ~ Book 4) that I won in the Giveaway.

Cassey, the main character inherited a home and a business doing yarn retreats on the California Coast near Monterey. She also bakes for local restaurants to support herself. Her ex-boyfriend is, Sammy the Medical Doctor and Sammy the Magical Doc that does magic shows on weekends and lives in the same small town.

Cadbury by the Sea has an annual Monarch Butterfly Festival when they return each year with a contest to pick 'Queen of the Butterflies' and a week long celebration. At the first event a former queen is murdered.

Cassey has her retreat to run, every night she bakes muffins, cakes and pies and she is asked to help solve the murder. Add a visit from Sammy's parents with their determination to move their son and Cassey back to Chicago as a married couple and a demanding stray cat with a preference for 'stinky fish' to make Gone with the Wool a funny mystery full of surprises until Casey gets her man.

[Jeanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Especially enjoyed the whole experience with butterflies.

[Sam Riner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Monarch butterflies, food poisoning and gambling debts

[Manda · Rating 4 out of 5]

These are getting better and better

[Lisa Ks Book Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Betty Hechtman has knitted up another delightful tale in this addition to the Yarn Retreat Mysteries!

GONE WITH THE WOOL isn’t just another Yarn Retreat Mystery . . . it’s the best in the series. Ms. Hechtman really made use of her thinking cap (wonder if it was knitted?) when she penned this one!

I loved the October setting for the town of Cadbury by the Sea, and the monarch butterfly imagery. I felt like I was at the center of it all.

The search for who stabbed the former butterfly queen, and all the mayhem along the way, made GONE WITH THE WOOL hard to put down. With plenty suspects to sort through, and many things to throw off your guesses, you’ll be lost in the pages of this book, and not want to put it down.

Returning fans, and new readers alike are going to enjoy GONE WITH THE WOOL. And, no worries . . . you don’t have to know how to knit to read this series.

Make sure to check out the back of the book for fun knitting patterns and a yummy recipe!

[Dana · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t know why I keep reading these books since they irritate me so badly. I have doubts that the author even knits, from the way she writes about knitting. I also don’t think she’s ever been to a knitting retreat, much less run one. I’ve been knitting for 13 years and actually run a yearly knitting retreat for 100 people. No seasoned knitter would be satisfied with a retreat who wanted the attendees to use those stupid plastic looms meant for kids! Also, you have to actually know something about knitting to run a knitting retreat, and actually show up once in a while! If this was real life, all of her attendees would be demanding refunds within hours. The premise is absurd.

[Patrizia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stelle e mezza
Questa serie mi piace e stavolta non avevo proprio capito chi fosse il colpevole. Forse sono stata un po' distratta dalla vita personale della protagonista... Confesso che non amo molto il personaggio del suo ex: e meno male che è un ex! Mi sembra molto immaturo, vista l'età e la professione.

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light-hearted and satisfying. I had a moment of feeling like it was an extended episode of The Love Boat. (And I mean that in the best way.)

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not sure I like this author's writing style or story structure.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Casey Feldstein is leading another yarn retreat at Vista Del Mar, the hotel and conference center in Cadbury by the Sea across the street from the house she inherited from her aunt. She timed the retreat to coincide with the week-long butterfly festival to give the retreaters something else to do in their spare time. This time a new problem develops between her and Dane, the local cop with whom Casey has a thing: ex-boyfriend Dr. Sammy, who moved to Cadbury by the Sea, told his parents it was to follow Casey but didn’t mention that he is doing a magic act on weekends. He has told his parents, who want them to marry, that he and Casey are living together and wants her to live the lie for a week until they go home. Add a murder that happens during the Blessing of the butterflies and Casey is calling her detective friend in Chicago for ideas to solve the crime, which focuses on Dane’s sister. Once again Casey’s cat Julius serves no other purpose but to ask for “stink fish.”

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Casey is trying to fit into the community and so when the football team has their get together before the first game, she brings in corn muffins for the chili dinner. The next day she hears about two of the boys becoming ill and she is being blamed for poisoning the boys. One night, during the blessing of the butterflies, the woman who accused her is found with a knife in her back and she later dies at the hospital. After her death, Chloe, the sister of Dane, her current boyfriend, is being looked at as the one who did it. Dane asks Casey to help him, while this is happening, Dr. Sammy's parents arrive for a visit and think that they are living together and he asks her to help him pretend that they are. She investigates to find out who actually poisoned the boys and who actually murdered the woman who made everyone miserable.

It was a good story and a continuation of the series. It would probably be better read in order, but I am reading it as I get copies.

[Mayda · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s time for the monarch butterflies return to Cadbury by the Sea, and it’s a big deal for the folks who live there. They hold a week long festival, complete with all the trappings they can cram into it. But in the midst of all the fun, there is a murder, and Dane’s sister is the prime person of interest. Since he can’t investigate, he implores Casey to use her special detecting skills to solve the case. To complicate matters, Dr. Sammy’s parents make a surprise visit, and he pretends that he and Casey are living together, practically married, so they won’t badger him to return to Chicago. And, oh, yes, Casey is running a yarn retreat. It’s a fast-paced cozy and never a dull moment. The joy of this series lies in the characters, though the mystery is entertaining, too. And there is an ongoing storyline that still isn’t resolved in this installment. Fans will eagerly reach for the next mystery.

[Dosha (Bluestocking7) Beard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to admit that I am getting tired of the sleuth. She has turned into a nosy busybody instead of an investigator. The police department cannot be this inept. It seems that this small town only has one murder per year and it always coincides with the annual yarn retreat. I have to give the author credit, I have not been able to figure out who the killer in her books yet. Other good news is that I am still happily spinning, thanks to being inspired from book 2 when the theme of the retreat was sheep to shawl. I dug out my Turkish drop spindle while listening to that one and have been spinning away. I am enjoying the soothing spinning process immensely and will be glad to knit a mini shawl with my homespun. I have many murder mysteries that I am spinning to and will set this series aside for a little while. I will most likely return to it because it is fun to create fiber art while listening to a book about yarn etc.

[Kristie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's Butterfly Week in Cadbury by the Sea. The monarchs come to visit once a year and the town celebrates in a big way with many events and the crowning of a Butterfly Queen. This time Casey puts on a week long retreat and the retreaters get to take part in the town events. There was no lack of suspects in this book's murder, the victim was quite unpleasant and many had motives. I hope in the next book that Casey puts in a little more face time with her retreaters, she seems too content to let her early bird retreaters and the workshop leaders run everything while she runs around town sleuthing. I think there should be a better balance. The storyline with the "Amazing" Dr. Sammy has run its course as well. It seems he will be a permanent resident of Cadbury while pining after Casey. Hopefully that gets toned down with the next book.

[Barb Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually do loom knit, so I was really looking forward to this installment in the Yarn Retreat Mysteries series. Alas, as is typical, the author spent relatively little time describing the craft. She was too busy worrying about a murder and Dr. Sammy's parents putting undo pressure on Casey and the good doctor to get married.

Betty Hechtman sprinkled enough foreshadowing and clues into the pages, so I figured out who our killer was and what Dr. Sammy's dad's "problem" was before the reveals. Honestly, I thought it seemed like Casey spent more time with her retreaters this go-around, but the retreaters didn't share that opinion. I think she wasted a lot of time away from the retreat.

These are cozy mysteries and are supposed to be quick, light reads. They work. Just don't go debating the finer points of the stories.

[Rohini · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started this book with high expectations but it didn't take more than a few chapters for my interest to wane. While I found the mystery rather well-plotted and the red herrings clever, the writing itself did little to pique my motivation to read on. Rather, I found the prose to be stilted a lot of the time, repetitive, and lacking in narrative power. As a result, I took far longer to finish this book compared to other similarly-themed cosy mysteries.

What's more, I didn't care much for the protagonist nor her two love interests, all three of whom I found insipid and dull. Coupled with a cast of bland, uninspired secondary characters and marred with glaring typos in many places, my overall impression of this book leaves much to be desired. I'll be giving this author a miss in the future.

[Shirley Hartman-Rozee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This retreat coincides with the Monarch Butterfly week long festival. First two key players on the football team become violently ill and the Cadburyteam loses an important game. The three-time festival Queen accuses Casey of causing the boys’ sickness—she had donated her corn muffins—and this had a detrimental effect on the sales of her muffins in the various shops. Then the former festival queen is killed and Dane’s sister Chloe is the prime suspect. Casey promises Dane to find the killer to save his sister. If that weren’t enough, Dr. Sammy’s parents pay a surprise visit and Sammy begs Casey to pretend they are a couple. This was the part of the book that I did not like—why would a grown man, a doctor, let himself be pushed around by “entitled parents”. Nevertheless, Casey figured out who made the football players ill and who killed the former queen.

[Catsalive · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a bad tale but I can't help being irritated by people in their mid-30s being so cowed by their parents that they can't tell them what's really happening in their lives. Mind you, I might have been a bit reticent, too, if I was a successful urologist who had decided to become a magician. The location in Cadbury-by-the-Sea sounds nice but I'd have to read another before I make up my mind about protagonist Casey Feldstein, maybe I shouldn't have started at book 4. These sort of cosies always make me want to take up knitting but it never lasts, not that there was much about the craft in this.

A little more murder & a lot less relationship would be preferable, although I could say that about an awful lot of books these days. I haven't read anything else by this author but I'd give it a go if one came my way.

[Anna Hanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Casey is confronted by several challenges during her yarn retreat week, which is coinciding with the Butterfly Festival, the town’s celebration of the annual return of the monarch butterflies to settle for the winter months. Amidst the usual duties of her retreat, her time is claimed by the parents of her ex-boyfriend, who somehow don’t get the “ex” part; her sort-of boyfriend’s sister, who is suspect in the murder of the brash former Queen of the Butterflies, and her subsequent dip in sales of her baked goods from a rumor that they were responsible for the high school team’s loss due to two of the star players becoming ill after the pre-game dinner. Can she rise above it all and figure out who hated the woman enough to want her dead, before they take wing?

[Lyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this was a pretty good story, I definitely could and did put it down a few times because I had a hard time staying interested.
It's a clean story, pretty well written. There were some funny things about it, like the situation with Sammy. But, not all that exciting, and definitely repetitive. I admit, I didn't know who the perpetrator was before the end, but I think that might be because I just wasn't invested in the story, so I didn't really care. Thinking back on it, though, I'm not sure the clues were there for us to guess it at all. One thing in the end gave it away unmistakably, and then everything was over. Kind of anticlimactic. The recipe and such at the end were pretty neat, though.
Note: I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.