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Crochet Mystery #1
Hooked on Murder
Molly Pink is about to discover the joys of crochet. It's a relaxing escape from her hectic life as a bookstore event manager . . . and from the stress of being Tarzana, California's latest murder suspect.
For Molly, the weekly crochet group at Shedd & Royal Books and More was just another event to manage. Then she stumbled across the body of group leader Ellen Sheridan. Her complicated past with Ellen has made her a prime suspect, and after being cuffed and questioned, she could use a little diversion. Never mind that she doesn't know how to crochet. Granny squares don't look that hard to make.
But while Molly's fending off a detective with a grudge and navigating crochet group politics, the real killer is at large. And it's up to Molly to catch the culprit--before she winds up in a tight knot.
Delicious recipe and crochet pattern included!
For Molly, the weekly crochet group at Shedd & Royal Books and More was just another event to manage. Then she stumbled across the body of group leader Ellen Sheridan. Her complicated past with Ellen has made her a prime suspect, and after being cuffed and questioned, she could use a little diversion. Never mind that she doesn't know how to crochet. Granny squares don't look that hard to make.
But while Molly's fending off a detective with a grudge and navigating crochet group politics, the real killer is at large. And it's up to Molly to catch the culprit--before she winds up in a tight knot.
Delicious recipe and crochet pattern included!
280 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 6, 2008
374 people are currently reading
4407 people want to read
About the author
Betty Hechtman
33 books714 followersI 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
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
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 486 reviews
October 17, 2008
If I didn't really love crochet and know a lot about it, I probably would've given the book 1 star instead of 2. I enjoyed the parts that dealt with learning the craft. I didn't much care for the stupid antics of the main character and how she actually broke the law a few times to snoop. There's one thing to be curious, it's another to be foolhardy and have no regard for one's own safety.
That's one of my biggest problems with a lot of these craft genre mysteries. The protagonists tend to pull really dumb stunts when it comes to trying to solve the crime on their own. Not to mention, the whole romance part of the novel didn't make me happy, either.
So, again, if you like crochet, it's a okay. If you don't, you probably won't like it.
That's one of my biggest problems with a lot of these craft genre mysteries. The protagonists tend to pull really dumb stunts when it comes to trying to solve the crime on their own. Not to mention, the whole romance part of the novel didn't make me happy, either.
So, again, if you like crochet, it's a okay. If you don't, you probably won't like it.
January 16, 2020
Don't buy this book if you like crochet. It is maddening how many times they discuss how to make a chain. There is no discussion of any interesting stitches and the entire book is focused on getting ONE granny squares afghan done (by multiple, not likeable people.) Snore. And yet, that's slightly more interesting than the mystery. I really wanted to like this book since it was a gift and I love crochet but the writing is stilted, cliched and dull and the characters no better. As a cozy it had all the cozy tropes but none of the cozy feeling. I did not care about the victim, the accused or the murderer. The setting was probably the best part and yet I have zero interest in returning to this Tarzana bookshop community.
February 8, 2009
If you want a perfectly lovely, cozy murder mystery on the level of a MacMillan and Wife TV episode, then Hooked on Murder is your cup of tea. Molly is a 40-something widow who is working in a bookstore running the events schedule. She is also the one who set up the Tarzana Hookers crochet club to begin meeting in the bookstore. So when the fouding Tarzana Hooker ends up dead, found by Molly, and Molly becomes the main suspect, of course she is going to learn how to crochet and become an amateur sleuth.
It is a pleasant read, lots of red herrings, but there is a little something missing for me: depth. As a crocheter, I did laugh at the knitters who slammed crochet and got their wrists slapped. That all rang true, but I wanted to know more about the characters. Why were Dinah and Molly friends? Why won't Molly commit? There were sparks with her and Barry, but not like Morelli and Stephanie (The Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovitch). The lawyer at the end seems to provide an intriguing chance at a love triangle, but Molly seems too sad and confused to really carry it off. Perhaps giving her only a year after her husband's death was not enough time. There need to be more emotional connections, more small, graphic details and not just descriptions of what people are wearing. Adele is annoying, but in a two-dimensional way. She has a moment with Molly when it really seems we are about to see into her in a more detailed way, but Hechtman takes the easy road by having Adele go back to her usual self at the end of the conversation. When Dinah is in the yarn store and finds herself with a bag of yarn she just bought and doesn't understand why, it is easy for the author to have Adele say that all crocheters find them selves buying yarn all the time. But it didn't really describe that sense of longing for the yarn, so the touch and texture and being drawn to that particular shade and knowing that somewhere there is a pattern out there that you will use to create the perfect gift or the perfect scarf or the perfect, whatever. That sense of yarn addiction was missing. And if it is a crochet murder mystery, the yarn addiction is going to need to get more pronounced.
There is a lot to like about this series, and if you want just a cozy mystery, this will do just fine.
It is a pleasant read, lots of red herrings, but there is a little something missing for me: depth. As a crocheter, I did laugh at the knitters who slammed crochet and got their wrists slapped. That all rang true, but I wanted to know more about the characters. Why were Dinah and Molly friends? Why won't Molly commit? There were sparks with her and Barry, but not like Morelli and Stephanie (The Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovitch). The lawyer at the end seems to provide an intriguing chance at a love triangle, but Molly seems too sad and confused to really carry it off. Perhaps giving her only a year after her husband's death was not enough time. There need to be more emotional connections, more small, graphic details and not just descriptions of what people are wearing. Adele is annoying, but in a two-dimensional way. She has a moment with Molly when it really seems we are about to see into her in a more detailed way, but Hechtman takes the easy road by having Adele go back to her usual self at the end of the conversation. When Dinah is in the yarn store and finds herself with a bag of yarn she just bought and doesn't understand why, it is easy for the author to have Adele say that all crocheters find them selves buying yarn all the time. But it didn't really describe that sense of longing for the yarn, so the touch and texture and being drawn to that particular shade and knowing that somewhere there is a pattern out there that you will use to create the perfect gift or the perfect scarf or the perfect, whatever. That sense of yarn addiction was missing. And if it is a crochet murder mystery, the yarn addiction is going to need to get more pronounced.
There is a lot to like about this series, and if you want just a cozy mystery, this will do just fine.
December 5, 2019
What do you do when you think you might be losing your job, things are rocky with the boyfriend being too pushy and you inadvertently become a murder suspect? Why crochet of course! Excellent characters draw you in, but the plot keeps you on the hook! I am really excited to have found this series as it appears that it is all on audiobook so I'll have a book to listen to while on the go for awhile and a good book at that! I can't wait to see what happens in the next book!
January 5, 2024
Source: Borrowed from the library via Libby ebook
Content warnings: fatphobia and transphobia
It was another book in this series (Behind the Seams) that started my recent interest in cozy mysteries last fall. I picked it at the library despite being out of order. I enjoyed that book but had trouble keeping all the side friends straight when they were all introduced at once so I wanted to go back and start at the beginning of this series.
Hooked on Murder starts off right in the action with Molly finding the body immediately, which I think I prefer over the lengthy setup/info dumps that first installments often have. I like how this is set in a real place and is more urban/suburban than the fictional small towns many cozies are set in (they're nice, but can start blending together after a while). I like how Hechtman describes all the characters' houses, shops, restaurants, and other places. It makes it easy to picture the scene. I also like that the MC is 48 and a widow, older than many of the 20s/30s characters and a bit of a refreshing change.
I knew the murderer instantly just due to the "hey, this character isn't in the later book" spoiler by omission, but that might have been the reason I found this book a bit boring and slow at times. I liked the crochet parts, but don't like the whole overdone crochet vs. knitting "war."
This is not a culinary-subgenre cozy, but Molly is a good baker and cook. The food descriptions sound appealing without getting bogged down in too many details. Unfortunately this is somewhat ruined by Molly making negative comments her body/weight and what she and other characters are eating. I wish this wasn't a factor in so many cozy mysteries.
I don't like the romance parts in this series much because I find Barry really unlikable and don't think he and Molly are a good match. The cop boyfriend is another trope I could really do without.
Diversity: No characters are explicitly described as anything other than white, though some physical descriptions are vague. Molly and Barry's families are Jewish. All characters whose relationship status is mentioned are in heterosexual relationships. But this brings me to my next point...
I was totally unprepared for 2 out of the blue transphobic comments in this book. I understand that characters can have flaws and don't have to be perfect, but one was dialog from one of the crochet ladies that no other characters reacted to or challenged, and the other was the MC's internal narration, which doesn't convince me it's not the author's view. Read on for more details...
Considered dropping another star, but my overall feeling about the book was "okay", so I may skip ahead to the later books if I continue in this series.
Content warnings: fatphobia and transphobia
It was another book in this series (Behind the Seams) that started my recent interest in cozy mysteries last fall. I picked it at the library despite being out of order. I enjoyed that book but had trouble keeping all the side friends straight when they were all introduced at once so I wanted to go back and start at the beginning of this series.
Hooked on Murder starts off right in the action with Molly finding the body immediately, which I think I prefer over the lengthy setup/info dumps that first installments often have. I like how this is set in a real place and is more urban/suburban than the fictional small towns many cozies are set in (they're nice, but can start blending together after a while). I like how Hechtman describes all the characters' houses, shops, restaurants, and other places. It makes it easy to picture the scene. I also like that the MC is 48 and a widow, older than many of the 20s/30s characters and a bit of a refreshing change.
I knew the murderer instantly just due to the "hey, this character isn't in the later book" spoiler by omission, but that might have been the reason I found this book a bit boring and slow at times. I liked the crochet parts, but don't like the whole overdone crochet vs. knitting "war."
This is not a culinary-subgenre cozy, but Molly is a good baker and cook. The food descriptions sound appealing without getting bogged down in too many details. Unfortunately this is somewhat ruined by Molly making negative comments her body/weight and what she and other characters are eating. I wish this wasn't a factor in so many cozy mysteries.
I don't like the romance parts in this series much because I find Barry really unlikable and don't think he and Molly are a good match. The cop boyfriend is another trope I could really do without.
Diversity: No characters are explicitly described as anything other than white, though some physical descriptions are vague. Molly and Barry's families are Jewish. All characters whose relationship status is mentioned are in heterosexual relationships. But this brings me to my next point...
I was totally unprepared for 2 out of the blue transphobic comments in this book. I understand that characters can have flaws and don't have to be perfect, but one was dialog from one of the crochet ladies that no other characters reacted to or challenged, and the other was the MC's internal narration, which doesn't convince me it's not the author's view. Read on for more details...
Considered dropping another star, but my overall feeling about the book was "okay", so I may skip ahead to the later books if I continue in this series.
June 11, 2017
I had to make myself keep reading the book till I finished it. I did not care for the main character at all. She read like she was 16, or 12, NOT closer to my "senior citizen" age as she was described. Only wanting to know who did the murder, ad if our protagonist would totally ruin her relationship with the "dream date" cop was what got me to the end of the book.
At some point, I may read the next in the series just to see if the stories and the main characters stay as awful as they were in this one. There is so much potential for a good story here.
At some point, I may read the next in the series just to see if the stories and the main characters stay as awful as they were in this one. There is so much potential for a good story here.
June 24, 2013
I'm a crocheter, not a knitter, so I was excited to see this book on the library shelves... and to see it was part of a series, too. I'm not a fan of mysteries but I enjoyed Joanne Fluke's mysteries so maybe I'd just never run into a "good" mystery series before.
And I still haven't. In a way, the book reminded me too much of Joanne Fluke's mysteries. The sleuth in both books dates a cop and happens upon a body. The sleuth hides evidence and gets in the way of the law and, thus, solves the mystery. The sleuth gets and keeps her man by feeding him good, homecooked meals.
By the end of the book, I was tired of the phrases involving "the rolling of the eyes." I work with teenagers and I'm tired of eye rolling, much less reading about grown women in their 40s and 50s who roll their eyes.
As an experienced crocheter, the free pattern wasn't inspiring. The free recipe wasn't either. The recipes by Joanne Fluke are delicious.
And I still haven't. In a way, the book reminded me too much of Joanne Fluke's mysteries. The sleuth in both books dates a cop and happens upon a body. The sleuth hides evidence and gets in the way of the law and, thus, solves the mystery. The sleuth gets and keeps her man by feeding him good, homecooked meals.
By the end of the book, I was tired of the phrases involving "the rolling of the eyes." I work with teenagers and I'm tired of eye rolling, much less reading about grown women in their 40s and 50s who roll their eyes.
As an experienced crocheter, the free pattern wasn't inspiring. The free recipe wasn't either. The recipes by Joanne Fluke are delicious.
March 22, 2017
This was a pretty good read, there just seemed to be a lot left out and then at times too much thrown in. I did enjoy the characters, and the lead, Molly Pink, is near to my age and a widow, trying out the dating scene again, so I could relate somewhat. I am looking forward to the next book in the series. Hopefully it will flow better.
January 4, 2019
Molly Pink, a widow, has two grown sons and a job at a book store. She has a special friend, a detective who is divorced and has a teenage son. Molly and her best friend join a crochet group that is making an afghan for charity, even though they just learned how to crochet the night before joining the group. This should be a rich, full life for anyone, but somehow, Molly manages to enrich it. She finds a murder victim, an acquaintance, and immediately becomes a person of interest in the crime. She barely stays one step ahead of major trouble in trying to clear her name. There is also trouble in the romance department, and a handsome lawyer may some addition interest to that problem. This debut novel in this series has a lot going for it, including delightful characters in a cozy setting.
May 5, 2019
I liked this just as much as her knitting series, although, it wasn't as funny. I really didn't like Molly's son Peter. He is way too pretentious and snobbish for me and the way he talks to his mother is appalling. It was nice to read a book with crochet in it, rather than knitting. I know how to do both, but I much prefer to crochet. LOL I'm hoping the next one has better things happening between Barry and Molly, though, as Barry doesn't seem to see things the way Molly does.
April 24, 2013
This is the first in the Crochet Mystery series, and I liked it very much. At first I was disappointed because the main character works in a bookstore and doesn't know anything at all about crocheting. She is the bookstore event planner and sets up for the crochet group that meets there. But she becomes involved in their group when their leader is murdered (within the first couple of pages of the book!) just before an afghan needs to be finished for a charity auction. Molly, of course, finds the body and gets embroiled in the investigation despite her boyfriend (a detective) and her grown sons asking her to stay out of it. Molly, though, is an ordinary middle-aged widow with doubts and questions about her life, and I like her laid back style. I was kept guessing about the murderer until the last few pages when the identity was revealed in a spectacular manner. I'll definitely read more from this series.
June 22, 2016
This is actually my second time reading this book, and I remember enjoying it much more the first time I read it. For me, the book was pretty boring and not well written, especially with overly repeated use of one action like eye rolling. I felt that there were a lot of parts that just seemed pointless which wound up slowing down the mystery. Then there were Molly's other actions, which wound up putting her in considerable danger, and yet it was perfectly acceptable for her to do so in the name of solving the mystery! I thought it was mostly just stupidity on her part. I got pretty annoyed at the knitter bashing too, especially seeing as how most crafting is falling by the wayside. I did enjoy the parts that dealt with learning the craft, though! The romance angle was very downplayed, and felt forced, and I couldn't really see what Molly saw in the detective. All in all, a bit of a disappointment, but I'll read the second book before passing judgement on the series.
August 15, 2022
This book is a bit boring. I'm at 25% and all that happened so far is absolutely nothing. The book starts right when Molly found Ellen dead. Ellen's funeral a few days later. All we really learned so far was that Molly has a relationship with Detective Barry and that Detective Heather hates Molly. I continue at 1.15 speed.
I'm at 70%. Nothing more have happened yet. We know Detective Heather is fixated on arresting Molly and look at nobody else for the crime. But that was the case before too. Like I said, nothing changed.
Molly decided to clear her name by solving the murder but from 25% to 70% have done nothing. And that's it....
Nothing happening for most of the book. Except I learned a lot of facts about Crochet...
I will finish this book on faster speed and then quit the series. It's way too boring.
I'm at 70%. Nothing more have happened yet. We know Detective Heather is fixated on arresting Molly and look at nobody else for the crime. But that was the case before too. Like I said, nothing changed.
Molly decided to clear her name by solving the murder but from 25% to 70% have done nothing. And that's it....
Nothing happening for most of the book. Except I learned a lot of facts about Crochet...
I will finish this book on faster speed and then quit the series. It's way too boring.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 11, 2018
Too much crochet and not enough mystery.
Too much of me just NOT caring about these characters at all.
Too much of an overbearing son, and overbearing, assuming boyfriend and a crappy neighbor.
TOO. MUCH. CROCHET.
I will say this gets two stars because I had no idea who the murderer was [though I cared little by the time we got to the reveal] and that is always worth a star in my book.
If you love crochet or crafts in general, this is the book for you. If you don't [or if you don't like crappy characters who have little to no growth potential] RUN RUN RUN far, far, away.
:-)
Too much of me just NOT caring about these characters at all.
Too much of an overbearing son, and overbearing, assuming boyfriend and a crappy neighbor.
TOO. MUCH. CROCHET.
I will say this gets two stars because I had no idea who the murderer was [though I cared little by the time we got to the reveal] and that is always worth a star in my book.
If you love crochet or crafts in general, this is the book for you. If you don't [or if you don't like crappy characters who have little to no growth potential] RUN RUN RUN far, far, away.
:-)
September 20, 2013
Crochet tips and patterns along with a fun easy read, what's not to love? The characters make me smile and sometimes laugh out loud.
August 16, 2019
I didn’t like Molly right from the start. When she was being interviewed by a detective and the detective asked her how to spell her name she sarcastically thought “As if there are a lot of ways to spell Molly Pink”. I work at an answering service and get this response when I ask how to spell a name and it makes me mad. There are many ways to spell Molly besides the common one. What about Molli, Mollie, or Molley?
I also think her oldest son is very disrespectful.
Her boyfriend leaves a lot to be desired. He does not seem understanding at all about this being Molly’s first serious relationship since her husband died.
I don’t know if I will continue this series of not. I usually love any cozy mystery, but I did not find any of these characters likable.
But I also didn’t like Detective D.D. Warren from the Lisa Gardner series either, but loved the storyline of the crimes in each one. And now seven books in, I am starting to like her.
So who knows?
I also think her oldest son is very disrespectful.
Her boyfriend leaves a lot to be desired. He does not seem understanding at all about this being Molly’s first serious relationship since her husband died.
I don’t know if I will continue this series of not. I usually love any cozy mystery, but I did not find any of these characters likable.
But I also didn’t like Detective D.D. Warren from the Lisa Gardner series either, but loved the storyline of the crimes in each one. And now seven books in, I am starting to like her.
So who knows?
February 2, 2025
2020 52 Book Challenge - 30) A Book With Recipes Inside
I actually really enjoyed this novel. I loved how it encapsulated the sisterly like fight between knitters and crocheters. From the crochet side of things, it was really annoying how long they discussed how to do chain stitches, and the fact it takes them all novel to do one granny square blanket, like I know a lot of crocheters and it doesn't take an entire day to make one square, even as a beginner.
In regards to the murder mystery, I wasn't majorly interested in it, because I wanted to see the afghan completed, though it felt like the head detective was a little stupid.
I actually really enjoyed this novel. I loved how it encapsulated the sisterly like fight between knitters and crocheters. From the crochet side of things, it was really annoying how long they discussed how to do chain stitches, and the fact it takes them all novel to do one granny square blanket, like I know a lot of crocheters and it doesn't take an entire day to make one square, even as a beginner.
In regards to the murder mystery, I wasn't majorly interested in it, because I wanted to see the afghan completed, though it felt like the head detective was a little stupid.
December 5, 2020
A little clunky and implausible at times, but it was fun I liked the descriptions of crocheting!
August 9, 2016
This cozy gets started real quick with Molly being a nice friendly short and delivering a lady her bag that she had forgotten. Sometimes being a good samaritan is not all it’s cracked up to be when she finds the lady dead.
And because she is found the body and the fact that she is dating one of the detectives, whom the other detective likes, things get a little sticky. Barry can’t work on this case so he leaves it to Detective Heather who seems to hate Molly.
It seems the only way that Molly is going to get out of this without handcuffs is to find out who murdered the deceased. It could have been her husband because it seems he has a lady friend, or it could be the assistant who is now the boss, or maybe someone from the crocheting club. Molly decides to join the club so she can see if she can figure anything out and actually ends up enjoying the craft.
I enjoyed Hooked on Murder and the author did a great job with the mystery. I really had no clue who had done it and I like it when I can’t figure them out. It has interesting characters and I know I will enjoy getting to know all those in the crocheting club.
Molly is an interesting MC but she does have some flaws. She has a perfectly nice man who wants to be with her but she keeps holding him off. I know she still has a problem with the death of her husband but I thought she was a bit rude to the guy at times. (If you don’t want a relationship to go the distance then don’t get in one, but that is my opinion.) I did feel sorry for her because Detective Heather really doesn’t like her and that doesn’t help when the cops think you did it.
Overall, I think this was a good start to a series and I will be continuing it as I have the next couple in the series to listen too. I am working hard at trying to catch up to all the cozy series I got on audio!
And because she is found the body and the fact that she is dating one of the detectives, whom the other detective likes, things get a little sticky. Barry can’t work on this case so he leaves it to Detective Heather who seems to hate Molly.
It seems the only way that Molly is going to get out of this without handcuffs is to find out who murdered the deceased. It could have been her husband because it seems he has a lady friend, or it could be the assistant who is now the boss, or maybe someone from the crocheting club. Molly decides to join the club so she can see if she can figure anything out and actually ends up enjoying the craft.
I enjoyed Hooked on Murder and the author did a great job with the mystery. I really had no clue who had done it and I like it when I can’t figure them out. It has interesting characters and I know I will enjoy getting to know all those in the crocheting club.
Molly is an interesting MC but she does have some flaws. She has a perfectly nice man who wants to be with her but she keeps holding him off. I know she still has a problem with the death of her husband but I thought she was a bit rude to the guy at times. (If you don’t want a relationship to go the distance then don’t get in one, but that is my opinion.) I did feel sorry for her because Detective Heather really doesn’t like her and that doesn’t help when the cops think you did it.
Overall, I think this was a good start to a series and I will be continuing it as I have the next couple in the series to listen too. I am working hard at trying to catch up to all the cozy series I got on audio!
March 9, 2010
It was a cute little mystery that flew by pretty fast. I liked the added crochet talk, but I think if people aren't interested in the craft they may find this book to be a little boring in parts. Not that the author went into great detail about crocheting, but it was definitely a theme in the book.
The main character Molly Pink (yeah that's really her name) is a 48 year old widow. She works in a bookstore as the PR person. A local crocheting group uses the bookstore as their meeting place, and the leader of the group Ellen left her bag of supplies in the store after one session. Molly being the good citizen she is, stops off to give Ellen her things. Unfortunately, Ellen is dead, and at that moment the police come in as Molly is leaning over to check for a pulse. With evidence mounting against Molly, and her detective boyfriend insisting he needs to stay out of it, Molly decides to take matters into her own hands and clear her name and in the process learn to crochet.
I will be looking into the rest of the series :)
The main character Molly Pink (yeah that's really her name) is a 48 year old widow. She works in a bookstore as the PR person. A local crocheting group uses the bookstore as their meeting place, and the leader of the group Ellen left her bag of supplies in the store after one session. Molly being the good citizen she is, stops off to give Ellen her things. Unfortunately, Ellen is dead, and at that moment the police come in as Molly is leaning over to check for a pulse. With evidence mounting against Molly, and her detective boyfriend insisting he needs to stay out of it, Molly decides to take matters into her own hands and clear her name and in the process learn to crochet.
I will be looking into the rest of the series :)
July 15, 2019
I'm going to have to learn to crochet.
An errand to return a bag of crochet hooks to someone lands Molly in the midst of a murder investigation. Her attempts to snoop in a bid to find out who really committed the murder land Molly into even deeper trouble. A second death clears her but leaves Molly with gobs of questions.
One of my sons thought this book would be ideal for me. Molly is the community relations person for a bookstore, a job I once held. At the beginning of the story, she knows nothing about crocheting; the crochet group is just one of the programs under her responsibility at the bookstore. She picks up a hook and gets hooked (I had a similar experience with loom knitting).
This book is a pretty straightforward cozy mystery. Our cast of characters is standard fare: single woman with a police officer boyfriend and her best friend who's up for any kind of mischief.
An errand to return a bag of crochet hooks to someone lands Molly in the midst of a murder investigation. Her attempts to snoop in a bid to find out who really committed the murder land Molly into even deeper trouble. A second death clears her but leaves Molly with gobs of questions.
One of my sons thought this book would be ideal for me. Molly is the community relations person for a bookstore, a job I once held. At the beginning of the story, she knows nothing about crocheting; the crochet group is just one of the programs under her responsibility at the bookstore. She picks up a hook and gets hooked (I had a similar experience with loom knitting).
This book is a pretty straightforward cozy mystery. Our cast of characters is standard fare: single woman with a police officer boyfriend and her best friend who's up for any kind of mischief.
June 21, 2008
Pretty disappointed in this book. I never felt connected to the characters or the plot, nor could I see why the protagonist was so attractive to gorgeous bachelors who could have their pick of starlets and gorgeous blondes, but instead went with the somewhat older, somewhat rounder, inexplicably attractive widow. The plot was a bit thin, too, and "Detective Heather" was completely annoying -- as was the use of "OMIGOD!" Which, as my readers will know, I believe should be reserved for Archie comic books.
March 10, 2019
This is so obnoxious and terrible that I can’t even make myself finish listening to the audiobook. Every single character is awful and the setting is extremely uninteresting (I want small towns in a cozy, not LA!) The protagonist is obsessed with her weight and everyone else’s (which is one of my biggest pet peeves in cozies), and somehow she becomes an expert crocheter in a night without anyone actually teaching her?? Not even the crocheting could make me stay.
June 1, 2016
I'm actually a little disappointed with this book. I picked it up because I love cozies and several people in my family love to crochet, so I figured why not. The characters in this book were quite boring. They just come across plain and...simple I guess. Certainly not what I expected.
I'm not sure if I will continue with this series or not...
I'm not sure if I will continue with this series or not...
dnfed
February 12, 2021I made it about 11% in before I just stopped playing the audiobook. the amount of times I just stared at a wall after hearing a questionable line just didn't work for me, so I'm counting this as a dnf
March 18, 2018
I read this for #MarchMysteryMadness. Fun mystery! I didn't figure it out before the reveal. It makes crochet sound easy. I might have to give it a try.
December 13, 2024
This ended up being a longer rant than i intended originally.Tldr at the end.
I love a cozy mystery, and I love to crochet. I HATED this book.
I didn't care for any of the characters! Both victims didn't have any good qualities. The main character was a bit annoying with how little personality she has, I can empathize with her for losing the life she thought she was going to have with her husband and commend her for becoming her own person... but she still spends most of the book just letting people treat her poorly.
Her best friend is so whiney with how she's single, and how can you not know your best friends' age?! Her "best friend" also does not seem to care about what she's going through and pushes her to date a man despite his red flags. She all but blames and gaslights her for their breakup.
Her maybe/maybe not boyfriend is HORRIBLE! Expect her to drop everything for him, plans dates, and VACATIONS without her knowledge or consent. He gets angry with her when she won't throw herself at him and calls her crazy, telling her to get over her dead husband, then threatens to date the "girl he tells you not to worry about". Ugh! She meets a perfectly nice man her sons approve of and still somehow goes back to the jerk.
The mystery itself was okay, but it just was almost a background after thought. I didn't buy the killers motive, and there was hardly anything that even pointed to them for me to sleuth alongside the MC. Also, for a book including crocheting, I expected more than complaining about making granny squares. How can a group of that many people with skill levels between beginner to expert struggle for the entire book to make 1 single Afghan?
Additionally, even her sons were insufferable with no regard or care for their mother and constantly fighting with each other.
TLDR: This book is not good. The plot, characters, and subplot all suck.
I love a cozy mystery, and I love to crochet. I HATED this book.
I didn't care for any of the characters! Both victims didn't have any good qualities. The main character was a bit annoying with how little personality she has, I can empathize with her for losing the life she thought she was going to have with her husband and commend her for becoming her own person... but she still spends most of the book just letting people treat her poorly.
Her best friend is so whiney with how she's single, and how can you not know your best friends' age?! Her "best friend" also does not seem to care about what she's going through and pushes her to date a man despite his red flags. She all but blames and gaslights her for their breakup.
Her maybe/maybe not boyfriend is HORRIBLE! Expect her to drop everything for him, plans dates, and VACATIONS without her knowledge or consent. He gets angry with her when she won't throw herself at him and calls her crazy, telling her to get over her dead husband, then threatens to date the "girl he tells you not to worry about". Ugh! She meets a perfectly nice man her sons approve of and still somehow goes back to the jerk.
The mystery itself was okay, but it just was almost a background after thought. I didn't buy the killers motive, and there was hardly anything that even pointed to them for me to sleuth alongside the MC. Also, for a book including crocheting, I expected more than complaining about making granny squares. How can a group of that many people with skill levels between beginner to expert struggle for the entire book to make 1 single Afghan?
Additionally, even her sons were insufferable with no regard or care for their mother and constantly fighting with each other.
TLDR: This book is not good. The plot, characters, and subplot all suck.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 13, 2019
I loved this cozy. I’m still a novice at crocheting (I’m a better knitter) and had no idea there was such a a rivalry between the two yarn hobbies. This book made me think of all the luxurious skeins of yarn I got at my local auction. Some originally went for $50 a piece! But I digress. I had no idea who did it, loved the little bit of romance (although I often I pictured Barry as a man of African American descent) and loved all the crocheters in the hooker group. A fun little read.
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September 5, 2023I DID NOt finish, but I had to write a review.
I was so excited for this book.... I made it to page 25 and gave up. In those 25 pages I felt like pulling my hair out. I just couldn't see it getting better. What ticked me off was the pile on of random details and topic changes. And what sent me over the edge was the MC using the name Detective Heather unironically. Idk if that makes sense but I feel very passionately about this. 😭😂😅
I was so excited for this book.... I made it to page 25 and gave up. In those 25 pages I felt like pulling my hair out. I just couldn't see it getting better. What ticked me off was the pile on of random details and topic changes. And what sent me over the edge was the MC using the name Detective Heather unironically. Idk if that makes sense but I feel very passionately about this. 😭😂😅
July 27, 2021
I'm just starting to read "cozy" types of books. This one was interesting to me since I crochet but the story seemed to come to a standstill or be redundant at different parts of the book. It wasn't necessarily a "page turner" for me but it was an easy and mindless read that I could pick up and put down in between daily chores or errands.
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