This month, as part of my series looking at the most popular and recommended Cozy mystery series by site readers, I’m taking a look at the first in Peggy Ehrhart‘s Knit & Nibble Mystery Series, titled Murder, She Knit. This is another “relatively” recent Cozy, starting in 2018.
Pamela Paterson is a widow living in the small town of Arborville, New Jersey, whose only daughter has recently left home for college, as well as an associate editor of Fiber Craft, a crafting magazine. Additionally, she’s a founding member of the local knitting club, Knit and Nibble. At the beginning of the novel, she reconnects with one of her husband’s colleagues, architect Amy Morgan, who has recently moved to Arborville to teach at the local community college. As Amy is a fellow knitter, Pamela invites her to join the next Knit and Nibble meeting.
Unfortunately, Amy never makes it to the club meeting, which Pamela at first assumes is because she forgot the house or had something come up. However, after the meeting, while looking for a dish she had left out for a local stray cat (Catrina), Pamela finds the real reason – Amy’s body, dead in a nearby hedge, stabbed to death by a metal knitting needle. Naturally, it will eventually fall on Pamela to help investigate the case – with a little help from her daughter, Catrina, and her fellow Knit and Nibblers.
Aside from the murder (and no doubt many more in future books), Arborville is a very pleasant suburban community, with both plenty of local charm and friendly characters. Most of the cast is relatively “grounded” – there are few “zany” or “wacky” locals, and Pamela is already a well-established member of the community, having lived there for several decades. On the whole, it gives off a warm, comforting feeling – again, except for the murder parts, which are almost always a bit incongruous with the theme of Cozy settings.
All told, this is a very nice modern Cozy with a more relaxed and less manic setting than can often be found in modern Cozies. I also appreciated that the main character appears uninterested in an immediate romantic interest, despite her friends and daughter pushing her towards one – I don’t mind a bit of romance in my Cozies, but often it becomes too much of a central focus, so this was a nice change of pace. The knitting theme is also relevant to the mystery, giving it something of an advantage over mysteries where the theme is just sort of something the sleuth does on the side disconnected from the crime. I would recommend this to any fan of modern Cozies, particularly one who is interested in knitting or other needlework.
If you’re interested in seeing other most recommended or popular Cozy Mystery authors/series, please visit the Most Popular & Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page on my site.
PS: This Cozy includes both a brief knitting tutorial for a scarf and a recipe for an apple cake.
Carlene S. says
This is one of my favorite cozy series. I agree completely with your review of the series. It is a comfortable cozy and the characters are people I think I’d like to know. I always look forward to each new book.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Carlene, I’m glad to hear from other fans of this series!
Valrie McBride says
Sounds like something I’d like to read. I especially like that there is little romance.
I have tried some Debbie Macomber because of all the hoopla attached to her books. However I found explicit sex in a couple I read which turned me off. I have am imagination and don’t need that written out in the books I read. So now I need to get back to my cozies. Looking forward to more reviews.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Valrie, I hope you enjoy it if you do pick it up!
Rob Jarrad says
Danna: You’re preaching to the choir. I’ve long since been reading this series and the latest, Death of a Knit Wit is in line with all the others.
Excellent. As well as the author has a thing about food-being able to describe it so that you want to eat it or you already have and your cooking doesn’t look like or taste like what Pamela is eating! Peggy Ehrhart is a foodie! So please look at her other books
and read the whole series. I’ve been looking for the next one before I finish the one I’m on. They are that good! And very much a change of pace. Well worth the reading.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Rob, I hope you enjoy the most recent entry as much as the others! I definitely agree that food is a great “universal” theme for Cozies, as everyone enjoys it to one degree or another – it isn’t even the main one here, but it certainly brings a lot to the book.
Wanda B Pelfrey says
This is one of my favorite series, possibly because I am a knitter. I also love the setting and the characters.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Wanda, enjoying the theme of a Cozy certainly does make it more enjoyable!
Mary Lu Scholl says
I will check this one out!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Mary Lu, I hope you enjoy it!
L Parker says
This is a favorite series of mine. I look forward to each new book!!!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
L, it’s definitely a series worth looking forward to!
MJ says
I’ve read, enjoyed, and recommended most of the books in this series.
I did note that this author includes a lot of innate detail. At least a dozen times in each book, she drinks her tea from a cup from her ‘wedding china’ (ALWAYS/constantly mentioning this fact).
Also numerous times she has a meal with her best friend Bettina and her husband. They ALWAYS serve the meal on their ‘sage green pottery dinnerware’………..again, about a dozen times per story. I don’t see the need to mention all this in every single book numerous times.
Perhaps the author needs the added words because of a requirement in her contract. This is just a detail I notice (and probably only me!). Since this is so common in this series, I now can easily skip over these paragraphs.
As many have stated, the series is fun, well paced, and a quick read.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
MJ, I can’t say I noticed that in the first book – but having only read one rather than the whole series I’m sure it must become much more noticeable over time. Still, despite that sort of possible “word count” padding, I’m glad to confirm you still think it’s a series worth reading!
Fiona says
I have read every book in this cozy series. I find this to be entertaining and relaxing. The characters are so much fun. Can anyone recommend any other cozy series similar to Knit & Nibble?? Much appreciated.
Crystal K says
I just started reading the first one and I love it, however I accidentally bought another one out of order. I’ve been trying to look up if I can read them out of order, to no avail from Google. Does anyone know if it matters? Or are they more like standalones.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Crystal, I’m not sure offhand, sorry. Hopefully someone else can help you with your question.
Carlene Jane Sidel says
I have read this series as each book came out. However, I think you could probably read out of order. Each mystery is solved at the end of each story and pretty much the same characters are the same in each book. I love this series and I’m eagerly waiting for the next one. Enjoy!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thanks for the response, Carlene!
Crystal King says
Thank you so much! I am excited to read the second one! They aren’t in bookstores around me, so I’m happy I don’t have to hurry up and buy them in order.