by: Allie Pleiter
Series: Riverbank Knitting Mystery
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release Date: November 1, 2022
Publisher: Berkley
A murder in her yarn shop's backyard puts Libby Beckett's holiday plans on thin ice....
The holiday season looks merry and bright for Libby and her friends at Y.A.R.N. The store is expanding for a holiday boom, and she’s gathered Collinstown’s businesses to decorate a community Christmas tree. Dashing “Gallant Herdsman” Vincenzo Marani arrives to showcase the rare vicuña, whose coat produces the world’s most luxurious yarn. It’s a perfect yuletide—until Libby’s ex-husband, Sterling, turns up in town…and then turns up dead.
The murder unravels Libby’s life faster than a hand-knit Christmas stocking. The luxe yarn goes missing, Sterling’s domineering family comes to town, and the vicuña attempt an escape. If Libby can’t stitch up a solution to the case, she may be trading in her knitting needles for a set of handcuffs.
You’ve probably never seen one of my species. We’re a highly prized South American animal, cousins to alpaca or llamas or camels. Yes, we spit. Rather accurately.
We’re definitely not normally found in the back of a Maryland yarn shop, but this is a special occasion. Vincenzo Marani, whom you may know as The Gallant Herdsman, brought the four of us here to showcase the unique way we are sheared to produce the world’s most expensive and luxurious yarn.
We didn’t plan on witnessing a murder.
A very unpleasant man named Sterling was killed right in front of us. It was most upsetting. And if we could communicate to you what happened—other than the shrill alarm cry we’ve been raising for days—we would. The lovely lady who owns the yarn shop, Libby Beckett, seems very determined to find the killer. We like her very much. She seems pretty clever, so we have faith that she will solve the mystery. But I guarantee you, the killer is not who she suspects. In fact, it’s probably the last person she suspects.
It seems sad for such an awful thing to spoil the beauty of Christmas in Collinstown. Libby and her friends are set to have a lovely holiday, and our appearance was a big deal. People lined up from all over the area. We are very cute, so we’re used to the attention—and frankly, we enjoy it. But murder? Well that changes everything.
Vincenzo seems quite taken with Libby. He keeps talking to her in the low, silky tones he usually reserves for us. This seems to make the man called Gavin—the town mayor, evidently—rather jealous. He keeps denying he’s jealous, but it doesn’t take our big, adorable, deer-like eyes to see what’s plain on his face. I overheard someone saying Libby and Gavin used to be a couple. If you ask me, it’s looking very much like they will be again…unless Vincenzo turns on the charm. And trust me, that man can turn on the charm.
The decorations around our little pen are cute, but we’re getting tired of all the tension, accusations, and suspicions. And how dare someone keep stealing our very expensive yarn! If we get the chance, my friends and I have talked about making a break for it. Escaped vicuna in a small Maryland town—it’d probably make the local news!
If you’d like to hear more about our adventures with Libby and her friends in Collinstown, pick up a copy of IT CAME UPON A MIDNIGHT SHEAR. You’ll definitely enjoy it!
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Thanks so very much for allowing the vicuña a chance to have their say!
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome. Thank you for stopping by.
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