A Stitch Before Dying by Anne Canadeo

From Goodreads:

Stitching it together . . .

The Black Sheep Knitters: a fivesome with a knack for knitting—and for solving crimes.

When Maggie Messina, owner of the Black Sheep Knitting Shop, is invited to give knitting workshops at a Berkshires spa resort, she manages to negotiate a cottage that fits all five of the Black Sheep for what promises to be a weekend of knitting bliss. But while the friends are expert at counting stitches, they haven’t counted on murder.

Guests and staff at the Crystal Lake Inn are as varied as a mixed bag of yarn, but most colorful is certainly the owner, charismatic self-help guru and former psychiatrist Dr. Max Flemming. The doctor may have told all in a revealing autobiography, but from his ex-wife to the widow of his former business partner—both employees at the inn—Max seems mired in shad­ows from his past. And when a killer strikes during a mountaintop retreat, the Black Sheep wonder what the good doctor might be hiding.

The police seem to be following the wrong thread. But while Maggie’s workshops have given the knitters a unique view of the tensions at the little inn, can they make sense of a crime that is as complexly stranded as a Fair Isle sweater? When the killer murders a second time, the Black Sheep won­der if they’ve dropped a stitch and put themselves in mortal danger. . . .

 I have not read these cozy mysteries that seem so popular, but I admit I was curious. So, when I had the opportunity to review on of these books, I readily accepted. Within this knitting group are 5 female members, all with a backstory of their own. In fact, the beginning of the book gives you a short run down so, if like me, you haven't read the Black Sheep Knitting Mystery series before. Maggie, who is the owner of the local knitting shop gets an opportunity to teach at an exclusive and expensive spa for the weekend. She is able to get a large cottage and take her friends and knitting group with her. On one of the spa hiking trips, a man is found murdered in his hut. The group is quite curious about his death and, with the help of one of the people working there, they find lots of clues to put together. As it seems that a suspect is found, the ladies aren't satisfied with the answer until one clue finds it's way into their hands. The clues start to knit themselves together (sorry, couldn't resist) and they help the police find the true murderer.

As interesting as the clues and the ending was (it wasn't what or who I thought it would have been), I wasn't totally sold on this tale. Most of their clues came from gossip. And even if they were adept at weeding out the truth from the fiction, I still didn't like the whole vision of women just mired in gossip. I'm not a gossip girl (not talking about the tv show I never watched... lol). I did like the women themselves and found them very smart and capable even if they did indulge in gossip.

I give this book 3 stars. I think those who love cozy mysteries will love this book. I did enjoy the ending which I didn't see coming but should have. :) It also made me want to learn how to knit. I only crochet (yes, you can say it... I'm a bit of a hooker... Hey! Stop looking at me in that tone of voice! lol).

This book will be published on Dec. 28th. I received this book from the publisher and no compensation for my review was given.