A Dark and Stormy Knit by Anne Canadeo

Knitting graffiti, in Plum Harbor? Maggie Messina doubts it could ever happen in her quiet village. Until the new parking meters on Main Street are found covered with cat-faced cozies. In the dark of night, the mysterious Knit Kats have struck again! The infamous gang of stitching graffiti artists are totally harmless, and their pranks all in good fun. Or so Maggie and her friends think. Until a yarn-covered corpse is discovered a few days later—the tangles identical to Knit Kat handiwork.

These threads of evidence should be easy to follow. But the clever Knit Kats hide behind a website and secret identities. The murderer could be anyone. A familiar face in town, even a copy Kat. But when Maggie’s assistant, Phoebe, becomes the prime suspect, the knitting friends know the police have dropped a few stitches. With no time to rest on their needles, the Black Sheep set out to unmask the crafty killer. No simple task, when all Knit Kats look the same in the dark.

Series: Black Sheep Knitting Mystery #6 | Publisher: Gallery Books | Genre: Cozy Mystery | Source: Publisher | Rating: 3 Cups

It’s been a minute since I’ve picked up a book in the Black Sheep Knitting Mystery series (and when I do pick one up, it’s rarely in order). This one’s been sitting on my shelf for nearly six years, so I decided to dust it off and give it a read.

Here’s what’s happening in Plum Harbor. When Maggie opens her kitting shop, she notices the newly installed parking meters have been vandalized with cat-face knitting graffiti crafted by a group known as the Knit Kats. While the knitting graffiti—and the group—seem harmless, alarm bells are raised when a dead body is discovered wrapped in yarn. With Maggie and her friends curious, they start to wonder if this was the work of the seemingly harmless Knit Kats. When it comes to the attention of the police that Maggie’s assistant, Phoebe, could be one of mystery knitters, Maggie and her friends decide to pull their resources and hunt down the killer before Phoebe’s arrested.

This series has always been hit or miss with me and this one falls somewhere in the middle.

Like the previous books, this one reads like a women’s fiction that meets a cozy mystery. Maggie and her friends are a tight group who often share their personal problems and their daily lives while sitting around the table knitting. I do like that we see the personal lives of the characters but I feel like this one leaned a little too far into the women’s fiction category and had very little of the cozy mystery aspect.

The mystery itself was a bit different and slightly dated. I remember about ten years ago, Yarn Bombing (yarn graffiti) was all over the news, and if I would have read this book in 2014, it still would have been a popular thing. It was still an interesting concept to use in a cozy mystery,

I do feel like this book fell short on the actual investigating aspect of the novel. Very little sleuthing took place and I was rather disappointed. It was only towards the last third of the book, when they were starting to piece things together, that the characters became invested in solving the crime.

While this was a quick read, I’m not sure if this particular series is one of my favorites anymore. I wasn’t really invested in this one and when I would put it down, I would have to force myself to pick it back up. I have one or two of these left on my shelf and I’ll probably read them and not pick any more of these up.

If you’re a knitter (something I will never be because me and knitting needles do not get along) this book does contain links to all the knitting projects mentioned in the book. There’s also a few recipes as well.

Overall, the balance between the character’s personal life and mystery just didn’t work in this one. It was still an okay read but I feel as though, sadly, I’ve outgrown this series. 

BLACK SHEEP KNITTING MYSTERY Series:

 While My Pretty One Knits

Knit, Purl, Die 

A Stitch Before Dying

Till Death Do Us Purl 

The Silence of the Llamas

A Dark and Stormy Knit  

The Postman Always Purls Twice

A Murder in Mohair  

Knit to Kill  

Purls and Poison 

Hounds of the Basket Stitch