The Knit and Nibble knitting club are selling knitted aardvarks at the town festival to help raise money for the school’s sports program. But a dead body under their table with an aardvark placed upon it has definitely halted sales and any good feelings the townsfolk had for the club. To get back in the town’s good graces and before anyone else is murdered, the club kicks into overdrive. It’s a quick read and a cute cozy. ( )

Pamela Paterson is a widow living in Arborville, and along with her friends, they've created the Knit & Nibble club, a group of knitters who create for both themselves and charity. They've knitted a box of aardvarks, the high school mascot, and are selling them to benefit the school's sports program. But when they're boxing up to leave, Pamela notices that two of the aardvarks are missing, and can't imagine where they've gone.

At least until she discovers a body under the table with an aardvark on his chest. The victim is history teacher Randall Jefferson, an outspoken opponent of sports. The main suspect is the football coach, but when he has an alibi, the knitters get involved because everyone is getting rid of their aardvarks thinking one of them killed the man. So Pamela and her best friend Bettina, who works for a local newspaper, are on the case, trying to figure it all out. But the killer might be closer than even Pamela can discover...

This started off as an interesting book, but then it started to get tedious. Do we really need to know what Pamela eats every day? Especially when it's the same thing? We already know poor Catrina gets fed once or twice a day, which is crazy. (Cats aren't dogs -- they won't eat every piece of food in their bowl until they roll over in pain. When they're done eating, they walk away. You can leave hard food in their bowl, and this is what I do for my fur babies. I give them soft food in the morning for breakfast, and leave the hard food out all day. Not a problem, then you don't have to keep mentioning when you feed your cat).

We also don't need to know Pamela's clothing choices, since she never wears anything but jeans. There are endless descriptions of food, and what they're eating on (do we care it's wedding china?). Do we care that sandwiches were served on "cream-colored oval plates?" No, not really. Who does this? So unfortunately, because of the eternal descriptions of things that didn't matter (including everything that went into every recipe) I didn't enjoy this book as much as I should.

The ending felt rather rushed to me. The killer was obvious from the beginning of the book, but of course it took Pamela longer to discover who it was. When it was revealed, the answer of her figuring it out didn't really make any sense to me, And there were questions left unanswered that I would really have liked to know. I am going to hide them in a spoiler below so as not to ruin the book for those who have not read it:

You can find the spoiler here: https://joannesbooks.blogspot.com/2021/01/died-in-wool-knit-nibble-mystery-2.htm...

Other than that, the book was alright and I will read the next to see where the story line goes. Hopefully, Pamela and her friends will concern themselves more with a mystery and less with what they're eating. ( )

Pamela Paterson can’t seem to catch a break. While at her town's annual festival, proudly selling her stuffed aardvarks, Pamela happens upon a dead body. The body was found under the Knit and Nibble table. Knit and Nibble is a knitting group that Pamela is a part of. What really stinks for Pamela, and the other members, is that they are suspects in the murder.

The victim is the high school’s history teacher, Randall Jefferson. The twist is that Pamela’s knitting group was planning to use its proceeds to assist the school’s sports program, which was something that Mr. Jefferson clearly maligned. So Pamela is determined to investigate things, even though some of her friends highly disapprove.

There is a bit of humor in Died in the Wool, which is the second book in the Knit and Nibble series. As in the first story, the investigation is rather delightful. I enjoyed Pamela’s thought processes, techniques and questions. As previously, knitting techniques and even a recipe or two are offered.

Although part of a series, this book can be read as a standalone. So, pick up this book and read of the antics of Pamela and fellow amateur sleuth Bettina.

The first book in the series is Murder, She Knit, to be followed by Knit One, Die Two. The next in the series are Silent Knit, Deadly Knit, scheduled for release in October, and A Fatal Yarn, with a release date in March, 2020. ( )

To help the school athletics program raise funds, the Knit Club knits aardvark mascots to sell. The day of the festival the richest neighbor is found murdered under the Knit Club's booth table with an aardvark lying on his chest. Who is responsible? Who wants to blame the Knit Club? The group becomes the target of gossips and they will not let their group be denigrated. So off they go to solve the crime.

I enjoyed this book. As I get to know the characters I see their different personality quirks and how the fit together to make them a good group to hang with. The men in their lives also have their quirks which is why some work together with Pamela and Bettina to find the murderer while their wives, who are members of the group, won't stoop to gossip. It is a fun to watch how they receive the insults from the town and how they counteract them. I look forward to the next segment. ( )

I'm continuing to enjoy Peggy Ehrhart's cozy series for its marvelous sense of fellowship, its knitting, and its delicious food. I also like reading about the articles Pamela edits for the fictional Fiber Crafts magazine; there's always something to learn there.

Ehrhart has created a strong cast with the members of the knitting group, and the subplots involving various characters can be every bit as interesting as the main action of the mystery-- although I couldn't quite believe Pamela could be so clueless about her cat, Catrina (and no, I'm not a cat owner). I should also probably admit that there's a yarn shop in a nearby town that Pamela frequents that makes me wish I lived there so I could go on spending sprees to add to my yarn stash.

The only thing to dull my enjoyment of Died in the Wool was the identity of the killer. This person popped up so often I felt as though I was caught in a game of Whack-a-Mole. But in the entire scheme of things, this was a minor quibble because all the other elements hit just the right note to keep me smiling and reading. I'm looking forward to my next visit with the Knit & Nibblers. ( )