Table of Contents
Praise for
Dead Men Dont Crochet
Fun... Has a great hook and a cast of characters that enliven any scene.
The Mystery Reader
[A] brisk and enjoyable cozy... A fun read... Readers will be hooked.
New Mystery Reader Magazine
Classic cozy fare... Crocheting pattern and recipe are just the icing on the cake.
Cozy Library
Hooked on Murder
A gentle and charming novel that will warm the reader like a favorite afghan. Its quirky and likable characters are appealing and real.
Earlene Fowler, author of Love Mercy
Betty Hechtman has written a charming mystery. Who can resist a sleuth named Pink, a slew of interesting minor characters, and a fun fringe-of-Hollywood setting?
Monica Ferris, author of Sew Far, So Good
Hooks the reader from the onset with likable characters... Readers will admire the feisty, caring Molly.
Genre Go Round Reviews
Readers who enjoy craft-and-hobby-related cozies will find lots to like in Hooked on Murder... Betty Hechtman does it all so well: writing, plotting, and character development.
Cozy Library
Hechtmans writing is fun and introspective, and Molly is a likeable character.
Romantic Times
A great start to a new mystery series.
MyShelf.com
Berkley Prime Crime titles by Betty Hechtman
HOOKED ON MURDER
DEAD MEN DONT CROCHET
BY HOOK OR BY CROOK
A STITCH IN CRIME
Acknowledgments
Id like to thank Sandy Harding for her continued enthusiasm and great editing. Thanks to everyone at Berkley Prime Crime for the great cover and all their efforts on my behalf. None of this would have happened without my agent, Jessica Faust.
Thank you, Howard Marx, M.D., for the quick answers to all my medical questions. Appellate Defender Judy Libby keeps the lawyer information coming. Roberta Martia is my crochet tester and chief cheerleader.
And Burl and Maxyou guys are still the best. Thanks for being such devoted recipe testers.
CHAPTER 1
MOLLY, PLEASE TRY TO GET THROUGH THE WEEK-END without any dead bodies, Mrs. Shedd said, pushing the rhinestone-encrusted clipboard across her desk to me. And take good care of this. Its the first time Ive turned it over to anyone. I could see why she made the dead body comment. After forty-seven years of not one dead body showing up in my life, there had been a plethora of them in the past couple of years.
Dont worry, I said. No murder or mayhem, I promise. I completely meant it when I said it. Too bad it turned out not to be true.
I stared at the fancy clipboard for a moment as what it meant sank in. Every September the bookstore where I worked, Shedd & Royal Books and More, put on the Get Out of the Heat and Light Your Creative Fire retreat on the Monterey Peninsula. The getting out of the heat referred to the September weather in Tarzana, California, which was always hot and dry. In contrast, the Monterey area was cool and damp year round. Id never been on one of the retreats, but I knew Mrs. Shedd chose four or five creative pursuits, such as writing or candle making, and lined up local people to put on the workshops. The retreaters committed to a topic and went to a number of sessions over the long weekend. At the end there was a gathering and everyone got to show off what theyd done.
This retreat is your baby. Are you sure you want to do this? I asked, expecting some kind of explanation.
Mrs. Shedd shook her head, making her perfect blond pageboy swing. Im more than sure. Its your baby now, Molly. Somethings come up and I cant go, she said cryptically.
Pamela Shedd was the co-owner of Shedd & Royal Books and More, which made her my boss. I was surprised she didnt give me any more details of why she suddenly couldnt go on the retreat, but it wasnt my place to ask. Since I was the community relations-event coordinator for the bookstore, it made sense that she was putting me in charge. But no way was it going to sit well with my coworker Adele Abrams.
My boss picked up a box from the floor next to her and handed it to me, saying it held the folders for the presenters along with the schedule for the weekend. Later I could pick up the larger boxes with the folders for the retreaters and the other supplies. She seemed relieved to have passed everything off to me. Oh, and be sure to have fun.
I put the clipboard on top of the box and took it with me as I headed across the bookstore to the event area, where my crochet group, the Tarzana Hookers, was already assembled. Morning sunlight streamed in the window that faced Ventura Boulevard. The long table was strewn with balls of yarn, coffee cups and some completed projects the members had brought in to show off to the group. The crochet group met regularly at Shedd & Royal. Adele Abrams, who along with being my coworker, was coleader of the group and a crochet fanatic, was waving around her hook, which had something white and fuzzy hanging from it. As I got closer, she began to pass around what she was working on.
Pink, you missed it, Adele said, her voice full of excitement. I had gotten past being upset about her insistence on calling me by my last name. I just created a stitch. She pointed toward what looked like a row of fuzzy, white yarn bumps in Eduardos hand. Eduardo Linnares was our only male member. I doubt most people would pick him out as a crocheter. In his other life he was a cover model, and he definitely looked the part. He was tall with long, shiny black hair, handsome, even features and a muscular body that must have required long hours at the gym. But he fit into the group very nicely thanks to his pleasant disposition and his skill with a hook. His grandmother had taught him well.
Creating stitches is something we crochet divas do, Adele said, crowing with pride. Im thinking of calling it the marshmallow stitch.
At the word marshmallow, CeeCee Collins looked up. She was the host of the reality show Making Amends and had a legendary sweet tooth; hence her interest at the mention of a sweet. When she realized what Adele was talking about, she seemed momentarily disappointed before taking the piece of yarn from Eduardo and examining it.
CeeCees acting career had recently had a resurgence, and shed gone from occasional cameos to being in the limelight. The best thing about her was that she could be a celebrity and a regular person at the same time. Well, sort of a regular person. She was the only one of us who had to be concerned about being caught by the paparazzi with soup dripping down her chin.
I cant say it looks good enough to eat, but youre rightthe way it puffs up with the halo of white, bulky yarn does make it look like a marshmallow, dear. What are you going to do with it?
I used that baby yarn we made the cuddle blankets with, Adele said, referring to a group project in which we made soft blankets for traumatized children. She took the strip and held it on her wrist. I could make a bracelet. Then she held it across her chest. Or keep going and make a vest. Adele was amply built and had an eye for the outrageous when it came to clothes. Knowing her, shed probably go for the vest.
