KNITTY GRITTY MURDER

The murder rate continues to climb in the charming New Jersey town of Arborville.

Widow Pamela Paterson and her pal Bettina Fraser, who reports for the local paper, have been instrumental in solving several crimes. So when Jenny Miller is found in her community garden plot, strangled with a circular knitting needle, the two spring into sleuthing mode. The murder is the talk of their Knit and Nibble group, and there’s much information to chew over as they search for a suspect. Pamela and Bettina quietly question several fellow gardeners Jenny had quarreled with to determine whether any of them are also knitters. Meanwhile, Pamela takes in Jenny’s shy cat and ponders accepting a date from a college professor while she joyfully welcomes her daughter, Penny, home from college for the summer. Since Penny’s no fan of her mother’s sleuthing, Pamela keeps it low-key, using Bettina’s job as an excuse to ask questions. When Jenny’s mother is murdered in the same way, some of the suspects can be eliminated. That would make it easier to pinpoint the killer if only garden disputes were a realistic motive for murder. Winkling out the real motive is no easy job until a sudden flash of memory gives Pamela just the clue she needs.

Food and clothing headline a well-written, meagerly plotted mystery presumably aimed at foodies and fashionistas.