death by cashmere - a book review

i bought this book last year when i was greatly preggo with the kiddos.  i thought it would make a nice summer read.  what i didn't know was that gestating twins seriously saps your energy, and instead of reading or knitting i spent my idle time watching tv and playing solitaire on my new iPod touch.  death by cashmere sat on my bookshelf for over a year before i noticed it while changing one of the kiddos, thinking, it's time to read that book.  i like knit lit - what's there to lose?  so about a month ago i sat down and read it.

death by cashmere, by sally goldenbaum, is a book about a group of knitters on cape cod and the murder that occurs in their small fishing community.  a beautiful woman is found dead amongst lobster traps one morning, and the townsfolk are shocked and saddened to learn that this happened in their small community, where everyone knows everyone else and their business.  initially the death is ruled an accident but quickly turns into a murder investigation.


izzy is a woman whose career did a 180 when she decides to leave the law profession and open a yarn shop in her old hometown.  family and friends known as "the seaside knitters" gather in her shop to knit and gossip, and naturally the murder is top on their list.  the woman who was murdered lived above the yarn shop, and the ladies wonder who could harm the woman, who, while a nice person, did have friction amongst members of the town.


after someone breaks into the woman's apartment, the ladies take it upon themselves to do a little investigating of their own.  was the woman having an affair with a prestigious member of the community?  did she discover something that she shouldn't have?  after digging around, the seaside knitters discover a shocking secret, one that will bring fortune and joy to one member of the community while bringing ruin and dishonor to another.  the murderer is apprehended, and the townsfolk of cape ann breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that their community is safe again.

it took me several days to finish this book.  not that it is a big book - it's your average length mystery.  i'm not sure why, but the story just didn't grab me, like other knit lit murders have.  it was entertaining though and i was still stumped on who the murderer was until the end.  the book offers a lovely scarf pattern in the back, but when i inquired about it on ravelry, it wasn't in the pattern data base. no recipes either, but that's okay.  i probably won't keep this book in my library - i'll donate it to my local one instead, so someone else can enjoy it.

on a scale of *****, i give death by cashmere a **1/2