Peggy Ehrhart’s ninth Knit and Nibble mystery will appeal to fans of cozy mysteries, knitters, and other crafters. It will also appeal to fans of Betty Hecht and Sadie Hartwell, as well as Leslie Meier and Lee Hollis.
A member of a prominent New Jersey family has been found dead on St. Patrick’s Day—and Pamela Paterson and her knitting club have a parade of suspects . . .
The Listers have been part of Arborville society for generations—though seventy-something Isobel Lister doesn’t fit the role of upper-crust heiress. She’s always been a colorful character, and her fun-loving spirit is on display at the senior center celebration as she performs some beloved Irish songs. But just minutes later, her body is found backstage.
It’s hard to imagine who’d target a harmless eccentric, and Pamela finds herself suspecting everyone. There’s the Wiccan who thought St. Patrick wasn’t so saintly; the woman upset about cultural appropriation who feels the commercialization of shamrocks is a sham; the two men Isobel was seeing, who could have been green with jealousy—and old friends and family who may have feared Isobel would spill their secrets. But Pamela’s on the case, and that means for the killer, the jig will soon be up . . .
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Thank you to Wonder Women Sixty for a lovely review of Irish Knit Murder. Irish Coffee Trifle, created by Wilfred Fraser in the book and included as the recipe at the end, has made quite a hit online! Irish Knit Murder is digital TeaTime magazine’s Cozy Corner book pick for March and the recipe is featured on the website, complete with photos. Irish Coffee Trifle has also been featured on Criminal Element’s “Cooking the Books,” along with another lovely review of Irish Knit Murder.
In Irish Knit Murder Nell teaches some of the other Knit and Nibblers to crochet nests for orphan baby creatures that have been rescued. Yes, crocheted (and knitted) nests are really a thing. Click here for pictures, more information, and directions. Warning: Cuteness alert!
In the last scene of Irish Knit Murder, the Wiccan character Liadan Percy talks Pamela into a Tarot card reading. These are the cards that come up:
The reading is enigmatic, but hints at future romantic developments. Coincidentally, Liadan’s cat has just had kittens, including a little black male, and Richard Larkin had recently asked Pamela to be on the lookout for a kitten, possibly black, that he could adopt.
What could it mean that the image on the Queen of Wands card includes a black kitten? Only the future can tell.
Here’s the cover for the large-print version of Irish Knit Murder from Thorndike Press.
And here’s the cover for the audio version from Tantor Media, read by Callie Beaulieu.
KNIT
Cozy Egg Cozy
Irish Knit Murder has a St. Patrick’s Day theme, but since it takes place in early spring the plot also alludes to eggs. Egg cozies might not be common in American households. According to a British friend, however, they are very much a thing in the UK. They look like tiny knitted hats and they serve to keep soft-boiled eggs, served in egg cups, warm until they are eaten. Egg cups are also not a common household item these days—one has to like soft-boiled eggs in order to want them—but they are delightful collectibles now and eBay is full of them.
The egg cozies don’t take much yarn, so you can use odds and ends.
Top row: the last five stitches, transferring them to a yarn needle. Bottom row: loops pulled into a circle, hiding the yarn tail.
I decided to try out my eBay egg cups by making a soft-boiled egg, with toast fingers and orange juice, for lunch.
To time it, I used this clever egg-timer that my daughter-in-law gave me. It gets boiled right along with the eggs and gradually turns from yellow to clear from the edges inward. When the clear portion reached the line above SOFT, my soft-boiled egg was ready.
NIBBLE
Wilfred’s Irish Coffee Trifle
I thought Irish Coffee Trifle would make a nice, and very original, St. Patrick’s Day dessert, but one can scarcely conceive of a recipe idea anymore without discovering that someone has posted a version of that very thing on the internet. The version in Irish Knit Murder, however, is my own invention, which I arrived at after studying online recipes for tiramisu and consulting Fannie Farmer’s recipe for “Tipsy Pudding.”
You will need . . .
Top row: improvised double boiler, pudding coating spoon. Bottom row: coffee mixture sprinkled on pound cake, pudding and whipped cream added.
Have a bite. It’s delicious!
