"This is a character driven amateur sleuth starring four likable female friends"

Realizing she was not cut out to be a lawyer, Izzy Chambers quits her job to open up a knitting shop in Sea Harbor, Massachusetts where she spent summers as a child. Her Aunt Nell lives there and is one of her biggest supporters while some other ladies like retiree Birdie and lobster fisherwoman Cass are her best customers. They all bond and meet once a week as the Seaside Knitters.

Angelina Archer lives in an apartment above Izzy's store. She is working on a project for the local museum on quarries and land deeds. One night she goes on a date with Cass's brother and ditches him; a public argument ensues with Tony Framingham, son of the town's matriarch. The next day Angelina is found dead in the nearby breakwater. Most people prefer to assume a tragic accident occurred, but an autopsy revealed her blood contained a drug that paralyzed her; making it impossible for Angelina to swim to safety. The Seaside Knitters sisterhood investigates finding dirty dark secrets long buried by the paragons of a Cape Cod town.

This is a character driven amateur sleuth starring four likable female friends who work the homicide one stitch at a time. The quartet each deals separately with a segment of the murder pattern until they seamlessly sew their respective puzzle pieces together. However though this is a refreshing outlook it also takes away from the intensity of solving the case as more than half the book is done before the knitters merge their clues. Mindful of Monica Ferris' Minnesota Crewel World and Maggie Sefton's Colorado House of Lambspun; fans will enjoy DEATH BY CASHMERE.

Reviewed by Harriet Klausner
Posted March 29, 2009

First Time in Paperback - trade size

Summary

Not long after Isabel "Izzy" Chambers opens up a knitting shop in the sleepy fishing town of Sea Harbor, Massachusetts, a diverse group of women begins congregating each week to form the Seaside Knitters.

Izzy raises some eyebrows when she rents the apartment above her shop to Angie Archer, whose reputation for loose behavior and a quick temper has made her unpopular with many locals. But could any of them have wanted her dead? Angie's body is discovered drowned in the harbor, her long red hair tangled like seaweed in a lobster trap.

An official investigation rules the death an accident. There are speculations of too many whiskey sours, a slippery wharf, a dark night... But Izzy and the Seaside Knitters smell something fishy. When several strange incidents occur above the shop, the women decide to take matters into their own hands. But before long, their small-town sense of security is frayed, and the threat of more violence hangs over this tightly knit community.