Publication Date November 28, 2024

Summary

In Sea Harbor, Massachusetts, all the local knitters are stopping in at Izzy’s yarn shop to pick up supplies to make garments for the upcoming hand-knitters fashion show benefit. It’s a good way to keep everyone busy as the tourist season is coming to an end. 

Birdie is an avid knitter, but she’s also recently taken up bird watching. She’d been spotting some lovely birds, but what she hadn’t expected to see was a corpse. 

Can she and the other knitters unravel the case before more lives are lost?

My Thoughts

Had this just been a simple, sweet, cozy village story, I would very much have enjoyed it. A story about whether or not this group of women could pull off the hand-knitted fashion show would have been a lot of fun. I could happily have read about the knitters, and the bird watchers, and followed the drama of creating a stage, and I would have given it 4 stars. 

The descriptions of the town and its inhabitants were well-written, and I enjoyed watching the preparations unfold for the fashion show. Birding with Birdie was great fun. It’s rarely that one finds an intelligent, active, 80-year old starring character, so I always appreciate it when they are as well-written as Birdie. Nell was also an interesting and well-rounded character. The subplots were entertaining.

However, this was meant to be a cosy mystery and that’s where it failed for me. 

For a mystery, the pacing was excruciatingly slow. Nobody died until 24% of the way through the book. Even once the murder finally occurred, the investigating knitters seemed to be less interested in investigating than they were in their other activities. 

Plus, this mystery didn’t play fair with the reader because the investigators never revealed to the reader what they were finding. In fact, I don’t believe the reader is ever even told how the victim died or how the murderer committed the murder. I say I don’t believe, because by the time I hit the last 50 pages of the book, I had started to skim. 

One major complaint with the mystery storyline was all the drama between the twin sisters. I hate stories where things could have been solved with an honest one minute discussion. Rose was too intelligent for that story to have played out the way it did, and when the secret was revealed it was, frankly, laughable given the amount of ridiculous drama it had caused. 

This is the 17th book in the series, but it does work as a stand alone. I had never read others in the series, but have been told by someone who knows that I would have appreciated this one more had I read the series from the beginning. I enjoyed the characters enough that I may go back and try the first in the series. 

My Rating 3/5

4/5 for a cosy story and 2/5 for a cosy mystery

I received a free eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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About the Author (bio

Sally Goldenbaum is the author of more than three dozen novels. In addition to writing, she has worked as an editor, a teacher of philosophy, Latin, and creative writing, and even worked with Mr. Rogers at WQED-Pittsburgh. Originally from Wisconsin, she now lives with her husband in Massachusetts.

Be sure to check out this author’s website to learn more about her books and find some more knitting pattens and recipes.