The Tarzana Hookers are going to be on TV as part of new craft show. But when a one of the attendees dies in a freak accident, Molly and the gang aren’t sure whether they have a murderer in their midst. With several suspects but no solid evidence,

Molly just can’t stop herself from finding clues and trying to put all of the pieces of the puzzle together. But will she find the missing piece before she herself turns up missing? You’ll find yourself questioning a few people’s motives and be surprised when the final piece of the puzzle fits into place.

While this is lucky book number 13 in the series, it is the first one I have read and it is an excellent stand alone! I love the mature characters and author’s writing style. While this may be the first book from a new (to me )series, I’ll be devouring the first 12 books and looking forward to number 14!

Imagine the name Hookers club, I’m sure it gave you the wrong idea outright, but not to fret by Infusing a crochet club named (Hookers club) into your almost dying bookstore, is a unique way to keeping it going. You now have yarn and needles on the shelves along with books, this I find to be a fun and interesting way to go about keeping your store alive. With their crochet club doing great, including new additions not only brought a little tension but new problems in a big way, in the form of a murder. Molly is too curious not to put her curiosity at work, I mean her sleuthing techniques, to solve the mysterious death of one of their new additions. An amusing and entertaining mystery with a few fun lessons in crocheting, a nice read.

The store was certainly the happening gathering place. So much going on to keep the bookstore alive. It felt like Molly was in a romance triangle but Barry was not making any moves. It was more that Molly still have feelings for Barry and certainly liked being connected to the investigation. There were so many parts that came to an unexpected end. I liked the story. Roxy not so much. The Dance Break made me think of Charo and her cha, cha, cha.

The lively Tarzana Hookers find out their crocheting skills will be featured on a national television show on the Craftee Channel. Molly befriends Marianne, a group newcomer, who joins the hookers with her companion, Connie. When a seemingly freak accident takes the life of one of the women, Molly’s ex-boyfriend, Detective Barry Greenberg, asks Molly to help him reason out the circumstances leading up to the death since he has suspicions it’s a homicide.

This cozy series features a popular cast of characters who have different personalities yet enjoy getting together socially to crochet. As usual, Molly’s dogs and cats are home to greet her and she loves each one. The killer reveal was a surprise to me. I think Cozy fans—old and new—will enjoy this fast-paced plot. The author shares crochet patterns and recipes at the end of the book.

I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books. Thank you.

I was given this book for free by the publisher for an honest review.

I am jumping into the middle of an established series, but it really didn't matter. The author explained who everybody was and their relationships to each other. Molly Pink works at a bookstore/yarn store and the Craftee Channel picks their shop to film an episode there. There is a newcomer Marianne and her companion to the craft group. When the companion is killed a lot of suspicion is on Marianne and Molly tries to find out who did it without being the next victim.
The characters seemed very fleshed out and fairly true to character. I enjoyed the interactions between them. I think I'll go to the beginning of the series and fill in a little of the prior story.

The only thing I wasn't crazy about was all the detail about what she was cooking and how. It just seemed to be too much fluff or filler there. Especially when they provide most of the recipes anyway in the back of the book. It was nice to have the recipes and the crochet projects talked about in the book.

Betty Hechtman's Molly Pink is one of the best characters in the cozy mystery genre. She is not a stereotype, She is emotionally independent, smart, self-aware, curious, observant, and funny, skills that serve her well in her job as an Assistant Manager in a bookstore, in her relationship, and as an accidental sleuth. This is the 13th book in the series and it's still going strong, Molly and the Tarzan Hooker's welcomed two new members into their group. One is debilitated and other than saying Hello and Goodbye does not say a word during the crochet group's Happy Hours,. The other ends up dead....

I enjoyed this book. The characters are interesting and diverse. The story was well paced and interesting, there's a lot going on in it. The ending was a surprise, I had no clue who the real killer was. A fun read. #HooksCanBeDeceiving #NetGalley

This is a great series! I love the characters and the plot moves along at a great pace. I enjoy reading about the characters' lives apart from the mysteries. The mysteries keep me guessing until the end. I can't wait until the next book comes out!

Molly and the rest of the Tarzana Hookers Crochet Club are going to be on a crafting tv show that is being filmed at the bookstore where they have their meetings. What can go wrong? The host has oversold her expertize of crocheting, one of the new members has been found dead, and another member is a suspect. Can Molly pull everything together before the show is to be filmed?

This was my first book by Author Betty Hetchman. I really enjoyed getting to know the characters they are a group of interesting ladies. Molly is probably my favorite character because even though she is “investigating” she still goes out of her way to make certain members feel welcome and included in their group. The setting of the bookstore is wonderful as I am a bookworm I would love to just hang out in a bookstore. Although I have never crochet before I think I would love to learn so I could hang out with the Tarzana Hookers. The mystery was entertaining and kept me drawn with the twist and turns. I was completely surprised at who the killer actually was I never suspected this person.

I voluntarily read an advanced reader copy I received through NetGalley, all thoughts and opinions are my own and in no way have been influenced. I would recommend this book to lovers of cozies and crafters especially crocheters.

I love Molly Pink and her role in Hooks Can Be Deceiving is stellar.
As Molly and the Tarzana Hookers get ready for their close up, there is another bizarre murder.

This time, when Molly's sleuthing skills are put to the test, she finds herself a target. Not planning on becoming another victim, Molly kicks it into high gear and soon finds her answers.
I really enjoyed this book. I was engaged in the story from beginning to end and of course I love having Molly and Mason as a couple.

I volunteered to read and review an ARC of this book provided by the publisher and NetGalley.

cozy-mystery, women-sleuths, amateur-sleuth, law-enforcement, friendship, family-dynamics

If you like your cozies to end as totally Happy Ever After, this one's for you! Starts out messy and with some confusion, but then the sleuthing begins with lots of convoluted twists, incredible red herrings, and some really out of the blue events. The characters are interesting and engaging with the annoying ones being very clearly portrayed. Nice balance between situational and verbal humor to keep the suspense from getting too tight. A good read! Even if I do better with knitting than crocheting.
I requested and received a free ebook review copy via NetGalley.

The cover caught my eye and the concept was interesting enough for me to take a chance on this book. Supposedly this is the twelve in the series, and may be the reason I struggled with it. While the idea is a nice cozy mystery the build up and details that have been laid in the previous books was lost on me. Molly has a crochet store and group, and helps solve a murder mystery. Like mentioned, I tried to get into this one, but ended up skimming after awhile. Would recommend if you've read her books before.

Getting the store ready for a filming of an episode of Crafting with Crochet has Molly busy enough. Add in a clueless, non-crocheting, semi-famous, hostess and a dead body and things go from bad to worse.

Hooks Can be Deceiving by Betty Hechtman

Hooks Can be Deceiving is the twelfth book in the Crochet Mystery series by Betty Hechtman. Full disclaimer up front: I received a review copy from NetGalley, so I haven’t read the previous books in the series- although I’ve already requested the first book from the library so I can catch up!

One of my favorite types of palate cleansers and comfort reads right now is the genre that is cozy culinary mystery. These mysteries incorporate food as a big part of the storyline and include a recipe or recipes in the back. For someone who loves reading and cooking, they’re amazing! This particular version not only had a recipe in the back, but also two crochet patterns- which made it even more appealing. I’ve been a Knitter for my entire adult life (bonus points to you, reader, if you know the reference to a Knitter versus a knitter), but I just taught myself to crochet this year, so I loved reading a book that incorporated crochet and fiber arts along with food and cooking.

Because I haven’t read the others in the series, I won’t provide much of a synopsis- I don’t know what parts of the story are spoilers. But the basic story is: bookstore employee Molly runs a crochet group in the yarn section of her bookstore (side note: please sign me up for this kind of bookstore!). There is a murder committed, and she strives to uncover whodunit. The plot is, therefore, a pretty straightforward cozy mystery.

What the book brings to the table is its portrayal of female intergenerational friendships and a middle-aged protagonist whose love life is unbothered and ambiguous. Too often we see female friendships that are one-dimensional, but in this story, we see both sides of Molly’s relationship with her friends, particularly her best friend Dinah. These are friendships in which Molly is both giving and receiving support in meaningful ways. I felt like these relationships themselves were an important part of the story, not just a plot device. Molly also had a love life, but it was a teeny bit ambiguous, and she was unbothered by this (I’m positive there are spoilers here, so I’m treading lightly). At the beginning of the book I was definitely afraid that the romance was going to get very tropey, but it managed to avoid that and remain focused on Molly herself. She was able to retain her independence and strength in the midst of a romantic relationship that supported her without smothering her. In a world full of books which portray women trying to have a certain type of relationship (or none at all), this book was refreshing. The romantic relationship(s?) in this story felt incidental to the story, and as a nice added bonus to Molly’s life, but not its sole purpose.

Overall, a great cozy mystery with not only an interesting angle to the series, but a character with solid relationship goals.

Poor Molly Pink just can't seem to avoid murder mysteries. With the Tarzana Hookers and Mrs. Shedd counting on her, the pressure is on to figure out just what happened to Connie Richards. I love these characters! Adele makes me laugh at her antics. The new character of Rory made me want to shake her. I enjoyed this new side of Barry we see. I was frustrated with Dinah, I wanted to see her cut loose on her problem. I found myself no longer rooting for Mason after this one. There is a lot going on in this book but it is easy to follow as it flows so well. With a surprise ending, this may be my favorite of the series. I can't wait to try my hand at the patterns in the end.

I downloaded expecting to enjoy just the first chapter with the promise of the whole in October. I was loving the beginning and was delighted that the whole ARC is available now. I have had a lovely day with this Cozy Mystery.
This is the first book I have read by Betty Hechtman.
Hooks Can Be Deceiving can be read as a stand alone as I have, but I feel sure it will literally hook readers into wanting to read other books from The Crochet Mystery Series.

Added bonuses include 2 crochet patterns and 2 recipes.

I will be recommending Hooks Can Be Deceiving to many friends who love to crochet or craft as well as read mysteries.