Love the art style for this cozy mystery series! The animals are so charming and cute. A great addition to the series.

I have read several books in this series. They are always a fun cozy mystery to read. The mystery was well plotted with twists and turns. I did knock off a point because at times the story seemed to get bogged down and dragged a little. This was still and entertaining read and I will read more in the series.

All thoughts and opinions are my own, and I have not been influenced by anyone.

Absolutely loved the title and wholesomeness of this book. Knitting is a prominent theme in the book which always adds a certain amount of charm to a cozy mystery and Ehrhart uses that charm well. Recommend this to all mystery lovers.

I really loved this book in a new to my series and author. I can't wait to read the next one. The characters and location really add to the plot. This book keeps you guessing until the end.

Death of a Knit Wit is the 8th Knit & Nibble cozy mystery by Dr. Peggy Ehrhart. Released 22nd Feb 2022 by Kensington, it's 320 pages and is available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

This is a well written and engaging cozy, complete with amateur sleuths who are expert knitters, a suspicious death to get the ball rolling, and lots and lots of food descriptions and goings on in a small town. The characters were varied and well rendered and I had no trouble keeping them separated in my head.

The pool of suspects is small, and although the denouement and resolution are fairly easy to guess beforehand, they're well written and satisfying. Although it's the eighth book in the series, it works perfectly well as a standalone. The language is clean, with no graphic violence or sexual content. This would be a good choice for lovers of light cozies, the kind with recipes in the back of the book, in this particular case a knitted hat and plum turnovers. There are now 8 books in the series, with a 9th due out in 2023, making this a good candidate for a binge read.

Four stars. This will appeal to lovers of small-town cozy mysteries.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Great continuation of characters we know and love from this series. Recommend for anyone who likes cozy mysteries

Death of a Knit Wit is the latest installment in Peggy Ehrhart’s Knit & Nibble Mystery series. Pamela Paterson, a magazine editor and amateur sleuth, has organized a knitting bee as part of a conference on fiber arts and crafts. The keynote speaker at the conference, a professor with a reputation as a philanderer, collapses at the knitting bee and later dies. It appears that he may have been poisoned. Pamela and her best friend, Bettina, start investigating the murder, intent on solving yet another crime.

This is a quick read that would appeal to fans of cozy mysteries, especially to readers who like cats, descriptions of food, and knitting. In this installment, a little romance is thrown in, as well. Parts of it are humorous. Bettina’s antics always make me laugh. Included at the end of the book are knitting instructions for a hat plus a recipe. I recommend this entertaining and light mystery.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Kensington Books for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Good mystery that kept me guessing until the very end. My favorite part is learning about the crafts Pamela writes about and the setting looks cozy.

Pamela's life is described in such detail that it makes her seem boring. Yes, the co-op food she eats sounds good and it's organic so she shops locally too. However, everything is described so much, I feel so weighed down.

Bettina is getting too overbearing. However, I still like the mystery enough to keep reading, so I'll keep it up.

Pamela is at a local fiber arts conference and is excited to be organizing a knitting bee. When local professor and keynote speaker comes to the bee and seemingly drops dead, Pamela is concerned. She is determined to figure out what happened so that she can keep her job and her good standing in the community.

I'm enjoying this series more and more. I really like Pamela as a character. I missed having more of her knitting club in this book. I felt like they were sort of an afterthought. I'm intrigued by the potential for a developing relationship for Pamela. I still feel like she's being written older than she actually is. I can't wait to read the next one!

I have been reading this series from the beginning. Overall, the series has some good additions and some not so good. Death of a Knit Wit is both good and bad. Pamala is a delightful character, but the constant descriptions of her everyday routines, her eating, and the nibble in the series can be overwhelming at times, and her shopping habits destroy the story almost every time. I lose the plot and the suspects easily in between discussions of what plate is being used to serve lunch. That aside, I can live with but not happily.

The returning characters are always fun to read about. I enjoy Bettina even though she can be a bit much, and if she were my neighbor and friend, I would find myself locking my doors, closing my shutters, and hiding in my house most of the time just to keep her out of my business. I adore the Knit and Nibble group. These characters are so varied in type that they make perfect sense and are relatable. I do not however like Pamala’s daughter, who I feel treats her mother as a child. I also do not like that Pamala acts as if she is in her 70s or 80s; she isn’t so old that she can’t have a life and an interest in men.

This time the murder does not center around Pamala or the knit and knibble group. A professor doing a speaking engagement turns out to be a first-class heal, and there is a room full of suspects to choose from when he is murdered. The man is a womanizer, or so it seems, not overly honest and has left a trail of heartbreak in his wake. There are plenty of red herrings to allow readers to unravel the mystery, and a few surprises are thrown in to make things more exciting and keep you turning the page. In the end, the killer is revealed with a slight twist. Generally speaking, readers who enjoy this series will continue to enjoy it, and Death of a Knit Wit won’t win over those who don’t. No matter how much we appreciate the knit and nibble club, they will never play a significant enough role in these stories to make everyone happy. Unfortunately, Pamala will remain the boring, set-in-her-ways character that can sometimes put a reader to sleep on the first page.

Who would have thought that someone would die at the weekend knitting bee Pamela P. helped organize. With her three cats as sounding boards and her bestie Bettina as well as her knitting club she manages to solve the murder.

I love this series and the characters! The mystery kept me guessing until the end. I can't wait for the next one!

I enjoyed this book! I wish I had read the previous books prior to this one, but I still loved the premise and characters! Will definitely be reading the rest soon!

The eighth book of the Knit And Nibble mystery series finds our heroine Pamela Paterson looking forward to enjoying the fruits of her labor at nearby Wendelstaff College’s fiber arts conference. She’s successfully convinced the magazine she works for to sponsor a knitting bee to be held all weekend at Sufficiency House, a historic home bequeathed to the college and used as both a museum and information center promoting home gardens and garment-making. Since knitting is one of her favorite pastimes, she’s anticipating a soothing weekend of camaraderie and crafting with new friends and old.

The first hint of trouble in the conference’s otherwise smooth sailing occurs when keynote speaker Dr Robert Greer-Gordon Critter is publicly upbraided after his speech by his ex-wife for stealing her ideas for his latest book. Dr Critter is due to drop in on the knitting bee Pamela is hosting immediately after, so Pamela is further discomfited to overhear another of his former lovers engage him in a heated conversation while on her walk over to Sufficiency House. Still, she’s determined to be pleasant when he arrives to chat with the knitters, despite her personal opinion of him tending now towards the unfavorable.

Even so, she’s horrified when the professor begins to cough over his cup of knitting bee coffee before slumping to the ground in the throes of what looks like a severe allergic reaction. The knitters quickly call an ambulance but to no avail: Dr Critter has been poisoned and no one, bar the murderer, is quite sure how.

Pamela’s boss is less than pleased at their magazine being associated with an unsolved murder, leaving Pamela to worry about her job security. That’s a large part of why she, with the assistance of her neighbor and best friend, reporter Bettina Fraser, starts looking into who might have wanted to kill Dr Critter. The two women learn a lot more than they bargain for while navigating the almost feudal world of university politics in the course of their investigations. But can any amount of learning save them when a murderer decides that they know too much?

This interesting mystery plot was laced through with Pamela’s concerns for not only her job but also her budding relationship with Wendelstaff lecturer Brian Delano. Their slow burn relationship is a delight, and I’m really rooting for their happiness. I do wish introverted Pamela would cut Bettina a little more slack, though: her best friend only wants the best for her, and of course wants the gossipy little details of her dates, as any best friend would.

In addition to the knitting instructions included for a simple hat was one delicious recipe, which I’ve edited here for length:

QUOTE
Plum Turnovers

4 or 5 large, ripe plums
1 cup flour
½ tsp salt
½ cup of butter (a little over 5 tbsp), allowed to warm up and cut into small bits
2 tbsp cream cheese (1 oz), allowed to warm up
2 to 3 tbsp ice water
8 tsp sugar
1 egg, for the egg wash (optional)

First, peel the plums. In order to do this easily you will blanch them. Bring a pot of water to boil and prepare an ice bath. With a small knife, cut an X in the bottom of each plum. Lower the plums into the boiling water. Let the water return to a boil and leave the plums in for 60 seconds. Remove them with a slotted spoon and lower them into the ice bath. Leave them for a minute or so.

Use a sharp paring knife to peel each plum, starting at the center of the X. Now cut the flesh away from the pits. You should end up with 3 to 3 ½ cups of plum. Cut the chunks into small pieces no larger than a kidney bean.

Sift flour and salt into a medium-sized bowl. Using two knives, cut in the butter and cream cheese until the mixture resembles pebbly sand. Toss with a fork while you sprinkle on 2 tbsp of ice water. Add more ice water until the dough comes together in large clumps. If dry spots remain, use a little more ice water.

With floured hands, push the dough into a compact disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for ½ hour.

Butter a large baking sheet.

Unwrap the disk of dough, cut it into 8 sections (like slices of pie), and press each into a ball. Liberally flour [your work] surface.Put a dough ball on the rolling surface, sprinkle it with flour, and flatten it slightly with your hands. Flour your rolling pin and roll the dough ball into an oval about 5” by 7”. As you work, turn the dough over frequently and sprinkle more flour on it and on your rolling surface.

Scoop ½ cup of plum pieces onto the dough oval. Put them nearer to one end rather than in the middle, but leave an inch or so between them and the edge. Sprinkle a tsp of sugar over the plum pieces. Moisten your index finger with water and dab water around the edge of the dough oval at the end with the plums on it. Carefully fold the other end of the dough oval over the plums, lining up the edges and pressing them together. Push at the edges to form a ridge. Use the tines of a fork to seal the edge, then use the fork to poke several holes in the top of the turnover.

Carefully transfer the turnover to the baking pan. Repeat the process to make 7 more turnovers.

Beat the egg with a splash of water to make an egg wash and brush it over the tops of your turnovers. You can skip this step, but the egg wash makes them glossy.

Bake the turnovers for 35 minutes at 350°F. Some juice will escape and the egg wash will bake onto the baking pan around the edges of the turnovers. Loosen them with a pancake turner a few minutes after you remove the baking sheet from the oven.
END QUOTE

This was a super yummy, not too sweet baked treat that my whole family loved. The pastry itself is possibly the best I’ve ever tasted, and a recipe I’ll carry with me to future endeavors. I did use about 6 tbsp of butter, as the directions get a little murky there, and think that made for a very rich crust with the cream cheese. My lack of facility with rolling out dough did make it easier for me to eschew using a fork to vent the pastries, as holes naturally occurred when I was stretching the dough over, but I don’t think the end result was at all unattractive.

Next week, we head to the Midwest and optimistically make a warm weather soup while investigating yet another knitting-related murder. Do join me!

Princess Fuzzypants here: Pamela and Bettina are on the prowl once again trying to figure out who poisoned the misogynistic professor during a conference sponsored by Pamela’s ‘employer. It happens just shortly after his ex-wife lambasted him very publicly at a luncheon where he was the guest speaker. She is not the only one by far with a reason to wish him ill. He has left professional and personal ruin in his path for several others. While the police are investigating the more obvious clues, the two ladies search for the ones that may not have caught their attention.

Pamela does figure it out but it is almost too late. She missed an obvious clue to which I twigged but she can be forgiven. While all this is going on, she is also trying to sort out her emotions regarding the old beau who finally gave up on her and a possible new beau. The fact that the new man is a professor at the college where the deceased worked means her various quandaries will be inter-connected.

Four purrs and two paws up.

While the mystery itself was good (an unpopular professor is poisoned at a luncheon, leaving a list of suspects that weren't too upset he was gone), sadly this book fell a bit flat for me.  I just couldn't connect with any of the main characters (I wanted more of the members of the Knit and Nibbles club and less of Bettina's wardrobe), and the extremely detailed (and sometimes repetitive) descriptions became annoying by the 50% mark (Pamela's car is serviceable.  We get it.).  I may try another book from the series to see if this was just a case of wrong book at the wrong time.

Another fun, cozy mystery in the Knit & Nibble series. Roland made me chuckle a couple of times in this installment, with his no nonsense attitude and his secrecy regarding his current project during their Knit & Nibble sessions. Peggy did a great job with the misdirection's, I wasn't able to guess the killer. Looking forward to reading future books in this series, really hoping that Pamela gets back together with her neighbor.

Pamela has organized a knitting bee as part of a conference on fiber arts and crafts at Wendelstaff College. But when Professor Robert Greer-Gordon Critter, the keynote speaker at the conference, crashes it, he seems more interested in flirting than knitting. The man’s philandering ways surpasses his academic reputation. After coffee and cookies are served, the professor suddenly collapses, could it be poison? Everyone had the coffee and cookies. Joined by her best friend Bettina and the Knit and Nibble ladies, Pamela investigates to find the truth behind the professor’s demise.
This series has always been one of my favorites. I loved reading about these characters and their sleuthing. But I really couldn’t connect with this story. I felt that each chapter was longer than it should’ve been, and there needed to be more action and suspense. I didn’t enjoy it. It was hard to finish this one. I received an advanced reader’s copy from NetGalley. This review is my own opinion.

I enjoy a good cozy and this one fit the bill. Pamela is involved with a seminar held at Wendelstaff College. She suggested a Knitting Bee as one of the activities. All was going fine until someone is murdered at her Knitting Bee! The victim was the last speaker and he was heckled by his ex-wife during his speech. Could she be the culprit? The victim was a womanizer so that opens up the suspect pool.

Pamela and her friend Bettina set out to find out who is the murderer. Between Pamela's easy going personality and Bettina's job as a journalist, they are able to dig up and investigate many suspects.

This is a fun story. Pamela is an older protagonist, which is a nice change. The writing style is easy-to-read and the story kept my attention. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good cozy with knitters.

I'm always happy when I catch up with Pamela, Bettina and the cast of this lovely series.
I love Ms Erhart style of writing and her mysteries always keep me hooked and guessing.
This is the eight book I read in this series and hope there's a lot more to come.
The story is well plotted and I appreciated some interesting part about self-sufficiency during the 30s. There's always something interesting to learn in reading this book.
It's a good mystery and I strongly recommend it.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine