{yarn along} the Myrtle Crumb Mysteries

I think I'm tired of knitting socks, or at the very least, I'm tired of k2p2 ribbing. I need some lace or cables or something!

Since we got back from the trip, I've been reading up a storm. First was Between A Clutch and A Hard Place, the first in the Myrtle Crumb mystery series by Gayle Trent. I'd bought it for my Kindle right before we left.

When Myrtle's friend Tansie comes home from the consignment shop with a Louis Vuitton pocketbook, Myrtle heads straight down there to see if she can find something just as good for herself. What she comes home with is a black clutch with "a couple of little zippered sections. 'Couse you couldn't put too much in them or else it'd pooch out on the sides like a pregnant cat."

And a note inside signed by Flora Adams that reads "If anything happens to me, look to Jim. He did it."  Jim Adams is easy to track down. And his wife Flora is missing...

It's a quick, funny read. Myrtle has a very distinctive voice and very strong opinions. (Do I even need to tell you that after quoting the bit about the pregnant cat purse?)  As soon as I'd finished this one, I downloaded the next in the series, When Good Bras Go Bad. I liked that one slightly less, probably because the mystery is centered around some thefts at Myrtle's granddaughter's high school and didn't capture my interest as much as the note in the purse did.

I haven't read Gayle Trent's other books, but I'll be looking for her cake mysteries and a series of embroidery mysteries (written as Amanda Lee). There's also another Myrtle Crumb book scheduled for this fall.

She's hosting a beach party on her Facebook page today. Here's the invitation --

I'm hosting a beach party on Facebook on Wednesday, June 12, from 6 - 9 p.m. ET with lots of giveaways. The grand prize is a $50 Amazon gift certificate, but other giveaways will be held randomly throughout the event. Additional prizes include a mani/pedi set, books, Kindle downloads, notebooks, totes, and gift cards.

To join in the fun, like my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/GayleTrentandAmandaLee, then click on the Events tab, and join the party.

Hope to see you there! We'll have a blast!

Maybe you can win yourself a book!

For more fun knitting projects to drool over, check out On the Needles at Patchwork Times and Work in Progress Wednesdays at Tami's Amis.


Silly disclosure -- I bought both books myself and found out about the beach party just in time to add the details to today's post.