{Yarn Along} The Socks and the Squid

Same two projects as last week, and not a whole lot of progress on either. Nothing that would show in a picture, at least.

I grew up in a family of tole painters, so of course I was going to read Fatal Brushstroke, the first book in the Aurora Anderson mystery series by Sybil Johnson. It opens with the discovery of a body in Aurora's garden, one that she recognizes by the ring and paint spatters on its exposed hand. There are a few people who might have wished tole painting instructor Hester Bouquet dead, but Aurora wasn't one of them.  She is a suspect, though, and she's anxious to clear her own name.

I love cozy crafting mysteries and this one has me wanting to buy some paint and wood and try out tole painting myself. (It doesn't hurt that we saw a booth of gorgeous traditionally painted furniture and boxes at the local Scandinavian Festival this summer.)  Even if you aren't sure quite what tole painting is, that won't stop you from enjoying the book. The main focus is on the mystery and who had reasons to do what.

Author Sybil Johnson will be guest posting here tomorrow as part of her promotional blog hop.

For more pretty knitting projects to drool over, check out On the Needles at Patchwork Times.

Disclosure -- the publisher provided me with an ARC.