Tuesday, February 07, 2017

{Yarn Along} Laburnum Stitch



The color changes in this yarn are subtle enough that I decided to add some kind of pretty stitch. This is Laburnum from Sensational Knitted Socks. I was hating the whole knit three together thing, but I've got that worked out. Now I'm iffy about knitting into the front and back of a yarn-over. And I've seen the Longing For Spring pattern, which has me tempted to rip the whole thing out and start over because that is so much prettier than what I'm doing! (Just to clarify -- my sock is pretty, but Longing for Spring is gorgeous. And this is not the only pink yarn in my stash so I can definitely have both if that's what I decide I want.)




I absolutely love the Auction Block mystery series by Loretta Ross. The chemistry between Death and Wren is just so perfect it makes me swoon a bit. And the mysteries are always interesting. In Death and the Gravedigger's Angel, there are two. An unidentified body has been discovered wearing an authentic civil war uniform that's stained with "dead guy juice," and Death has been hired to help a former army medic accused of murdering the leader of a local hate group. I can't tell you my favorite part of the plot without including spoilers, but it's a whole lot of fun. This series keeps getting better and better.



"When we're done, even your skeletons will have a place." Unfortunately, Tobi's ad slogan is far too accurate and the closet system  designed by her client are perfect for hiding a dead body.
After reading the first couples of pages, I really liked Tobi Tobias, the heroine of Death in Advertising by Laura Bradford. How could I not like a character who quotes The Amazing Mumford? Halfway through the book, I was liking her a lot less. She borrows cars from her friends and returns them later than promised. She complains about her wardrobe of thrift store clothing and has some definite sour grapes when it come to the widow of the deceased. I think Mitzi's poor taste would have come across just fine without Tobi's opinions.  The writing is good, though, and I didn't even come close to figuring out who the murderer was, even after Tobi started to put it together. I'll definitely be looking for the second book in the series and hoping that Tobi is a little less pouty about her financial condition.



Rush of Blood by Mark Billingham sounded like it would be right up my alley. Three British couples become friendly at a resort in Florida and continue to get together after the vacation ends. The vacation was wonderful, except for the incident with the fourteen-year-old girl who went missing on the last day of their trip and was later found dead. After a second girl is murdered much closer to home, the couples begin to wonder what their new friends are hiding. The book shifts back and forth between "what happened then" and "what's happening now" with occasional first person sections written by the killer. I wasn't worried about what would happen to any of the characters and I barely cared who the murderer was. The whole reason I'm drawn to thrillers is that I want to see what's going to happen to the people involved, but this book just didn't pull me in. And there was way too much complaining about portion sizes.

Disclosure -- I was provided with an advance review copies by the publishers. All opinions are my own. This post is linked to Patchwork Times, Yarn Along, Crazy Mom Quilts , Wrap up Friday  

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