In Hooked on Murder by Betty Hechtman, Molly Pink, event coordinator for Shedd & Royal Books and More, has stopped by Ellen Sheridan’s house to drop off the crochet hooks Ellen left at the bookstore. But instead of being able to drop off the hooks, Molly finds the strangled body of Ellen, with a crochet hook in her hand. Soon a police officer shows up at the scene and handcuffs Molly, afraid that she might be the killer. Then up pulls an unmarked police car, and a handsome detective steps out; it is Barry, Molly’s boyfriend. But she is alarmed to learn that he has to step aside because he is personally involved. That means that Detective Heather, who has a strong crush on Barry and thus a vendetta against Molly, will take charge.
Molly finally gets released and goes to her job at the bookstore, where the “Tarzana Hookers” are working frantically to make squares to create an afghan for the Hearts and Barks charity to auction off in a rescue animal fundraiser. Catching the crochet bug from the group, Molly grabs her best friend, Dinah, and the pair teach themselves basic crocheting in order to volunteer. They learn about yarns and methods of crocheting, while Molly feels that she needs to work on the case herself, realizing that Detective Heather is out to clear the way with Barry by proving that Molly is guilty of the murder.
Hooked on Murder had a nice change of setting for a cozy mystery, that of a crochet club. Actually, the discussion of crocheting made me want to learn this craft. It made the whole experience of crocheting seem fascinating. The conclusion came as a surprise, though I felt the route to this solution had less mystery and more crochet drama.
The characters in this book come to life and do a lot to keep it enjoyable. The character of Molly seems very realistic and identifiable for us readers. The straight-laced Adele, an employee at the bookstore and one of the two fighting to take over after Ellen dies, proves that she has more depth than we initially imagine. Though angry and strict at first, Adele gradually opens up with her human side as the book progresses. Other characters possess similar depth as well.
Margaret Strom performs the audio edition of this book. She plays the role of Molly effectively, as she shows the woman’s strength of character yet also her snooping. I did notice that the major Los Angeles street La Cienega was mispronounced. Streets in this city are complicated in their pronunciation because they have taken on a Spanglish pronunciation and do not have a Spanish way of saying many of the Spanish names found in streets and local cities.
I enjoyed Hooked on Murder, though I would have liked more to the mystery plot itself. I enjoyed seeing a cozy mystery set in Los Angeles. The general descriptions of cozies state that they take place in small towns, but it works well to set the book in the metropolis because the city is made up of many smaller regions that can be narrowed down. In this book, the main action takes place in part of “The Valley” portion of the city. I appreciated the touch of crochet work, which I found of interest. I give this book four stars.
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