Life in the Crochet Lane

By Betty Hechtman

I like to think my life turned on a granny square. I had always been fascinated by crochet, but particularly by the crochet motif. I managed to teach myself how to crochet a hat, but how to make the squared eluded me. They seemed almost magic - the way they had open spaces but didn’t collapse. I’d wanted to take a class, but all the yarn classes I’d seen offered were knitting.

And then one day in Las Vegas in FAO Schwartz something happened that changed my life. I passed a little blue suitcase with a picture of a granny square on it. When I read that it was a kit to teach you how to make granny squares, I had a big aha moment. If it could work for a ten-year-old, maybe it could work for me. It sounds silly, but I was over the top excited as I bought the kit. At last, I was going to learn how to make those squares that are the mainstays of afghans.

I waited until I was back home to open it. The great thing about kid’s kits is that they show you every step with pictures. Though my first attempt was missing a corner, my second turned out much better. When I saw that first complete square I felt like I could conquer the crochet world.

I put my square making ability together with something else I’d always wanted to do - write a mystery. I was going to call it Squared to Death. I thought even if it didn’t get published, I’d learn how to crochet in the process of writing it.

But it did get published. Only it was called Hooked on Murder.

And now my fifth book You Better Knot Die is out. My crocheting has improved, but nothing compared to my ability to accumulate yarn.

In You Better Knot Die, it’s the holidays in Tarzana, California. Molly Pink and her crochet group the Tarzana Hookers are up to their elbows in crocheting snowflakes to decorate the windows of the bookstore where Molly works and they meet.

In the midst of preparations for a holiday event featuring Santa Lucia Day, Christmas, Chanukah, and Kwanza, Molly’s financial advisor neighbor goes missing.

Molly is still trying to sort out her personal life, juggling friends and lovers, while preparing for the biggest event the bookstore has ever had - hosting the launch of the latest book in the uber popular series featuring a vampire who crochets.

Directions to make a snowflake and a vampire scarf are included. Also included are recipes for Santa Lucia buns and stained glass cookies.

Do you have any holiday decorations that have special meaning? What about holiday foods? Is there something special that your family serves every year?

Along with writing the national bestselling crochet mystery series, Betty has written Blue Schwarz and Nefertiti's Necklace, a YA mystery with recipes, numerous newspaper and magazine pieces, along with short stories and screenplays. She blogs on Killerhobbies.blogspot.com and Killerhcharacters.blogspot.com. Her website is BettyHechtman.com.

Free books!

Sandra Parshall

Maybe you’ve lost your job or expect to soon. Maybe your investments, large or small, are tanking. Maybe your kids don’t understand why they can’t have the expensive electronic playthings they want from Santa. Publishing seems to be headed into a dizzying downward spiral, too, and all over the internet, writers are begging you to buy their new books.

I understand why laying down money for the latest mystery novels might not be a top priority at the moment. But you need them, right? You can’t live without those entertaining tales of mayhem. Sometimes an engrossing book is all that stands between you and total meltdown. (I understand that too.) So I’m offering a batch of books, all of them December releases, to a few lucky readers of PDD.

Look through the list below, then tell me in the comments section which THREE books you’d like to have, in order of preference. Each winner will receive two free books, but naming a third choice will increase your chance of getting something you want. If you enjoy the books, please tell your friends about them. If you don’t win, but a book sounds like just your sort of thing, stop in a book store and treat yourself. You deserve it, don’t you?


DEVIL MAY RIDE, A Ghost Dusters Mystery, by Wendy Roberts – Second in the paranormal mystery series featuring Sadie Novak, a professional crime scene cleaner and amateur medium. Sadie and her sexy partner, Zack, are cleaning up a meth lab when Sadie comes face to face with an evil spirit unlike anything she’s seen before.

DYING FOR DINNER by Miranda Bliss – Annie is leaving her bank job to work full-time as manager of her boyfriend’s restaurant in Old Town Alexandria, VA. But the first day of the rest of her life is the last day of someone else’s, and Annie ends up right in the middle of the excitement. Includes recipes.


DEFENDING ANGELS, A Beaufort & Company Mystery, by Mary Stanton – Ah, Savannah, a city overflowing with charm and ghosts. Literally. While Brianna Winston-Beaufort waits out the renovations on her law office, she rents space in the middle of an all-murderers cemetery, and before long, she’s defending a client in the loftiest venue of all, the Celestial Court. Great setting and a charming heroine.


DYING BY THE SWORD, A Musketeers Mystery, by Sarah D’Almeida – The swashbuckling trio set out to prove Porthos’s servant innocent of killing an armorer, but their sleuthing leads to conflict with Cardinal Richelieu, who is investigating a plot against King Louis XIII. Excellent historical detail.


DEAD MEN DON’T CROCHET by Betty Hechtman – In this followup to Hooked on Murder, Molly Pink and the boisterous Tarzana Hookers join forces to clear one of their members of murdering a snarky yarn shop owner (who probably deserved what she got). Recipe and crochet pattern included.

MR. MONK IS MISERABLE by Lee Goldberg – Natalie serves as Monk’s Dr. Watson, assisting the brilliant detective and telling the stories in Goldberg’s entertaining series of original novels based on the television program. In the latest, the phobic Monk astonishes Natalie by deciding to visit the catacombs of Paris. Among the ancient skeletons, Monk’s sharp eye spots a skull that’s not so old – and bears evidence of murder. A San Francisco connection brings Captain Stottlemeyer and Lt. Disher into the action.


HAIL TO THE CHEF, A White House Chef Mystery, by Julie Hyzy – This series was an instant hit with its first entry, State of the Onion, and the second is equally entertaining. White House Chef Ollie Parsons has plenty to do with the holidays coming up and the First Lady meddling in her romantic life, but she adds murder to her plate when the First Lady’s nephew dies in suspicious circumstances. Recipes for a complete Presidential meal are included, along with lots of details about the inner workings of the nation's First Kitchen.

MRS. MALLORY AND A TIME TO DIE by Hazel Holt – When the quiet English village of Taviscombe is shaken by a series of shocking deaths, Sheila Malory finds herself back in sleuthing mode. Publishers Weekly calls the Mrs. Malory series “the very model of the modern mystery cozy.”

Tell me your choices, and check the end of the comments thread on Thursday to find out if you won!