Yarn to Go

Yarn Retreat Mystery #1

by Betty Hechtman

Dessert chef Casey Feldstein doesn’t know a knitting needle from a crochet hook. But after her aunt dies unexpectedly, leaving Casey to run her yarn retreat business, the sweets baker finds herself rising to the occasion—and trying to unravel a murder mystery…
 
When Casey finds out that her late aunt’s business, Yarn2Go, has one more yarn retreat scheduled, she decides to go ahead and host the event, despite her complete lack of experience as a knitter. At least the retreat is on the beautiful Monterey Peninsula.
 
But the idyllic setting is soured when a retreat regular is found murdered in her hotel room. Feeling a sense of responsibility, Casey begins to weave the clues together and detects a pattern which may shed light on her aunt’s suspicious death. Despite the danger, the last thing Casey plans to do is retreat. She’ll catch this killer…or dye trying.
 
Includes a knitting pattern and a recipe!

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Cozy, Knitting, Audiobook, Crafts

305 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 2, 2013

About the author

I grew up on the south side of Chicago and in a very busy weekend, got married, graduated college and moved to Los Angeles.

Although my degree is in Fine Arts, all I ever wanted to be was a writer and I've been doing it in one form or another for as long as I can remember. My shining moments in elementary and high school always involved stories or poetry I'd written. I wrote news stories and a weekly column in my college newspaper. My first job out of college was working on the newsletter of a finance company. I worked for a public relations firm and wrote press releases and biographies. Later I wrote proposals for video projects and television shows that went through various stages of development.

I tried writing screenplays and wrote three. I sold one and another was a winner in a Writers' Digest contest.

I was lucky enough to be a stay-at-home mom and did all kinds of volunteering at my son's schools including editing and writing several newsletters.

I wrote essays and small pieces that ran in the Los Angeles Times, the Daily News and Woman's Day among others. My short romantic and mystery fiction appeared in Woman's World, and Futures magazine.

From time I was a thirteen-year-old babysitter cooking for the kids I babysat, I dreamed of writing a book about babysitting. It took a little longer than I'd expected, but BLUE SCHWARTZ AND NEFERTITI'S NECKLACE was published in 2006.

My affair with crochet began in Las Vegas. I had always had a fascination with crochet, particularly granny squares, but thought there was some magic involved with making them that was beyond me. And then everything changed that day in Vegas when I saw the kids' kit in FAO Schwartz. If the instructions were easy enough for kids, I thought they might work for me.

My first granny square was missing a corner, but when I tried again, all four corners were there. I was in awe of my own accomplishment. I had found the magic. I went granny square crazy until pretty soon I didn't need directions anymore. Then I learned there were more squares than just basic grannies and I made squares with sunflowers in the middle and other patterns. I moved beyond squares and made flowers, hearts, bookmarks and more.

I was in love with crochet and began to make scarves, purses, afghans, and shawls. I started carrying my hooks everywhere. A plane trip became a pile of granny square wash cloths, or part of a shawl. A vacation in Hawaii turned into a tote bag.

And now I get to write about it...

** Sourced from authors website

Series:
* A Crochet Mystery
* Yarn Retreat

Reviews

[Christine Williams · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wasn’t too enamored with this first start. Casey, the main character, inherits her aunt’s yarn retreat business and she has to put on the last planned retreat because it’s too late to cancel. I think my main problem with this book was I didn’t really like any of the characters. As a matter of fact, I downright hated them. Casey is weak. I hated the manager of the lodge who kept pestering her to hand over her aunt’s files so he could continue the retreats. Casey should have told him to shove it.

I also hated that Casey thought her hot cop neighbor was having orgies at his house since all the clues seemed to point that way. As a reader, I knew that there was going to be a better (and cleaner) explanation, so why even have Casey think this? It was just lame.

The restaurant-owning husband of her friend was also a jerk and Casey and her pal just played it off that that was his personality. Um, no if he’s being an jerk, he needs to be called on it. Casey’s parents were also hateable and once again Casey doesn’t step and tell them to buzz off. I understand having a character weakness so they have room to develop and grow as the series progresses, but it was really just too much.

I would give this book a pass. There are a million and one other cozies out there to spend time and money on. Amanda Lee’s embroidery mysteries are way better than this. I know embroidery is not knitting, but it’s similar!

[JoAn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ms. Hechtman is a "new to me" author and I am glad to have found this series. Although I am not a knitter, I enjoy her descriptive writing and the characters that she is developing in this series. Thank goodness my library has several in this series.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Casey Feldstein bakes muffins and desserts for a local restaurant. When she inherits her aunt's estate after her death due to a hit-and-run incident, she discovers a few hanging commitments, such as a knitting retreat scheduled for the hotel across the street. Since she can't refund the money, she decides to hold it. Her aunt scheduled a master knitter to teach sessions, a yarn-tasting at a local yarn shop, and more. Casey plans to hold the retreat and be done with that aspect of her aunt's business forever. The hotel manager is eager to take over the yarn retreat business and pushes Casey from the beginning to hand over her aunt's business papers. The more he pushes, the less interested she is in handing them over to him. Then one of the knitters turns up dead. Casey discovers another knitter met her demise in what was termed an accident at the previous retreat. Are all the incidents related? Will the police or Casey find the murderer or will he or she go free? It's a fun book although some of the coincidences, particularly toward the end stretch the imagination. I identified the perpetrator a good ways before the end although there was another one whom I wished to be the culprit even more.

[Micky Cox · Rating 4 out of 5]

What do you do when you have tried everything and always quit when the going gets tough in your latest adventure and everyone wants you to quit? You stick of course! Great new series, or at least new to me, with an excellent group of characters wrapped into a great plot of murder and knitting! I really need to learn to knit since my favorite characters all seem to know how! I really can't wait to see where the next book takes us!

[Tari · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd been wanting to start this series for a long time, and it definitely wasn't a disappointment. I loved the idea of a yarn retreat even though I don't knit. It was pretty cool how Casey wanted nothing to do with her aunt's retreat business, but it soon took on a new meaning for her. She may not have been a knitter and just learning at the retreat, but she discovered that she could help those people with other things. When one of the retreat members was killed, Casey started thinking about two previous deaths, one being her aunt's so-called accident, and wondered if those deaths were somehow connected to this one.

With the help of a PI friend named Frank that she'd worked for as a temp, Casey slowly uncovered the killer's identity. I had this person in mind but was hoping it was someone else. At the end, Casey had a decision to make and when it was made, she felt happy that she'd done the right thing. I loved how the retreat members all started out as strangers but while working together, they became friends and looked forward to more retreats together. Everything was well wrapped up at the end and explained. The take down was short but effective. There had been a side mystery that was taken care of as well. I have all the books in the series so far, so it looks like I just need to work them in, because I'm anxious to continue reading.

[LORI CASWELL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Casey has history of not completing what she starts but decides to complete something her aunt started even though she hasn’t a clue on how to run a yarn retreat. With the help of her friend, Lucinda, and master teacher, Kris, she just may be able to pull it off and close her aunt’s business with no strings left hanging.

But then one of the retreat regulars is found dead in her hotel room. Casey has an inkling the police are missing something. Let’s face it they still have not caught the person who committed the hit and run that killed her aunt, so she doesn’t have much faith in their abilities. She starts to knit the clues together and she plans to unravel all the knots and catch the killer herself if she has to…

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Set in Monterey, California, Betty Hechtman’s new series is off to a fantastic start.

Casey Feldstein is a 35 year old woman whose life has taken several different directions much to her parent’s dismay. The latest turn has taken her to California to her aunt’s guest house. She has a job doing what she loves baking desserts for a local restaurant and baking muffins for several other businesses. Then her aunt is killed and she is left handling the details of her estate.

I fell for this character very quickly along with all the supporting characters. Lucinda is the perfect sidekick, her husband Tag is ultra obsessive compulsive and it drives Lucinda crazy but she loves him. Casey’s old boyfriend arrives on the scene with her parents in hopes are getting her to settle down and do something they approve of. Dane, the neighbor, who is also on the police force, adds to the romantic tension and the humor in the story.

The mystery is extremely well presented and woven through the entire story with ease. There really are three deaths and they may or may not be connected. It was really very interesting to follow all the clues and put everything together.

Hechtman is also the author of The Crochet Mysteries that feature Molly Pink, and an avid crafter so she knows what she is doing in the cozy mystery department. She has not only given us a wonderful story to kick off this series but has laid the groundwork for many more installments.

If you are not familiar with her work you can start with this one and then you can get started on her other series. The eighth book in that series, FOR BETTER OR WORSTED.,comes out in November.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the story was enjoyable but a couple of things bugged me. First, how does someone who is underemployed afford a Mini Cooper? Second, the use of the words "throw up" continually used as a noun. I felt like I was reading a conversation between preschoolers. And I REALLY disliked Casey's mother.

[Rachael Lidman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been looking for a good series to read for some & I think I've found a winner! Cute, quick and humorous, Betty Hechtman writes Casey in a relatable manner. The story pulled you in from the outset and gave the gift of a recipe and pattern at the end. I can't wait to find out what other mysteries are solved during future Yarn Retreats, before jumping into “A Crochet Mystery” series. If you enjoy reading, knitting and/or crocheting and baked goods, pick up this series and and grow your collections along the way.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, for the most part. The story was a nice light read that I sped through. I'd like to see more of Casey. I will say that the entire Dane/Dr. Sammy thing felt rather forced and I got tired of Casey telling us how she didn't feel about Dr. Sammy. We will see how it plays out in future books, I guess.

What I didn't like was that my copy had many typos, spelling and grammatical errors that I found distracting. Whoever the copy editor was fell down on the job! I expect to find errors like that in ebooks, but not in hard copy form, so it was even more jarring to me. For instance, this one sticks in my head because it was at the end of the book on page 292, '"How do you feel about cobbler for monday?" i said when lucinda answered the phone."' What happened to capitalization?? Small thing, big distraction.

The story was okay though, so I will read the next in the series and see how it goes.

[Christine (KizzieReads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a cute story. I loved the fellowship of knitters when they get together. Even strangers become friends over a love of something, and seeing how most of the characters grew, was a really special thing. Some people were annoying, but overall, I really liked the characters by the end. I had totally did not see the ending coming. I thought it was someone else, and was completely taken aback when all was revealed. Can't wait for the next one.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book in the Yarn retreat series. Casey Feldstein takes the task of running her aunt's yarn retreat after she dies. Casey knows next to nothing about knitting. She has a couple of people helping her run the retreat so she can close up her aunts business. One of the retreaters gets killed early on in the retreat. Casey doesn't trust the police to find the killer since they still hadn't found the hit and run driver that killed her aunt. She tries to put the pieces together of who would have wanted the victim dead.
I really enjoyed this book. I felt connected to Casey immediately. The supporting characters were well developed. Casey's ex boyfriend and her parents coming to town made for an interesting side story. I also liked Casey calling her ex boss for detective advice. I hope we see more pf him and officer Dane as well.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Casey looses her Aunt the own of Yarn2Go, a retreat owner and provider. Casey realizes that there is one more retreat scheduled and even though she doesn't know anything about yarn or knitting, she decides to hold the retreat anyway. On the first night of the retreat, a participant is found with knitting needles stuck in her chest and Casey works to find out how she died.

This is a good concept for a cozy series, as there can be lots of different characters at all the retreats. Looking forward to more in the series as it was well written. It was pretty obvious who the culprit was which kept it from being a 5 but still good for the first in the series.

[Barb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having really enjoyed all of Betty Hechtman's crochet series, I was prepared to like YARN TO GO, the first in her Knitting Retreat series. This book totally exceeded my expectations. The setting is amazing: an old, rustic resort near the tip of the fog-bound Monterey Peninsula. The characters are well fleshed-out and quirky. The plot is really thoughtful and devious. I never saw it coming. And the pacing is just fast enough that you can't quite catch your breath. For knitters, the enclosed pattern is EASY, but after all, Casey, our retreat leader, is just learning how to knit. I'm hoping for more challenging projects in future books. And I'm definitely going to continue to read this series!

[Carlymce · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as "cozy myseries" go, most I find obnoxious and completely unlikely (seriously, how many Cookbook Nooks can the economy support? I'm thinking zero.). I am so refreshed to find Yarn To Go does not fall victim to those pitfalls. The characters, and the crime, are completely believable, and the character development was just detailed enough to make me sympathetic but left enough hanging that I want to read the second in the series. Great job Betty Hetchman!

[Karen B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have recently discovered Betty Hechtman and have begun to love her work. My first experience was with the crochet books and now I am reading her knitting (yarn retreat) mysteries. Of course one of the reasons I like her early crochet mysteries and now the yarn retreat mystery is that they are available in audible so that I can crochet while listening. I don't knit but still this book was entertaining. What I like about her books is that the murderer is always someone you meet in the book but don't really suspect and when the killer is revealed it is a surprise (for me it was) and the pieces fit together. Casey is a dessert chef and doesn't know anything about knitting but her aunt had died after setting up a knitting retreat and Casey thinks she should see the retreat through. She decides to host the event even though she knows nothing about yarn or knitting. One of the people on the retreat is murdered and Casey takes on the responsibility of figuring out what happened.

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yarn To Go Casey works as a baker in a restaurant and selling muffins around town. It is something she is good at and enjoys. She had just lost her aunt recently to a hit and run accident and had just learned from her boss, Tag, that her aunt had collected monies and started getting things together for her Yarn Retreat business. It is too late to return the monies and cancel, so she goes forward with the plans. It is to be the end of the business since her aunt is gone. They all gather at the hotel across from her home and she meets the people who are going to make up the group, women mostly, but one man. She learns that the lady who teaches the classes has a business called Yarn in a Box that allows people to fill out information and then get a project meant just for them. She learns about the people and finds out, after the death on the first night, about the connections of the deaths. She begins to look at the deaths and puts together information, calling on a former boss as she works. 
 
This is the first in the series and I had read some of the others out of order and was pleasantly surprised with the story as it gave some information that was not in the other books and helps move the story along. The books can be read out of order, I know that I will continue to read the other stories. 

[Bridget · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up because it's about a yarn retreat and I love yarn, so win-win right? Nope. Super slow and boring. The main character is so wishy-washy and awful. Plus I felt the narration was confusing- the main character is supposed to be 35, but the narrator sounded much older. She was giving 60s vibes, which was fine, but I had to keep reminding myself that instead of being a lovely retiree, this woman was 35 with no life aspirations.
Also it was about knitting and I'm a crocheter, so...

[Colleen Earle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am such trash for this genre
Loved the knitting aspects, unlike the last cozy I read that talked about knitting the mc didn’t know how to knit and it was a lot of fun watching her learn her art.
The cast of characters was really well balanced.
I didn’t guess who the murder was until the reveal which was nice
I’m glad I bought the whole series already

[Chaitra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad for a first book, but I was a little uncomfortable about where the main character is at the end. I mean, I understand that she decided Paris wasn't for her. But I also didn't like that so many people kind of sort of pressured her into staying. But I also liked Dr. Sammy, and I would love to see more of him. I also liked Casey herself.

[Caitlin C · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to this book. What is better than a weekend reading retreat, other than a knitting retreat!!! I struggled to get in to the book, but I'm not actually sure why. I like the MC, the
characters and the setting, but it just didn't grab me.

The MC, Casey is a dessert chef, who comes to CA after her aunt is killed in a suspicious hit and run accident. Her aunt has a knitting retreat scheduled and Casey decides to honor her aunt by running one last retreat, despite knowing nothing about yarn or yarn crafts. One of her aunts regulars ends up dead in her room, and Casey is determined to help the police solve it.

[Sheila Burke · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. This was my first book by this author, and I found the story original, creative, well-written, well-paced, and entertaining. Hoping to find more books from this author at my library. Well worth the time to read.

[Manda · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
This had a rocky start for me (probably because I was comparing it to the Crochet Mysteries) but by the end I loved it! Didn't see the reveal coming. I'm not as connected to the knitting because I'm not a knitter but I do enjoy these, looking forward to the rest of the series!

[Sam Riner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love when yarn cozies start with an MC that doesn't know anything about yarn, because they're always obsessed by the end of the book. I wish I could go on one of these retreats myself... minus the murder

[Bonnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little slow in places but this is the first book of a series so it needs to "set up" the premise. Still it was good and I will read at least one more before I decide whether to pursue this series.

[Valisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Karen Shipman · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Casey Feldstein inherits her aunt’s yarn retreat business she not only learns how to knit but also how to solve murders.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very good! I wasn't sure as I knew she wrote good crochet mysteries but I didn't realize she could write good knitting mysteries too! Good story line!

[Stephanie Reece · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed it. Nice and fun but a mystery all the same. Would definitely read the series.

[Dosha (Bluestocking7) Beard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well I must admit this was a good story, even though it started out corny and slow. It picked up real good when someone died. I liked it for the most part, because I couldn’t figure out who did it. There were a lot of folks who could have done it. I look forward to reading this series.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Super cute, cozy read. I will continue the series.