Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Knit or Dye Trying (A Riverbank Knitting Mystery) by Allie Pleiter. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!
Knit or Dye Trying (A Riverbank Knitting Mystery)
by Allie Pleiter
Knit or Dye Trying (A Riverbank Knitting Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting – Maryland
Berkley (April 5, 2022)
Mass Market Paperback : 304 pages
Business is booming for Libby Beckett and her fabulous Maryland shop, aptly named Y.A.R.N., but when a town festival brings a fatality with it, Libby gets all tangled up in murder.
As spring comes to Collinstown, the village launches a food festival to draw a new group of tourists. Libby, the proud owner of Y.A.R.N., has planned a yarn event to provide an alternative option to a foodie weekend. Artisan fiber dyer Julie Wilson—known for her work with animal-friendly, plant-based knitting fibers such as bamboo and hemp as well as her brilliant use of color—will hopefully draw a crowd with a special dyeing workshop.
The festival begins, but it draws more than crowds. First, a flock of sheep parades down the street, herded by farmers protesting Julie’s antiwool stance. Then Julie’s celebrity chef sister appears, and the siblings resume a long-standing rivalry. Despite all this, Julie’s workshop has sold out. Libby is thrilled, and they’re preparing for a full house. But the night before the event, Julie is found alone in the warehouse event space—dead. The witty “Watch Julie Wilson Dye” workshop title now has a terrible new meaning—and it’s up to Libby to catch a crafty killer.
Guest post: The Slow Burn Mystery Romance
Tingles of Several Kinds
Mysteries, by definition, should raise your pulse a little. The suspense of connecting clues, the need to clear your name, the lingering threat of a killer not yet brought to justice…all these things make for spine-tingling reading.
But what about that…ahem…other kind of tingling? The sparks flying between two characters, the attraction wildly complicated by unfortunate circumstances, the “are we or aren’t we?” that often keeps us rooting for characters to connect?
Most readers like a touch of romance in their mysteries—especially cozies, where the characters are as crucial as the whodunnit. After all, we develop a loyal bond to our plucky amateur sleuth and we want to see her (or him) happy. And let’s face it—every story gets a little more interesting when matters of the heart are involved.
“It’s complicated…”
Especially for those of us wielding the arc of a long series, this gets complicated. Many of us can name television series that fell flat once the two potential love-birds finally got together. Fizzled romantic tension can spell doom for a series.
Then again, no one goes for the long, drawn out, get-together-why-don’t-you-already? that can be just as deadly for a series. We don’t want to see two characters kept apart just because it serves the author. It’s got to make sense for the story and the characters, or we won’t buy it.
Libby and Gavin need to strike just such a balance in the Riverbank Knitting Mysteries. They were a hot and heavy item in high school, but life took them down different roads, to separate and now defunct marriages. Now that Libby’s back in town with her yarn shop, she and Mayor Gavin can’t quite figure out what they are to each other. Or what they could be to each other. Or what they should be to each other. If they put their relationship status on Facebook, you can bet it would be “it’s complicated.”
The Long and Winding Road
Because I also write romance, it isn’t hard to make the sparks fly between Libby and Gavin. But I can’t start many fires—not in these early books. Their relationship needs a long path to travel, and I need to make sure it’s not an easy one. So I throw some meddling family members in there to tangle the love knot: Gavin’s teenage daughter and Libby’s nosy mother give Gavin and Libby plenty of reasons to hit the brakes on their relationship. And then there are the professional pitfalls of a mayor vs. business owner dynamic. Wondering how they are going to navigate those rocky waters gives Gavin and Libby cause to pause.
Still, when has chemistry ever listened to reason? Gavin can still say Libby’s name in a way that melts her. Every once in a while some detail will remind the both of them how desperately in love they were in high school. And while each is justifiably gun-shy from a terrible marriage, there’s still a strong pull between them. Do they try to hide it and ignore it? Of course they do. Does it work? Nope. While they’re working to solve the mystery of Libby’s VIP guest who’s put a massive and deadly damper on Gavin’s town-wide food festival, their romantic history won’t stay in the past.
Will Libby and Gavin get together in a future book of the series? Well, I wouldn’t be much of an author if I gave that away, now, would I? You’ll just have to keep reading to see if the clues lead to more than just justice in Collinstown, MD.
About Allie Pleiter
An avid knitter, coffee junkie and firm believer that “pie makes everything better,” Allie Pleiter writes both fiction and non-fiction working on as many as four novels at a time. The bestselling author of over fifty books, Allie has enjoyed a twenty-year career with over 1.5 million books sold. In addition to writing, Allie maintains an active writing productivity coaching practice and speaks regularly on the creative process, publishing, and her very favorite topic—The Chunky Method of time management for writers.
Author Links
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alliepleiterauthor/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/alliepleiter
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allie-pleiter-6a021b139
Twitter: https://twitter.com/alliepleiter
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/alliepleiter/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/453346.Allie_Pleiter
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/allie-pleiter
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Allie-Pleiter/e/B001H6IEUO/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_ebooks_1
To subscribe to Allie’s newsletter: http://www.alliepleiter.com/subscribe/
Purchase Links
Link on my webpage Amazon (including Kindle and Audible) Barnes & Noble (including Nook) Apple Books Google Play Kobo IndieBound
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Knit or Dye Trying TOUR PARTICIPANTS
April 25 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
April 25 – Maureen Musings – SPOTLIGHT
April 25 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog – SPOTLIGHT
April 26 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
April 26 – Ascroft, eh? – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
April 26 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT
April 27 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – GUEST POST
April 27 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT
April 27 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT
April 28 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST
April 28 – Diane Reviews Books – GUEST POST
April 28 – Lady Hawkeye – SPOTLIGHT
April 29 – Hearts & Scribbles – SPOTLIGHT
April 29 – I Read What You Write – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
April 29 – Moonlight Rendezvous – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST
April 30 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW
April 30 – MJB Reviewers – SPOTLIGHT WITH EXCERPT
April 30 – Christa Reads and Writes – REVIEW
May 1 – Melina’s Book Blog – REVIEW
May 1 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW
May 1 – Elizabeth McKenna – Author – SPOTLIGHT
May 1 – Girl with Pen – SPOTLIGHT
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I’m delighted you gave me this opportunity to dig a little deeper into what makes Gavin and Libby such an intriguing couple! Thanks for hosting me.
You’re welcome! Thank you for stopping today!
Looks like such a fun read. Love the title…so clever