Crochet and Cauldrons (Vampire Knitting Club #3)
by Nancy Warren
My Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Paranormal Cozy Mystery
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: MF
Blurb:
Every family has annoying relatives; mine just happen to be undead.My Grandmother, Agnes Bartlett, used to own Cardinal Woolsey’s knitting shop then died and left her shop to me, without informing me that she wasn’t actually dead. She’s a vampire and part of the world’s strangest craft circle-the Vampire Knitting Club.
As you might imagine, this means she’s free to interfere in how I run the business that used to be hers. She’s trying to teach me to knit, and it’s not going well. She’s also trying to teach me how to be a witch, since it turns out I’m from a long line of witches. Another tiny detail about my family that no one ever told me, along with the long-lost witch cousins I recently discovered. But I’m learning. I’ve got my family spell book, my black cat familiar, some powers that sometimes scare me, and an interesting new group of friends.
My archaeologist parents are coming to visit and bringing me a gift I could do without. So, to recap, I run a knitting shop, and I can’t knit. I’m a beginning witch who can’t always control her cat, never mind her magic, and my love life is as tangled as the last sock I tried to knit. Oh, and for some reason, I keep getting involved in murder investigations. Good thing I have my vampire knitters to help sniff out clues. At least I’ve finally hired the perfect assistant, a real demon with the crochet hook. Or is she too perfect?
My Review
This was another fun read in this series. I really enjoy listening to this series as the narrator does an awesome job with it. And it’s a fun paranormal cozy mystery series so far. I like following Lucy along as she slowly learns more about this world of witches and vampires and other paranormal things that are out there. And every book has it’s own mystery as well ofcourse.
The mystery of this one was quite different again than most cozies. There is no actual murder until quite late in the book, but the impending danger plot line starts quite early. It was an interesting way to handle it. And even though the mystery at first wasn’t about who is the murderer, it was still about who is behind this. I do think it was rather obvious who the murderer was, once we got a certain clue it all fell into place for me. It was almost too obvious and it was a bit annoying how none of the characters seemed to realize what was happening until it was almost too late. The ending turned a bit dark and creepy, but I liked seeing how Lucy got through it.
This story feels like an important one for the story in a way. With the new things Lucy learns in this one and how much she has come to rely on her new vampire friends. It’s like she’s slowly starting to get a bit more comfortable that she’s a witch. And there’s another witch she meets in this book. Although she wasn’t very likable at first, I do think it helped Lucy to learn more about witches.
I enjoyed listening to this book and seeing how Lucy deals with all the danger she’s facing in this book. I also liked how she showed determination and kindness in this book. I like seeing how she interacts with the other characters and there are some interesting new characters she meets in this book as well as more we see from the already familiar ones. And Lucy’s parents come to visit in this book. It was hard to fully like her parents, but they did feel realistically done. With the way her parents worried about her and sometimes tried to push her into a certain direction. They didn’t fully understand her decision to stay in Oxford either. It was interesting to see this part of Lucy’s life and her parents so I could better understand how this shaped her as a character.
I like how the world building slowly gets expended with each book. With little bits here and there we learn about witches in particular in this book. This book also touches upon other things that are out there with the powerful enemy Lucy faces in this book. It’s interesting how the series still takes things slowly. While Lucy is a witch, she’s still a new witch and still has a lot to learn and often doesn’t have time for all the witchy stuff with her shop and the rest going on, which felt very realistic.
I really like the way Sarah Zimmerman narrates this series. I like her voices for Lucy and Rafe especially. Her older ladies voice is also very spot on. And the way she handles all the different accents and gives every character their own voice really works for me. I am really glad I decided to listen to this series.
To summarize: Another fun book in this series. I like the unique set-up this book has with the murder happening later on, but news of impending danger arriving instead early in the book. I think this approach worked well for this story. I did think it was rather obvious who was behind it all and it was a bit frustrating how no one seems to get the right clue to solve this mystery. I like Lucy as a character and I like the kindness she shows a stranger and her determination to fix this. It’s interesting to see her learn more about being a witch. There are some new characters she meets in this book as well as the usual cast of recurring characters. Sarah Zimmerman does an awesome job with the narration and I like how she handles the different voices and accents. I am glad I decided to listen to this series.
Links:
– Goodreads
– Bookbub
– Amazon
– Audible
You can also read my review on Goodreads, Bookbub and Amazon.
Neat how this book felt pivotal to the whole series’ direction and she could learn more about being a witch. Too bad the solution to the murder was so obvious (and I get impatient, too, when its obvious, but no one figures it out). The narrator sounds great. I really need to get busy and read this series.
I liked the pivotal feel of the book and how Lucy is gettign more comfortable with her friends and situation here. I think the solution was supposed to be obvious, the blurb basically gives it away, but it bothered me a bit as then no one sees the obvious culprit. I really like the narrator and plan to listen to the rest of the series as well.