Showing results by narrator "Margaret Strom" in All Categories

After reconnecting with some old college friends on social media, part-time dessert chef and muffin-maker Casey Feldstein has gotten herself roped into hosting a knitting retreat for the group. Tangled up in worries over how they'll judge her unconventional life and the rustic atmosphere at Vista Del Mar, she watches in dismay as the women arrive and their old personalities - and old grudges - come trickling to the surface. But Casey discovers these are the least of her problems when one of the women is found dead.

The Tarzana Hookers' Yarn University has been a big success, and the classes have drawn in a slew of new crochet devotees. A less welcome arrival is the boxy monstrosity in the yard behind Molly's house. She hasn't met her new neighbors, but when she sees a couple struggling on the balcony and later spies what looks like someone lying on the ground, Molly wastes no time calling in her ex, homicide detective Barry Greenberg.

Rose Donovan looks for the good in everyone. With her sister-in-law, Peg, that sometimes requires a lot of searching. Even a sixty-something former nun like Rose has her limits, and gruff Peg Turnbull sure knows how to push them. But after forty years of bickering, they're attempting to start over, partnering up to join the local bridge club. Peg and Rose barely have a chance to celebrate their first win before one of the club's most accomplished players is killed in his home. As the newest members, the sisters-in-law come under scrutiny and decide to start some digging of their own.

When a television crew descends on Tarzana, Molly Pink and the rest of her crochet group, the Tarzana Hookers, put up with the inconvenience as best they can—until the residence of one of their own becomes a real-life crime scene.

Prison abolition and decarceration are increasingly debated, but it is often without taking into account the largest exodus of people from carceral facilities in the 20th century: the closure of disability institutions and psychiatric hospitals. Decarcerating Disability provides a much-needed corrective, combining a genealogy of deinstitutionalization with critiques of the current prison system.

When the perennially cloudy skies of Cadbury unleash a torrential downpour, yarn retreat host Casey Feldstein watches in dismay as the streets surrounding Vista Del Mar become flooded and she and her retreat guests are trapped there. But the storm is the least of their worries when a man is found dead in his room, and the guests begin to speculate that he may have been murdered. With the police unable to reach them, Casey is forced to fill their soggy shoes and investigate.

There's never a dull moment for amateur sleuth Molly Pink. Without warning, her infant granddaughter has been dumped in her lap for babysitting duties, her son has reluctantly enlisted her help investigating a potential investor in his business, and now she has to manage a high-profile bookstore event for a former Hollywood columnist who's dishing the dirt in a juicy tell-all.

Guiding Rory through crocheting-for-beginners will have to wait, as Molly suddenly has to untangle the mysterious death of a new Tarzana Hookers member. Marianne Freeman and her live-in companion, Connie Richards, haven't exactly been gabby since they joined the Hookers, but Connie's voice is silenced permanently when she is electrocuted while walking on a wet lawn—electrified by an old radio plugged into a faulty extension cord.

When Molly is invited to a major society wedding, she expects some wedding drama. Though she never anticipated this much trouble. The bride is the daughter of Molly's close friend Mason—and has been planning this wedding for a long time. But at the reception, things go amiss when the wealthy groom ends up dancing with the grim reaper.

Merry's career as a New York City stylist has crumbled, but her passion for muffins has helped her rise upstate in Autumn Vale. Everyone in town loves the tasty treats. Still, she would like to return to her glamorous life. Besides, the upkeep of Wynter Castle is expensive, and Merry's cup isn't exactly overflowing. So in order to bring some prospective buyers into the mix, Merry whisks together a spooky soiree and decorates the castle with dashes of fabric and a sprinkling of spiderwebs.

These are the dog days of August, but you won't catch the Tarzana Hookers crochet club napping. While Molly Pink knits together an idea for a new project, Miami Wilson busily converts a house she inherited into a rental property. But Miami is left shorthanded when Sloan Renner, the woman helping her clean out the house ends up dead under a pile of smelly seafood.

Molly Pink and the Tarzana Hookers are busy crocheting baby blankets for charity, but before long, they're tangled up in a mystery that may be their unraveling. The Hookers are a tight-knit group, but some of the members harbor secret aspirations. Adele dreams of becoming an actress, and her acting coach has filled her head with promises of a career as a crochet show host. Elise Belmont has earned her real estate license and is itching to show her first house. When the house's tenant turns up dead from a pink squirrel cocktail laced with cyanide, the Hookers could be in double treble.

Dessert chef Casey Feldstein is running a new retreat called From Sheep to Shawl at a resort on the atmospheric Monterey Peninsula. Participants will learn about sheep-shearing, fixing up the fleece, and spinning, and will eventually knit a lovely shawl. Nicole Welton has been hired to teach the fleece-to-fiber portion of the retreat. She's an expert spinner, and her small shop in Cadbury by the Sea houses a beautiful assortment of spinning wheels and drop spindles.

My name is Nora Black, and I'm 51 years young. At least that's what I tell myself, when I'm not having hot flashes; my knees don't hurt; and I can find my reading glasses. I'm also the proud owner of a salon called Scents & Scentsability in the small resort town of Garden Cove, where I make a cozy living selling handmade bath and beauty products. All in all, my life is pretty good. Except for one little glitch.

The desire for dignity is universal and powerful. It is a motivating force behind all human interaction - in families, in communities, in the business world, and in relationships at the international level. When dignity is violated, the response is likely to involve aggression, even violence, hatred, and vengeance. On the other hand, when people treat one another with dignity, they become more connected and are able to create more meaningful relationships.

When a charismatic life coach and his devoted followers descend on Vista Del Mar, Casey Feldstein and the yarn retreat group she's hosting literally get pushed aside, out of sight and out of mind of the struggling participants seeking enlightenment. But Casey can't help overhearing the rancorous argument between two members of the guru's staff, and when one of them turns up dead after ingesting poisonous mushrooms, Casey finds herself tangled up in a murder investigation while the self-help group looks on helplessly.

Her crochet group, The Tarzana Hookers, is working overtime for the holidays - but Molly Pink is having trouble finding time to crochet so much as a snowflake. The bookstore where she works is adding a yarn department and planning a huge launch party where the mysterious author of a popular series will reveal his or her true identity. But before the author appears, another person disappears. The husband of Molly's neighbor is missing. When a suicide note arrives, it appears the husband has jumped off the Catalina Ferry - but Molly smells something fishy.

Eager to show some town spirit, Casey Feldstein finds herself fluttering back and forth between setting up a yarn retreat, baking, and helping out at the Cadbury by the Sea festival. But when a former butterfly queen is found dead with a knife in her back after a Bless the Butterflies service, Casey must set her loom aside to hook a killer with a score to settle.

At the urging of Vista Del Mar's owner, Casey Feldstein takes on the job of combining a murder mystery game with her next weekend yarn retreat. Enlisting the help of the hotel's staff to play the roles of victim and suspects, she lays out a plot and plants some red herrings. And as her intrigued guests watch the murder play out and the clues unfold, Casey is certain she's pulled off the perfect make-believe murder—until a real murder intrudes and everyone at the hotel is named as a suspect.

Molly's been handed the reins for this year's creative retreat - an exhilarating weekend out on the Monterey Peninsula, complete with crochet classes. Unfortunately for one teacher, though, the breathtaking scenery is where she'll take her last breath. Now Molly will have to find a new instructor, and, if she can squeeze it in, solve this murder - with the help of her pals from the Tarzana Hookers.