In the 14th Crochet Mystery, ONE FOR THE HOOKS, Molly gets a life changing offer while dealing with drones,
short term rentals, orphan yarn and the news she's going to be a grandmother.
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Writer for Hire Mystery Series
Book 2
"Another convoluted puzzle with a side of romance." - Kirkus
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In the eighth Yarn Retreat Mystery, dessert chef and yarn retreat organizer gets tangled up with her own quirky group of
yarn lovers and a charismatic life coach putting on his own event who would like them to disappear.
Doing research for my books has taken me on some interesting journeys. I have gone to Writers' Police Academy numerous
times and learned things like what a hazmat suit is like up close and what it's like to handcuff someone. I went to a
gun range with Romance Writers of America and shot a gun at a target. There was a crazy trip to Catalina and a visit to
the sheriff's station there that left them suspicious of me. Also, trips to the Monterey Peninsula and the real slightly sinister
hotel and conference center I use as a model for Vista Del Mar. I have loved all of it. Well, not the gun range. There was
a whole buffet of guns to try and I quit after the revolver and automatic. I don't even like cap guns. The yarn research
is a lot more peaceful and had trips to yarn shows and yarn shops resulting in a huge stash of yarn and books about yarn.
My research for BUT KNOT FOR ME was not quite as direct. Casey is dealing with a charismatic life coach and the life
changing retreat he is putting on. I have never gone to such an event, but found lots of information online including
documentaries about the life coaches out there. Since a mushroom plays a key role in the book, I studied up on them.
Who knew that mushrooms are in their own category between animal and plant and that they have a symbiotic relationship
with trees. And then there are the poisonous ones which are hard to tell from the edible ones. You can't even tell
by taste. I don't know this from actual experience, but I read that poisonous mushrooms taste delicious and don't have
an immediate effect. So, all that time someone is sitting there enjoying an after-dinner drink and savoring the memory
of their tasty meal, the toxins are working on their liver.
I learned about other interesting things as I was working on the book like how you can walk on hot coals and not burn
your feet, and why a steam room will kill you faster than a sauna. Curious? Read BUT KNOT FOR ME and find out.
Where do ideas come from? For me, they often come from real life. An overheard conversation or what's happening on my own street.
The idea for ONE FOR THE HOOKS started when a neighbor turned her house into self-supporting by renting it out for film production.
It seemed every couple of weeks we got a notice there was another filming. Some were cheap video productions, and others high end car
commercials and then there was a reality show. The owner ended up with a nice payday, but we the neighbors were left with parked up
streets and crew members who treated the area as if they were on a soundstage seeming to forget that it was home to the rest of us.
It turned out there wasn't much we could do to stop it. There isn't even a limit on the number of days a year the place could be rented out.
It got me thinking about the rights of what a homeowner could do with their property and how it affects the neighbors around them.
Temporary rentals have added a whole new wrinkle. A homeowner can rent rooms out by the night and the neighbors suddenly find they're
living next door to a hotel with no recourse. It would be even worse on a cul-de-sac where the kids are used to playing in the street and
everyone is accustomed to a certain rhythm of life. How far would someone go to maintain their quality of life? Once Molly Pink and the
Tarzana Hookers get involved the neighbors have even more to contend with.
The plot for WRITING A WRONG came from a very different place. The basic question is how can you tell the difference between someone you
seem to have an instant rapport with and someone who is out to con you?
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In a new Yarn Retreat Mystery from national bestselling author Betty Hechtman, Casey Feldstein will have to unravel an assortment of
tangled clues to solve a knotty murder mystery . . .
