Love in the Time of Murder by D.E. Haggerty- #review #giveaway

In Love in the Time of Murder, the "Gray-Haired Knitting Detectives" face their toughest case yet. Delilah, or Dee as she wishes everyone would just call her already, is the granddaughter of one of the knitting detectives and her life is in a bit of a shambles. She finally manages to pry herself away from her husband’s clutches, move out on her own, and start her own business. But then her estranged husband is murdered and she’s the number one suspect. The Gray-Haired Knitting Detectives aren’t about to let one of their own get sent to the slammer and jump at the chance to search for the true killer. As if Dee doesn’t have enough problems, the knitting detectives decide that Delilah being a widow is the perfect opportunity to find her a new man and decide to put their matchmaking skills to use. Will Dee end up in prison for a murder she didn’t commit or will she be taking another walk down the aisle?

(All books in the Gray-Haired Knitting Detectives series are standalones.)

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MY REVIEW

I do love me my feisty older ladies!  And Love in the Time of Murder is full of them!  I think I liked the gray-haired knitters better than the main character!  (Maybe that's because a few *ahem* of my hairs are turning gray.)

Dee is definitely not your average cozy heroine.  True, many cozy heroines flee big cities for smaller town.  But most of them aren't quite as unhappy about it as Dee seems to be.  Being a small-town type myself, I tend to get my back up a bit at that.  Then I remember that city folk have a harder time appreciating the benefits of living in less populated areas.

But Dee is a good person at heart.  I totally sympathize with her on her husband/ex situation.  And, of course, because of the domestic violence, the wife (well, widow) makes the perfect patsy for someone looking to off the scumbag.

This is where the beauty of small town groups of old ladies comes in.  There is no way they are going to let the grand-daughter of one of their members take the fall for a crime she did not commit!  You don't mess with the grandmas.  This always reminds me of my husband's paternal Mamaw.  Before we lived in Kentucky, we brought our children (then 3 and 4) up to meet his side of the family.  When we knocked on Mamaw's door she came out, looked at my husband and said, "I oughtta throw you across the yard," (for not bringing her great-grandbabies up to see her sooner)!

Dee has got a helping and a half of good-natured snark (I guess they used to call it 'sass'), and I always take seconds on that when I can get it.  And, as they say around here, "she comes by it honest".

While I understand the grannies intentions were good, I would be a little uncomfortable if I were a new widow (no matter how big a putz my husband had been), to be the object of match-making so soon after the death.  But, as I met only met one of my grandmothers, and that only during one visit, I would take just about any of these ladies as 'adoptees'.

Haggerty made an interesting choice writing these as a series of standalones.  Cozies usually come in series, but the story arcs over all the installments.  And it works out quite lovely!  Any unread and/or future installments of the tales of the "Gray-Haired Knitting Detectives" are going on my TBR.

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MEET THE AUTHOR - D.E. HAGGERTY

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I was born and raised in Wisconsin, but think I’m a European. After spending my senior year of high school in Germany, I developed a bad case of wanderlust that is yet to be cured. My flying Dutch husband and I have lived in Ohio, Virginia, the Netherlands, Germany and now Istanbul. We still haven’t decided if we want to settle down somewhere – let alone where. I’m leaning towards somewhere I can learn to surf even though the hubby thinks that’s a less than sound way to decide where to live. Although I’ve been a military policewoman, a commercial lawyer, and a B&B owner, I think with writing I may have finally figured out what I want to be when I grow up. That’s assuming I ever grow up, of course. Between playing tennis, running much slower than I would like, trying to adopt every stray dog within a 5-mile radius, traveling to exotic new locales, singing off tune, drinking entirely too many adult beverages, addictively watching new movies and reading books like they are going out of style, I write articles for a local expat magazine and various websites, review other indie authors’ books, write a blog about whatever comes to mind and am working on my seventh book.

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GIVEAWAY!!!

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(Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book from the author and publishers via Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.)