Book Review: It Came Upon a Midnight Shear (with Hank and Mocha, the dogs)

It Came Upon a Midnight Shear, by Allie Pleiter (Berkeley Prime Crime, $8.99, 304pp PB, 2022, book 3 of 3 [see* the review of book one here) Review by Skye Anderson

Do you ever purchase the same book again because it has a different front cover, and not realize it until reading the book seems like you have done it before? Have you ever read the same book three years later and just not reviewed it the first time (which is why I need to finish the review of a book immediately after finishing it, but still I sometimes don't) but you seem to know who the culprit is: this is an exercise in parsing out the clues** and something that could be fun to do - once.

Unique Among Specialty Murder Authors

There are whole series of murder mysteries built up around a cat (The Cat Who. . . ) or a dog (the Chet and Bernie books) or a baker or a bookstore owner or a yarn shop owner (this one!) and women read them voraciously even if they follow the same pattern with merely different details - and some are better written than others. Author Allie Pleiter is unique among such authors in that her books are good! 

Owner of Y.A.R.N., a yarn store*** in fictional Collinstown, Maryland, Libby has come back home after a divorce to her hometown but also to murders that she alone seems to be able to solve. Her very wealthy drug company Ex is also in town for the Christmas holidays (and would you believe his name is Sterling?) as is his mother, Bitsy, with her new flame. Also in town are four vicuna (woolly animals like alpacas) and Sterling's fraternity brother and business partner from Italy. Toss in some stolen vicuna yarn at $500 a skein and a stabbing murder of Sterling and we have trouble on our hands.

Even though Libby has solved a couple of murders previously, this time, she has a motive so the chief of police is not using her sleuthing talent. Nevertheless, she is still sleuthing on the sly and manages to get the townsfolk to help her.

And The Dogs, Of Course

Libby has Hank (on the cover) and Mocha the puppy makes his debut, both involved in digging up some evidence. But, of course, I would hope the next book in the series will have a major role for Hank.

Why Shears is Unique

People knit (crochet, needlepoint, etc.) for several reasons: to create something useful or merely beautiful, perhaps, or to calm themselves. The author says her character solves the problems of the world by knitting just as others do so by jogging. It is relaxing and akin to yoga. And Y.A.R.N., the yarn shop, is a place where friendships grow and everyone is welcome.

But, Who  Done It?

*Book Two: On Skein of Death

**This time the reviewer was wrong - she had not read this book before because the murderer is not whom she expected. Perhaps she was mixed up with the first two books in the series. But all that made for more fun!

*** for information on the name of the yarn shop, see the other reviews, including

Knit or Dye Trying