Knitmare on Beech Street (A Knit & Nibble Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
10th in Series 
Setting – Charming fictional town of Arborville, in northern New Jersey
Kensington Cozies (November 28, 2023)
Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 320 pages

Synopsis

Knit and Nibble member Pamela Paterson, and her best friend, Bettina, stumble on a body in a once grand Victorian house when they join a group welcoming new residents to Arborville—and must figure out if old secrets killed the new neighbor . . .

When Pamela, Bettina, and their friends show up at the Voorhees House to greet its new owner, they’re met with a most unwelcome sight: a dead body on the kitchen floor. Tassie Hunt just inherited the old Victorian, which had been occupied by a reclusive widow for many years and had a reputation for being haunted. But Tassie would have been unlikely to be spooked since her career involved debunking such paranormal phenomena.

Her demise sets off a new flurry of gossip and ghostly speculation in the New Jersey town, of course—and it’s tempting to think spirits were indeed involved considering there’s zero evidence so far of foul play. A nosy neighbor reports strange lights and sounds, and a man obsessed with the Victorian era starts photographing the place from the street. But it won’t take long before Pamela and Bettina are moving in on a killer . . .

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Excerpt

Pamela led the way down the steps, down the narrow concrete path, and along the sidewalk, until they reached another concrete path. From this path, steps led up to another porch, smaller and with a plainer railing, onto which the back door opened.

Saying “I’ll try again,” Marlene hefted the gift basket and headed up the steps. As she pressed the doorbell, the rest of the group joined her on the porch one by one.

Marlene turned away after a few minutes and much enthusiastic pressing of the doorbell. “No answer,” she murmured. “And I was sure ANGWY was clear about the date and time.”

She shrugged, edged past the others, and started down the steps. Bettina, however, stepped closer to the door and tipped her head to peer at the doorframe. “I’m not sure it’s closed all the way,” she said and gave the

door a tentative push.

The door swung open easily. After a shrug and a glance at the other women, Bettina raised a stylishly shod foot and stepped over the threshold.

“Tassie?” Her voice rang out with a cheerful lilt. “Hello? It’s the ANGWY committee.”

She disappeared inside, but a moment later she was back in the doorway. Her cheer had vanished, leaving her face a wan canvas that made her careful makeup appear garish.

Ignoring her heart’s sudden lurch, Pamela took a few quick steps and joined her friend in the doorway. Bettina backed up against the door, anchoring it in a fully open position, and Pamela slipped past her into the kitchen.

A woman lay sprawled on the ancient linoleum, a slender blonde woman wearing a light cotton robe printed with small flowers in shades of blue and lilac . . .

Guest Post & Recipe

Lemon Icebox Cake

In Knitmare on Beech Street, Karen Dowling serves Lemon Icebox Cake when she hosts the Knit and Nibble knitting club. It’s a summery dessert that suits the book’s June setting. Nell Bascomb, the group’s oldest member, recalls that her mother grew up in a household where, before the invention of modern refrigerators, perishables were kept cold in a literal icebox, with blocks of ice delivered by an iceman. The icebox backed up against an outside wall with a little door in it, and a card in the window notified the iceman when ice was needed and how much.

She also notes that in an era before air conditioning, people would be reluctant to heat up their huge stoves, and thus their kitchens, in the summer—but, then as now, people still liked their desserts. Thus was born the icebox cake, though the early icebox cakes would be merely chilled and not frozen.

I hope you like this one!

Ingredients:

6 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 cups heavy cream

3 lemons

1 11-oz box vanilla wafer cookies

1 cup lemon curd

1 heaping tbsp. granulated sugar

Notes: You are only using the peel of the lemons. You can save the peeled lemons in a plastic bag for another project or juice them and freeze the juice.

Lemon curd comes in a jar and looks like jelly, but I found mine in the Baking aisle at my supermarket.

Directions:

You will need an 8” x 12” (or thereabouts) baking dish (though you won’t be baking your creation).

You will be creating three layers with the cookies. I’m not sure whether boxes of vanilla wafers always contain exactly the same number of cookies, but the box I bought contained 80. I used 28 for my bottom layer and 26 for each of the other two layers.

Zest 2 of the lemons and set the zest aside.

In a large bowl, cream the cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth.

Add the heavy cream and beat until soft peaks form.

Fold in the lemon zest.

In order to prevent the cookies from sliding around as you begin to assemble the icebox cake, spread a bit of the cream cheese mixture on the bottom of your baking dish. Top it with a layer of the cookies.

Top the cookies with about a third of the cream cheese mixture, using a table knife or rubber spatula to spread it evenly.

Smooth 1/2 cup of the lemon curd over the cream cheese layer.

Layer more cookies, cream cheese mixture, and another 1/2 cup of lemon curd. Finish with a last layer of cookies and the last third of the cream cheese mixture.

Cover the icebox cake with plastic wrap or foil and freeze it for at least 3 hours. Transfer it to the refrigerator an hour before you plan to serve it, or let it sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes—though it’s also good straight from the freezer.

Make candied lemon peel for garnish:

Using a vegetable peeler, remove long strips of lemon from the third lemon.

Heat 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan, add the granulated sugar and stir until it dissolves, then add the strips of lemon peel. Boil for about 1 minute, cool, and refrigerate the peel and sugar syrup in a small container.

When it’s time to serve your lemon icebox cake, leave it in the baking dish to cut servings and lift them out with a spatula. Slice the lemon strips into narrow slivers and use them to garnish the servings.

Leftovers should be refrigerated or frozen if you want to keep them longer than a few days.

Enjoy with friends and family!

About the Author

Peggy Ehrhart is a former English professor with a doctorate in Medieval Literature. Her Maxx Maxwell mysteries, Sweet Man Is Gone(2008) and Got No Friend Anyhow (2011), were published by Five Star/Gale/Cengage and feature a blues-singer sleuth.

Peggy is currently writing the Knit & Nibble mysteries for Kensington Books. Her amateur sleuth, Pamela Paterson, is the founder and mainstay of the Arborville, New Jersey, knitting club, nicknamed Knit and Nibble. Knitmare on Beech Street is book #10 in the series. Peggy herself is an avid crafter, dating from her childhood as a member of the 4-H Club in rural Southern California.

Peggy is a longtime member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. She regularly attends mystery-writing conferences and participates in conference panels. She also gives talks on mystery fiction at libraries and other venues in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey.

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