At a crossroads between a cringe-worthy past (Todd the Toad) and an uncertain future (she’s not exactly homeless, but it’s close), Lucy Swift travels to Oxford to visit her grandmother. With Gran’s undying love to count on and Cardinal Woolsey’s, Gran’s knitting shop, to keep her busy, Lucy can catch her breath and figure out what she’s going to do. 

Except it turns out that Gran is the undying. Or at least, the undead. But there’s a death certificate. And a will, leaving the knitting shop to Lucy. And a lot of people going in and out who never use the door – including Gran, who is just as loving as ever, and prone to knitting sweaters at warp speed, late at night. What exactly is going on? 

When Lucy discovers that Gran did not die peacefully in her sleep, but was murdered, she has to bring the killer to justice without tipping off the law that there’s no body in the grave. Between a hot 500-year-old vampire and a dishy detective inspector, both of whom always seem to be there for her, Lucy finds her life getting more complicated than a triple cable cardigan. The only one who seems to know what’s going on is her cat…or is it…her familiar?

I needed some ear-candy to keep me entertained on a couple of long drives.  Nancy Warren’s ‘Peony Dreadful’, the first book of a cosy paranormal mystery series, had already served me well in that role, so I decided to give ’The Vampire Knitting Club’ a try. It’s the first book in a seventeen-book series, and the first three books were available in a bundle for one credit on Audible. 

So, how did it go?

Actually, it was good fun. It had murder, intrigue, an evil property developer, knitting vampires and a heroine who was surprised to discover she’s a witch with magic powers. All of that was wrapped around a cosy mystery set in a picture postcard version of Oxford.

I enjoyed the humour, especially the descriptions of the personality quirks of the main characters. I liked that the vampires weren’t from Central Casting.  They ranged from a charismatic possible love interest through to a sulky Goth Girl sruck permenantly in her teenage years. The juxtaposition of knitting and vampires made me smile, especially when it turned out that they were really good at it. 

The plot held my attention, although our heroine was frustratingly slow to put the pieces of the puzzle together. There were times when I wondered how she’d survived into her twenties with so little situational awareness. The denouement was surprising, mostly because it was so improbable. I was going, “Seriously, I listened to this for hours, thinking it through, and THAT’S who turns out to be the murderer?” This was a book where the journey was more interesting than the destination.

Still, it was an entertaining book to listen to as I drove, and it did a good job of laying the foundation for an engaging ensemble cast of eccentric characters for the rest of the series. I’m planning on listening to the next book on my drive north.

I recommend the audiobook bundle. Click on the YouTube link below to hear a sample of Sarah Zimmerman’s narration.