In the interest of full disclosure,
I should tell you that Sally is a friend and, as much as I have enjoyed her
earlier books I have not read this one yet. That’s because I gave it to my wife
as a birthday present.
Every time I move in to snatch it from her hands, she emits
what I can only describe as a low growl. The hair stands up on the back of my
neck and I back away carefully.
I’m sure when she finishes the book I will be able to read and enjoy it.
The
Fatal Fleece is the sixth book in National Bestselling author Sally
Goldenbaum’s Seaside Knitters mystery series and her 34th published
book. The week of its release the book was on a number of bestselling mystery
lists.
I attended Sally’s signing at I
Love a Mystery Bookstore and at least I can tell you about that. Sally said that, acting on the advice
of readers, she decided to in this novel to delve more into the lives of some of
her main characters. She said she
had to learn now to wind in and out of Birdie’s life and explore Cass’s problem
while still pursuing the mystery.
Sally said she likes writing a
series but it is hard to kill off characters she likes. Some readers have
suggested she bring dead characters back to life but that would change the
mysteries into ghost stories. She
mentioned that she wants each book to work as a stand-alone so she has to
introduce the town and the characters each time without boring readers who
already know them. Sally also has
to deal with the “Cabot Cove” syndrome, i.e., writing about a small town where
people keep getting murdered.
Sally reported that her books have
been translated into German, Norwegian and Turkish. Sally said she writes under a tight schedule, which gives
more time for editing than for writing.
She said the cover art and titles are decided by the publisher, but she
does have a working title for her next book — “Book Seven.”

