I'm not a big fan of the screwball cozy. Nonetheless I usually enjoy Charlotte MacLeod's efforts in this vein. But this one—for me it never really gets going. It seems quite strained, with no plot worth describing. ( )

I had forgotten how very much fun her stories could be. This one was available on my Kindle from my local and Most Excellent library. I loved loved loved it!

So very funny...

The Grub-and-Stakers Spin a Yarn is my least favorite book in the series, but I still like it. It opens with a description of the peril Arethusa Monk has placed her pea-brained heroine, Lady Ermintrude when she realizes she's out of typing paper. Arethusa is on her way to buy more when she becomes witness to the last minutes of a murder victim. Another witness is the proprietor of Miss Jane Fuzzywuzzy's Yarnery, a shop first mentioned in chapter 17 of the second book in the series. It's moved from Scottsbeck to Lobelia Falls, where the fact that Dittany Henbit Monk is carrying twins has boosted profits.

The victim's corpse is stolen by two strangers before Sergeant MacVicar can cross the street. While he and 'Miss Jane' are looking in her shop, along comes Dittany's mother, who has finally been given a first name (Clorinda), and her second husband's surname (Pusey). Arethusa is her very good friend. Their conversation would probably drive a humorless person in search of the nearest bar for a stiff drink.

Osbert gets to be Deputy Monk again because the murder victim was the husband of Mother Matilda of the multi-million dollar Mother Matilda Mincement company. We learn some more facts about Mother Matilda and odd goings-on at the factory when Osbert and Dittany meet the widow. Osbert is going undercover to investigate, posing as 'Reginald Monk'.

While detecting, Osbert meets Mrs. Phiffer, Artist of Kitsch. Back when I was young there was a house in a village near our home that we would take people to see. It was painted red, white, and sky blue. Its tiny yard was almost completely filled with odd little lawn decorations. A sign on that house read 'Suits Us', Compared to Mrs. Phiffer's house, the 'Suits Us' house seems normal. Mrs. Phiffer and her house are the reason this is my least favorite book in the series. You might get a kick out of the descriptions, though.

'Reginald' reports to Mother Matilda and a lot of company vice presidents. At the meeting he spots something that makes him wonder, and I don't mean the gorgeous VP Citron.
He also learns something important from Mother Matilda's daughter, Tilly.

The killers haven't given up -- kidnapping is what they try next. That leads to some fast thinking on our heroes' part. It wouldn't work if Mrs. Phiffer weren't a little strange, but MacLeod characters often are.

All ends well, except for the victim and the killers, of course.

Facts about the various characters and places in the Grub-and-Stakers books for fans who share my trouble remembering in which book they appeared:

Chapter 1:

Arethusa has pink paper towels with a frolicking hamsters design on them.

When Miss Jane Fuzzywuzzy's Yarnery moved to Lobelia Falls, it took over a store whose owner is in jail.

Henbits had been among the first settlers of Lobelia Falls.

Dittany is honorable secretary to the Grub-and-Stakers Club.

Sergeant MacVicar lived in Lochtrackenchie when he was a boy.

Dittany's mother is a two-time winner of the Grand Free-For-All gold medal in archery.

Chapter 2:

Dittany's father was a fan of old George Raft and Edward G. Robinson gangster movies.

Advanced pregnancy has forced Dittany to bake hermits instead of molasses cookies.

According to Osbert, Arethusa has written 73 books. Look up his insult about them.

Osbert addresses his mother-in-law as 'Mother Clorinda'.

Chapter 3:

Osbert loves having Clorinda around because she's good at keeping his Aunt Arethusa off their backs.

Arethusa rereads all of the Bobbsey Twins books every year and has dedicated at least one of her books to the Stratemeyer syndicate. (She's also dedicated one to Clorinda, one to Dittany, one to Ethel, and even one to Osbert. That dedication wasn't very flattering, but it made me chuckle.)

The approved Lobelia Falls manner for gazing through your window at others is to stand to one side so the neighbors can't see you gawking.

Chapter 4:

Mayhem at the Mangled Mesquite is the title of one of Osbert's books.

Gram Henbit always used Mother Matilda's Mincement and so does Dittany.

Chapter 5:

Mrs. MacVicar has never gotten over the suspicion that praise to the face is an open disgrace.

McCorquindales were among the early settlers of Scottsbeck.

Here's where we learn how Mother Matilda has always pictured Lex Laramie.

Chapter 6:

The Monks have a cot in the kitchen. It has one of Gram Henbit's crocheted afghans spread on it with another folded in case it's needed.

Osbert has named the 7-foot ostrich in his book-in-progress 'Ralph'.

Osbert sold his first story to Wild-Eyed Western magazine when he was a sophomore in college.

Clorinda and Dittany can both play the piano by ear.

Osbert has an Aunt Lucy.

Arethusa's father had a twin brother.

Chapter 7:

The Monks have a strawberry geranium plant on their kitchen windowsill.

The end of this chapter is where we find out what to do to ward off back luck if someone gives you something sharp as a gift.

Chapter 8:

The reception area at Mother Matilda's Mincemeat has a large, marmalade-colored cat in it.

Sergeant MacVicar can recite 'The Cotter's Saturday Night'.

Chapter 12:

Osbert wears his blue suit only to go to Toronto and the only reason he goes there is to see his agent. (What, not his parents?) He doesn't have to anymore because Archie is in love with Aunt Arethusa and comes to Osbert.

Chapter 13:

Andy McNaster is in the movies and now known as the Sultan of Sneer.

Chapter 15:

Tilly McCorquindale and Dittany Monk were on opposing school field hockey teams 12 years ago.

The Monks are an old Lobelia Falls family even if Osbert's father grew up in Toronto.

Chapter 16:

Dittany is reading Anne of Avonlea

Chapter 17:

Clorinda is reading Anne's House of Dreams.

Osbert has a frisky robe his mother bought him in Hawaii.

Chapter 19:

Ethel got into a snit the time the Monks baby-sat the Coskoffs' pet hamster.

Clorinda has the snakeskin wedgies that Aunt Daisy fell off from in 1949. We also learn that she once played in an Addams Family skit.

Chapter 20:

Cribbage ranks next to archery as a gladatorial sport in Lobelia Falls. ( )

MacLeod has a tendency to lean heavily on caricature and odd traits for her characters, and this series shows the worst of that. On the other hand, this particular book actually _uses_ those odd traits to deal with the mystery. The constant references to ostriches and 'Gadzooks!' become less annoying when flamingos and pinwheels are major features of the solution...I think, the best of this series (which is, in my opinion, her worst series). Not bad, overall. ( )