Bea and A Voracious Reader Review Diamonds and Daggers by Nancy Warren

Series: Vampire Knitting Club #11
Read As A Stand Alone: Not recommended
Publisher: Ambleside Publishing

Source: Kindle Unlimited
Release Date: September 15th, 2020
Buying Links: Amazon*  | B&N | Book Depository 
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Blurb from goodreads:

Missing jewels, a witch's dagger and murder... Just a regular day at Cardinal Woolsey's Knitting and Yarn shop in Oxford.

When glamorous vampire Sylvia discovers a movie company is remaking one of her most famous silent films, she's determined to get some creative input and decides to make knitting shop owner Lucy the beneficiary of her estate. Lucy will front for Sylvia in dealing with the movie executives who want to recreate the priceless Cartier jewels made specially for the original movie and still owned by Sylvia.

Meanwhile, Lucy's moving along in her witch's training. It's time to choose her own athame, a dagger that she'll use for spells.

With all that going on she's barely got time to run a knitting shop, never mind solve another murder.

This is book 11 in the Vampire Knitting Club. From a USA Today bestselling author, these stories are cozy, clean, with quirky characters, a too-smart cat, and lots of magic and mayhem. Each can be read alone.

We're back! This time we reviewing a book from Warren Vampire Knitting Club series. Be sure to check out Carol's blog, I'm A Voracious Reader.

Our Thoughts:

Plot 

Bea: It was interesting. We see the past and its effect on the present. Lucy pretended to be the descendant of one of Sylvia's previous incarnations since Sylvia can't very well step up and claim the glory being heaped on the person she was 100 years ago. And for once, it made sense for Lucy to be involved in the investigation since she was the victim; well, one of the victims. I did think Lucy was a little too trusting where one other character was concerned but her detective skills are improving, and she had no trouble asking for help. 

AVR: I have to admit that I'm not as enamoured of this plot as I normally would be with this series. The plot itself is ok, but Sylvia's actions ruined it for me. Well, that and Lucy not having a backbone. Then Rafe allowing Sylvia's behavior at all was a turn off, but this should all be under "Characters." LOL Anyway, I did enjoy seeing how the vampires deal with living such a long time and how it can affect them. Especially someone who was as famous as Sylvia was.

Characters

Bea: I liked Sylvia a whole lot more before this story. I really don't like her now. I tried to be empathetic to the trials of being a vampire. A long life has its disadvantages and living in secret must surely be tiring, but Sylvia's arrogance, high-handedness, manipulative actions, and lack of compassion were too much for me. 

That said, it was interesting to see how the vampires split when Sylvia and Lucy fell out. Some stood up for Lucy and took her side, others were on Sylvia's and some tried for neutral. Rafe of course was solidly on Lucy's side. :)

AVR: Omg, yes! She's been an ok character for me up until now. Kinda snobbish, but since she takes care of Lucy's grandma, I let her behavior slide. But in this one? Way over the top, in my opinion. Lucy let her walk all over her and Rafe really didn't do anything about it. Bah!

Bea: Yes, I was surprised that Rafe didn't do more to protect Lucy. It was odd. He did stand by her and support her but I expected him to be more active in expressing his displeasure. :D (Yes! What was up with that?! ~ AVR)

World building 

Bea: There wasn't a lot of world building but we did get to see how the vampires, or some, deal with their long lives and the necessity of multiple identities. I enjoyed that quite a bit.

AVR: I agree that not much is added to the world here. I will say I did enjoy Lucy picking her athame. Seeing a bit more of the witchy world, even such a small part, makes me happy.

Bea: I confess, I had visions of Harry Potter in the first movie choosing his athame as Lucy was choosing hers. I did like seeing that part of the witch world in this series.  (And I expected the old guy to say: "Curious!" Now I can't unsee that! LOL ~ AVR)

Romance

Bea: The romance is still moving slower than I'd like. I understand Lucy's concerns about a long-term relationship with a vampire, and said vampire Rafe can be bossy, but really, he's pretty nearly perfect. I just want Lucy to make a decision. Whatever the decision, the consequences would effect to much - the store, Lucy's investigations, her witch world, and of course, her interactions with the vampires since they live under her store and have a private knitting club there.

AVR: I agree that the romance is moving so slow. I mean, it's crawling at a snail's pace. It's been a while now and I think Lucy needs to make a decision. It's not like she has to turn vampire in the immediate future, assuming she wants to stay with Rafe for eternity, but either give him a firm answer or go in a different direction. The waffling is starting to annoy me. Not super annoyed yet, but if this keeps up then soon. (Agreed! ~ Bea)

Bea's fave quote: 

"You trust me with your car?"

"I trust you with my life, my heart, everything I have to give." - I know, it's corny but it still melted my heart.

AVR's fave quote:

Lucy: The word dagger was flashing on and off in my head like a neon sign. I shook my head. "I'm a pacifist. My body is a no-weapons zone."
Margaret Twigg: She regarded me from her sharp blue eyes as though I was being a tedious toddler. "An athame is not a weapon. It's symbolic. Metaphoric, if you like. The athame cuts away lies and reveals the truth. It helps you focus your power and your magic."

Me: I want one!!