Stitch In Snow

What could be yum-yummier than for a lonely middle-aged widow - even a famous children's-book author and a Ph.D. in Library Science like Dana Jane Lovell - to be holed up in a comfortable hotel during a Denver snowstorm, sharing "unusual sexual rapport" with a handsome, lively, midde-aged man? Dana, a 50-year-old American living in Ireland, still mourning the death of her husband, is even lonelier now that son Tim is in a Pennsylvania college. But then, on a publicity/lecture tour in the States, Dana is knitting her umpteenth Arran sweater on the Denver plane when she hears the opening volley in the delightful siege to come: "Dropped any good stitches lately?" One thing leads to another - and, by the time the snowstorm grounds the plane, Dana and the man calling himself "Dan" are launched into days of hotel-pool exercise, a fun trek in the snow, and nights of sportive togetherness. Parting is rather a low, but when Dana arrives in Tulsa there's a frantic phone call: it seems that "Dan" (real name Jerry Lowell) is about to be charged in the Denver murder of his ex-wife, Noreen Sue, and only Dana can offer an alibi! So Dana returns to Denver to plump for justice, with the coaching of Dan/Jerry's lawyer Peter Taggert. Unfortunately, however, it's Dana's word against the D.A.'s innuendos - and things look pretty bleak. . . until Peter discovers that Dana's a real Ph.D.! And a famous children's-book author! (What D.A. would want to mess with that upright combo?) And finally, before the happy fadeout, Dana will fight the blues, visit son Tim (a likable go-between), and return to Ireland - where she discovers that her sweater gift to Dan/Jerry has a special meaning. Slight but good-natured romance from a popular fantasy writer, knit loose and fluffy. (Kirkus Reviews)