In today’s episode, Brook and Sarah speak with Reagan Davis, author of the Knitorious Murder Mysteries series, and discuss the overlap between crafts and mysteries.
Discussed and mentioned
About Reagan Davis
Related episodes
Craft and Hobby Mysteries (released March 3, 2026)
For more information
Instagram: @cluedinmystery
Contact us: hello@cluedinmystery.com
Music: Signs To Nowhere by Shane Ivers – www.silvermansound.com
Sign up for our newsletter: https://cluedinmystery.com/clued-in-chronicle/
Order Life or Delft by Brook and Sarah
Transcript
This transcript is generated by a computer and there may be some mis-spellings and strange punctuation. We try to catch these before posting, but some things slip through.
| Sarah | Welcome to Clued in Mystery. I’m Sarah. |
| Brook | And I’m Brook, and we both love mystery. |
| Sarah | Hi Brook. |
| Brook | Hi Sarah, today we are following up on our craft and hobby mysteries with the best part of these series that we do, and that’s the author interview. Today we’re going to be speaking with Reagan Davis, and this is a pen name for the real author who lives in the suburbs of Toronto with her husband, two kids, and a menagerie of pets. |
| Brook | When she’s not planning the perfect murder, she enjoys knitting, reading, eating too much chocolate, and drinking too much Diet Coke. The author is an established knitwear designer who has contributed to many knitting books and magazines, and we’re so pleased to have you on the show today, Regan. Thank you for joining us. |
| Reagan Davis | Thank you for having me. |
| Sarah | So, Regan, we have both read books in your series, but maybe we could start with you telling our listeners about the concept of your Knitorious Murder Mystery series. |
| Reagan Davis | Okay. um So Knitorious takes place in a small fictional town called Harmony Lake and revolves around um the community of a knitting store called Knitorious. And the owner of the knitting store and her quirky friends and family solve mysteries and murders without dropping a stitch. |
| Brook | Love it. |
| Brook | Well, um you’re clearly very versed in this world of knitting and probably handcrafts all all around, but which came first for you, writing, mysteries, or knitting? |
| Reagan Davis | Definitely the knitting. I’ve been knitting since I was about six. My grandmother taught me. So it’s been a part of my day-to-day life as long as I can remember. And the writing came out of that. |
| Sarah | You know, I I crochet, I knit as well, but I am more likely to pick up a ah crochet hook. um And it, you know, I find it is very um soothing, right? Like you just kind of get into a rhythm. Do you find that that helps you with plotting? Brook and I have talked in the past about Agatha Christie saying that she really liked to do the dishes and that well I don’t know that she liked to do the dishes but when she was doing the dishes it would help her with figuring out you know intricacies of of some of her stories. Do you find the same with knitting? |
| Reagan Davis | Knitting is meditation in motion. So I find that taking a break and picking up my needles kind of lets my brain in the background marinate on what I need to figure out for the book. And, um you know, as I stitch along, like solutions will come to me or I’ll realize that something needs to happen. Like I do consider it a form of meditation. A hundred percent. |
| Brook | I think that’s so interesting too, Reagan, because sometimes we see your sleuth who is also a knitter and um she will then figure out the crime or the solution to the crime rather as she’s knitting. So there’s like a mirror going on there between you as the author and the sleuth that it’s really satisfying. Yeah. |
| Sarah | Your books, your book titles are perfectly punny. At what point in your writing process do you title your stories? And maybe you could share a couple of those titles with, with us and our our listeners. |
| Reagan Davis | I have a title and a cover before I start writing. um I can give you I’ll tell you a secret. The next book, which I’ve already started writing is Unraveled Alibis. |
| Sarah | I love it. What a great title. |
| Reagan Davis | That’s Book 14. |
| Sarah | And so do you just have like a notebook of potential titles? |
| Reagan Davis | Yeah. Literally. I have a spreadsheet. Whenever think of a knitting pun or another pun, I just kind of put it in there. And if it doesn’t become a title, sometimes it becomes a tagline or the name of a yarn in a book, or I find another way if I like it enough to I’ll make it integrate into something. |
| Sarah | And so do you incorporate any real patterns or real yarns into your stories or is that all fictional? |
| Reagan Davis | Yep. So the first, the prequel neighborhood swatch, sorry about that. The prequel neighborhood swatch and the first three books, um, have a pattern included at the end. |
| Reagan Davis | And those are actually patterns that I’ve designed. Um, a few books I have definitely referenced knitting magazines, such as Knitty, for example. um And almost every book references a knitting-related charity. I have the knitting group working on a charitable project. Sometimes it’s Knitted Knockers for Breast Cancer. Sometimes it’s Loose Ends, which is knitters who pick up deceased knitters knitting to finish projects for family members. Sometimes it’s charities. I try to go as national as I can because I have readers everywhere, right? And I want them all to be able to participate. I think I also reference Hands Across America or something, which is knitting mittens and hats for unhoused people. So yeah, I try to integrate as much real knitting as I can, but, the yarn names and such are made up because I don’t want to run around asking permission from everybody for, for names. But I always try to link to the charities that they’re working for in the book. |
| Sarah | I love that. |
| Brook | Oh, that’s so interesting. I love it. Yes. |
| Sarah | Yeah. and And I think that provides, you know, as a reader, it’s it’s nice to see something that you recognize or something that you recognize or something that you know um exists in the real world. It’s nice to see that in the the books that we’re that we’re reading. |
| Reagan Davis | I get quite a few knitters who email saying, thanks for the link. Now I’m knitting for Knitted Knockers, or now I’m you know finishing a baby blanket for a great grandmother who died or whatever. |
| Sarah | That’s so lovely. |
| Brook | Oh, Reagan, that’s so wonderful. |
| Reagan Davis | Yeah. |
| Brook | It’s such a full circle thing, which I think is part of what is so satisfying with craft and hobby mysteries. We spoke in our earlier episode about um these are like generational activities. |
| Brook | So Reagan, do you think that readers come to this sub genre for the hobby and stay for the mystery or the other way around? |
| Reagan Davis | I definitely have a lot of knitters who seek out knitting specific mysteries. Definitely. When I was a knitwear designer, I chose a pen name, which I kind of now regret because I think there would have been a lot more crossover readership than I think between people who actively knit and people who enjoy reading. |
| Reagan Davis | And I think I underestimated that. But that being said, I think that people show up for the feeling. They come for the sense of community. They come for the sense of found family. They come for the sense of warmth and justice and, um I think the knitting is just a ah byproduct for most people. Like I think Megan could be doing anything. I think she could be, you know, walking dogs or writing or it doesn’t matter. I think people are chasing a feeling. |
| Brook | Mm-hmm. |
| Sarah | It sounds like you are doing a great job, though, of building community by incorporating, um you know, those those real charities in your books and um by providing the, you know, you mentioned the first couple of books, having knitting, knitting patterns. You know, you’re youre it sounds like have really established this um this community. Or do you think it’s more just building on a community that already existed? |
| Reagan Davis | It’s, you know, knitters, it’s a community that already exists and it’s like ah a specific kind of mindset. And I think that I’m just appealing to those people who see the value in handmade goods, who see the value in community, who see the value in friendship. Like, I think it’s, it’s just catering to them or appealing to them. |
| Sarah | Sprinkling in a little bit of mystery. |
| Reagan Davis | Yes. Happy little murders. Yep. |
| Sarah | Brook and I have talked before about how professionals such as doctors or lawyers who write mysteries have to balance their expertise while keeping their stories accessible for an average reader. This is true, I think, as well for someone who’s skilled at a craft or hobby. So how do you balance, you know, you’ve talked about a lot of your readers are already really familiar with that craft, but how do you make sure that your books continue to be accessible to people who are not serious knitters and and find that balance to maintain the interest of of both groups? |
| Reagan Davis | I probably overwrite the knitting and then I have a really great editing team that helps me edit it down because they are not knitters. So, they help me keep the knitting that’s pertinent for the plot and the knitting that is pertinent for the cozy feel. |
| Reagan Davis | And they help me get rid of the rest. But I also want to leave enough in there so that the crafters that are reading it feel seen. Like understand what I’m talking about if I talk about unraveling or dropping a stitch or what frogging means and how frustrating it can be. |
| Reagan Davis | Like I want those Easter eggs in there for them, but not at the expense of other people saying, what does this mean? Why are there frogs? Right? Yeah. |
| Brook | Mm-hmm. |
| Sarah | Yeah, you don’t want frogs. And have you heard from any readers who have picked up knitting as a result of reading your books? |
| Reagan Davis | I don’t think so. I do get a lot of emails that say “One day I’m going to try it.” Right? Or it’s it’s but “it’s on my list. It’s on one day I’ll try, I’ll do it.” But I’ve never had anyone say, “thanks for inspiring me to knit.” |
| Reagan Davis | Although I’ve had a few say, “thanks for inspiring me to pick up the needles again. Or to remind me that I really like knitting and i you know, reading about her doing it or them doing it has inspired me to want to start a new project cast on.” |
| Brook | Nice. |
| Brook | That’s great. Well, besides knitting, are there any other crafts or hobbies that might someday become a backdrop to one of your mystery series? |
| Reagan Davis | um Knitting is my biggest hobby. I really enjoy reading. um But the last couple of years, I’ve been really, really immersed in the heart failure community. i don’t know if you know, my husband’s waiting for a heart transplant and currently has an artificial heart. So weirdly, I’m thinking that there might be some medical cozy mysteries coming up. |
| Reagan Davis | Um I’ve spent so much time in that space that it’s almost feeling comfortable to write it. And I think a lot of people, both on the patient side and on the caregiver side, would feel seen. |
| Brook | Well, and it’s a ah little bit of an untapped market because we don’t necessarily think of medical and cozy. Most of the medical um mysteries go into the thriller side of things. |
| Reagan Davis | Or procedural. |
| Brook | So I think that’s a wonderful way, Reagan, because we do know that so many of our cozy mystery readers… say that it’s those books that got them through the long waits in the hospital or when that they had a sick loved one that, you know, they dove into a mystery. So I think that’s ah a wonderful idea. |
| Reagan Davis | Yeah, it’s just a matter of finding ah a balance between immersing someone in something that they’re like, I spend enough time in hospitals. But feeling seen and appreciating maybe some aspects of the time they’ve had to spend um you know in a in a medical community. |
| Sarah | Oh, that’s lovely. |
| Sarah | So, ah Reagan, you mentioned um that you’ve got 14 in the series so far. Do you want to tell us about the latest ones? |
| Reagan Davis | ah So in Disturbing the Fleece, um there’s a huge fiber festival in town called Woolstock, but it’s actually inspired by a real-life festival called Rhinebeck. and don’t know if you’ve heard of Rhinebeck, but it happens every year in upstate New York and it’s a massive national um fiber and farming festival. |
| Reagan Davis | So they have everything from people selling and showing sheep to you can buy yarn and find places to knit. And I went a few years ago and it’s very cool. And it’s kind of a Mecca in the knitting community, especially on the more Eastern side of of the continent. |
| Reagan Davis | um And of course, a world famous dyer turns up dead in a vat of her own dye called Be Still My Bleating Heart, B-L-E-A-T-I-N-G. |
| Sarah | And have you ever dyed your own wool? |
| Reagan Davis | I have. I’ve dyed quite a bit of yarn. |
| Sarah | That is a task. |
| Reagan Davis | It’s unto itself. It really is an art. Like it really, really isn’t. It’s science. It’s also very sciencey, but it’s not something I like particularly enjoyed doing, but I’m really glad I tried it. And it was cool to say that I dyed the yarn and knit the thing. |
| Reagan Davis | um But I’m more of a knitter than a dyer. |
| Sarah | Yeah. Fascinating. Um, so would you ever, ah run your own wool store, take after your character? |
| Reagan Davis | So about 10 years ago, because the community I lived in did not have a yarn store, everyone had to travel into Toronto to get yarn. And I did look at it and I seriously considered it. And I even mocked up a business plan. And honestly, it was so hard to make the thing profitable. |
| Reagan Davis | I considered a mobile yarn store, like buying an old UPS truck and outfitting it with shelves and calling it Mobile Eweknit, E-W-E-K-N-I-T. But again, like it’s, it’s just… crafting is just a hard space to make a profit. |
| Brook | Mm-hmm. Yeah. |
| Reagan Davis | Yeah. |
| Brook | Same with bookselling, because I think many of us readers and writers dream of having a little bookstore, but there again, it’s it’s pretty difficult. |
| Reagan Davis | Right. |
| Brook | Yeah. |
| Reagan Davis | Yeah. And people are buying yarns online now and they’re buying supplies online now, and it’s difficult to compete with huge sellers like Knit Picks, for example. |
| Sarah | Yeah, it’s a fine balance between making something accessible so that, you know, lots of people have um the opportunity to participate, but then also being able to support yourself doing that, right? |
| Reagan Davis | Exactly. |
| Sarah | So Regan, can you share where our listeners can find you? |
| Reagan Davis | Sure. My books are all on Amazon. Um, Reagan Davis, you can find me online at reagan Davis.com sometimes, but not often I hang out on Instagram and Facebook as Reagan Davis writes and, um, audible. I’m on audible because a lot of my readers like to knit while they listen. So I learned pretty early on that there was a big demand for audio books in the crafting, mystery sector. |
| Sarah | Great. Well, thank you so much for joining us. |
| Reagan Davis | Thank you so much for having me. |
| Sarah | Brook, actually you do. |
| Brook | Yes. they |
| Brook | Yes. Thank you for being here, Reagan. And thank you listeners. |
| Reagan Davis | I’m sorry it’s so short. It feels so short. |
| Brook | for |
| Reagan Davis | Like, I guess I just don’t have a lot to say. |
| Brook | No, that’s okay. We were right around 20 minutes usually. |
| Reagan Davis | Okay. |
| Brook | Yeah, we’re right there. |
| Reagan Davis | okay |
| Brook | And thank you for joining us today, listeners on Clued in Mystery. Until next time, I’m Brook. |
| Sarah | And I’m Sarah, and we both love mystery. |
