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Peggy Gaffney Books in Order

Browse Peggy Gaffney books in order, from Kate Killoy mysteries to knitting titles, with quick summaries, reading guidance, and easy places to start.

Last updated: July 9, 2026

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19 books

The Crafty Samoyed Knits

by Peggy Gaffney

2005

A breed-centered knitting collection for Samoyed fans, with picture-knit charts, sweaters, hats, and other projects. Gaffney also shares breed background drawn from decades of breeding and showing these striking white dogs.

The Crafty Labrador Retriever - Knits

by Peggy Gaffney

2006

This Labrador Retriever collection turns the breed into picture-knit charts for sweaters, accessories, and home projects. It pairs practical patterns with breed notes, making the book useful for knitters who also simply love Labs.

The Crafty Golden Retriever Knits

by Peggy Gaffney

2007

Golden Retrievers take center stage in this picture-knit collection of wearable and home projects. Along with the patterns and charts, Gaffney adds breed history and plenty of affectionate attention to what makes Goldens so recognizable.

Do It Yourself

by Peggy Gaffney

2008

Gaffney's how-to guide walks writers through self-publishing nonfiction on a budget. It focuses on getting a book produced quickly and sensibly, using lessons she learned while building her own niche publishing business.

The Crafty Bernese Mt. Dog Knits

by Peggy Gaffney

2008

This Bernese Mountain Dog volume offers picture-knit charts and projects for sweaters, accessories, and more. It also includes breed background, so the book works as both a knitting guide and a tribute to these big, gentle dogs.

The Crafty Newfoundland Knits

by Peggy Gaffney

2008

A Newfoundland-themed knitting book filled with charted dog portraits, wearable patterns, and cozy accessories. Gaffney also folds in breed information, giving knitters a practical project book with a strong sense of why Newfies inspire such loyalty.

The Crafty Poodle Knits

by Peggy Gaffney

2009

A poodle-focused collection of picture-knit designs, with charts that can be worked into sweaters, accessories, and home projects. Gaffney also includes breed information and scenes that show poodles doing the things they were bred to do.

The Crafty Welsh Corgi Knits

by Peggy Gaffney

2009

This corgi-themed knitting book spotlights both Pembroke and Cardigan dogs through charted designs and practical projects. Gaffney mixes patterns with breed background, so the book works as both a knitting resource and a celebration of corgis.

The Crafty Cat Knits

by Peggy Gaffney

2010

Instead of focusing on one breed, this cat-themed volume ranges across a dozen feline favorites. It combines knitting projects, cat portraits, and breed notes, making it a playful choice for knitters who would rather cast on for cats.

The Crafty Llama and Alpaca Knits

by Peggy Gaffney

2011

Gaffney moves from dogs and cats to camelids in this knitting collection of llama and alpaca designs. Along with charts and projects, she digs into fleece, fiber, and the animals behind the yarn.

Knit a Kitten, Purl a Puppy

by Peggy Gaffney

2012

Designed with children in mind, this book features kitten and puppy picture-knit designs on kid-friendly projects. It is a cheerful collection for families who want playful pet patterns instead of a single-breed focus.

Fashion Goes to the Dogs

by Peggy Gaffney

2015

Kate Killoy heads to New York to show her champion Samoyed and debut her fashion line, then stumbles into murder and espionage. With former FBI agent Harry Foyle and dog Dillon at her side, she has to survive long enough to untangle the plot.

Puppy Pursuit

by Peggy Gaffney

2016

What should be a happy trip to pick up a new puppy turns dangerous when Kate and Harry cross paths with a thief willing to kill. Their getaway becomes a chase with millions of dollars and several lives at stake.

National Security

by Peggy Gaffney

2017

At the Samoyed National, Kate expects a break with Harry, not a murdered friend and federal agents demanding answers. As killers close in, she must find out why everyone thinks she holds the key to a deadly plot.

North Country Honeymoon

by Peggy Gaffney

2019

Kate and Harry's Adirondack honeymoon starts with a mansion full of problems, including dead bodies in the basement and a missing treasure. To salvage the trip, they have to solve the crime before the killers strike again.

Search

by Peggy Gaffney

2019

One week before the wedding, Kate is working search-and-rescue with her dogs while Harry hunts his father's killer. A mob plot, a blizzard, and a kidnapping turn their final days of planning into a fight to stay alive.

Guard Kate

by Peggy Gaffney

2020

As Kate and Harry wait for their new house to arrive, a murder and a string of threats wreck the holiday season. With a killer hunting hidden secrets and even targeting the dogs, protecting Kate becomes the center of the case.

Cold Case

by Peggy Gaffney

2023

Pregnant and restless, Kate uncovers one of her grandfather's old files and finds a buried threat tied to her own past. Then a wounded friend collapses at her feet, turning family history into a live and dangerous case.

Vanished

by Peggy Gaffney

2023

Mei Lin Chen arrives at Kate's Connecticut home desperate to find her missing brother, a bioengineer linked to a pharmaceutical scandal. Even while heavily pregnant, Kate is pulled into a case involving kidnapping, a lethal new drug, and mounting pressure.

Where should I start?

If you want her suspense series from the beginning: Fashion Goes to the DogsPuppy PursuitNational Security
If you want the wedding-and-after run: SearchNorth Country HoneymoonGuard Kate
If you want her later family mysteries: Cold CaseVanished
If you want the knitting side first: The Crafty Samoyed KnitsThe Crafty Golden Retriever KnitsKnit a Kitten, Purl a Puppy

Author bio

Peggy Gaffney was born in New Haven, Connecticut, and raised in the state she still calls home. Long before she started publishing suspense novels, dogs were at the center of her life. In 1968 she got her first Samoyed, and that one puppy set off decades of breeding, showing, training, and living with the breed.

Dogs came first.

Over the years, Gaffney built her Westernesse Samoyed line and spent more than fifty years in the dog world. Her dogs won major honors, including the Samoyed Club of America Specialty, and one became the first Samoyed to earn Best in Show in Mexico. That kind of experience shows up all through her writing. She knows the rhythm of dog shows, the work behind breeding programs, and the way a smart dog changes the shape of a household.

Her working life took a few turns before fiction took over. Gaffney worked as a university and public librarian, then as a school librarian and teacher in middle and elementary schools. After 25 years in education, she retired and started a new chapter as a knitting designer, creating custom sweaters and accessories for dog lovers through her business Kanine Knits.

Then writing took over.

The move into books started with nonfiction. Gaffney turned her breed-specific knitting designs into titles like The Crafty Samoyed Knits, The Crafty Labrador Retriever - Knits, and later Knit a Kitten, Purl a Puppy. Those books mix charted designs, wearable projects, and breed background, and they grew naturally from the two things she already knew best, yarn and dogs. She also wrote Do It Yourself, a practical guide for people who wanted to publish nonfiction without spending a fortune.

Fiction came from an older wish. Gaffney has said that back in college she wanted to be a writer, and after her years in education and knitting design she circled back to that idea with a world she knew inside out. Her first novel, Fashion Goes to the Dogs, dropped readers into New York, dog shows, runway fashion, and murder. It also introduced Kate Killoy, the designer, breeder, and accidental sleuth who anchors Gaffney's mystery series.

The Kate Killoy books are not quiet little puzzles. In Puppy Pursuit, National Security, and Search, Gaffney mixes murder cases with theft, espionage, organized crime, and a strong romantic partnership between Kate and former FBI agent Harry Foyle. Readers who click with her fiction usually like that unusual blend: fast suspense, dogs that actually help, and a family-and-home life that matters just as much as the case.

Later books like Cold Case and Vanished keep widening the canvas. The stories bring in old secrets, missing people, pregnancy, family pressure, and danger that lands right at Kate's front door. Even when the stakes get bigger, Gaffney keeps one foot in the everyday world of training, showing, rescuing, and living with dogs. That grounded detail is a big part of what makes the books feel lived-in rather than borrowed.

Today, Gaffney lives in Connecticut with her Samoyeds. Her fiction and nonfiction may look different on the shelf, but they grow from the same place, a long working life, real dog experience, and a clear liking for stories where loyalty counts.

Edited by

Richard Reis

Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.

Anurag Ramdasan

Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shaped MRB and its growth.

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