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Knot What You Think–piecing together a mystery and a quilt
Knot What You Think
by Mary Marks
Martha Rose takes center stage in the cozy mystery Knot What You Think by Mary Marks. Martha has been quilting with a small group of friends in L.A. every Tuesday for seventeen years. They also form her support group as she investigates mysteries that come her way. She is an observant Jew, and so there are a lot of Yiddish phrases that spice up the writing with meanings inserted in a non-intrusive way. There are two love interests: Arlo Beaver, the straight shooting LAPD homicide detective and “Crusher,” a secret ops/undercover ATF agent.
This cozy mystery swirls with personal threads—weddings, funerals, ex’s, health issues, quilting, swindles, and dogs in fancy dress. Usually that would be too much distraction for me from the main point of the book: discovering the identity of a murderer. Surprisingly, Mary Marks is able to put it all together and make it work. The side issues are, in fact, important to Martha’s process of investigation. In spite of the fact that I was reading it during some traveling, I always enjoyed coming back to it until the mystery was solved.
There were interesting notes about quilting scattered through the story. The book ended with an epilogue that tied up some of the personal stories with promise of more to come.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #5 in the Quilting Mystery Series and good enough as a standalone to make me want to read more in the series.
Publication: July 25, 2017—Kensington Books
Memorable Lines:
I found endless fascination in the geometry of traditional quilts. Depending on how you placed quilt blocks next to each other in the top, secondary overall patterns could emerge.
Besides, even if I did want to get married, whose proposal should I accept? A generous, laid-back undercover ATF agent with a secret life and Israeli connections he refused to discuss or an upright, uptight LAPD detective with Native American roots, whose life was an open book? A future filled with anxiety and uncertainty or one that was reliable and predictable but not as exciting? A three-carat flawless diamond sitting in a black fuzzy box or my favorite German shepherd?
I was less interested in the hapless Kaplan and more interested in reading the whole three-volume story passing over Beavers’s face.
Killer Party–a good one!
Killer Party
by Lynn Cahoon
I had read the eighth book in the Tourist Trap Mystery Series by popular cozy mystery author Lynn Cahoon and was not excited as it focused more on extraneous details of the main character’s personal life and less on the mystery. I am so glad I gave this series and author another chance with Killer Party.
Set at The Castle, a luxurious resort/museum in South Cove, a small town in California, this tale finds Jill Gardner, owner of Coffee, Books, and More celebrating the upcoming marriage of her boyfriend Greg’s old college buddy. Cahoon does a great job of familiarizing the reader with old characters and introducing new ones, while jumping right into the plot. My favorite new character and coffee shop employee is Deek, who initially appears to be a disaster in the waiting. Despite calling everyone “Dude,” Deek is a talented, well-educated young man with great enthusiasm for his work.
There are lots of suspects and threads to the plot. Greg, who is the local police chief, is forced to investigate informally with Jill since he is a friend of the victim. Side issues evolve with Jill’s Aunt Jackie who is planning her own wedding.
Killer Party is fun, interesting and an all-round good cozy mystery. What’s next, Ms. Cahoon? I’m ready!
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Kensington Books for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery
Notes: #9 in the Tourist Trap Mystery Series, but works as a standalone
Publication: July 18, 2017—Kensington Books
Memorable Lines:
Actually I wasn’t sure why I was apologizing to this woman I’d never met before. I’d read a book that said one of the ways women give up their power is by saying I’m sorry for things that weren’t their fault.
I needed to have one good meal before we started skirting the law. It was part of the investigators handbook. Or at the least the one I was going to write someday after I made all the mistakes first.
I liked doing laundry. It calmed me in some weird way. Take something dirty and stained and make that all go away. Too bad life wasn’t like that.
education pathways 