Knot In My Backyard
(A Quilting Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Kensington (November 4, 2014)
ISBN-13: 978-0758292070
E-Book File Size: 1226 KB
ASIN: B00JVW6HPK
Baseball may be America’s official favorite pastime, but for Martha Rose and her friends, quilting is far more fun…and a lot less dangerous.
A diamond brocade pattern is more quilter Martha Rose’s style than a baseball diamond—especially when it comes to the new eyesore of a stadium ruining her lovely San Fernando Valley neighborhood. Martha doesn’t know a bunt from a bundt cake, but when she stumbles upon the battered body of baseball coach Dax Martin, she doesn’t need a scorecard to know it’s foul play. LAPD homicide detective Arlo Beavers is convinced one of her neighbors is responsible. But Martha and her fellow quilters Lucy and Birdie soon discover a whole field of suspects who might have wanted to take the coach out of the game permanently…
Dollycas’s Thoughts
I liked Martha Rose the minute I met her in Forget Me Knot, the first book in this series. I can relate because I am 50ish, overweight, love food, hate to cook and a horrible failure when it comes to dieting. This time she gets herself in trouble just by taking a walk. She knows she needs to be more active but finding a dead body just a few minutes from her house may make her reconsider the whole exercise thing.
The police of course determine that Martha’s neighbor is the killer because he had an argument with the victim over a monstrosity of a baseball diamond that was built behind their houses. None of the neighbors is happy about all the extra traffic or the noise but Martha knows none of them would commit murder because of it. With a little help from her friends Lucy and Birdie they come up with enough suspects to fill a baseball roster. Martha Rose is on a mission and detective Beavers is not going to stop her from finding who really hit Dax Martin out of the park – permanently!
I started reading this book and couldn’t put it down. Mary Marks has hit a home run with this one. She pitched us a slew of suspects and we followed the clues together striking out one of them at a time until we are totally surprised by who is left on deck. Can you tell I like baseball too? 🙂
The book was so much fun to read. Martha, Lucy and Birdie have their weekly quilting sessions where they talk about everything from quilt squares to politics to the homeless population in their neighborhood. They come up with a fantastic plan to not only help people but a way to hopefully flush out the killer and they get all kinds of attention. Martha even makes a new friend that sort of turns her life upside down in a really good way.
Fabulous characters, excellent plot and subplots, some romance, the perfect amount of humor and a setting that is so easy to picture all add up to a grand slam of a mystery. I absolutely loved it!
About Mary Marks
Born and raised in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, Mary Marks earned a B.A. in Anthropology from UCLA and an M.A. in Public Administration from the American Jewish University in Los Angeles. In 2004 she enrolled in the UCLA Extension Writers Program. Her first novel, Forget Me Knot, was a finalist in a national writing competition in 2011.
Find out more on Mary’s webpage here.
I am giving away my review copy!
Contest is open to anyone over 18 years old
with a US or Canadian mailing address.
Duplicate entries will be deleted. Void where prohibited.
You do not have to be a follower to enter but I hope you will find
something you like here and become a follower.
Followers Will Receive 2 Bonus Entries For Each Way They Follow.
Plus 2 Bonus Entries For Liking My Facebook Fan Page.
Pin this giveaway to Pinterest for 3 Bonus Entries.
If you publicize the giveaway on Twitter or Facebook or anywhere you will receive
5 Bonus Entries For Each Link.
Contest Will End November 25, 2014 at 11:59 PM CST
Winner Will Be Chosen By Random.org
Winner Will Be Notified By Email
and Will Be Posted Here In The Sidebar.
Click Here For Entry Form
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Another series for my t-b-r list 🙂
Looks great, thank you for the chance to win 🙂
Sounds like a good read.
Thanks for the chance to win
Sounds good to me, thanks for the chance to win.
Thanks Lori for the review! This is a new-to-me author and series. I need to play catch up and read the debut. Thank you for a chance to win this one.
This sounds like a fun book. Thank you for the chance to win
Sounds like another winner.
I’d rather be quilting too. LOL I love cozies and can’t ever get enough. This is the perfect time to read one too. The weather is chill, keeping me indoors, snuggled up with a fun mystery and hot cuppa tea:)