Book Review
Author Mary Marks, has Martha Rose and her two best friends back in the thick of things again. This is the first of her books I have had the pleasure of reading; I found it delightful as only cozy mysteries can entertain.
Martha is Jewish, her two friends, Lucy and Birdie, are not; this does not stop the intrepid trio from being fast and loyal friends, who respect each other, quilt together, and get in scrapes together. I loved the fact that Ms. Marks explained a lot of the Jewish traditions especially in regard to the Sabbath and funerals. This added to the book and I loved the information she included, it was educational and interesting as well as adding to the depth of the story.
In this book, Ms. Marks has Martha named as the executor of her old high school friend, Harriet Oliver’s estate. Martha hasn’t been in touch with Harriet for years. Harriet’s estate is worth millions and something seems fishy to Martha about the scene of her death. She was not found for 10 months after she died; it seems that Harriet led a sad and solitary life, her son drowned at five, her husband disappeared, he was eventually declared dead, and she had few friends. To make things even more interesting, Birdie is a walking talking CSI expert from watching television; she is up on all the latest “speak” in regard to criminal investigation.
What follows are plot twists and turns, mysteries, murders, an entire list of suspects, antiques, a priceless quilt and other extremely valuable items are missing, greedy family members, and a body is found buried in Harriet’s garden. Things are really getting interesting in the quilting world.
Martha also has new man, Crusher, in her life; will this be the real thing or does he have secrets? Is Martha’s luck about to change in regard to relationships and just why is Arlo Beavers sniffing around again? Sorry, I can’t spoil the story and tell you.
There are quite a few plots going on in this book and Ms. Marks did a wonderful job of bringing all the threads together to form a complete and delightful book. You will not be bored with this book. Ms. Marks also included a small tutorial on quilting at the end of the book I found fascinating.
I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys a solid cozy mystery with a lot of interesting elements, plots, twists, turns, and quilting.
I received this book from the publisher and Netgalley in return for an honest book review.
Books reviews of any novel are dependent on the book review author’s opinion; book reviews on line under my name are my opinion.