Knot of This World - A Guest Post & Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome Giselle Cole to Cozy Up With Kathy today. You can find Giselle on the pages of the Quilting Mystery series. Knot of This World is the eighth book in the series and was released last month.

Interview with Giselle Cole,
(Martha Rose’s younger sister)
By Mary Marks

My name is Giselle Cole and I am Martha Rose’s half-sister. On a whim I spat into a bottle and sent my DNA to Deep Roots to be analyzed. That’s how we found each other—through the Deep Roots data base. We had the same father, Jacob Quinn Maguire. He disappeared around thirty years before, so after we met, the two of us decided to search for him and bonded over that experience.

Since then, we’ve become family. My fiancé Harold and I drive to Martha’s almost every Friday night for the Jewish Sabbath or Shabbat. Did I mention I’m Catholic? You might be wondering how a Catholic and a Jew could be sisters. It’s no mystery, really. Martha’s mother was Jewish and mine Catholic. Since our father was absent, our mothers determined how we’d be raised.

Anyway, that’s knot why I’m telling you this. (LOL. Get it? Knot instead of not?) I recently helped her investigate the death of Royal St. Germain, the leader of the Mystical Feather Society. I wasn’t present when he was shot to death at their commune in Ojai, California. But Martha and Birdie and Lucy were. You know them, right? Part of our Tuesday morning quilters group?

Anyway, we really wanted to discover who killed him, so we had to think of a way to go back to the commune undercover. We posed as spiritual seekers and signed up for a weekend class in Tarot card reading. Our friend Jazz came with us (and brought his Maltese Zsa Zsa Galore along. She rides in a tote bag wherever he goes).

Boy, was that class fun. I mean, where can a gay menswear designer, a Nigerian/American woman, a Jewish quilter and an oil company owner/CEO (that’s me) find common ground? Our curiosity brought us together. And our teacher was great. It turned out he had a few secrets of his own. After class we went hunting for dead bodies.

Martha (I call her my Sissy) and I make a great team. Since I’ve known her, I’ve helped her investigate three murders. This was our fourth effort together. It doesn’t take much to investigate. You just have to be curious, nosy, not afraid to ask questions and dedicated to the truth no matter what it takes. It doesn’t hurt to also be able to tell a lie with enough conviction so people will believe you.

Another thing I learned from my Sissy is quilting. Until I met her, I didn’t know a thing about quilts. Then I remembered my Grandmother Eagan (my mother’s mother) was working on one when she died. The pattern was Grandmother’s Flower Garden, which is a mosaic made of two-inch cotton hexagons pieced together by hand. That pattern must’ve been thought up by the devil, because it takes forever to put together one of those quilt tops. No joke. Anyway, my Sissie and the other members of the Tuesday morning group have all been helping me to finish my grandmother’s endless project.

Anyway, I hope you like the story Knot of This World. It’s Martha’s account of what actually went on at the Mystical Feather commune. Happy reading!

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Knot of This World (A Quilting Mystery) by Mary Marks

About Knot of the World

 

Knot of This World (A Quilting Mystery)  

Cozy Mystery 8th in Series  

Publisher: Kensington (July 28, 2020)  

Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages 

Quilter Martha Rose must patch together the clues to solve the murder of a cult leader in the California mountains . . .

 

Has Martha’s fellow quilter and dear friend Birdie Watson become unraveled? Birdie and her new husband have decided to join the Mystical Feather Society, a spiritist group living on a commune in the mountains of Ojai, California. Before her free-spirited friend makes a huge mistake, Martha organizes a surprise visit to check out the commune. While white-robed members conduct a seancé in a glass yurt, their leader—Royal St. Germain—is nowhere to be found . . . until, that is, Martha and her friends discover him shot in their Winnebago. Now Martha must track down the killer and debunk the cult—before it's bye bye Birdie . . .

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. She is currently a reviewer of cozy mysteries for The New York Journal of Books at www.nyjournalofbooks.com.  

Author Links:
Kensington: https://www.kensingtonbooks.com/9781496720511/knot-of-this-world/  
Website: https://marymarksmysteries.com/  
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mmarks2013  

Purchase Links - Amazon - B&N - Kobo - Google Play - IndieBound -

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Knot on Her Life - A Guest Post & Giveaway

I'm pleased to welcome Lucy Mondello to Cozy Up With Kathy today. You can find Lucy on the pages of the Quilting Mystery series by Mary Marks. Not on Her Life is the seventh book in the series and was released last week.

Hi. My name is Lucy Mondello. I’m Martha Rose’s best friend. I met Martha when she first moved to Encino right after a divorce. Her daughter Quincy and my son Richie were in the same class at Birmingham High School. (They’re still good friends.) One day I invited Martha to join me and my neighbor, Birdie Watson for a morning of quilting. Martha didn’t know a Nine Patch from an Ohio Star, but she learned quickly and caught the quilting bug. Since then, the three of us have been sewing together every Tuesday, no matter what.

My husband Ray and I are from Moorcroft, Wyoming. We got married right out of high school. He was drafted during the Viet Nam war and served in the military police. My Ray can fix anything. So when the war was over, we moved to the LA area and opened a business repairing cars. Our business grew to four locations and our family grew to five sons.

In some ways, I’m a lot different from Martha. I’m a practicing Catholic and conservative politically. But that doesn’t stop us from being the best of friends. I don’t know how she does it, but Martha manages to get sucked into murder investigations. And I often help her. My husband Ray does not approve of that at all. He’s very protective of me. So I’m extremely careful not to tell Ray when Martha and I are chasing down clues. I operate on the premise that “what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

Coming from rural Wyoming, Ray and I grew up with guns and rifles. We have a small collection which we keep locked in a huge cast iron safe in our house. Twice in the past we’ve had to lend Martha a weapon for self-protection. It’s a good thing we did, because the gun saved her life. Both times.

For years, Ray and I attempted to set Martha up on dates. We thought it was a shame that such a smart and attractive woman was all alone in the world. Well, not completely alone—she has devoted friends and family—but you know what I mean. No boyfriend, no husband. So you can imagine our shock when she became seriously involved with a six-foot six bearded biker with the street name of Crusher! At first, we didn’t know what to think about such an uneven match. But as we got to know him (his real name is Yossi Levy), all our misgivings fell away. He’s the perfect mate for Martha.

The two of them have been living together for a while now. I hope that one day they’ll get married. When I mentioned my feelings to Ray, he said, “Why? What they have going seems to work for them. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.” But I know better. Marriage is that final act of commitment. I think they both deserve to have that.

Well, it’s been nice talking to you. If you haven’t read about our adventures, I encourage you to start. Some of them are pretty funny. And if you have read the books, I hope you keep coming back for more.

Cheers!

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Knot on Her Life (A Quilting Mystery) by Mary Marks

About the Book

Knot on Her Life (A Quilting Mystery)  

Cozy Mystery 7th in Series  

Kensington (July 30, 2019) 

Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages

While quilter Martha Rose awaits the birth of her granddaughter, a neighborhood girl appears at her door with a mystery that can’t be pinned down . .

Martha’s eager to finish the baby quilt she’s making for her new granddaughter, but she scraps those plans when a young girl rings her doorbell begging for help. Poppy Halaby, the foster child of Martha’s neighbor, is an orphan whose parents were murdered by a killer who was never caught. When Poppy’s doting foster mom falls suspiciously ill, Martha is determined to keep the child safe. But she’ll have to unravel more about Poppy’s parents to stitch a broken family back together again—and prevent another crime cut from the same cloth . . .

About Mary Marks

 

About the Author: 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. She is currently a reviewer of cozy mysteries for The New York Journal of Books at www.nyjournalofbooks.com. Readers can visit her at www.marymarksmysteries.com and https://www.facebook.com/mmarks2013

Purchase Links Amazon – B&N Google Play kobo

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Are You Hooked Yet? - A Guest Post and Giveaway from Mary Marks

I'm pleased to let Mary Marks take over Cozy Up With Kathy today. Mary writes the Quilting Mystery series. Knot My Sister’s Keeper is the sixth book in the series and was released July 31, 2018.

ARE YOU HOOKED YET?

or, How to Keep a Series Fresh

By Mary Marks

The challenge of writing a series of books like The Quilting Mysteries, is to keep each story fresh and entertaining. Dredging up the same characters and the same few plots book after book, is a sure way to bore the reader and ensure the death of the series. Here are some ways I try to keep you engaged and make each book unique.

Martha, my main character, treasures her old friends like Birdie and Lucy. But in each story, she makes new friends, often in the most unlikely places. Each new person who comes into Martha’s life brings with them some quirky trait that will hopefully amuse and entertain.

In the first story, Forget Me Knot, Martha befriends a homeless woman named Hilda who provides Martha with an essential clue leading to the killer. Hilda’s not a main character, but she’s interesting because most of us don’t know any homeless people. So, in the next book, Knot In My Backyard, Hilda reappears as an important character who gives us a more in-depth look at the world of the homeless. Along the way, we get to know Hilda’s interesting back story.

In the next book, Gone But Knot Forgotten, Martha befriends a colorful psychic named Paulina, who provides some important information in the solving of the crime. Despite her own misgivings about Paulina’s honesty, Martha’s live-and-let-live attitude allows her to once again call upon the friendly Paulina in a later book.

In Something’s Knot Kosher, Martha, Birdie and Lucy invite a new friend, Jazz Fletcher, into their inner circle. Jazz’s alternate lifestyle and success as a menswear designer, adds a whole new dimension to the stories as well as many opportunities for humor. Through Jazz’s character, we also get a long look into Birdie’s surprising back story.

Martha’s psychic friend Paulina reappears in the next book, Knot What You Think. We get to - once again - witness Paulina in action as she contacts the dead and foresees the future. One of the things the reader has to decide is whether Paulina has genuine paranormal abilities or is she just faking it?

In my newest book, Knot My Sister’s Keeper, Martha discovers a half-sister Giselle she never knew about. Giselle is everything Martha is not: young, slender, straight hair, athletic, Catholic and rich. Yet despite these major differences, Martha not only befriends Giselle, she manages to form a close bond and together they solve a decades-old crime.

Another way I try to keep my stories fresh is to introduce a different social theme in each one. Whether the topic is child abuse, government corruption, homelessness, spousal abuse, gay rights, bank fraud, investment fraud, or infidelity, I try to gently remind the reader that very real social issues impact very real people. Sometimes with fatal results.

One of the fun things about being an author is trying to think of many different ways to commit murder. I’ve used poison, a baseball bat, strangulation, gunshots, and even a dumbbell. And the motives for murder are equally diverse, although they all seem to boil down to love or money.

I enjoy including a quilting theme in each of my stories. Not all of my readers are quilters, so I try to introduce them to quilting lore and techniques. The readers who are quilters will recognize them, and the non-quilters will hopefully find them interesting and instructive.

The same can be said for the theme of Martha’s Jewish faith. Some of my readers are already familiar with the rituals of the Jewish Sabbath and Holidays. But for those readers who are not, I aim to introduce a little bit of Jewish history and practice in each of my stories. Hopefully, my readers will find this both fascinating and insightful.

So, have I hooked you? Each of my stories can stand alone. But if you read them as a series, I think you will find some common threads that slowly weave a richer tapestry.

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Knot My Sister's Keeper (A Quilting Mystery) by Mary Marks

About the Book

 

Knot My Sister's Keeper (A Quilting Mystery)  

Cozy Mystery 6th in Series  

Kensington (July 31, 2018) 

Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages

In tracing her ancestry, quilter Martha Rose discovers a ritzy half-sister, a stash of family secrets, and a decades-old mystery that only she can unravel . . . Martha Rose is shocked to find she has a half-sister, especially one so different from her. Giselle Cole is wealthy, widowed, and lives a glamorous life in West Los Angeles. At least her grandmother was a quilter! But Giselle can’t answer Martha’s many questions about their father—he disappeared when she was only a child and the few clues left behind indicate he may have been murdered. So Martha and Giselle team up on an investigation that weaves them through the streets of L.A., their father’s hidden love affairs, and into some mysterious unfinished Cole family business . . .

About the Author

 
About the Author: 
 

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. She is currently a reviewer of cozy mysteries for The New York Journal of Books at www.nyjournalofbooks.com.

Readers can visit her at www.marymarksmysteries.com and https://www.facebook.com/mmarks2013  

Purchase Links: Amazon – B&N Google Play kobo BookBub

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