am giving Forget Me Knot a generousstars, I did like the book, I ended up receivingfree copiesvia a book blog giveaway and another through NetGalley which I had forgotten about.
I ended up reading the paperback version,
Overall, it was a decent story, Martha, a woman in her mids and herfriends, Birdie and Lucy befriend a younger woman, Claire and are going to quilt with her.
When they arrive at her house, they quickly realize something is wrong and that's dead, Claire's mother asks Martha to look at Claire's quilts because she's certain Claire left a message in them.
It takes Martha a little sleuthing, but she's able to figure out how Claire incorporated her messages and what she was trying to say.
Martha and her supporting characters were very likeable and each character introduced added to the story instead of distracting from it.
It's interesting to read a cozy set in the LA area, LA is not what one would call a cozy setting but the setting didn't play a huge role in the book like in some other series.
The mystery moved pretty swiftly for the most part and was well done for ast read in a series.
There was a lot of talk about Martha and her diet or lack thereof which felt a little forced at times.
I felt like the author was trying to be witty about it but it ended up feeling repetitive.
In addition, the author kept interjecting bits about liberals v, republicans where she cast the republicans in a not so friendly and 'nice' light, This was completely unnecessary. Even if I agreed with what the author was saying, it had no place in the story at all.
I liked it well enough and I like it well enough to keep reading if I get them free or from the library.
I probably won't seek them out on their release day but I enjoyed it and didn't feel it was a waste of my time.
I received an advance copy from the Goodreads giveaway, I hadn't read a cozy in a while, so this was nice, This is the author's first book, though, and it does read a bit like that, There are some places I feel the story could have been edited, as I'm not sure the author found her pace quite yet.
There were times when the story moved right along, and other times when it seemed to slow down for unnecessarily long descriptions.
There were several paragraphs about making a grilled cheese at one point, for example, and when Martha ended up in jail it dragged on and on.
I just felt there were some things that ended up being too much, As it was a quilting mystery, I had been expecting descriptions when it came to quiltingrelated things, and that would have been fine, but some of the other details were too much.
As far as the mystery went, it was fun, I have a hard time rating these kinds of things, but I think everything added up all right enough, and I liked the part the quilts played in the mystery.
I did have a difficult time believing . I think the only other thing that most annoyed me was ,
All in all, though, it seemed about average for a cozy, so it gets an average score.
It was a nice, light read, and did a few times make me want to get up and return to a few sewing projects I haven't yet finished.
In general I liked the book and the tie in with quilting, I figured out the main clue set pretty early in the book, but enjoyed the characters so kept on to see if I was right.
I found the emphasis on the main characters preoccupation with her weight a bit annoying and I thought some of her actions and the excuses a bit disingenuous.
But I liked it well enough I plan to read another in this series, I liked it a lot better than I thought I would, for one simple reason, The main character is a typical cozy mystery heroine albeit a little older and healthierlooking than most.
This means that when she decides to "solve" a mystery, no man and no procedure will come in between.
She fudges the truth, hides evidence, and keeps mum about important details, And then, she gets arrested, The charges get dropped because one of the detectives is sweet on her, but she actually spends a night in jail.
I didn't think I would ever see that, So. Props.
Anyway, the mystery is fairly straightforward, but the subject matter is a little icky and sordid for a cozy.
The writing isn't bad either, and I didn't particularly like Martha, but I can live with her.
Quilting plays an important part in how the mystery is solved as opposed to a random victim found dead in a quilting store or something, the information about the quilting profession and patterns didn't feel out of place.
In all, it was better than I hoped,
I bought this book so I dont need to thank anyone,
An interesting start to a cosy crime series, I was introduced to this series when given the opportunity to review the third book Gone but knot forgotten.
And as I loved the third book so much I went out and bought myself the first two books in the series to catch up on what Id miss.
This book was okay as a cosy crime, but I do have to say if Id read it first I might not have continued with the series.
It wasnt as gripping, fast paced or funny But it wasnt terrible, it was still good.
I feel it merely suffered from first book nerves and wasnt as smooth, witty or attention grabbing as the third.
Please dont take this as a negative, as it was still a GOOD book, Heck, Im a fan of the cosy crime genre and can tell you there are some complete STINKERS out there.
Forget me Knot isnt a stinker, it was entertaining and didnt make me regret buying it.
It just wasnt as good as the third book, As I said first book nerves,
I feel the characters were still establishing their personalities, still finding their groove and still settling into existence.
And while doing so they were very entertaining though I did work out the who, what, where and how pretty early on and kept waiting for the characters to catch up with me.
I also missed the Shabbat and other Jewish traditions heavily mentioned in other books in the series Ive read them all now.
Im not Jewish, but did really enjoy having this beautiful faith, strong belief and age old traditions woven into the story.
So maybe by not having them in this first book it helped add to its minor flatness
Would I recommend this book to others Yes I would.
Its still a great series and I feel people should start with book one and just know it gets better as the author gets into her stride.
Would I buy this book for myself Yes, already have done so, which is how I can give this review.
I dont regret the purchase, still love the series and feel all first books are a little light on compared to the rest of the series as the author has to start somewhere.
In summary: First book in a series, so expect some first book nerves, Still a good read an enjoyable cosy crime to have some couch time with and an entertaining tale.
Definitely one to add to any true cosy crime fans collection,
I have had such marvelous success lately with cozy mysteries, and this new series is no exception.
I have never read any of those "quilting mystery" books that are so popular on the internet these days, but this one is certainly not to be missed.
Just to give you an idea of how rapidly I read it, I began on a Friday, and by the end of work that day, I was more than halfway through the book.
It was then a swift finish on Saturday afternoon, and I genuinely never wanted to set the book down.
I will also say that I did not figure out "who done it, " I determined it was not who
everyone believed it was, but the cleverness of the story line was quite refreshing.
Again, no graphic sex implied, but not detailed, and essentially no profanity, If there was any, it was so minimal that I have forgotten it, I could exonerate Martha's the main character shares my daughter's name Democratic affiliation because she was so amiable.
And it is as though she just happens to be in the right place at the right time, and she never gives up.
Since this is the first in the series, there should be plenty more in the future.
The romance should keep things pretty hot for many more books to come,
I appreciated the humor in this book, and I am quite astounded that this is Mary Marks's first mystery.
I can highly recommend this one, and don't let the length of the book keep you from checking it out.
Because her writing style is so downtoearth, you will find it a quick read, Concerned that the age of the sleuth will not keep things riveting Martha is in her's.
It is clear that this woman is sharp, quickwitted, and downright lovable!
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
I was not financially compensated, and all opinions arepercent mine, Martha Rose, Lucy and Birdie meet each Tuesday morning to quilt and chat they take it in turns to go to each others houses, they are thinking about a fourth member to join them, Claire Terry is well known in the local quilting circles as an exceptional quilter and she has invited them to come over for a quilting session on this particular Tuesday.
However when they arrive there is no answer to the doorbell and when they peer through the window of the house they see a pair of feet.
Having been let in by a neighbour they find Claire dead, and from then on in the momentum keeps building with theft, arrest, and intimidation being only the start of it!
This is a great start to what I think will be another wonderful crafting cozy series, there is a little bit of repetition re calories for instance but as a larger lady myself I suspect I noticed that a little more than most!, I would like a few more patchwork/quilting tips maybe at the end of the book but the lack of them certainly doesn't detract from a fun addition to the cozy "stable".
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