Martha Rose first appeared in Forget Me Knot and one of the best ways to learn about a person is by asking questions, so let’s get to know Martha.

What is your name?
My name is Martha Rivka Rose. The middle name is Hebrew for Rebecca.

How old are you?
I’m still hanging on to my 50s, although if I’m having a bad day, I feel like I’m rocketing toward old age.

What is your profession?
I used to be an administrator at UCLA, but I was forced to retire early because I suffer from fibromyalgia. Now I spend time at home making quilts and assisting the authorities in homicide investigations. Mind you, the authorities usually don’t know I’m assisting them. I like to keep a low profile.

Do you have a significant other?
Yes! My partner’s a federal agent working for the ATF. He’s known on the street as Crusher (don’t ask) but his real name is Yossi Levy.

Any children?
I have one daughter, Quincy Rose. Well, it isn’t Rose anymore. She married Noah Kaplan, an LAPD Detective. They have one adorable baby girl named Daisy.

Do you have any sibling(s)?
About a year ago, I discovered I had a half-sister, Giselle Cole. We had the same father but different mothers. I’m Jewish, she’s Catholic. I live off my retirement, she has her own private jet. Yet we’re surprisingly compatible. We teamed up to solve the 32-year-old homicide of our father.

Who is your best friend?
My best friend is Lucy Mondello. Our kids went to school together. We met at a PTA meeting almost twenty years ago when she talked me into making 200 cupcakes for a bake sale. Then she introduced me to quilting. Ever since, we’ve been getting together every Tuesday morning to sew on our quilts. I’m five feet two inches and, face it, somewhat overweight. Lucy on the other hand is five feet eleven inches and looks like a runway model, even though she’s in her sixties. She helps me with my homicide investigations, despite the disapproval of her husband Ray.

Cats, dogs or other pets?
I adopted a beautiful orange male cat named Bumper when his owner was killed a few years ago. And I’ve been known to dog sit a retired police canine named Arthur. I used to date his owner before I settled down with Crusher.

What town do you live in?
I live in a suburb of the San Fernando Valley called Encino. I think it means oak tree in the language of the Chumash people, the original inhabitants of this area. My neighborhood is like a small community where everyone knows almost everyone else. We even have a neighborhood watch nightly patrol called the Eyes of Encino. They actually saved my life once. I bought my house twenty years ago after my divorce from my ex, Aaron Rose. Oy! Could I tell you stories about him. Anyway, the house is not big, but it’s adequate.

What is your favorite spot in your house?
Well, when my fibromyalgia flairs up, I curl up on the cream-colored sofa in my living room. I keep a blue and white quilt draped over the back of the sofa so I can snuggle under it if I need to. On my good days, though, my favorite spot is my sewing room. It’s filled with cuts of beautiful cotton fabrics, a really good sewing machine and all the notions and gadgets a quilter invariably accumulates. It’s where I do my best thinking. Especially if I’m trying to puzzle my way through a homicide investigation.

In a few sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
My days usually starts with several cups of coffee and a hearty breakfast that Crusher cooks. Don’t look so shocked! We have a really good arrangement that works for us. Whoever doesn’t cook cleans up. He usually makes breakfast and I usually prepare dinner. Frankly, I think I have the better deal. Cleaning up after dinner is harder than doing the breakfast dishes.

I like to sew during the day unless I’m running around trying to solve a mystery. The Jewish Sabbath begins on Friday evening and I love to cook dinner for my family and friends.

Yep, my life is pretty simple: eat, sew, cook, solve murders.

You can read about Character in Knot On Her Life, the seventh book in the “Quilting” cozy mystery series, coming July 30, 2019.

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 . . .

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About the author
Mary Marks is a native Angelino and with the exception of her teenage years, has lived most of her life in Southern California.

The first book in her award winning Quilting Mystery series was published the year Marks celebrated her seventieth birthday. These cozy mysteries take place in the San Fernando Valley and feature Martha Rose, a zaftig, fifty-something divorced Jewish quilter. The seventh book in the series, Knot On Her Life, will be released in July, 2019.

Marks and her husband live in Camarillo, CA with her loyal dog Ginger, orange cat Louie, and dozens of unfinished quilts.

To learn more about Mary, visit her website at marymarksmysteries.com.

All comments are welcomed.