Book Review: Knot My Sister’s Keeper by Mary Marks (Quilting Mysteries #6)

Stars: 5 out of 5

Pros: Strong mystery and characters

Cons: All cons left in the scrap heap

The Bottom Line:

Learning about dad

Sleuthing with new half-sister

A strong mystery

Finding Family and a Killer

It’s always fun to see plot threads that were introduced early in a series come back into a later book.  That’s what happens with Knot My Sister’s Keeper, the sixth entry in Mary Marks’s popular Quilting Mysteries.

It was established early on that Martha Rose never knew her father.  As a kid, she thought he had died before she was born, but early in the series, she learns that he actually left her and her mother behind.  While Martha has tried, she has never been successful at learning more about the man since she had so little information to work with.  That is until she takes a DNA test and discovers she has a half-sister living not too far away geographically.

While Giselle Cole might be physically close to where Martha lives in Los Angeles, she comes from a completely different world.  Giselle is rich and has no filter.  Yet she did know their father until the man completely vanished when Giselle was twelve – an event that has always haunted her.  Together, the two sisters attempt to figure out what happened to him.  But, after thirty years, the trail has grown cold.  Will they learn the truth?

Obviously, this book has to spend a little time setting up the story, but it really doesn’t take any more time than necessary, and soon we are on the trail of the cold case.  Since we’ve gotten to know Martha over the course of the earlier books, I really cared about the outcome of the case, and I was pulled into the story quickly.  Add in a fun sub-plot, and I had a hard time putting the book down.  The ending is strong and does a great job of wrapping things up for us.

Yes, this is a quilting mystery.  Yes, that is because Martha and some of the other series regulars are quilters.  But quilting actually does help provide a clue along the way as well.  I really appreciated how that was worked into the story.  If, like me, you aren’t a quilter, there’s nothing to worry about.  Quilting is part of the character of the series, but anything you need to know is explained along the way.

I don’t know if I had appreciated just how well developed the characters in this series are until I read this book.  Watching Martha deal with this part of her past really made her that much stronger for me.  But what really amazed me was watching how a couple of the new characters were brought to life.  Giselle is the best example.  As I said before, she has no filter and says quite a few things that are rude if not offensive.  And yet, it is made clear to us that she isn’t a hateful person.  It isn’t long before Martha is starting to care for her, and I did as well.  Honestly, I hope she pops up again in future books, although I wouldn’t mind if she matured some.

As always, I enjoyed reading about Los Angeles, a location I know well, although Martha and Giselle followed some clues to other parts of the country.  The advantages of having a rich sister.

Knot My Sister’s Keeper really is a rich mystery.  Fans of the series will be well rewarded.  If you’ve been considering starting this series, jump in today.

Piece together the rest of the Quilting Mysteries.