Mary Marks Books In Order

Publication Order of Quilting Mysteries Books

Mary Marks is an award-winning American author that writes cozy mystery novels. Mary is best known for the quilting mysteries series some of which she based on her own life.

+Biography
Mary Marks was seventy-years-old when she became a published author. The development marked a transformation in Mary’s life, allowing her to embark on a whole new adventure despite her late start.

Mary Marks did not have the best childhood. Her father was never around. Her mother had mental health problems. For the most part, Mary was disadvantaged. They never had enough to eat at home and neither did she have the privilege of wearing shoes.

The experience did wonders for Mary when she grew up. It gave her a desire to see her community and people in general prosper. She could not stand to see others suffer and, at one point, made it her mission in life to raise the desperate out of their unfortunate situations.

By the time Mary’s first book was published, she had acquired a degree in Anthropology (UCLA) and a Masters in Public Administration (American Jewish University).

However, there was a time when the author didn’t think her life would amount to anything. She was in her mid-thirties and struggling to make ends meet as a single mother. Whereas her time as a grandmother has largely been one of fun and games, her days as a mother were consumed by work.

It took every ounce of her strength just to make it through any given day. And once she realized that she couldn’t continue to just scrape by, Mary Marks went back to school. She got her Master’s degree and secured administrative work that allowed her to keep her children fed and sheltered.

While she eventually made it, the author regrets the fact that her work gave her little time to spend with her children. It wasn’t until she reached her sixties that the author took up writing.

By that time, the author was an award-winning quilter and she was retired. Mary had lived a remarkable life and she wanted to document it. But she sorely lacked the skills required to narrate her life story.

She went back to school, joined a writing class and began to shape her writing abilities. Over the next four years, Mary recorded her memories. It took her several attempts before she finally had a product that satisfied her. Her hope was that, with each attempt, her writing abilities improved.

Mary cannot say whether or not that final version of her memoirs was of a quality that deserved to be published. At some point, her desire to record her memories faded. In fact, she realized that all she had done over the last four years was whine about her life and her problems, and she didn’t think readers would willingly pay money to consume her self-indulgent literary efforts.

So Mary changed directions. Having nurtured a love for mysteries at an early age, the author joined a Mystery writers workshop.

Unlike her previous creative wiring class, the Mystery Writers workshop gave Mary Marks a new appreciation for writing. Rather than just another chore that she had to push through, Mary found that she was having great fun writing.

And while her previous class had driven her towards more dramatic storytelling, the mystery writers workshop helped her discover the humorous side of her writing voice.

By that time, Mary was an accomplished quilter. She had even won awards for some of her quilts. So when she sat down to write her first novel, it felt natural to make her heroes quilters.

Martha Rose, the character for which Mary is best known, is Jewish. She is overweight, divorced and leaving alone, the result of her daughter moving away to start her own family.

An avid quilter, Martha has a close group of friends with whom she congregates to compare quilting notes. And when the need arises, she solves mysteries.

Mary was told very early on that she was more likely to succeed as an author if she wrote about what she knew. So a lot of the author tends to appear in the character and personality of Martha.

That is actually the reason why Mary decided to write cozy mysteries. The genre allows her to use her own life experiences to craft stories. Even though Mary’s books are whimsical and humorous in nature, she tends to tackle serious issues with which people like her can relate. There is a reason why her protagonist is an older, overweight woman.

The author isn’t much of a plotter. She prefers to let her stories take shape on their own. Mary always lets her characters lead her. The approach has done wonders for her.

Even though she has always been passionate about quilting, that is one activity she had to abandon once her publishing career took off. She simply does not have the time to pursue it.

+Forget Me Knot
Martha and her friends Lucy and Birdie are about to change things up. They believe that Quilty Tuesdays will benefit greatly from the addition of Claire Terry, a newcomer. Claire is only forty. That makes her much younger than the average age of the women in the group.

But the ladies are more than ready to welcome her to their group because of her reputation. With the fancy quilt show just around the corner, the group cannot afford to get distracted.

But that is exactly what happens when they find Claire dead in her home. Her award-winning quilt has been stolen. It falls on the shoulders of Martha to get to the bottom of the crime.

+Knot in My Backyard
Martha Rose doesn’t care much for baseball. So she is less than amused when a stadium comes into the picture, ruining her neighborhood in San Fernando Valley.

Martha would rather steer clear of the stadium and its sport. But when a baseball coach dies, Martha cannot help but investigate. Everything she can see tells her that the man was murdered.

Unfortunately, Arlo Beavers, an LAPD Detective is determined to point the finger at one of Martha’s neighbors. Martha won’t let any of her friends go down for a crime they did not commit.

5 Responses to “Mary Marks”

1. Joyce kousios: 12 months ago

   Just want to say I love your books. Picked up two at the library. Started reading and didn’t put the books down until they were done. Love Martha the main character and her friends.

   Reply
2. Brenda: 2 years ago

   I have loved all of Ms. Marks 9 quilting books. Will she be writing another?

   Reply
3. Nicki Spoerl: 2 years ago

   I just read the first book, FORGET ME KNOT. I couldn’t put it down. I am also a quilter and I can relate to the quilting references in the book.

   Reply
4. Pat Marquardt: 3 years ago

   I love these books about Martha Rose and love the quilting too – I am a quilter as well as a reader. Will there be a book 10 this summer?
   Pat Marquardt

   Reply
   • Beverly Norton: 2 years ago

     Love these books and have all Nine. When will book 10 be available?

     Reply