Knot In My Backyard (2014) Martha Rose wants to lose weight so she's joined weight watchers again. She wants to wear her size 16 jeans without busting the seams. She taking up walking to help achieve that goal. In the process she runs across the body of the local baseball coach. She calls her detective boyfriend Arlo Beavers and then tosses her cookies all over her new shoes. One of the worst things about the new cozies is the trend to have the romantic triangle. It's beyond annoying to me. Here it's worse than usual. We've got Martha not just being pursued by two men, but actually sleeping with both. Throw in the fact that I didn't much care for the character anyway and it just made the book hard to finish. I guess my problem with the romantic triangle is it makes the character weak. She doesn't know her own mind. She frets and spends too much time trying to decide what to do. Meanwhile the actual mystery takes a backseat. In this case it doesn't help that the mystery is unbelievable. Why this is a "quilting" mystery, I don't know. There's not much about quilting. I think it's just another ploy to make it fit in with some kind of craft cozy genre.I won't bother looking up the first one. FTC Disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.I'm new to this series. I've really got to stop reading new to me series, my overflowing must read list is just getting out of control. But I just can't seem to help signing up for Great Escape Book Tours. Lori just keeps introducing me to wonderful new authors.I enjoyed this book from beginning to end. I've been in a bit of a reading slump of late. For the last month or so, most of what I've been reading has felt like a chore. Not this book. If I had not had to go to school and teach young children about library skills, I would have finished this book in one sitting.Mary has created some delightful characters that I believe will appeal to all mystery lovers, not just those of us of a "certain age." Martha is both feisty and no-nonsene. She is certainly a loyal friend, the kind I would want on my side if I got into trouble. And Arlo Beavers better wake up and smell the coffee - Martha just might be too good for him. Another character I really like is Crusher. I hope we see more of him. Maybe I liked him so much because my husband rides a Harley or maybe it's because I pictured Crusher as the character that Trace Adkins played in the movie "The Lincoln Lawyer." Either way Crusher was a wonderful addition to the story. I appreciated the way Mary showed that not all bikers are scary.Mystery lovers who enjoy quilting will appreciate the quilting tips, but I'm confident that non quilters will enjoy this book as well. I plan to go back and read the first installment in this series and I'm looking forward to the next.