Here are some Fun Texas Facts:
Texas is known as the “Lone Star State.”
Texas means friend in Hasinai.
Austin is the capital, but Houston is the largest city
State Motto: friendship.
State Flower: Bluebonnet.
State Animal: Armadillo
Mystery authors who are found on the Cozy Mystery Site and who feature Texas locations in their books:
Jeff Abbott: Jordan Poteet Mystery Series AND Whit Mosley Mystery Series
Rebecca Adler: Taste of Texas Mystery Series
Susan Wittig Albert: China Bayles Herbal Mystery Series
Susan Wittig Albert: Crystal Cave Mystery Series
Jeffrey Allen: Stay at Home Dad Mystery Series
Robin Allen: Poppy Markham: Culinary Cop Mystery Series
Carolyn Banks: She Rides, He Doesn’t Mystery Series
Nancy Bell: Biggie Weatherford Mystery Series AND Judge Jackson Crain Mystery Series
Melissa Bourbon (aka Misa Ramirez): Magical Dressmaking Mystery Series
Laura Bradley: Hair-Raising Mystery Series
James Lee Burke: Billy Bob Holland Mystery Series
Susan Rogers Cooper: E. J. Pugh Mystery Series AND Kimmey Kruse Mystery Series
Bill Crider: Dan Rhodes Mystery Series, Sally Good Mystery Series, Carl Burns Mystery Series, AND Truman Smith Mystery Series
Nancy Fairbanks (aka Nancy Herndon): Culinary Food Writer Mystery Series AND Elena Jarvis Mystery Series
Kay Finch: Bad Luck Cat Mystery Series AND Corie McKenna Mystery Series
Louise Gaylord: Allie Armington Mystery Series
Kaye George (aka Janet Cantrell): Imogene Duckworthy Mystery Series
Chloe Green: Dallas O’Connor Mystery Series
Janice Hamrick: Jocelyn Shore Mystery Series
Charlaine Harris: Midnight, Texas Mystery Series
Carolyn Hart: Death on the River Walk (book 5 in the Henrie O Mystery Series)
Honor Hartman (aka Dean James & Jimmie Ruth Evans): Bridge Club Mystery Series
L.C. Hayden: Harry Bronson Mystery Series
Nancy Herndon (aka Nancy Fairbanks): Elena Jarvis Mystery Series AND Culinary Food Writer Mystery Series
James Hime: Jeremiah Spur Mystery Series
Sharon Kahn: Ruby, the Rabbi’s Wife Mystery Series
Diane Kelly: Tara Holloway Death and Taxes Mystery Series
Diane Kelly: Megan Luz Mystery Series
Mitzi Kelly: Silver Sleuths Mystery Series
Elizabeth Lee (aka Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli): Nut House Mystery Series
Liz Lipperman (aka Lizbeth Lipperman & Liz Roth): Clueless Cook Mystery Series
Lizbeth Lipperman (aka Liz Lipperman & Liz Roth): Dead Sister Talking Mystery Series
Kylie Logan (aka Miranda Bliss & Casey Daniels): Chili Cook-Off Mysteries
Lee Martin (aka Anne Wingate & Martha G. Webb): Deb Ralston Mystery Series AND Mark Shigata Mystery Series AND Smoky O’Donnell Mystery Series
Nancy Martin: Miss Ruffles Mystery Series
Susan McBride: Debutante Dropout Mystery Series AND Maggie Ryan Mystery Series
Susan McBride: River Road Mystery Series
D.R. Meredith: Murder by the Yard Mystery Series AND Sheriff Charles Matthews Mystery Series AND John Lloyd Branson Mystery Series
Rick Riordan: Tres Navarre Mystery Series
Aileen Schumacher: Tory Travers Mystery Series
Barbara Burnett Smith: Purple Sage Mystery Series AND Kitzi Camden Beading Mystery Series
Ann Summerville: Stand Alone Storms & Secrets
Leann Sweeney: Yellow Rose Mystery Series
Teresa Trent: Pecan Bayou Mystery Series
Diane Vallere: Mad for Mod Mystery Series
Mary Willis Walker: Mollie Cates Mystery Series
Wendy Lyn Watson: Mystery à la Mode Mystery Series
Livia J. Washburn: Fresh Baked Mystery Series
Martha G. Webb (aka Anne Wingate & Lee Martin): Smoky O’Donnell Mystery Series AND Mark Shigata Mystery Series AND Deb Ralston Mystery Series
Anne Wingate (aka Lee Martin & Martha G. Webb): Mark Shigata Mystery Series AND Deb Ralston Mystery Series AND Smoky O’Donnell Mystery Series
Please feel free to contact me if you see an author from the Cozy Mystery Site who belongs on this list, or if you have any comments.
♦To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme click on this link.♦
Dennis says
Great List!!! I Love Texas. Thanks. Don’t forget Bill Crider and his series. One features Sheriff Dan Rhodes.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thank you for reminding me about Bill Crider…. I started working on the Texas list way before I added him to the site.
Thanks, again…
Beach Mum says
This site has been such a great source of info. Although I read all mysteries I lean more to a British cozy . I want to be transported from Michigan, to a small Cotswold village with thatched roofed cottages and a Miss Marple like lady solving the mysteries. Of course she needs to live in a cottage and a cat is preferable. I have read Ann Purser , M C Beaton and now finished all of Barbara Harwin. If anyone has any suggestions , I would love to hear them. Thank you so Much !
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Hi Beach Mum,
Have you taken a look at the “If You’ve Run Out of Agatha Christie” post that I wrote? That might give you some ideas…
Edie Dykeman says
Beach Mum – I’m with you. I read the books, or watch such shows as Midsomers Murders and love the quaint cottages in the small rural towns and think it would be great to live there (not with the murders, of course).
Danna – what a comprehensive list. I have lived in Texas and will again someday (after my caregiver duties in Michigan come to an end). China Bayles is my very favorite, but with a list like this, looks like back to the library I go.
Thanks for putting this list together!
Kayanna says
First I want to thank you for this site. I am one of the many avid readers who consume a book or two a day when home (more frequently than I like) and your site has been a great place to turn for book titles. I love these books from Texas, and I notice that books from the South (which may not include all of Texas, I’m not entirely clear on the concept!) seem to have a similar flavor and pride of place.
Do you already have a Southern list? I know it’s a state of mind! I’d love to find more books written from that perspective. They often write about small town values; respect, honoring parents, but they don’t take themselves too seriously. I’m thinking of Anne George and Patricia Sprinkle’s Southern series here, and some of the Texan authors exude that same charm. I’m rereading Anne George for the millionth time, but I’m looking for more like her!
(And thank you, I didn’t know about Elena Jarvis. I love the Nancy Fairbanks books. I always leave this site with at least one book to seek.)
Margie says
Susan Wittig Albert is our yellow rose of Texas cozy mystery writer.
Pamela says
The British lovers might like her stories of Beatrix Potter in the Lake District.
Randy says
What happened to Allana Martin? She was my favorite but hasn’t written anything new in years…
Connie says
Melissa Bourbon’s Magical Dressmaking Mystery Series needs to be added to this list as it takes place in Texas. Her series came out after Texas was added to the states theme list.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thank you, Connie. When I add new authors or simply new series by authors already on the Cozy Mystery site, I try to add them to their correct theme pages. I don’t always succeed in doing this, though. So, thank you!
Connie says
You’re welcome, Danna! It’s hard to keep up with all the new cozy authors and new series coming out to remember where their setttings are located. You are doing a fantastic job with all the themes. Love them all!
Here’s another one to add to Texas – Marion Moore Hill’s Deadly Past Mystery series located in Richardson, Texas.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Connie, thanks for telling us about Marion Moore Hill.
Donkat says
C.L. Bevill writes a mystery that takes place in Texas. The main character is a man called Bubba. There are 5 books in the series and 2 novellas.
Dee says
Why isnt David Lindsey on this list? Just wondering.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Dee, no one has recommended him for the Cozy Mystery site.
Susan* says
‘Death on the Riverwalk’ by Carolyn Hart is set on / around San Antonio’s Riverwalk. From things you’ve said, Danna, not too far from you. 🙂
Also found this in my internet wanderings: http://gato-docs.its.txstate.edu/jcr:11dd82c7-f97c-41fe-a9b1-ec108981d5ba/mystbib.pdf A bibliography of Texas based mysteries past and present. (Hope I’m not stepping on your toes, Danna. I don’t mean to.)
The list was written to accompany an exhibition of the books at Texas State University, by the Southwest Writers collection. Further info is here: http://www.thewittliffcollections.txstate.edu/exhibitions/past/scenecrime.html and it is apparently open to the public if you happen to be around that way!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Susan, thanks for the suggestions! I’ve added the Carolyn Hart book. I’m probably not going to be adding the full list you linked – I don’t generally add books unless someone suggests them, unless I’ve read it myself and thought it fit a theme. (It is too easy to get bad information from another site accidentally, not knowing how much they checked first.) That said, it’s always interesting to see other compilations of this sort and seeing where the overlap is!
Also thanks for the suggestion of the Wittliff Collections – it can be surprising to hear about that sort of thing existing right under your nose and not knowing about it! I’ll have to make the time to check it out the next time I go through San Marcos (which isn’t too far from home, really).
Susan* says
I haven’t really even looked through the list properly, myself – it’s a long list! 🙂
If people are interested, they can follow the link and have a look for themselves – I just thought it might be interesting. (And I was hoping you wouldn’t mind me adding it, was all. I think I’ve spent too much time on another – completely unrelated – site, where they’re jealous about such things!)
If you do get to have a look at the collection, maybe you could make it a blog post. I for one would love to hear about it!
Kathleen Kendler says
Ancestry Detective Series by S.C. Perkins is set in the Hill Country of TX. The main character lives in Austin.
Thanks for having & keeping this site up.
Janet Smith says
Helen Currie Foster writes a fine series, the Alice MacDonald Greer Mysteries, with most books based in the Texas Hill Country. I have enjoyed her crisp writing and sense of place in the collection recommended by a very well-read friend.