Every once in a while I get recommendations (from the Cozy Mystery site readers) that really take me back! I decided to try to “save up” until I had four authors who I could post together… for those of you who remember them fondly.
Torrey Chanslor (aka Marjorie Torrey, Caldecott Winner): Beagle Sisters Mystery Series… Amanda and Lutie Beagle are spinster sisters who inherit a Manhattan detective agency.
Margaret Erskine: Septimus Finch Mystery Series… Septimus is in the Scotland Yard CID (Criminal Investigations Department) and as such, is a plain clothes police detective.
Phoebe Atwood Taylor (aka Alice Tilton & Freeman Dana): Asey Mayo Mystery Series… Asey is a Boston sleuth who relies heavily on his cousin who happens to be a big gossip AND Leonidas Witherall Mystery Series (as Alice Tilton), which is also set in Boston and features an ex-teacher sleuth.
Josephine Tey: Alan Grant Mystery Series… Alan Grant is an inspector with the Scotland Yard.
Anne says
Whatever the reason you began this site I am totally and completely grateful that you did. I have, so far, been a lurker with no comment even though I have made a few to my cat while reading your blog. I have discovered quite a few new cozy writers on this site. Some I have enjoyed and added to my own list and some have not made the cut but all have been new and otherwise known. So thank you…job well done.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Hi Anne,
I know exactly what you mean: I am constantly commenting to my dog AND I have found some new authors (from site readers’ recommendations) who I have added to my list of authors to follow, and at the same time, I have found authors who haven’t “made the cut.”
Thanks for writing… I always enjoy hearing positive feed-back!
Regina says
Asey Mayo of Taylor’s books lives on Cape Cod, but sometimes does business in Boston. I owned all of her books but loaned them out . I now regret it!!!!!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Regina,
I will add Cape Cod to the above entry.
It’s always a nice thing to loan books out… but in a lot of the cases, the people borrowing them think of them as gifts >>> of the permanent nature, not temporary!
Barbara says
Hi,
Great site and list of authors! I’ll definitely return…
I did a quick search on your site and don’t see a reference to the Detective Kubu books by Michael Stanley. (Hope I didn’t miss it!)
The first one, “A Carrion Death” came out last year and was named one of the 10 best crime novels of 2008 by the LA Times. I like the second book, “The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu” which came out in June.
Detective Kubu is based in Botswana and the books give a nice insight into African culture, setting, and local issues from different perspectives. Detective Bengu, nicknamed Kubu, is a delightful character with a penchant for fine wine, food, and opera. Kubu is the Setswana word for hippopotamus. Oh….Did I say Kubu likes to eat!
I think Michael Stanley would be a nice addition to your list of mystery writers!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thanks, Barbara. It’s always nice to hear about new Cozy mystery book authors who can be added to the site… And from what I have found, Michael Stanley is indeed authorS: Michael Sears & Stanley Trollip…
Anne says
Based on your recommendation I gave Mapp and Lucia dvd another try. I had watched it the year after my husband passed away and didn’t like it…it must have been my mood. I liked little that first year! But tonight I found the dvd delightful. I can’t wait to finish all the dvds and begin the books. Also based on this blog I bought Torrey Chanselor’s Our First Murder. It has started out wonderfully. So I thank you for both. To repay the kindness I will recommend a book to you and everyone who is interested. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I would say it has enough mystery and definitely cozy. It was charming. Hope you enjoy it.
All the best.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thank you, Anne, for telling us about The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Definitely a book to check out…
I’m sorry to hear about your husband. But I’m glad to hear that you are no longer feeling “I liked little…” >>> I can only imagine how difficult it is to lose a husband.
Years ago, Masterpiece Theatre (before it became Masterpiece Mystery!, Masterpiece Classics, and Masterpiece Contemporary) showed the first series of E. F. Benson’s Mapp and Lucia… which led me to track down the books. (That was before the internet made it so easy to find the books, so it took me a while!) But eventually I was able to acquire the books and read my way through what I consider my very favorite book series of all time. (They may not be mysteries, but they are so rich in three-dimensional characters and mini subplots!)
I’m also glad you mentioned Torrey Chanslor’s Beagle Sisters mystery books. They were recommended by a site reader, so I haven’t read either of the books yet. I wish there were more than just the two!
Anne says
You are in for a treat…the Beagle Sisters are grand fun and the Guernsey book is done in letters which makes it very personal. It took me two weeks to put the book on the “read” shelf after I read it. It needed to be savored a while longer.
Thank you for the sympathy…I like more now but still do not like losing my husband…
Now I have Netflix to provide me with Mapp and Lucia…looking forward to the next installment.
Edie Dykeman says
Danna,
I went back a ways in your blog to see if you had mentioned this author and her new series and didn’t see her name, so I will leave it here.
I just finished reading/reviewing Bundle of Trouble by Diana Orgain. She has subtitled it a Maternal Instincts Mystery – about a new mom who becomes a sleuth so that she doesn’t have to go back to the corporate world and leave her new daughter at home. Pretty interesting debut novel.