I recently got a letter from a Cozy Mystery site reader who asked the following:
“I’ve been re-reading some of my old favorites (Ngaio Marsh currently) and would like to read other books of like quality. I wondered whether you’d consider a top 50 (or 100) list created by votes from your website visitors? I’ve no idea what the logistics of that would be but thought I’d mention it in case you thought it was a good idea.”
I love the idea of making a list of the VERY BEST individual mystery books. I am guessing that a lot of us enjoy series, but we also probably have an all time VERY FAVORITE mystery book out there that we just cannot part with… You know the book >>> every so many years you just feel like you have to read it in order to savor it once again.
Rather than taking votes, I thought that people could just drop us a comment and we could make a list of the mystery books that you all think deserve to be acknowledged as your very favorite. (If you have more than one individual book, then feel free to tell us about those favorite few you think qualify to be on this list.)
Now, I know that this isn’t fair, but I just went through my lists of authors and mystery books that I read, and I haven’t been able to cut my favorites down to just one or two books. So, I can’t go first. However, I will eventually find a very favorite mystery book…
Right now I think that it will undoubtedly be the first mystery book that I read of an author… since I feel like that first book is what led me to want to stay with the author. I hate to sound unoriginal… but I will probably be choosing a Ngaio Marsh, Ellis Peters, Patricia Moyes, Ruth Rendell, or … Agatha Christie. These seem to be the authors who I listen to (or read) over and over, collecting their books in either audio or “real” book format. (And, when I’m in the mood for a “harder type” of mystery book, I usually end up with R. D. Wingfield, Colin Dexter, or Reginald Hill.)
So, I have my “favorites” list laying where I can’t forget it… I will be posting my fave soon, just have to whittle my list down a little.
P.S. I know that we already made a list of authors who we were currently enjoying, but this list should include our all time favorite mystery book (or books.)
-V- says
Eeeeeeeek! One cozy mystery book? Out of all of them I have read? I’ll have to think on that….I know I have an absolute favorite series, Susan Wittig Albert’s China Bayles series.
I know I can’t really call MAISIE DOBBS – Jacqueline Winspear a cozy since she is basically a PI, but if it were to count, I’d choose it.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
I know exactly what you are saying! One book is a tough one!
As for Winspear… How about Hercule Poirot? I consider him cozier than most! (I actually have this question as a future entry… There are so many PIs who are cozy…)
Jeannie says
I’m going to assume that anyone who is already reading mysteries has given Marple and/or Holmes a shot and decided on their own if they like them, so I discarded them as a choice.
And I absolutely can’t pick just one cozy. LOL! But I did narrow it down to two. Both of these authors made the cut because: A) In my opinion,they have consistently written good books. Some authors that I like have had “duds” somewhere along the series, or some have petered out toward the end of the series. So far, these two haven’t. B) The main heroine is surrounded by strong and interesting support characters. To me, if I can’t get interested in pretty much all the people I’m going to meet in a mystery series, chances are I’ll lose interest.
Ok mine are:
Donna Andrews’ Meg Langslow series. I absolutely love Meg, her family and her (now) husband. This series gives me not only a good mystery but a lot of laughs. Not an easy mix to juggle, but I think Ms. Andrews does it well.
Patricia Sprinkle’s Katharine Murray series. I stumbled across this gem of a series in my local library. They had Death On a Family Tree turned cover out as a library recommendation. I’m so glad I listened to them. I love Katharine, I love her family and I really enjoy the sub story of genealogy. There’s only 3 books in the series so far, I really hope she continues it.
Hope this helps your reader. And I hope others throw out their thoughts – I’m looking forward to seeing what others recommend.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Jeannie, if the characters aren’t people you want to spend time with… there just seem to be way too many books out there to struggle with that. I’m very character driven, also>>> Which is usually the reason I finally end up dropping series that I have been reading for a while. When I see the characters doing the same stupid things over and over, I simply get to a point where I cannot forgive them one more time. What seems OK in the first two, three or four books of a series finally grates on me so much that I don’t care if the characters solve murders… and sometimes I actually start hoping that those same characters are the subjects of other character’s sleuthing!
Maria BearMountainBooks.com says
Cannot do it. Cannot name just one.
Bernadette says
Difficult but…
I guess my all time favourite would have to be Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie because it was the first one I ever read (as a child too) and it changed the way I approached reading and ignited my passion for travel to exotic locations. It’s also a darned good yarn.
My favourite more contemporary cosy is Earthly Delights by Kerry Greenwood. She’s an Australian author with two cosy series (the Corinna Chapman books and the Phryne Fisher series). Earthly Delights is the first book in the Corinna Chapman series which is set in the present day (unlike Greenwood’s other series) and recounts the story of a young woman who runs her own bakery in inner-city Melbourne and she lives in an apartment block with all sorts of odd residents. I like the book because it’s well written, is not predictable, has really wonderful characters and a bit (but not too much) of a social commentary thread.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Bernadette, I’m right there with you as far as Agatha Christie goes. I have been going through her books these last few days trying to decide which one would be the one >>> if I had to absolutely pick only one mystery book. It really is difficult. And, since I also have a passion for Ngaio Marsh, Patricia Moyes, and the likes of Ellis Peters… It really is difficult!
Maria BearMountainBooks.com says
If I *had* to name my all-time re-read favorite…it would probably be a fantasy (Patricia Briggs When Demons Walk). It had a fabulous mystery, a poor girl climbs out of poverty, a thief, a hero, a romance.
On the cozy front, the problem is that if it is a series…I tend not to start over with the book. Because the character has moved on. But if I had to pick one, it would *probably* be the first in Elizabeth Peters Vicky Bliss series. Probably. But maybe not because the first in her Amelia Peabody is right on the list too.
See. Can’t do it. But I want points for *trying.*
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Maria, you make a really good point about picking a Cozy mystery book…. Since they are mostly written in series form, and the character does indeed move on, it really would be difficult to pinpoint which book…
This is truly a good “trying” though!
Laura says
Danna, the eleven-year-old me would have said “Trixie Belden” in a heartbeat! Now, if we set aside Sherlock Holmes and Hercule Poirot, I will say “Letter from Home” by Carolyn Hart (a stand alone) and “The Serpents Trail” by Sue Henry (first in the Maxie and Stretch mystery series). Both of these books put me in a time or place not my own and I really wanted to find out who done it. I want to read these books again sometime in the future and will keep them on my bookshelf.
Sue says
No question in my mind. The only mystery I’ve read more than once is a stand alone mystery, “Folly”, by Laurie R. King. She is my second favorite author after Mark Twain (who wasn’t much of a mystery writer).
I’m a little peeved at her for leaving her readers hanging at the end of “The Language of Bees”, but I’ll be one of the first in line for her next book.
Jeanne says
Can’t pick just one, but my very favorite series is the Gaslight by Victoria Thompson. I love that time period in “old New York”.
Marianne says
My favorite mystery series – Philip R. Craig’s Martha’s Vineyard books – lead character J.W. Jackson solves ’em all with great charm. Having lived in the Vineyard for many years Phil makes the island as big a character as J.W. himself. Delightful – or as J.W. Jackson would say – Delish!
Vicki says
My favorite series is the one featuring Constable Hamish MacBeth by M.C. Beaton. These are all titled “Death of a…” and take place in the Scottish highlands. I just love seeing a new one on the shelf at the library!
Edie Dykeman says
First choice in cozies would be the China Bayles series with the first being Thyme of Death. I have read the earlier books several times. I love the Miss Marple books, although I can’t think of a favorite one.
What a challenge this is – to pick out one favorite cozy (author or novel). Hmmm!
CC says
Without a doubt and no need to think about who, Mary Daheim’s Bed and Breakfast series is my absolute favourite. Right behind that is her Alpine series. For me, not a single book has been anything but pure joy. I would never be able to single out just one of her books as “THE” favourite.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
I think that I will have to say that Agatha Christie’s “Murder on the Orient Express” is probably the book that I would have to put on the list of great mystery books. If I wasn’t already a Cozy mystery book lover when I read it, that book would have made me one!
Kay says
Margaret Maron, Sarah Paretsky, Kathy Trochek, Ann George, Linda Barnes,Sarah Rosett, John Grisham, William Tapply, Barbara D”Amato, Elmore Leonard, Edna Buchanan-none of these writers, all of who are very prolific, will disappoint.-kay
Pam says
I will read anything, any time by Sue Grafton, Carolyn Hart and Nevada Barr. My husband and I have been listening to Nevada Barr CDs lately during some long travel and I am struck again by her use of language and the rich metaphors she uses.
Rachel says
There are many American mystery writers and series that are great, too many to mention. But I will say that the latest book by Sue Grafton called “U is for Undertow” is probably an example of a near perfect mystery. There is a little known mystery writer in Southeast Arizona named Betsy Thornton who writes a series featuring a Victim’s Rights Advocate, and these books are surprisingly wonderful. Also, one of my favorite mystery series is by the Swedish writer, Henning Mankell who writes the Swedish detective Kurt Wallander series.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Rachel, thanks for telling us about the other two authors.
Ward says
THE THREE COFFINS by John Dickson Carr.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thank you, Ward. It’s difficult to pick just one, isn’t it!
Barry says
Raymond Chandler’s *The Long Goodbye*–see http://tinyurl.com/36eckln
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thank you Barry, for adding Chandler’s The Long Goodbye. AND Belated Congratulations on the Derringer Award!
(My Sprite looks just like your Alfie. She’s sixteen, and I am already dreading when she leaves us. I’m sorry for your loss…)