I have a long list of authors who have been recommended to me by either my cozy mystery reading friends, past mystery reading group members, or people who have written to me (through this site) and suggested that I add a page for one (two, or three!) of their favorite cozy authors. I was going to start adding all of these authors…. first looking up each of these authors, and then "doing what I do."
The very first thing that I do when deciding whether to add an author to this site is do some research and see if he/she is someone I would want to read. Once I determine that he/she is indeed someone I will add to my TBR list of authors, I go ahead and dedicate a page to his/her chronological book list and write a short blurp about the author on his/her corresponding alphabet page.
When I started this website, I tried to only post authors who I could "vouch for." But, as I continue to work on the site, I am finding that since I have already posted "my authors," I now have the time to post authors who other cozy readers enjoy, even though I haven’t "tried them" yet. I was a little overwhelmed when I started doing this, and found that it would take an enormous amount of time to do each of these many authors. So, what a pleasant surprise I had in store for me when I started making the links for the Agatha Award pages.
As I started typing all of the annual award winners and nominees, I noticed a reoccurring thing……….. I already had web pages dedicated to these authors. As I made the links, I started actually being surprised by the few authors for whom I hadn’t already made web pages! That meant, that there were very few Agatha Award winners who I hadn’t read.
If you take a few minutes to peruse the lists of nominees and winners, you will find that an interesting thing happens… You can actually follow some authors’ cozy mystery writing successes.
An example of this would be Joan Hess. She won the Agatha Award for Best Short Story in both 1990 and 1992, and was then nominated for the Agatha Award for Best Novel in 1995, 1993, and 1988. As one of my favorite cozy authors, I like that she has been recognized for her many cozy accomplishments.
Another example is Donna Andrews. She won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel in 2000, won the Agatha Award Best Novel in 2002, and was then nominated for the Best Novel in 2003, 2004, and 2005. That’s a lot of cozy enjoyment for us cozy readers!
So, I have decided that I will start "fleshing out" the Agatha Award winners and nominees. If you are new to the world of Cozy Mystery Reading, the Agathas are an excellent place to start!
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