The Cozy Mystery List Blog

Cozy Mystery (and Other Favorite) Books, Movies, and TV

J.C. Eaton: Sophie Kimball Mystery Series

Booked 4 Murder (Sophie Kimball Mystery Book 1)

Well, it’s the end of the month, and that means it’s time for me to discuss another recommended mystery series. This month, I’ll be discussing the first of the Sophie Kimball Mystery Series by J.C. Eaton, Booked 4 Murder.

Sophie starts the novel with a stable job and no interests in uprooting and changing careers – she is an accountant, working for the police in Mankato, Minnesota. Sophie’s only real problem at the moment appears to be her mother’s overactive imagination – she’s convinced that the members of her book club have been ‘cursed’, as a number of them have died recently. Of course, this isn’t necessarily the biggest coincidence, as her mother is a retiree and the book club is at her retirement home – most of the recently deceased are in their 70s or 80s and in generally poor health. However, there were a few unusual coincidences – most notably, each had received a cryptic email with a disturbing message recently. However, as the death counter climbs, Sophie decides to relent and visit her mother, if for no other reason than to set her mind at ease.

Despite being a relatively new-style Cozy, and only published less than a decade ago, this isn’t a really strongly themed book – the protagonist doesn’t run a bakery or a knitting shop and doesn’t spend most of her time working her day job while investigating on the side. While literature elements are present because of the book club, they’re far more mystery-relevant than specialized themes often are in modern Cozies. Regular readers will know how much I appreciate when a book gets right to the mystery, and Booked 4 Murder definitely doesn’t disappoint on that front – the first deaths are discussed on the very first page, having occurred offscreen before the book even begins.

Because of both of these factors, this is definitely one of the more ‘mystery-forward’ Cozies I’ve seen published in the last decade or so. If you’re looking for a modern Cozy with relatively light ‘theme-ing’, I can definitely recommend Booked 4 Murder.

As always, if you want to read more of these brief discussions of some of the more popular Cozy Mystery Series that I’ve written in the past, you can find them at the Most Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page.

April 28 to May 18

Media Made Murder (Merry Wrath Mysteries Book 35) Here is the list of new releases for April 28 to May 18!

Jenna Bennett (aka Jennie Bentley & Bente Gallagher): Peril in Piccadilly (7th in the Pippa Darling Mysteries)

Lynn Cahoon: Dying to Read (5th in the Survivors’ Book Club Mysteries)

Peggy Ehrhart: Last Wool and Testament (12th in the Knit & Nibble Mysteries)

Eva Gates (aka Vicki Delany🙂 Shot Through the Book (12th in the Lighthouse Library Mysteries)

Leslie Langtry: Media Made Murder (35th in the Merry Wrath Mysteries)

Jacqueline Winspear: Maisie Dobbs Mystery Series

Maisie Dobbs You may have noticed that April is indeed over, and that I haven’t yet done a review of one of the most popular recommended mystery series put forward by site readers. Well, there’s an answer to that… I was just finishing up a review of the first entry of Darci Hanna’s Beacon Bakeshop Mystery Series when I realized that I had already written about it! And not even all that long time ago – 2022! It feels like these sort of ‘little errors’ are becoming more and more common… a sign of my age I suppose.

So, I had to pick something else to read. Fortunately, I always have plenty of great suggestions to follow, so it doesn’t take much time to pick out a new recommendation – this time, the first entry in Jacqueline Winspear‘s Maisie Dobbs Mystery Series, eponymously titled Maisie Dobbs.

As the book opens, Maisie Dobbs is opening up shop for herself as a private investigator after a life already filled with experience. It’s London, 1929, and Maisie has been a maid in service with a wealthy suffragette (now her patron) and served as a nurse during the Great War. Now, she’s starting a new chapter of her life, one where she is more the mistress of her own fate.

At the same time, part of her is still very much stuck in the past, as is often the case for anyone who goes through a traumatic experience such as war. Maisie’s first case, which at first seems a relatively unsurprising investigation into spousal infidelity, surprisingly opens up some of those old wounds – and when several cases seem to be leading to a working farm for ex-soldiers, Maisie is forced to revisit her own personal loss as well.

As with any good period piece, Maisie Dobbs does a great job of really highlighting the setting, discussing issues of the time and immersing the reader in the atmosphere of late 1920s London. Admittedly, considering the details included regarding the war and its grisly consequences, this isn’t as cheerful an outing as many historical pieces, but for those with an interest in the period, it’s definitely worth checking out for that alone.

If you’re interested in a mystery that includes a good deal of introspection and grief processing, I can certainly recommend Maisie Dobbs. It’s a bit heavier than most Cozies – but that’s certainly fine by me. Not every book needs to be about talking cats and quaint seaside bookshops – Maisie Dobbs does a good job of presenting a serious, melancholy mystery that reflects on themes of grief, war, and the difficulties of coming to terms with loss.

As always, if you want to read more of these brief discussions of some of the more popular Cozy Mystery Series that I’ve written in the past, you can find them at the Most Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page.

MENU