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Cozy Mysteries Recommendations – October 2013

Oh, I love this time of year. It is almost the end of October, and I have actually worn my light-weight jacket (once)! I have the best “autumn scents” going on my coffee warmer (Better Homes and Gardens Mulberry Plum Spice and Cranberry Mandarin Splash). I also have loaded up on my seasonal teas (caffeine-free Celestial Cranberry Apple and Cinnamon Apple Spice, as well as Bigelow’s caffeine-free Cranberry Apple). (I found my scents at Walmart, but had to order the teas.)

Since it is the end of October, it is time for me to ask you all to tell us about a few mysteries you read this past month (October) that you think the rest of us have got to know about. Please tell us why you enjoyed each of your recommended books. I think a lot of us read your comments, and they are what sway us to try your recommended book(s).

[As usual, I ask that you don’t tell us about the books you read that you didn’t like.]

[Also, if you click on the author’s name (blue) link, it will take you to their page on the Cozy Mystery site. Their page has all of the author’s books listed chronologically.]

What Cozy Mystery book (or author) have you read during October 2013, and why did you enjoy it (or him/her)?

Here are the current recommended authors who some of you have read this past month:

Victoria Abbott (Mary Jane Maffini & Victoria Maffini): Book Collector’s Mystery Series

Ellery Adams (aka J.B. Stanley, Jennifer Stanley, & 1/2 of Lucy Arlington): Books by the Bay Mystery Series

Jeffrey Allen: Stay at Home Dad Mystery Series

Donna Andrews: Meg Langslow Mystery Series

Nancy Atherton: Aunt Dimity Mystery Series

Donald Bain & “Jessica Fletcher”: Murder, She Wrote Mystery Series

Lorna Barrett (aka Lorraine Bartlett & L.L. Bartlett): Booktown Mystery Series

Lorraine Bartlett (aka Lorna Barrett & L.L. Bartlett): Victoria Square Mystery Series

Laurien Berenson: Melanie Travis Mystery Series

Gail Bowen: Joanne Kilbourn Mystery Series

Meg Cabot: Heather Wells Mystery Series

JoAnna Carl (aka Eve K. Sandstrom): Chocoholic Mystery Series

Ally Carter: Gallagher Girls Mystery Series (Young Adult Series)

Erika Chase: Ashton Corners Book Club Mystery Series

Jill Churchill: Jane Jeffry Mystery Series

Mary Jane Clark: Piper Donovan Wedding Cake Mystery Series

Sheila Connolly (aka Sarah Atwell): Orchard Mystery Series

Philip R. Craig: Martha’s Vineyard Mystery Series (not quite Cozy)

Jessie Crockett: Drizzled with Death (Sugar Grove Mystery Series, book #1)

Dawn Eastman: Pall in the Family (Family Fortune Mystery Series, book #1)

Christy Fifield (Christy Evans): Haunted Souvenir Shop Mystery Series 

Amanda Flower (aka Isabella Alan): Appleseed Creek Mystery Series

Shelley Freydont: Celebration Bay Mystery Series

Elizabeth George: Inspector Lynley Mystery Series

Sue Grafton: Kinsey Millhone Mystery Series

Ellie Grant (aka Joyce and Jim Lavene & J.J. Cook): Pie in the Sky Mystery Series

Kerry Greenwood: Phryne Fisher Mystery Series

Victoria Hamilton: Merry Muffin Mystery Series

Veronica Heley: Ellie Quicke Mystery Series

Sofie Kelly (aka Sofie Ryan): Magical Cats Mystery Series

Laurie R. King: Bones of Paris (not Cozy)

Jill Marie Landis: Two to Tango (Tiki Goddess Mystery Series, book #2)

Amanda Lee (aka Gayle Trent): Embroidery Mystery Series

Anna Loan-Wilsey: Hattie Davish “Have Typewriter Will Travel” Mystery Series

M. Louisa Locke: Victorian San Francisco Mystery Series

Kylie Logan (aka Miranda Bliss & Casey Daniels): Chili Cook-Off Mystery Series

Debbie Macomber: Cedar Cove Series (not mysteries)

G.M. Malliet: Max Tudor Mystery Series

Carol Ann Martin: Weaving Mystery Series

Jenn McKinlay (aka Josie Belle & Lucy Lawrence): Hat Shop Mystery Series

Jenn McKinlay (aka Josie Belle & Lucy Lawrence): Library Lover’s Mystery Series

Diana Orgain: Maternal Instincts Mystery Series

Louise Penny: Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery Series

Sara Rosett: Ellie Avery Mom Zone Mystery Series

Barbara Ross: Clammed Up (Maine Clambake Mystery Series, book #1)

Hank Phillippi Ryan: Jane Ryland Mystery Series

Christine Wenger: Do or Diner (Comfort Food Mystery Series, book #1)

♦To access more Cozy Mystery Books Recommendations, click on this link♦

Starry Night’s Debbie Macomber on the Hallmark Channel’s Home & Family Show

Here’s a quick note to let those of you who are Debbie Macomber’s fans know that she will be on the Hallmark channel’s Home & Family show tomorrow, Tuesday, October 22. I know this is short notice, but better now than never.

I am currently writing a post about the Home & Family show, so I will keep this brief. It airs from 9:00 to 11:00 AM (Central), obviously on the Hallmark channel.

Debbie Macomber is on the Cozy Mystery site, even though she is not a mystery author. I know a lot of you follow her books. (I believe I added her to the site after watching the first of the two Mrs. Miracle Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel. Mrs. Miracle in 2009 followed by Call Me Mrs. Miracle the next year. >>> Can you tell I enjoy her Christmas movies?)

Debbie Macomber will be talking about Starry Night, her 2013 Christmas novel. I don’t know how they plan on interviewing her, but a lot of the time, on this show, they have the guest for the day stay with them the entire two hours. We’ll see what they do tomorrow!

Mystery Books with a Cards Theme: Poker, Bridge, Gambling, & Card Games Mysteries

Susan* recently asked this question:

“… do you have a page for Card Game / Gambling Mysteries? I looked, but I couldn’t find one, …  I’ve found several Poker / Bridge based mysteries.”

At first I thought that I did have a Mystery Books with Cards Theme already done, but when I looked, it turns out I had the wrong type of Card in mind: Card Making Cozy Mystery theme. Still on my quest, I came up with two other possibilities: Crossword Puzzles and Bunco Mystery Books and Sudoku Mystery Books. (As Groucho Marx used to say: Close, but no cigar.)

Mystery Books with a Cards Theme (Poker, Bridge, Gambling, & Card Games Mysteries):

Jackie Chance: Poker Mystery Series

Jessie Chandler: Bingo Barge Murder (Shay O’Hanlon Caper mysteries, book #1)

Agatha Christie: Cards on the Table

Debra H. Goldstein: Carrie Martin and the Mah Jongg Players Mystery Series

Honor Hartman (aka Miranda James, Jimmie Ruth Evans, & Dean James): Bridge Club Mystery Series

Marlys Millhiser: Nobody Dies in a Casino

Gail Oust: Bunco Babes Mystery Series

Please post a comment if you know of any other mystery authors who write Poker Mysteries, Bridge Mysteries, Gambling Mysteries, or any other Card Game Mysteries.

Thanks!

Halloween Mystery Book List Recommendations

I have gotten many nice notes about how much people like our Mystery Book Monthly Recommendations lists. And, since I have been trying to update all of the holiday mystery book lists on the site, I started thinking that maybe it was time for us to make up a list of Halloween mystery book recommendations.

Here is the link to my Halloween Mystery Book List page. Of all of these Halloween mysteries, are there any that you think definitely stand out as being mystery books the rest of us should be aware of? These should be Halloween mysteries that we think others should definitely know about, so they can read and enjoy them the same way we did.

Also, if you wouldn’t mind letting me know about any Halloween mysteries that I don’t have on the list, that would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. If you would like to take a look at all of the different holiday mystery book lists that I have, here is the link: Holiday Mystery Book Lists. You can click on each individual holiday to see all of the mystery books that I am aware of.

*****

I’ll start out with one of my favorite Halloween Mysteries. I actually skipped the first book in the series so that I could read this book during a Halloween season, and I enjoyed it so much that I went back and read the preceding book right after I finished this one. Death of a Trickster is the second in Kate Borden’s Peggy Jean Turner Mystery Series. It takes place in New England, so you get the crisp, autumnal setting. Another reason I enjoyed it (besides liking Borden’s writing style) is that it features Halloween (almost) as a character. (There are many references to Halloween.) I liked all of the characters, the setting, the writing style, and the mystery.

Halloween Mystery Book Recommendations:

Alice K. Boatwright…. Under an English Heaven 

Kate Borden….. Death of a Trickster

Ray Bradbury…. The Halloween Tree

Bailey Cates (aka Cricket McRae)….. Bewitched, Bothered, and Biscotti

Laura Childs ….. Bedeviled Eggs

Agatha Christie….. The Hallowe’en Party

Isis Crawford (aka Barbara Block) ….. A Catered Halloween

Kathi Daley ….. Halloween Hijinks

Krista Davis ….. The Diva Haunts the House

Kaitlyn Dunnett (aka Kathy Lynn Emerson) ….. Vampires, Bones, and Treacle Scones

Shelley Freydont ….. Trick or Deceit

Kylie Logan ….. The Legend of Sleepy Harlow

Donna McLean…. A Sparrow Falls Trick or Treat? (story)

Leslie Meier: Trick or Treat Murder

Leslie Meier: Wicked Witch Murder

Annelise Ryan (aka Allyson K. Abbott & Beth Amos): Scared Stiff

Valerie Wolzien: All Hallow’s Evil

If you know of any Halloween theme mysteries that you think should definitely be on this Halloween mysteries recommendations list, please post a comment.

Thank you!

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