Getting back to the purpose of this entry: It is time to post our August 2013 Cozy Mysteries Recommendations. I am going to begin with my current book’s author, Margaret Grace. (I’m reading her Halloween mystery, Monster in Miniature. I just could not wait until next month!)
Margaret Grace (aka Camille Minichino & Ada Madison) writes the Miniature Mystery Series. I started reading Grace’s books after I finished reading Minichino’s Periodic Table Mystery Series. (I should probably explain that her “real name” is Camille Minichino.)
I find Grace (I’ll refer to her as Grace, since it is “her” series I am currently reading) to be a no-nonsense author. By this I mean that she doesn’t dilly-dally with stupid sleuths doing stupid things in stupid plots. Hmmm, I guess that doesn’t explain it either. I mean that her sleuths are very smart women. These women are not shrinking violets in any manner. They are strong women, with definite purposes in life.
Grace has the ability to write the way I think. That probably doesn’t make a lot of sense, but what I mean is both the plot and the dialog in her books ring true. (For those of you who don’t like swearing, you’ll be glad to know that Grace doesn’t have to rely on it to get her point across.)
I am also going to include two other authors who I wrote an entry about very recently: Hazel Holt and Spencer Quinn. (This link will take you to my entry which explains why I enjoy them.)
Please tell us about the one Cozy Mystery (or possibly more than one) that you read during August. These should be books that you think the rest of us simply have got to know about. Please include why you enjoyed each book so that we can read your reason and then determine if it sounds like a good book for us to try reading.
[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 August 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:
Donna Andrews: Meg Langslow Mystery Series
Connie Archer: Soup Lover’s Mystery Series
C.A. Belmond: Penny Nichols Mystery Series
Annette Blair: Vintage Magic Mystery Series
Melissa Bourbon (aka Misa Ramirez): Magical Dressmaking Mystery Series
Rhys Bowen: Royal Spyness Mystery Series
Susan Boyer: Lowcountry Bombshell (reportedly not a Cozy)
Elizabeth Lynn Casey (aka Laura Bradford): Southern Sewing Circle Mystery Series
Peg Cochran (aka Meg London): Gourmet De-Lite Mystery Series
Kate Collins: Flower Shop Mystery Series
J.J. Cook (aka Joyce and Jim Lavene & Ellie Grant): Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade Mystery Series
Shelley Costa: Miracolo Mystery Series
Ellen Crosby: Multiple Exposure (Sophie Medina Mystery Series)
Diane Mott Davidson: Goldy Bear Mystery Series
Julianna Deering: Rules of Murder (Drew Farthering Mystery Series)
Gale Deitch: A Fine Fix (Trudie Fine Mystery Series)
Ilsa Evans: Nefarious Doings (Nell Forrest Mystery Series)
Jimmie Ruth Evans (aka Miranda James, Honor Hartman, & Dean James): Trailer Park Mystery Series
Earlene Fowler: Ruby McGavin Series (reportedly not a mystery)
Margaret Grace (aka Camille Minichino & Ada Madison): Miniature Mystery Series
Kerry Greenwood: Phryne Fisher Mystery Series
Elly Griffiths: Ruth Galloway Mystery Series (The Crossing Places – book 1 & Dying Fall – book #5 )
Rosemary Harris: Dirty Business Mystery Series
Hazel Holt: Mrs. Malory Mystery Series
Jerusha Jones: Imogene Museum Mysteries (Rock Bottom – book #1)
Amanda Lee (aka Gayle Trent): Embroidery Mystery Series
Sherry Lewis(aka Jacklyn Brady): Fred Vickery Mystery Series
Lisa Lutz: Izzy Spellman Mystery Series
Karen MacInerney: Gray Whale Inn Mystery Series
Charlotte MacLeod (aka Alisa Craig): Peter Shandy Mystery Series
Susan Elia MacNeal: Maggie Hope Mystery Series
Molly MacRae: Haunted Yarn Shop Mystery Series
Jenn McKinlay (aka Josie Belle & Lucy Lawrence): Hat Shop Mystery Series
Judy Nickles: The Bogus Biker (Penelope Pembroke Mysteries Series)
Gigi Pandian: Artifact (Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery Series)
Spencer Quinn (aka Peter Abrahams): Chet and Bernie Mystery Series
Eve K. Sandstrom (aka JoAnna Carl): Down Home Mystery Series
Maggie Sefton: Molly Malone Mystery Series
Shirley Tallman: Death on Telegraph Hill (Sarah Woolson Mystery Series)
Gayle Trent (aka Amanda Lee): Daphne Martin Cake Mystery Series
Victoria Thompson: Gaslight Mystery Series
Patricia Wentworth: Miss Silver Mystery Series
Lauren Willig: Pink Carnation Mystery Series
♦To access more Cozy Mystery Books Recommendations, click on this link♦
I have received several letters asking me if I would do an “Authors Similar to M.C. Beaton” theme. I have tried to come up with the beginning of a list of authors who write similarly to M.C. Beaton. Here are some of the authors who I think might fit the bill. It would be great if you all would suggest some authors, whom you think other Cozy Mystery readers could read when they run out of M.C. Beaton’s mysteries.