The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Cozy Mystery Books Recommendations – June 2012

Since we started this monthly recommendation of Cozy Mystery books, I have tried several new authors who some of you recommended… about a dozen. I thank you all for your previous recommendations! I have added a few of the new-to-me authors you all recommended to my list of “favorite authors” –  and will soon be reading  the second mysteries in their series.

These monthly recommendations of authors are great ways for us to take a look at your authors, and read the reasons you like them. Then, for those of us who are looking for the same things you listed, we can try the authors. So, please nominate one, two, or even three of your favorite Cozy Mystery authors who you read during the month of June 2012, and please tell us why you enjoyed the authors’ mystery books. (And, please don’t tell us about the authors you tried reading and didn’t like.)

What Cozy Mystery book (or author) have you read during June 2012, and why did you enjoy it (or him/her)?

Here are the current authors who some of you have read this past month, and wanted to tell the rest of us about:

Nancy Atherton: Aunt Dimity Mystery Series

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

K. K. Beck: Iris Cooper Mystery Series

Emily Brightwell: Mrs. Jeffries Mystery Series

Frances Brody: Kate Shackelton Mystery Series

Heron Carvic: Miss Setton Mystery Series

Erika Chase: Ashton Corners Book Club Mystery Series

Laura Crum: Gail McCarthy Mystery Series

Krista Davis: Domestic Diva Mystery Series

Anna Dean: Dido Kent Mystery Series

Charlotte & Aaron Elkins: Alix London Mystery Series

Janet Evanovich: Stephanie Plum Mystery Series

Judy Fitzwater: Jennifer Marsh Mystery Series

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

Anne George: Southern Sisters Mystery Series

Isidore Haiblum: Murder in Gotham

Victoria Hamilton: Vintage Kitchen Mystery Series

Janice Hamrick: Jocelyn Shore Mystery Series

B. B. Haywood: Candy Holliday Mystery Series

Hazel Holt: Mrs. Malory Mystery Series

P. D. James: Adam Dalgliesh Msytery Series

Rita Lakin: Gladdy Gold Mystery Series

Edward Marston (aka Conrad Allen & Keith Miles): Railway Detective Mystery Series

Nancy Martin: Blackbird Sisters Mystery Series

Leslie Meier: Lucy Stone Mystery Series

Julie Moffett: No One to Trust

Katherine Hall Page: Faith Fairchild Mystery Series

Patricia Rockwell: Bingoed, an Essie Cobb Senior Sleuth Mystery Series

Sax Rohmer: Hangover House

Mark Schweizer: Liturgical Msytery Series

Cynthia Smith: Emma Rhodes Mystery Series

Lillian Stewart: The Blue Hackle 

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

Dorothy L. Sayers : Busman’s Honeymoon : Haunted Honeymoon

A while back, Andie told us about the Turner Classics Movies magazine called Now Playing. Her comment was so positive about it, that I subscribed. I’m glad I did! I watch a lot of old movies, and this guide has helped me to check out, in advance, all of the movies the TCM channel is going to be playing any given month. I actually use a highlighter when going through the descriptions.

Recently, Andie wrote me to tell me that she thought some of us might enjoy a movie that will be airing early tomorrow morning, Wednesday, June 27, 2012. It’s called Haunted Honeymoon, and stars Robert Montgomery (yes, he’s Bewitched’s Elizabeth Montgomery’s dad) and Constance Cummings. It is based on the Dorothy L. Sayer‘s Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery Series.

This movie has Lord Peter Wimsey (Robert Montgomery) finally marrying Harriet Vane (Constance Cummings).  It is based on the Dorothy L. Sayers 1937 mystery book called Busman’s Honeymoon.

I’ve already set up my taping device!

Thank you, Andie!

Jessica Park: “How Amazon Saved My Life”

My husband sent me this article because he thought I might find it interesting. I am now passing it along to you all.

It is about independent authors who self-publish, and is written by Jessica Park  – aka Jessica Park-Conant, co author (with her mom, Susan Conant) of the Gourmet Girls Mystery Series.

The article is titled How Amazon Saved My Life, and is featured on IndieReader: The essential consumer guide to self-published books and the people who write them. 

I found the article quite interesting.

Classic British Cozy Mystery with Classic British Cozy Mystery Dialogue

A little while ago, I was driving somewhere, listening to Death in Ecstasy by Ngaio Marsh. (And, incidentally, loving it!) The only problem I have with audio books is that you can’t simply mark the spot with a bookmark so you can refer to it later. In this case, I thought some of the dialogue was so clever, I simply HAD to go find a place to park, in order to transcribe the words>>> which meant having to reverse and play my audio book several times. (So, these might not be the exact words, but if they aren’t, they are really close.)

For those of you who haven’t yet read any of the Ngaio Marsh Inspector Alleyn mysteries, shame on you! They are British Cozy Mystery classics, some of the best!

What I found endearing about the following conversation that occurs between Inspector Roderick Alleyn and Nigel Bathgate (a journalist cohort), is the way Marsh takes the reader along for a ride with these two fictional characters, discussing mystery books written by contemporary authors of Marsh’s. She is able to make the reader (just about!) forget he/she is reading about fictional characters.

Question regarding who the murderer could be:

“…  “let’s pretend it’s a detective novel. Where would we be by this time? About halfway through, I should think. Well, who’s your pick?”

Answer:

“It depends on the author. If it’s Agatha Christie, Miss Wades … guilt drips from every page. Dorothy Sayer’s Lord Peter would plump for … Inspector French would go for…”  (Inspector French was the fictional character in Freeman Wills Crofts’ mystery books, written at the same time.)

I found it to be quite clever that Marsh would have her fictional characters refer to current mystery authors, as if her fictional characters weren’t exactly that: fictional characters!

When I told my husband about this, he quickly responded that he thinks Agatha Christie had her fictional characters – Tommy and Tuppence – also name current mystery authors in their dialogue.

Can you think of any other Cozy Mystery authors’ fictional characters who refer to real Cozy Mystery authors?

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