The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Mystery Authors Similar to Kate Collins…

Here is another Cozy Mystery site reader’s question. Cheryl (very recently) asked if we could … well, she says it much better than I could:

“My 18 year old daughter loves the Flower Shop series by Kate Collins. Any suggestions for a similar series for her to read?”

I gave her some recommendations, but wonder if any of you would be able to come up with “the perfect” author for her daughter.

I’m going to thank you for your help in advance…

Thank you!

So, here are the recommendations for authors similar to Kate Collins:

Madelyn Alt: Bewitching Mystery Series…

Mary Kay Andrews (aka Kathy Hogan Trocheck): Weezie & Bebe Series…

Deb Baker (aka Hannah Reed): Yooper Mystery Series… AND Dolls to Die For Mystery Series… AND Beekeeping Mystery Series (as Hannah Reed)…

Susan Conant & Jessica Conant-Park: Gourmet Girl Mystery Series…

Joanne Fluke: Hannah Swensen Mystery Series…

Lucy Lawrence (aka Jenn McKinlay): Decoupage Mystery Series…

Jenn McKinlay (aka Lucy Lawrence): Cupcake Bakery Mystery Series…

Leann Sweeney: Yellow Rose Mystery Series…

Please post your recommendations of authors who are similar to Kate Collins, and I will add them to the list.

♦To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme click here♦

Stephanie Bond, Christy Tillery French, Lindsay Maracotta, & Diana Orgain : the Four Newest Mystery Book Author Additions to the Site…

Here are the four newest mystery book authors to the site. Remember that they come recommended by Cozy Mystery Site readers:

Stephanie Bond writes the Body Movers Mystery Series which takes place in Atlanta, Georgia. The mystery series features a previously rich woman who is forced to go into the work force. Bond also writes the Voodoo Mystery Series which features the owner of a health food store in Louisiana.

Christy Tillery French writes the Natasha Chamberlain Mystery series which features a female bodyguard from Knoxville Tennessee.

Lindsay Maracotta pens the Lucy Freers Mystery Series. Lucy is the wife of a Hollywood producer and she also is a filmmaker, while not sleuthing!

Diana Orgain writes the Maternal Instincts Mystery Series which takes place in California. The sleuth is a new mom who takes on a new occupation as a private investigator.

Dorothy Gilman's Mrs. Pollifax Mystery Books

I have a terrible pattern of downloading books from audible.com and then saving the ones that I REALLY want to listen to. It’s a habit quite like my habit of putting off reading my favorite authors. I always want to know that “they” are there waiting for me in my To Be Read book shelf. (Right now I have a lot of TBR mystery books! Monica Ferris, Katherine Hall Page, Patricia Moyes, Ruth Rendell, Camille Minichino/Margaret Grace, Susan Wittig Albert, and a WHOLE LOT MORE!!!)

However, today I decided to bump up one of my very favorite authors. I was just in the mood to start listening to a mystery book that I absolutely knew was going to be able to “deliver.” So my book of choice to start listening to was: Dorothy Gilman‘s Mrs. Pollifax Unveiled.

For those of you who are not familiar with Mrs. Pollifax, she is a woman of “a certain age” who has joined the CIA at a time in life when other people might enjoy sipping lemonade in a hammock under the shady limbs of a dogwood tree. (OK, I know that isn’t a great example, since most of us would rather be doing that… especially if we could be reading while lulling the time away, enjoying a cool breeze… But, you know what I mean…)

Not so for Mrs. Pollifax! As a member of her local Save Our Environment Club, a woman working toward becoming a black belt karate athlete, and a prize winning geranium grower, Emily Pollifax is not content to just enjoy a leisurely life. And, she is really good at her spy job. She fools the “bad guys” every time… with her innocent looks, and her outrageously “old lady” hats. (I don’t think her hats are described with that term, but that’s how I would describe them.)

Dorothy Gilman has given me hours of reading enjoyment… whether I listen to her books or read them. Mrs. Pollifax is a character who comes to us fully-developed, very three-dimensional, and an added benefit of her work as a spy is that she travels the globe, going to exotic locations which we (the readers) are able to enjoy.

PS… For those of you lucky enough to be heading to New York for the Edgar Awards at the end of this month (April 27-29) >>> Dorothy Gilman is going to be the Grand Master!

May 2010 Mystery Book New Releases

The following mystery books will be released in May 2010:

Elizabeth Lynn Casey (aka Laura Bradford): Death Threads (This will be the 2nd in the Southern Sewing Circle Mystery Series…)

Bill Crider & Clyde Wilson: Mississippi Vivian (This will be the 2nd in the Ted Stephens Series…)

Clive Cussler: The Adventures of Hotsy Totsy (This will be a Stand Alone for children…) (Another  very successful mystery author for adults has written a novel for children. I know I have written – many times – about how great I think this is!)

Denise Dietz: Soap Bubbles (This will be a Stand Alone…)

Earlene Fowler: State Fair (This will be the 14th in the Benni Harper Mystery Series…)

Carolyn Haines: Delta Blues (This will be a Stand Alone Anthology, edited by Carolyn Haines…)

Charlaine Harris: Dead in the Family (This will be the 10th in the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mystery Series…)

L. C. Hayden: When Death Intervenes (This will be the 5th in the Harry Bronson Mystery Series…)

Elise Hyatt: French Polished Murder (This will be the 2nd in the Daring Finds Mystery Series…)

Joyce & Jim Lavene: A Timely Vision (This will be the 1st in the NEW Missing Pieces Mystery Series…)

Donna Leon: A Question of Belief (This will be the 19th in the Guido Brunetti Mystery Series…)

Amy Myers: Tom Wasp and the Newgate Knocker (This will be the 2nd in the Tom Wasp Mystery Series…)

Robert B. Parker: Blue-Eyed Devil (This will be the 4th in the Virgil Cole Western Series…)

Nancy Pickard: The Scent of Rain and Lightning (This will be a Stand Alone…)

Ann Purser: The Hangman’s Row Enquiry (This will be the 1st in the NEW Ivy Beasley Mystery Series…)

Joanna Campbell Slan: Photo, Snap, Shot (This will be the 3rd in the Kiki Lownstein Scrap-n-Craft Mystery Series…)

Leann Sweeney: The Cat, the Professor and the Poison (This will be the 2nd in the Cats in Trouble Mystery Series…)

Elaine Viets: Half-Price Homicide (This will be the 9th in the Dead End Job Mystery Series…)

♦ To go back to the Cozy Mystery Book New Releases page click here♦

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