The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

New Releases – November 6 to November 12, 2017

Here is the list of new releases for November 6 to November 12! (Very busy week…)

Kristi Abbott: Assault and Buttery (This will be the 3rd in the Popcorn Shop Mystery Series.)

Kate Carlisle: Eaves of Destruction (This will be the 5th in the Fixer-Upper Mystery Series.)

Bailey Cates (aka Cricket McRae & Bailey Cattrell): Potions and Pastries (This will be the 7th in the Magical Bakery Mystery Series.)

Mary Higgins Clark & Alafair Burke: Every Breath You Take (This will be the 5th in the Under Suspicion Mystery Series.)

Sheila Connolly (aka Sarah Atwell): A Late Frost (This will be the 11th in the Orchard Mystery Series. This is a “WinterFare” mystery.)

Ellen Crosby: The Vineyard Victims (This will be the 8th in the Wine Country Mystery Series.)

Krista Davis: Not a Creature Was Purring (This will be the 5th in the Paws & Claws Mystery Series. This is a Christmas mystery.)

Julianna Deering: Death at Thorburn Hall (This will be the 6th in the Drew Farthering Mystery Series.)

Elizabeth J. Duncan: Much Ado about Murder (This will be the 3rd in the Shakespeare in the Catskills Mystery Series.)

Sarah Fox : Of Spice and Men (This will be the 3rd in the Pancake House Mystery Series.)

Daryl Wood Gerber (aka Avery Aames): A Deadly Éclair (This will be the 1st in the NEW French Bistro Mystery Series.)

Mary Ellen Hughes: A Fatal Collection (This will be the 1st in the NEW Keepsake Cove Mystery Series.)

Maureen Jennings: Let Darkness Bury the Dead (This will be the 8th in the Murdoch Mystery Series)

Sharon Pape: That Olde White Magick (This will be the 2nd in the Abracadabra Mystery Series.)

Anne Perry: A Christmas Return (This will be the 15th in the Christmas Mystery Series.)

Patricia Smiley: Outside the Wire (This will be a Stand Alone Novel.)

Alexander McCall Smith: The House of Unexpected Sisters (This will be the 18th in the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Mystery Series.)

Wendy Corsi Staub: Dead of Winter (This will be the in the Lily Dale Mystery Series.)

Lane Stone: Stay Calm and Collie On (This will be the 3rd in the Pet Palace Mystery Series.)

Victoria Thompson: City of Lies (This will be the 1st in the NEW Counterfeit Lady Mystery Series.)

New Releases – October 30 to November 5, 2017

Here is the list of new releases for October 30 to November 5! (A little late, but I didn’t want to rush the recommendations post… then the 1st of the month post…)

Ellery Adams (aka J.B. Stanley, Jennifer Stanley, & early Lucy Arlington): The Secret, Book & Scone Society(This will be the 1st in the NEW Secret, Book & Scone Mystery Series.)

Rita Mae Brown: Crazy Like a Fox (This will be the 10th in the Sister Jane Foxhunting Mystery Series.)

Anne Canadeo (aka Katherine Spencer): Knit to Kill (This will be the 9th in the Black Sheep Knitting Mystery Series.)

Nancy Coco (aka Nancy J. Parra & Nell Hampton): Deck the Halls with Fudge (This will be a story/novella in the Candy-coated Mystery Series.) (This is a Christmas themed mystery.)

Michael Connelly: Two Kinds of Truth (This will be the 22nd in the Harry Bosch Mystery Series.)

Jessica Ellicott (aka Jessie Crockett & Jessica Estevao): Murder in an English Village (This will be the 1st in the NEW Beryl and Edwina Mystery Series.)

Sharon Farrow (aka 1/2 of D.E. Ireland): Blackberry Burial (This will be the 2nd in the Berry Basket Mystery Series.

Diane Kelly: Death, Taxes, and Pecan Pie (This will be a story/novella leading into the 12th Tara Holloway mystery, which is posted right under this one.)

Diane Kelly: Death, Taxes, and a Shotgun Wedding (This will be the 12th in the Tara Holloway Mystery Series.)

Karen Rose Smith: Slay Bells Ring (This will be the 7th in the Caprice De Luca Mystery Series. This is a Christmas mystery.)

Lea Wait: Thread the Halls (This will be the 9th in the Mainely Needlepoint Mystery Series. This is a Christmas mystery.)

December 2017 Mystery Book New Releases

The following Mystery Books will be released in December 2017:

December 2017

Winnie Archer (aka Melissa Bourbon & Misa Ramirez): Crust No One (This will be the 2nd in the Bread Shop Mystery Series.)

Laura Bradford (aka Elizabeth Lynn Casey): And Death Goes To . . . (This will be the 3rd in the Tobi Tobias Mystery Series.)

Mary Daheim: Alpha Alpine (This will be the 27th in the Emma Lord Mystery Series.)

Christopher Fowler: Wild Chamber (This will be the 14th in the Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery Series.)

Susan Furlong (aka Lucy Arlington, Susan Furlong-Bolliger, & S. Furlong-Bolliger): Splintered Silence (This will be a Stand Alone Novel.)

Nancy Haddock: A Crime of Poison (This will be the 3rd in the Silver Six Crafting Mystery Series.) (This will be a Fall Folk Art themed mystery.)

Katherine Bolger Hyde: Bloodstains with Bronte (This will be the 2nd in the Crime with the Classics Mystery Series.)

Sue Ann Jaffarian: Too Big to Die (This will be the 12th in the Odelia Grey Mystery Series.)

Gayle Leeson (aka Amanda Lee & Gayle Trent): Honey-Baked Homicide (This will be the 3rd in the Down South Café Mystery Series.)

Alyssa Maxwell: A Devious Death (This will be the 3rd in the Lady and Lady’s Maid Mystery Series.)

Gail Oust: Ginger Snapped (This will be the 5th in the Spice Shop Mystery Series.)

Katherine Hall Page: The Body in the Casket (This will be the 24th in the Faith Fairchild Mystery Series.)

Nancy J. Parra (aka Nancy Coco & Nell Hampton): A Case of Syrah, Syrah (This will be the 1st in the NEW Wine Country Mystery Series.)

Barbara Ross: Stowed Away (This will be the 6th in the Maine Clambake Mystery Series.)

Paige Shelton: Comic Sans Murder (This will be the 3rd in the Dangerous Type Mystery Series.)

Karen Rose Smith: Murder with Lemon Tea Cakes (This will be the 1st in the NEW Daisy’s Tea Garden Mystery Series.)

If you want to see this month’s releases, go to the November 2017 Mystery Book New Releases.

You can find these and many more Cozies scheduled for release soon on the Soon to be Released Mysteries page on my site.

(These are the mysteries by authors who are currently on the Cozy Mystery site.)

Ellen Byron: Cajun Country Mystery Series

Plantation Shudders: A Cajun Country Mystery Today I’ll be writing about one of the more popular Cozy Mystery series in recent years, Ellen Byron‘s Cajun Country Mystery Series, and specifically the first entry, Plantation Shudders.

In some ways, it might be a bit surprising to hear that Ellen Byron is one of the more recommended authors in the recent Cozy Mystery recommendations posts. After all, she only has a single series, and it has only had three books released, one per year since the first entry came out Many authors nowadays are putting out three (or more!) books a year, often several different series at the same time, at a pace that personally I can find a bit overwhelming – there’s only so much time in a day after all!

So it can be very refreshing when a quality author is obviously spending their time to “get it right”, releasing one well-written, carefully crafted book per year rather than releasing an endless stream of new series in a hope that something will stick. Looking at Byron’s writing credits, it’s easy to see why she’s gotten so popular so quickly. She might be relatively new to Cozies, but she’s certainly no stranger to comedic writing, with credits to episodes from popular sitcoms such as Wings and Just Shoot Me!.

With that in mind, it shouldn’t be any surprise that Plantation Shudders is far more polished than the average debut novel has any right to be. Most authors take a bit of time to really get their stride and discover their writing voice, but the Cajun Country Mystery Series started strong, and it isn’t any surprise that the debut novel (and other entries since) have had multiple award nominations. Indeed, Body on the Bayou, the second entry, won a Lefty for Best Humorous Mystery Novel in 2017.

In addition to being one of the better written Cozies that has come out in recent years, Plantation Shudders also benefits from having a great setting in Pelican, a small town in Louisiana, and the Crozat family plantation, now converted into a bed and breakfast. Pelican and the Crozat plantation both give a feeling of the civil gentility of the old south, but the novel doesn’t shy away from addressing some of the darker elements of the old south, which can be a refreshing change from some settings in Cozies that seem to be entirely positive portrayals. (Aside from the surprising murder rates of course!)

The Crozat family, including the sleuth herself, Maggie Crozat, are also enjoyable and likable without becoming “over the top” or “zany” in inappropriate places. For example, Maggie’s Gran is portrayed as a fiesty older woman with plenty of spirit left in her – but she’s also an older woman, and it’s clear that the events of the novel make her more tired than normal, which is a surprisingly realistic and sympathetic reaction to such high stress situations as murder investigations (well, at least to someone else who is finding herself slowing down a bit in recent years…).

If you’re looking for a strong, well-written, modern Cozy with a great setting and interesting characters, I highly recommend giving the Cajun Country Mystery Series by Ellen Byron a try!

PS: For those looking for interesting looking Cajun-inspired recipes, be sure to check out the end of the book, as it has several great looking recipes!

To see others of the most popular and recommended Cozy Mystery series, click here.

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