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Cozy Mystery Book Recommendations – March 2017

We’re almost through March, so it’s time to talk about our favorite Cozy Mysteries for we’ve read this month. If you read a Cozy you can strongly recommend in the month of March, be sure to let the rest of us know here! My own recommendation for this month is Nancy Atherton‘s Aunt Dimity Mystery Series.

If you’re interested in reading why I’m recommending these series, you can go to the Most Popular & Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page on my Cozy-Mystery site for my full write-ups on each of these great Cozy series.

So, what have you been reading that you can recommend in March? Please be sure to tell us why you liked these Cozies so much. I know we’re all always on the lookout for more particularly good Cozy Mystery authors! (If you have a lot of Cozies you think are great, please post the ones you like the most at the top of the list.)

As always, please do not tell us about the Cozy Mysteries you did not like.

What really good Cozy Mystery did you read during March 2017 that you want the rest of us to know about, and why did you enjoy it?

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

Ellery Adams (aka J. B. Stanley, Jennifer Stanley, & 1/2 of Lucy Arlington): Supper Club Mystery Series

Lucy Arlington (co-written by Jennifer Stanley & Sylvia May): A Novel Idea Mystery Series

Nancy Atherton: Aunt Dimity Mystery Series

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

Laura Bradford (aka Elizabeth Lynn Casey): Emergency Dessert Squad Mystery Series

Frances Brody: Kate Shackleton Mystery Series

David Casarett: Murder at the House of Rooster Happiness

Karen Chester: Emma Cassidy Mystery Series (first book Throw a Monkey Wrench)

Laura Childs (aka Gerry Schmitt): Tea Shop Mystery Series

Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell & Tace Baker): Country Store Mystery Series

Warren Esby: In Transit

Agatha Frost: Peridale Cafe Cozy Mystery Series (first book Pancakes and Corpses)

Lee Harris: Christine Bennett Holiday Mystery Series

Leigh Hearon: Carson Stables Mystery Series (first book Reining in Murder)

Kylie Logan (aka Miranda Bliss & Casey Daniels): League of Literary Ladies Mystery Series

Jenn McKinlay (aka Josie Belle & Lucy Lawrence): Cupcake Bakery Mystery Series

Carlene O’Connor: Irish Village Mystery Series

Louise Penny: Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery Series

Spencer Quinn (aka Peter Abrahams): Chet and Bernie Mystery Series

Clover Tate: Kite Shop Mystery Series (first book Blown Away)

Aimée & David Thurlo: Ella Clah Mystery Series

Lea Wait: Shadows Antique Print Mystery Series

Ashley Weaver: Amory Ames Mystery Series (first book Murder at the Brightwell)

Jacqueline Winspear: Maisie Dobbs Mystery Series

Diana Xarissa: Aunt Bessie Mystery Series (first book Aunt Bessie Assumes)

[If you click on the author’s name (blue) link, it will take you to his/her page on the Cozy Mystery site. The pages have all of the authors’ books listed chronologically.]

I will list the authors and series that have been recommended, but I urge you to read the comments below so you can see the reasons other Cozy Mystery readers thought these were their best reads of the month.

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

P.S. I usually don’t comment on your recommendations since they speak for themselves.

New Releases – March 27 to April 2, 2017

Here is the list of new release for March 27 to April 2!

Maddie Day (aka Edith Maxwell & Tace Baker): When the Grits Hit the Fan (This will be the 3rd in the Country Store Mystery Series.)

Veronica Heley: False Fire (This will be the 11th in the Abbot Agency Mystery Series.)

Emma Miller: Plain Missing (This will be the 4th in the Amish Mystery Series.)

Carla Neggers: Red Clover Inn (This will be the 7th in the non mystery Swift River Valley series.)

James Patterson & David Ellis: The Black Book (This will be a Stand Alone mystery.)

Sara Rosett: Mother’s Day, Muffins, and Murder (This will be the 10th in the Ellie Avery Mystery Series.) (This will be a Mother’s Day themed mystery.)

Clea Simon: As Dark As My Fur (This will be the 2nd in the Blackie and Care Mystery Series.)

Wendy Corsi Staub: Bone White (This will be the 3rd in the Mundy’s Landing Mystery Series.)

Lea Wait: Tightening the Threads (This will be the 5th in the Mainely Needlepoint Mystery Series.)

Nancy Atherton: Aunt Dimity Mystery Series

Aunt Dimity's Death (Aunt Dimity Mystery Book 1) Next in my series of posts looking at some of the most popular and recommended cozy mystery series is Nancy Atherton’s Aunt Dimity’s Death, the first of her much beloved Aunt Dimity books.

I first read this book not long after it first came out way back in the 90s. Upon re-reading it recently, I have to say I learned that I gave it way too little credit back then.

The book, and the series for that matter, is quite unusual for the Cozy Mystery genre. There are lots of differences from the standard Cozy. One is that the books are mostly shorter than the norm for today. Aunt Dimity’s Death is listed at 196 pages. I know we have discussed the length of modern Cozies before (see here and here for a couple of our earlier discussions) — with many of you suggesting that you want the books to be longer – in the 300 page or longer vicinity. However, I find this book to be refreshingly short.

Oddly enough, even though the book is short, the pacing is leisurely. This is not a Cozy for those of you who want the murder to be in the first two chapters! In fact, although there are mysterious goings on in the first half of the book, I don’t think the real mystery that needs to be resolved is revealed until somewhere approaching half-way into the book!

Another difference is that the series has a number of books where there is no murder at all to solve. I don’t think I am giving too much away to suggest that in this first book of the series, the mystery is not a murder but rather is one of love and separation, and guilt and regret.

I understand now why this series is so often recommended and is so beloved by its fans. The series began in 1992 and the newest book, number 22 of the series, will be released this year. Nancy Atherton only releases about one book a year – another unusual fact for a modern Cozy author!

The book is charming; it tells a beguiling story of a little girl now grown up, a friendship that was sustained only by letters for decades, a woman who had lost everything including her faith in humanity, a haunted English cottage, and the spirit of “Aunt” Dimity who was filled with regret and guilt but whose love for her friend’s daughter leads to both her and the daughter learning again the power of love, friendship and laughter.

Yes, there is a paranormal aspect to this series. However, in re-reading Aunt Dimity’s Death I was surprised by what a relatively small role the paranormal played in the story. Normally, I am not one for paranormal mysteries, but, to me, in this book the paranormal was both literally and figuratively “magical”.

If you are in the mood for a charming and whimsical mystery with a touch of paranormal and a large dose of heart, I heartily recommend Aunt Dimity’s Death.

Click here to read more posts about the most popular and recommended Cozy Mystery series.

New Releases – March 20 to March 26, 2017

Here is the list of new release for March 20 to March 26, 2017!

Terri Blackstock: If I’m Found (This will be the 2nd in the If I Run Mystery Series.)

Ashley Gardner: A Mystery at Carlton House (This will be the 12th in the Captain Lacey Regency Mystery Series.)

J.A. Jance: Man Overboard (This will be the 12th in the Ali Reynolds Mystery Series.)

Anne Perry: Murder on the Serpentine (This will be the 32nd in the Charlotte & Thomas Pitt Mystery Series.)

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