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

Cozy Mystery Book Recommendations – June 2016

It’s the end of the month, which means it’s the time I ask you about your favorite Cozy reads of the month. I know summer is a hectic time of year, but I’m guessing all of us make time to read our Cozy Mysteries. I wish I could say that I have been reading outside, while enjoying the summer breeze, but since the heat index has been over 100° several days down here in San Antonio, I’ve been reading inside with the air conditioner cranked up.

I just started reading a new-to-me author who self-publishes her Cozies, and I’m enjoying her a lot. I am hoping that I will be able to recommend her next month, but I don’t want to recommend her now since I don’t know if I’m going to continue enjoying her as much as I’m currently enjoying her.

As those of you who follow this site know, earlier this month I posted entries about Lorna Barrett’s Booktown Mystery Series and Lea Wait’s Mainely Needlepoint Mystery Series. If you’re interested in seeing those posts, you can find links to them on the Most Popular & Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page of the site.

How about you? Are there any Cozy Mysteries that you’ve read this month the you thought were way better than the rest of this month’s Cozies? If so, would you please tell us about these really good Cozies and why you liked them so much? Most of us are always looking for new-to-us Cozy Mystery authors to add to our favorite authors list! We’d love to hear about the Cozy Mysteries you especially liked, so that we (too) can read them. (If you have a lot of Cozies you think are terrific, would you post the ones you think are even better than the others at the top of the list?)

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

What really good Cozy Mystery book did you read during June 2016 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:

Kristi Abbott: Popcorn Shop Mystery Series

Donna Andrews: Meg Langslow Mystery Series

Nancy Atherton: Aunt Dimity Mystery Series

Donald Bain: Capital Crimes Mystery Series

Mignon F. Ballard: Miss Dimple Mystery Series

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

Juliet Blackwell (aka Hailey Lind): Haunted Home Renovation Mystery Series

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

Sandra Bretting: Missy DuBois Mystery Series (book #1 is Murder at Morningside)

Kathleen Bridge: Hamptons Home & Garden Mystery Series

Cindy Brown: Macdeath

Kate Carlisle: Bibliophile Mystery Series

Kate Carlisle: Fixer-Upper Mystery Series

Bailey Cates (aka Bailey Cattrell & Cricket McRae): Magical Bakery Mystery Series

Sheila Connolly (aka Sarah Atwell): Museum Mystery Series

Marla Cooper: Terror in Taffeta

Waverly Curtis: Barking Detective Mystery Series

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

Laura DiSilverio (aka Lila Dare & Ella Barrick): Readaholics Book Club Mystery Series

Elizabeth J. Duncan: Penny Brannigan Mystery Series

Dawn Eastman: Family Fortune Mystery Series

Amanda Flower (aka Isabella Alan): Magical Bookshop Mystery Series

Shelley Freydont: Celebration Bay Mystery Series

Susan Furlong (aka Lucy Arlington): Georgia Peach Mystery series

Diane Kelly: Paw Enforcement Mystery Series

Josi S. Kilpack: Culinary Mystery Series

Cynthia Kuhn: Semester of Our Discontent

Gayle Leeson (aka Gayle Trent & Amanda Lee): Down South Café Mystery Series

Edith Maxwell (aka Maddie Day & Tace Baker): Quaker Midwife Mystery Series

Maggie McConnon: Belfast McGrath Mystery Series (book #1 is Wedding Bel Blues)

Liz Mugavero (aka Cate Conte): Pawsitively Organic Mystery Series

Katherine Hall Page: Faith Fairchild Mystery Series

Diane Vallere: Costume Shop Mystery Series

Elaine Viets: Dead-End Job Mystery Series

Lea Wait: Mainely Needlepoint Mystery Series

Patricia Wentworth: Miss Silver Mystery Series

[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.

Private Investigator Sleuths

sleuthWay back in 2010, I created a theme (with your help!) that covered sleuths who are private investigators. After just discussing Lea Wait’s Mainely Needlepoint series (click here for that entry), I checked to see if I had remembered to include this series on that list. Yikes! I’m glad I checked!

Hmmm… Finding that I had forgotten to include this series on the list, I wondered what other series/sleuths were missing from the list. What better time than now >>> to update that list!

I think we should include sleuths who were former private investigators, also. In the Mainely Needlepoint series, the sleuth formerly worked for a private investigator, and she uses skills she learned as a private investigator to work on and solve the mysteries.

(I know there are authors from the 2010 list who are not Cozy Mystery authors. In 2010 we listed only the authors who could be found on the Cozy Mystery Site. However, this method sometimes meant that non Cozy authors were included in entries and Cozy authors who weren’t on the site were not included on the lists.)

So, here is the list of sleuths who are private investigators (as updated). Do you see any who are missing? Please leave a comment below so that I can add them to the list. Thank you!

Private Investigator Sleuths:

Cathy Ace: WISE Enquiries Agency Mystery Series – 4 Women PIs

Conrad Allen (aka Edward Marston & Keith Miles): Dillman Mystery Series – Transatlantic Cruise Ship Detective

Lori Avocato: Pauline Sokol Mystery Series – Medical Fraud Investigator

Julian Barnes – (not Cozy)

Linda Barnes: Carlotta Carlyle Mystery Series – Boston PI AND Michael Spraggue Mystery Series… PI Actor

M. C. Beaton: Agatha Raisin Mystery Series – Owner of PI Agency

Carol Lea Benjamin: Rachel Alexander Mystery Series – PI Dog Trainer

Ruth Birmingham (aka Walter Sorrells & Lynn Abercrombie) – Sunny Childs Mystery Series  – Georgia PI

Nero Blanc (aka Cordelia Frances Biddle & Steve Zettler) – Crossword Puzzle Mystery Series – PI and Crossword Puzzle Editor

Lawrence Block: Matt Scudder Mystery Series – not Cozy

D.B. Borton (aka Della Borton): Cat Caliban Mystery Series – Sexagenarian PI

Rhys Bowen: Molly Murphy Mystery Series – Irish PI in New York

Susan M. Boyer: Liz Talbot Mystery Series – Paranormal PI series

Susan Breen: Maggie Dove Mystery Series – a Sunday school teacher who opens a private detective agency

Kate Bryan: Maggie Maguire Mystery Series – Pinkerton PI

Carole Buggé:  Sherlock Holmes Mystery Series – British PI

Nancy Bush: Jane Kelly Mystery Series – PI & Pug

Dorothy Cannell: Ellie Haskell Mystery Series – Flower Sisters PIs

Sally Chapman (aka Annie Griffin): Silicon Valley Mystery Series – Computer Fraud PI

Agatha Christie: Hercule Poirot Mystery Series – PI with a whole lot of the little Gray Cells

Carole Higgins Clark: Regan Reilly Mystery Series – California PI

Bill Crider: Truman Smith Mystery Series – Texas PI

Arthur Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmes Series – London PI

E.J. Copperman (aka Jeffrey Cohen): Haunted Guesthouse Mystery Series – PI & a PI Ghost

Waverly Curtis: Barking Detective Mystery Series – Investigator and her “Chihuahua extraordinaire”

Lindsey Davis: Marcus Didius Falco Series – Ancient Roman PI (not Cozy)

Sharon Duncan: Scotia MacKinnon Mystery Series – Washington (State) PI

Susan Dunlap: Kiernan O’Shaughnessy Mystery Sereis – Ex Medical Examiner, Current PI (not Cozy)

Selma Eichler: Desiree Shapiro Mystery Series – “Murder Can…” PI

P.N. Elrod: Jack Fleming Mysteries – Chicago PI in 1930s (not Cozy)

Charles Finch: Charles Lenox Mystery Series – PI in 1860s London

Dick Francis: Sid Halley – not Cozy

Christy Tillery French: Natasha Chamberlain Mystery Series – Bodyguard PI

Lee Goldberg: Mr. Monk Mystery Series – Idiosyncratic PI

Sue Grafton: Kinsey Millhone Mystery Series – Alphabetical PI

Ann Granger: Fran Varady Mystery Series – British PI

Carolyn Haines: Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery Series – Owners of Detective Agency

Linda Hall: Teri Blake-Addison Mystery Series AND Fog Point Mystery Series – both Maine PIs

Tarquin Hall: Vish Puri Mystery Series – PI in Delhi, India

C.S. Harris: Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery Series – (not Cozy)

Carolyn Hart: Death on Demand Mystery Series – Book Store Owner & PI

Betty Hechtman: Yarn Retreat Mystery Series – Ex-PI

Veronica Heley: Abbot Agency Mystery Series – British PI

Gabriella Herkert: Animal Instincts Mystery Series – Washington (State) PI

Kaye C. Hill: Lexy Lomax Mystery Series – PI and her Chihuahua

P.D. James: Cordelia Gray Mystery Series – Inheritor of PI Business

Jon Katz: Suburban Detective Mystery Series – New Jersey PI

Marne Davis Kellogg: Lilly Bennett Mystery Series – Wyoming PI

Karen Kijewski: Kat Colorado Mystery Series – Sacramento PI

Alice Kimberly (aka Cleo Coyle): Haunted Bookshop Mystery Series – Ghostly PI

Laurie R. King: Mary Russell Mystery Series – Sherlock Holmes’ Wife PI

Mary Kruger: Gilded Age Mystery Series – 1890s PI

Hilda Lawrence: Mark East Mystery Series – New England PIs

Martha C. Lawrence: Elizabeth Chase Mystery Series – Parapsychologist / Psychic PI

Laura Lippman: Tess Monaghan Mystery Series – Baltimore PI

Lisa Lutz: Izzy Spellman Mystery Series – San Francisco PI

Karen MacInerney: Margie Peterson Mystery Series – PI Mom

Charlotte MacLeod (aka Alisa Craig): Sarah Kelling & Max Bittersohn Mystery Series – Art Security PI

Taylor McCafferty (aka Barbara Taylor McCafferty & Tierney McClellan): Haskell Blevins, PI Mystery Series – Kentucky PI

Alexander McCall Smith: The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Mystery Series – Botswana PIs

Val McDermid: Kate Brannigan Mystery Series (not Cozy)

Ralph McInerny (aka Monica Quill): Notre Dame Mystery Series – Indiana PI

G.A. McKevett: Savannah Reid Mystery Series – California PI

Lorena McCourtney: Cate Kinkaid Files Mystery Series – Assistant PI

Leslie Meier: Lucy Stone Mystery Series 

Marcia Muller: Sharon McCone Mystery Series – San Francisco PI

Katy Munger (aka Gallagher Gray): Casey Jones Mystery Series – North Carolina PI

Shirley Rousseu Murphy: Joe Grey Cat Mystery Series – California PI & Kit, the Cat

Lynne Murray: Josephine Fuller Mystery Series – Seattle PI

Diana Orgain: Maternal Instincts Mystery Series – New Mom PI

Sara Paretsky: V. I. Warshawski Mystery Series – ex-lawyer PI in Chicago (not Cozy)

Anne Perry: William Monk Mystery Series – Ex-PI

Maggie Pill: Sleuth Sisters – Michigan PIs

Rose Pressey: Maggie, PI Mystery Series – Florida PI

Spencer Quinn (aka Peter Abrahams): Chet and Bernie Mystery Series – PI & His Narrator Dog

Misa Ramirez (Melissa Bourbon): Lola Cruz Mystery Series – Sacramento PI

Dorothy L. Sayers: Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery Series – English PI

Sandra Scoppettone: Faye Quick Mystery Series AND Lauren Laurano Mystery Series – New York PIs

Connie Shelton: Charlie Parker Mysteries (Charlie is an accountant, her brother is the PI in a small PI firm)

Dana Stabenow: Kate Shugak Mystery Series – Alaska PI

Rex Stout: Nero Wolfe Mystery Series – Orchid Lover PI

Winona Sullivan: Sister Cecile Mystery Series – Boston PI

Leann Sweeney: Yellow Rose Mystery Series – Houston PI

Elizabeth Atwood Taylor: Maggie Elliott Mystery Series – California PI

Will Thomas: Cyrus Barker and Llewelyn Mystery Series – not Cozy

Victoria Thompson: Gaslight Mystery Series – Police Sergeant turned PI

Elaine Viets: Dead End Job Mystery Series – Florida PI

Lea Wait: Mainely Needlepoint Mystery Series – former PI

Edgar Wallace: ‘The Black’ series of short stories – Blackmail PI

Betty Webb: Lena Jones Mystery Series – Arizona PI (not Cozy)

Patricia Wentworth: Miss Maud Silver Mystery Series – British Ex-Governess PI

Valerie Wilson Wesley: Tamara Hayle Mystery Series – New Jersey PI

Jacqueline Winspear: Maisie Dobbs Mystery Series – Early 20th Century London PI

Sharon Zukowski: Blaine Stewart Mystery Series – not Cozy

P.S. If you’d like to see lots and lots of themes, be sure to take a look at the Cozy Mysteries by Themes page on my site.

Lea Wait: Mainely Needlepoint Mystery Series

Twisted Threads (Mainely Needlepoint series Book 1) The next series I’m going to cover from the monthly most recommended mystery series is Lea Wait’s Mainely Needlepoint Mystery Series. Twisted Threads is the first book in this very popular series. Lea Wait writes both the Mainely Needlepoint Series and the Shadows Antique Print Mystery Series. (This link lists all the books from these two series.)

As you might guess from the series title, Twisted Threads, is set in a small fictional town on the coast of Maine, Haven Harbor. The story begins when Angie Curtis, a private investigator working in Arizona, receives a call from her grandmother telling her it is time to come home because her mother has been found. Angie’s mother disappeared almost 20 years earlier when Angie was almost ten. Now her body has been found and Angie returns to town after a ten-year (or so) absence.

Of course, Angie’s mother had been murdered. So Angie, trained as a private investigator, naturally wants to help solve the mystery of how her mom came to be killed.

While Angie was away, her grandmother’s needlepointing has turned into a sort of co-op business with Charlotte (her grandmother) arranging for custom work for Haven Harbor’s handful of needlepointers. Things had been going well with the Mainely Needlepoint group until a man convinced Charlotte to let him represent the group by gathering orders all around New England and collecting the earnings for them. This arrangement worked fine until the man stopped bringing the money around to Charlotte to distribute to the group.

So, Angie volunteers to find the man and see what she could do to retrieve what the group was owed. And, not long into the story, another murder occurs, giving Angie’s private investigator training a real workout!

Twisted Threads is a typical modern Cozy with a few somewhat unusual elements. Not too many Cozy Mystery sleuths carry a gun, for example. Angie is a bit on the harder side of Cozy sleuths with the suggestion that she has lived a relatively wild life (for a Cozy sleuth!) both before and after she left Haven Harbor. The town is full of interesting characters including a minister who has a large Ouija board collection which he uses on occasion. (Some readers may be bothered by the minister using a Ouija board.)

Another warning is in order. The book includes some references to pedophilia that happened years ago in the town. I know some Cozy readers do not want a Cozy to deal with such serious issues, but this one does.

Despite its more serious and hard-edged undertones, the book is a fast read and has a lot of Cozy elements. The story is set in an interesting small town on the coast of Maine. The characters are varied, and Angie’s grandmother is a three-dimensional character with some surprises of her own. And, there is hint of possible romance to come for Angie. And for many Cozy Mystery readers, the setting is particularly attractive!

P.S. If you’d like to see more highlights of some of the most recommended or popular Cozy Mystery authors/series, visit the Most Popular & Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page on my site.

Annie’s Antique Shop, Annie’s Amish Inn, & Sugar Creek Amish Mystery Series have just been added to the Cozy-Mystery site.

For those of you who have been asking for me to post the latest Annie’s mystery series >>> well I finally got them done! I have just added two of the Annie’s mystery series (Annie’s Antique Shop & Annie’s Amish Inn) and one of the Guideposts mystery series (Sugar Creek Amish) to the Cozy-Mystery site. Guideposts is a company that has specialized in the motto “Inspiration. Faith. Hope.” for many years. They have both Cozy Mystery series as well as non mystery series. Annie’s is a craft company that also has several Cozy Mystery series.

Here’s a re-cap of all of the ones I have posted on the site, along with the three new pages:

 Guideposts Mystery Series:

Guideposts Non Mystery Series:

 Annie’s Mystery Series:

***** As usual, if you subscribe to any of the Annie’s or Guideposts series, I would appreciate it if you would send me the names of the upcoming books in the series. Thank you! *****

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