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Cozy Mystery Book Recommendations – July 2015

Can you believe it’s been a whole month since we last talked about the Cozy Mystery books that we thought were so good we just had to recommend them? I can’t!

I’ve tried a few new-to-me Cozy authors this past month who I’m still deciding whether or not to add to my favorite authors list. I have so many favorite Cozy authors already, I’m just not sure I can handle any more! (That’s a good problem to have!)

Anyway, if you have one or two Cozy Mysteries that you read during July that you think the rest of us should certainly know about, please drop us a comment telling us why you liked the book(s) >>> so we can take a look at it/them. If you have a few more than two, go for it! Please list the ones you liked the most at the very top of the list, that way we’ll know those are super-duper good Cozies!

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 July 2015 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 Jennifer Stanley & J.B. Stanley): Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery Series

Gretchen Archer: Davis Way Crime Caper Mystery Series

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

Jenna Bennett (aka Jennie Bentley & Bente Gallagher): Savannah Martin Mystery Series

Heather Blake (aka Heather Webber): Magic Potion Mystery Series

Leslie Budewitz: Food Lovers’ Village Mystery Series

Lucy Burdette (aka Roberta Isleib): Key West Food Critic Mystery Series

Lynn Cahoon: Tourist Trap Mystery Series

Kate Carlisle: Fixer-Upper Mystery Series

Sammi Carter: Candy Shop Mystery Series

Elizabeth Lynn Casey (aka Laura Bradford): Southern Sewing Circle Mystery Series

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

Kerry J Charles: Dulcie Chambers Mystery Series

Nancy Coco (aka Nancy J. Parra): Candy Coated Mystery Series

Isis Crawford (aka Barbara Block): Mystery with Recipes Mystery Series

Mary Daheim: Emma Lord Alpine Mystery Series

Krista Davis: Domestic Diva Mystery Series

Carola Dunn: Daisy Dalrymple Mystery Series

Monica Ferris: Needlecraft Mystery Series

Shelley Freydont: Celebration Bay Mystery Series

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

Anne George: Southern Sisters Mystery Series

Kerry Greenwood: Corinna Chapman Mystery Series

Betty Hechtman: Yarn Retreat Mystery Series

Mary Ellen Hughes: Pickled and Preserved Mystery Series

Julie Hyzy: Manor of Murder Mystery Series

Sue Ann Jaffarian: Ghost of Granny Apples Mystery Series

Tonya Kappes: Ghostly Southern Mystery Series

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

Susan Elia MacNeal: Maggie Hope Mystery Series

Leslie Meier: Lucy Stone Mystery Series

Nancy J. Parra (aka Nancy Coco): Baker’s Treat Mystery Series

Penny Pike (aka Penny Warner): Food Festival Mystery Series

Hannah Reed (aka Deb Baker): Scottish Highlands Mystery Series

Stanton Samenow: Inside the Criminal Mind (Forensic Psychology)

Paige Shelton: Farmers’ Market Mystery Series

Alexander McCall Smith: No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Mystery Series

Diana Xarissa: Isle of Man 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 won’t be commenting on your recommendations since your comments speak for themselves!

A Little of This and A Little of That at the Cozy Mystery Site

I have just added about 50 new mysteries on my Soon to be Released Mysteries page on the site. I was surprised to find so many mysteries during my recent search! I even found three Cozies that were released this month. It’s pretty rare for me to find Cozies after-the-fact, but I’m certainly glad I did!

It took me a little longer than usual to finally get all of these new mystery books on the site. Our daughter came home for a short visit last weekend. She is getting ready to move to Washington, D.C. and as she will be renting an apartment downtown, she won’t need her car which is a good thing since parking is so expensive. She drove her car back here to store it in our garage.

We always enjoy her visits. She has been keeping busy at her current job, and the weekend before she came home her college roommate flew out to visit her in New Orleans. I know our daughter really enjoyed seeing her great friend, and I sure hope the two of them can continue visiting each other once there are more miles between them.

Anyway, back to the cozies. I try to update the Soon to be Released Mysteries page whenever I find new mystery books. That’s why I was so surprised when I found about 50 new mysteries after taking only one weekend off! Yikes!

Karen Anne Golden: The Cats that ….. Mystery Series, Liesa Malik: Daisy Arthur Mystery Series, Marta Perry: Lots of Amish Cozy Series, & Mary Stewart: Stand Alones

I have been meaning to add these four Cozy Mystery authors for a while, and finally, I have got their pages up!

 Karen Anne Golden grew up in a small town in Indiana, and spends much of her free time hard at work restoring her dream-house – a Victorian era house built at the end of the 19th century. She also adopts stray cats – all experiences that are reflected in her Cozy Mystery works. Her Cozy series is The Cats That… Mystery Series, starring Katherine “Katz” Kendall, a former computer professional who suddenly inherits a pink Victorian mansion (and fortune) in Erie, Indiana.

 Liesa Malik    A current resident of Colorado, Liesa Malik has lived in a number of other interesting places as diverse as Texas, England, Florida, and Michigan. She has worked for a variety of newspapers throughout her career, and has a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication from the University of Florida as well as an Art degree. Her Cozy Mystery series (titled the Daisy Arthur Mystery Series) stars a retired special education teacher now beginning a second career as a romance novel author.

 Marta Perry    Perry grew up in Pennsylvania, where she was first exposed to the culture that she would later come to write about, the Amish communities of Pennsylvania. She has an interesting spin on her series, in that many of them are set more around communities, with each individual book having a different character who serves as a protagonist. Her Dark series revolves around the town of Deer Run, while her Watcher in the Dark Series is set in Laurel Run. Her Three Sisters Inn series takes a slightly different approach, revolving instead around three sisters, with each book written about each. (Perry also writes Amish series that are not mysteries.)

Mary Stewart was a British novelist and one of the most popular authors of the “romantic mystery” genre of her time. She graduated with honors from Durham University with a degree in English, but her education was derailed by World War II before she would eventually go on to earn her master’s degree. Most of her novels in the mystery genre are stand-alone novels. Some of the most successful works were The Moon-Spinners, which was adapted into a Disney movie, and Madam, Will You Talk?, her first work.

Two New Holiday Themed Cozies Coming August 2015 – Ellery Adams: Murder In the Paperback Parlor, Leslie Meier: Candy Corn Murder

I love this time of year. Well, actually not so much the sweltering days of July, but I love the Cozy Mystery releases that start at this time of the year. It seems like August is when a lot of our holiday themed Cozies start being released, and it looks like we’ll have two new Holiday themed Cozy Mysteries to look forward to this coming August – one Valentine’s Day themed and one Halloween themed!

First is Ellery Adams‘s Murder in the Paperback Parlor, which takes place near Valentine’s Day. This second entry in the Book Retreat Mystery Series will see the return of amateur sleuth Jane Stewart, manager of the Storyton Hall Book Resort in the hills of western Virginia. When one of the prominent authors visiting the resort is killed, she’ll need to once again help get to the bottom of the case if she wants to keep her beloved resort afloat! Ellery Adams writes multiple other popular Cozy Mystery series, including the Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery Series, the Books by the Bay Mystery Series, and the Supper Club Mystery Series, among others!

Second is the Halloween-themed Candy Corn Murder by Leslie Meier. Halloween will once again be coming to Tinker’s Cove! This Cozy is the 22nd in the holiday themed Lucy Stone Mystery Series, and will be the third Halloween themed mystery in the series. Homemaker Lucy Stone’s plans for a festive Halloween are ruined when her husband Bill’s friend Evan turns up dead – and Bill is the primary suspect, since he’s the last person who saw Evan alive, Expect even more holiday mystery and fun in this continuation of the Lucy Stone series!

In case you’re interested in more mysteries in both of these themes, you can click on these links to go to the corresponding pages on my Cozy Mystery site:

Halloween Theme Mysteries

Valentine’s Day Mysteries

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