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Mystery Book Recommendations – October 2014

Halloween is less than a week away, which means we will soon be saying goodbye to October. Having said that, I can think of no better time for me to ask you all to tell us about your favorite Cozy Mystery books that you read this October. (Isn’t this Agatha Christie’s Hallowe’en Party graphic neat?)

Please tell us if you read an extremely good Cozy Mystery book during October, and tell us what made that Cozy Mystery stand out as being so good. Please only tell us about the Cozies that were much better than the rest of the other Cozy Mystery books you read during October.

[As usual, I ask that you don’t tell us about the mystery books you read that you didn’t like.]

What Cozy Mystery book (or author) have you read during October 2014, and why did you enjoy it (or him/her)?

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

Victoria Abbott (aka Mary Jane Maffini & Victoria Maffini): Book Collectors Mystery Series

Ellery Adams (aka J.B. Stanley & Jennifer Stanley): Books by the Bay Mystery Series

Donna Andrews: Meg Langslow Mystery Series

Susan Wittig Albert: China Bayles Mystery Series

Lucy Arlington (aka Ellery Adams & Sylvia May): Novel Idea Mystery Series

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

Donald Bain: Capital Crimes Mystery Series

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

M. C. Beaton (aka Marion Chesney): Agatha Raisin Mystery Series

Rita Mae Brown: Mrs. Murphy Mystery Series

Lynn Cahoon: Tourist Trap Mystery Series

Laura Childs: Scrapbooking Mystery Series

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

Nancy J. Cohen: Bad Hair Day Mystery Series

Sheila Connolly (aka Sarah Atwell): Orchard Mystery Series

Elizabeth Craig (aka Riley Adams &Elizabeth Spann Craig): Southern Quilting Mystery Series

Bill Crider: Sally Good Mystery Series & Dan Rhodes Mystery Series

Jana DeLeon: Miss Fortune Mystery Series Gator Bait

Shelley Freydont: Celebration Bay Mystery Series

Barbara Graham: Quilted Mystery Series

Carolyn Haines: Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery Series

Julie Hyzy: White House Chef Mystery Series

Sofie Kelly (aka Sofie Ryan): Magical Cats Mystery Series

Allison Kingsley (Kate Kingsbury & Rebecca Kent): Raven’s Nest Bookstore Mystery Series

Annie Knox (aka Wendy Lyn Watson): Pet Boutique Mystery Series

Victoria Laurie: Psychic Eye Mystery Series

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

G.M. Malliet: Max Tudor Mystery Series

Carol Ann Martin: Weaving Mystery Series

Alyssa Maxwell: Gilded Newport Mystery Series

Edith Maxwell (aka Tace Baker): Local Foods Mystery Series

Jenn McKinlay (aka Josie Belle & Lucy Lawrence): Library Lover’s Mystery Series

Julie Moffett: Lexi Carmichael Mystery Series

Terrie Farley Moran: Read ‘Em and Eat Mystery Series

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

Sara Rosett: Murder on Location Mystery Series

Annelise Ryan (aka Allyson K. Abbott): Mattie Winston Mystery Series

Maggie Sefton: Knitting Mystery Series

J.B. Stanley (aka Ellery Adams & Jennifer Stanley): Supper Club Mystery Series

Anne Marie Sutton: Newport Mystery Mystery Series

Denise Swanson: Scumble River Mystery Series

Livia J. Washburn: Literary Tour Mystery Series

Betty Webb: Lena Jones 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.]

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

P.S. While I try to respond to all of the comments that are made on the Cozy Mystery blog, I generally don’t respond to the comments on these monthly recommendation entries. I do, however, list the recommended books that come via the Cozy Mystery blog’s comments!

Kathy Aarons, Janet Cantrell, Kaye George, D.E. Ireland, & Shirley Tallman : Five (Four?) of the Newest Mystery Author Additions to the Cozy Mystery Site

I have once again added some mystery authors to the Cozy Mystery site. I really should get this done more often, since I know that some of you must be wondering what has happened to the authors who you have recommended as belonging on the site.

Here are the most recent five mystery authors who I have added to the site. In one case, there is one actual person holding the pen (I probably should say typing at the keyboard – however, holding a pen just seems to sound more “author-like” to me!) behind two of your recommended authors.

 Kathy Aarons: Chocolate Covered Mystery Series
Michelle Serrano and Erica Russell are best friends who own the Chocolates and Chapters store in Maryland. Their store is a combination of a bookstore and a chocolate shop. (I usually don’t like to go shopping, but this shop would definitely entice me!) As an extra bonus, the books contain chocolate-making recipes.

Janet Cantrell (aka Kaye George): Fat Cat Mystery Series
Charity (Chase) Oliver makes delicious treat (in Minneapolis) for a living. Unfortunately, her overweight Tabby (Quincy) has been put on a diet by the veterinarian. However, Chase is willing to make some delicious cat treats for Quincy, since he is always scrounging around looking for his next treat. As a bonus in these Fat Cat mysteries, recipes for treats for people as well as cats are included.

 Kaye George (aka Janet Cantrell): Imogene Duckworthy Mystery Series
Imogene is a waitress in Texas who is also a single mom. She lives with her mom, and wants to become an investigator. The first mystery in this series was nominated for the prestigious Agatha Award for Best First Novel.
People of the Wind Mystery Series
I bet you’ve never read a series with this sort of sleuth! Enga Dancing Flower is a Neanderthal woman/sleuth. The first mystery in the series was nominated for the Agatha Award Best Historical Novel.
Cressa Carraway Mystery Series
Cressa is a musician/conductor/sleuth.

 D.E. Ireland: Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins Mystery Series
D.E. Ireland is a writing duo of two best friends: Meg Mims and Sharon Pisacreta. The series is loosely based on the characters in George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, so of course, the series is set in Edwardian London.

 Shirley Tallman (aka Erin Ross): Sarah Woolson Mystery Series
Sarah is an attorney in 1880s San Francisco, California. Tallman’s research shows there were only two other female attorneys in the area at that time. “We’ve come a long way, Baby!” is an expression that comes to my mind! As Erin Ross she writes romance novels.

Two New Cozy Mystery Series Coming in November 2014

November 2014 will be bringing us two new Cozy Mystery series. Both Kate Carlisle and Diane Vallere will be debuting their sleuths this coming month. As always, upcoming releases can be found at my New Cozy Mystery Book Series page.

First, Kate Carlisle will be releasing A High-End Finish, the first book in her new Fixer-Upper Mystery Series. This series will star Shannon Hammer, a home renovation and repair contractor in a seaside town in northern California. Most of you know that Carlisle writes the popular Bibliophile Mystery Series. Here’s hoping that her new Fixer-Upper sleuth (Shannon Hammer) will be as good at solving mysteries as Bibliophile’s Brooklyn Wainwright is!

The other Cozy Mystery author planning a debut during November of this year is Diane Vallere. Vallere will be releasing the first book in her new Material Witness Mystery Series, titled Suede to Rest. This series will star Polyester “Poly” Monroe, a dress designer and store owner in California. Vallere also writes the Mad for Mod Mystery Series and the Style & Error Mystery Series.

If you would like to see more New Cozy Mystery Series by authors on the Cozy-Mystery site, please click here: New Cozy Mystery Series

Also, if you would like to revisit the entry I wrote about the new Cozy Mystery series some of our favorite authors are bringing to us this month (October 2014) click on this link:

Four New Cozy Mystery Series Coming in October 2014

Christmas Mystery Books being Released during November 2014

Well, November will be upon us soon, and with it we’ll get another batch of holiday themed mystery novels, all of them Christmas-themed this time. We’ll have five new Christmas themed novels, so let’s jump right into it! (Most of you know just how happy “my” holiday Cozy Mysteries make me! Love ’em!)

First, Lynn Cahoon will be releasing If the Shoe Kills , the third book in the Tourist Trap Mystery Series. Though Cahoon only released her first novel earlier this year, she’s already established her Tourist Trap series, starring Jill Gardner. As always, this novel will center around “Coffee, Books, and More,” Jill’s shop. When the unpleasant manager of the unpopular local internship programs turns up dead in his car, everyone seems willing to chalk it up as a suicide – except Jill of course, who will need to get to the (real!) bottom of this case!

 Kathi Daley will be putting out Christmas Cozy, the 11th book in the Zoe Donovan Mystery Series. Zoe’s holiday season is about to take a somewhat grim turn as she goes to visit the Ashton Falls High School Christmas Tree Lot and stumbles across the body of a local teacher. Unfortunately, the lot is run by her best friend, Levi Denton, so she’ll have to work fast to solve this murder in time to insure truly happy holidays! As always, Kathi Daley’s work should include some interesting recipes, presumably Christmas-themed this time around. (Kathi Daley also writes the TJ Jensen Paradise Lake Mystery Series, starring high school teacher and coach, TJ Jensen, and also released the non-mystery Christmas-themed work Road to Christmas Past.)

 J.A. Jance will be releasing a novella in her Ali Reynolds Mystery Series, titled A Last Goodbye. This novella will have a very interesting hook for long-time fans of the Ali Reynolds series, as Ali will be getting married to B. Simpson, her long-time fiance. When a stray miniature dachshund winds up in Ali’s care, it seems like the last thing in the world she needs >>> but as she has trouble returning the stray pet to its owner, she starts wondering if something has been done to her! Hopefully she’ll be able to wrap up the mystery before it interrupts her Christmas wedding! (Jance also writes several other highly popular series, most notably the Joanna Brady Mystery Series, starring an Arizona sheriff, as well as the J. P. Beaumont Mystery Series, starring a Seattle homicide detective.)

Jenn McKinlay‘s next book, On Borrowed Time, will be coming out as well. This will be the fifth book in the Library Lover’s Mystery Series, highlighting the continued adventures of Lindsey Norris, Connecticut-based library director. Christmas is going to be busy this year for Lindsey, as she has a bit of personal trouble to take care of >>> her brother, Jack, has gone missing, forcing her to put all of her other holiday plans out of mind as she tried to find out what has happened to him. (Jenn McKinlay writes a number of other very popular series, including the Cupcake Bakery Mystery Series and the Hat Shop Mystery Series, as well as the Decoupage Mystery Series under the name Lucy Lawrence and the Good Buy Girls Mystery Series as Josie Belle.)

Finally, renowned mystery novelist Anne Perry will be releasing the next in her long-running Christmas Mystery Series, A New York Christmas. As has become custom for Anne Perry’s annual holiday release, A New York Christmas will star a character familiar to her avid readers as a support character from her popular Thomas & Charlotte Pitt Mystery Series, this time Jemima Pitt, Thomas Pitt’s daughter, now 23 years old and visiting America for the marriage of her friend Delphinia. (Anne Perry writes many other series, including the William Monk Mystery Series.)

If you would like to see more Cozy Mystery Christmas-themed books, click on this link to take you to the Christmas Mystery page.

(If you are interested in all sorts of holiday mysteries, click on this link to take you to the Holiday Mystery Book page.)

Also, here are the entries I wrote about the Halloween and Christmas mystery books that will be released during this month – October:

Halloween Mystery Books being Released during October 2014

Christmas Mystery Books being Released during October 2014

Christmas Mystery Books being Released during October 2014 – Part 2

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