The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

2014 Nero Award Finalists

For those of you who have visited the Cozy Mystery site’s Mystery Book Awards page, you will know that the Nero Awards are given out each year by The Wolfe Pack. This is a group of people who are fans of all of Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe works. They have their Black Orchid Banquet each December, which is when they announce the winner of the Nero Award.  In 2008 they started the giving out their Black Orchid Novella Awards, and the chair for that award is Jane K. Cleland!

2014 Nero Award Finalists:

Ask Not by Max Allan Collins

Three Can Keep a Secret by Archer Mayor

Murder as a Fine Art by Charles Morrell

A Study in Revenge by Kieran Sheilds

A Question of Honor by Charles Todd

Congratulations to ALL!

Also, the Ninth Annual Black Orchid Novella Award Contest is currently looking for great novellas to be submitted. Here is the information about the contest that I received:

The Wolfe Pack & Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine (AHMM) proudly announce the Ninth Annual Black Orchid Novella Award Contest, to celebrate the novella format popularized by Rex Stout.

Each entry must be an original unpublished work of fiction that conforms to the tradition of the Nero Wolfe series, and:

Contains no overt sex or violence

Emphasizes the deductive skills of the sleuth

Does not include characters from the original series

First prize: $1,000 and publication in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine*

Contest Entries must be 15,000 to 20,000 words in length, and must be postmarked by May 31, 2015. The winner will be announced at The Wolfe Pack’s Annual Black Orchid Banquet in New York City, Saturday, December 5, 2015. To enter, please read the official rules and procedures to submit your novella:

Literary Awards: Black Orchid Award

Good luck to ALL who submit a novella!

Lorraine Bartlett / Lorna Barrett / L.L. Bartlett Interview

Oh my gosh! Pardon me as if I gush, but I just posted my Lorraine Bartlett / Lorna Barrett / L.L. Bartlett interview. I have got to tell you, every time I do an interview with a Cozy Mystery author, I am happily surprised by how nice they are, and how gracious they are with their time.

Lorraine Bartlett writes the  Victoria Square Mystery Series. This series features Katie Bonner, a young widow who is an artisan co-op member.  Lorna Barrett pens the Booktown Mystery Series, and stars Tricia Miles, owner of the Haven’t Got a Clue Mystery bookstore. (In a nod to classic Cozies, Miss Marple is not only a character in some of the bookstore’s shelves, she’s also the name of Tricia’s cat.) And, as L.L. Bartlett she writes the Jeff Resnick Mystery Series. Jeff is an insurance investigator who, after being mugged, developed a “sixth sense” which helps him solve mysteries.

I hope you ALL enjoy this Lorraine Bartlett/Lorna Barrett/L.L. Bartlett Interview. Go fix yourself a cup of tea, click on the highlighted link, sit back, and enjoy what this very popular Cozy Mystery author has to say! I think you’ll find it interesting!

P.S.  Since two Cozy Mystery readers have just told me about these great prices for L.L. Bartlett’s Kindle books right now, I thought I would go ahead and add them to this entry.

JEFF RESNICK MYSTERY Series:
Main Character: Jeff Resnick, Insurance Investigator, Mugging Victim who now has a “sixth sense” gift & Richard, Jeff’s brother

  1. Murder on the Mind  FREE
  2. Dead in Red  $4.99
  3. Room at the Inn  $4.99
  4. Cheated by Death  $4.99
  5. Bound by Suggestion  $4.99
  6. Dark Waters  $4.99

When the Spirit Moves You (Novelette) $1.49
Bah! Humbug ’10 (short story after book #5) $0.99
Cold Case ’10 (the 1st chapter in Bound by Suggestion) $0.99
Evolution  (Short Stories) $2.99

L.L. Bartlett on Nook

Two New Cozy Mystery Series Coming in August

As I have told you before, I began a new page on the Cozy Mystery site (the New Cozy Mystery Book Series page) for the sole purpose of telling you about upcoming new mystery series. Two of the authors on the Cozy Mystery site will be starting totally new series this August.

 Ellery Adams, who is also known as J.B. Stanley, Jennifer Stanley, and (at one time) half of the Lucy Arlington writing duo, will be releasing Murder in the Mystery Suite – the first mystery in her Book Retreat Mystery Series. This series will take place in Virginia, in a resort called Storyton Hall. Jane Steward is the manager of the resort, which caters to people who love books. Jane has got to come up with a way to get more people to the resort. Aha! Why not have weeks devoted to mysteries? Most of you have probably heard of these special tour packages where the guests have to solve a mystery. Well, in this case, the mystery turns out to be the murder of one of the guests at the resort, and, as if a murder isn’t enough, a very valuable book has been stolen as well. The fun role-playing week is replaced by a real mystery that Jane is prepared to solve.

 Karen Harper is an ex-English professor who is a New York Times best selling author. She is the author of the popular Elizabeth I Mystery Series, and also of the Maplecreek Amish Trilogy mysteries. She will debut her Cold Creek Trilogy in August. These mysteries follow three sisters, who live in a small town in the Appalachians. This mystery trilogy has a unique approach in that each of the three books will tell the story of one of the sisters (Tess, Kate, and Charlene). In Shattered Secrets, Tess returns to the little town from where she was kidnapped when she was young. The boy who was babysitting her at the time is now the sheriff, and he still blames himself for her abduction. The second book will feature Kate’s story, revolving around her anthropological interests in the area. The third mystery will be Charlene’s story, a social worker who encounters problems with some of the people in the town.

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

August 2014 Mystery Book New Releases

The following Mystery Books will be released in August 2014:

Allyson K. Abbott (aka Annelise Ryan & Beth Amos): Murder with a Twist (This will be the 2nd in the Mack’s Bar Mystery Series.)

Ellery Adams (aka J.B. Stanley, Jennifer Stanley, & 1/2 of Lucy Arlington): Murder in the Mystery Suite (This will be the 1st in the NEW Book Retreat Mystery Series.)

Laurien Berenson: Death of a Dog Whisperer (This will be the 17th in the Melanie Travis Mystery Series.)

Rhys Bowen: Queen of Hearts (This will be the 8th in the Royal Spyness Mystery Series.)

Elizabeth Lynn Casey (aka Laura Bradford): Taken In (This will be the 9th in the Southern Sewing Circle Mystery Series.)

C.S. Challinor: Murder at Midnight (This will be the 7th in the Rex Graves Mystery Series.)

Erika Chase: Book Fair and Foul (This will be the 4th in the Ashton Corners Book Club Mystery Series.)

Elizabeth Craig (aka Elizabeth Spann Craig & Riley Adams): Shear Trouble (This will be the 4th in the Southern Quilting Mystery Series.)

Bill Crider: Half in Love with Artful Death (This will be the 21 in the Dan Rhodes Mystery Series.)

Mary Daheim: Clam Wake (This will be the 28th in the Hillside Manor Bed & Breakfast Mystery Series.)

Kathi Daley: Haunted Hamlet (This will be the 9th in the Zoe Donovan Mystery Series.) (This is a Halloween theme mystery.)

Karen Harper: Shattered Secrets (This will be the 1st in the NEW Cold Creek Mystery Series.)

Allison Kingsley (aka Kate Kingsbury & Rebecca Kent): Extra Sensory Deception (This will be the 4th in the Raven’s Nest Bookstore Mystery Series.)

William Kent Krueger: Windigo Island (This will be the 14th in the Cork O’Connor Mystery Series.)

Kylie Logan (aka Miranda Bliss & Casey Daniels): Death by Devil’s Breath (This will be the 2nd in the Chili Cook-Off Mystery Series.)

Dixie Lyle: To Die Fur (This will be the 2nd in the Whiskey, Tango, and Foxtrot Mystery Series.)

Margaret Maron: Designated Daughters (This will be the 20th in the Deborah Knott Mystery Series.)

Edward Marston (aka Conrad Allen & Keith Miles): Inspector Colbeck’s Casebook (This  will be a Railway Detective Mystery Series collection of short stories.)

Nancy Martin: A Little Night Murder (This will be the 10th in the Blackbird Sisters Mystery Series.)

Terrie Farley Moran: Well Read, Then Dead (This will be the 1st in the NEW Read ‘Em and Eat Mystery Series.)

Carla Neggers: Harbor Island (This will be the 4th in the Sharpe & Donovan Mystery Series.)

Kate Parker: The Counterfeit Lady (This will be the 2nd in the Victorian Bookshop Mystery Series.)

James Patterson & Michael White: Private Down Under (This will be the 7th in the Private Mystery Series.)

Louise Penny: The Long Way Home (This will be the 10th in the Armand Gamache Mystery Series.)

Spencer Quinn (aka Peter Abrahams): Paw and Order (This will be the 7th in the Chet and Bernie Mystery Series.)

Kathy Reichs: Swamp Bones (This will be a novella after the 16th novel in the Temperance Brennan Mystery Series.) (Not Cozy)

Ann B. Ross: Etta Mae’s Worst Bad-Luck Day (This will be the 16th in the Miss Julia Mystery Series.)

Betty Rowlands: The Scent of Death (This will be the 13th in the Sukey Reynolds Mystery Series.)

Paige Shelton: If Catfish Had Nine Lives (This will be the 4th in the Country Cooking School Mystery Series.)

Georges Simenon: The Yellow Dog – aka A Face for a Clue (This will be an Inspector Maigret reprint.)

Alexander McCall Smith: Sunshine on Scotland Street (This will be the 8th in the 44 Scotland Street series. This is not a mystery.)

Alexander McCall Smith: Fatty O’Leary’s Dinner Party (This will be a Stand Alone novel. This is not a mystery.)

Leann Sweeney: The Cat, the Vagabond and the Victim (This will be the 6th in the Cats in Trouble Mystery Series.)

Robert K. Tanenbaum: Fatal Conceit (This will be 26th in the Butch Karp and Marlene Ciampi Mystery Series.) (Not Cozy)

Charles Todd: An Unwilling Accomplice (This will be the 6th in the Bess Crawford Mystery Series.)

Lauren Willig: The Mark of the Midnight Manzanilla (This will be 11th in the Pink Carnation Mystery Series.)

To go back to the Cozy Mystery New Book Release page, click here.

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

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