The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

March 2014 Mystery Book New Releases

The following Mystery Books will be released in March 2014:

Jeffrey Archer: Be Careful What You Wish For (This will be the 4th in the Clifton Chronicles Mystery Series.)

Rhys Bowen: City of Darkness and Light (This will be the 13th in the Molly Murphy Mystery Series.)

Laura Bradford (aka Elizabeth Lynn Casey): Shunned and Dangerous (This will be the 3rd in the Amish Mystery Series.)

Duffy Brown: Pearls and Poison (This will be the 3rd in the Consignment Shop Mystery Series.)

Fiona Buckley: A Traitor’s Tears (This will be the 12th in the Ursula Blanchard Mystery Series.)

Alyse Carlson: Keeping Mum (This will be the 3rd in the Garden Society Mystery Series.)

Laura Childs: Steeped in Evil (This will be the 15th in the Tea Shop Mystery Series.)

Peg Cochran (aka Meg London): Iced to Death (This will be the 3rd in the Gourmet De-Lite Mystery Series.)

Clive Cussler & Justin Scott: The Bootlegger (This will be the 7th in the Isaac Bell Mystery Series.)

Mary Daheim: The Alpine Yeoman (This will be the 25th in the Emma Lord Alpine Mystery Series.)

Daryl Wood Gerber (aka Avery Aames): Inherit the Word (This will be the 2nd in the Cookbook Nook Mystery Series.)

Rebecca M. Hale: How to Paint a Cat (This will be the 5th in the Cats and Curios Mystery Series.)

David Handler: The Coal Black Asphalt Tomb (This will be the 10th in the Berger & Mitry Mystery Series.)

Veronica Heley: False Diamond (This will be the 8th in the Abbot Agency Mystery Series.)

Sue Ann Jaffarian: Dummy of a Ghost (This will be a Ghost of Granny Apples Mystery novella.)

Josi S. Kilpack: Fortune Cookie (This will be the 10th in the Culinary Mystery Series.)

Molly MacRae: Spinning in Her Grave (This will be the 3rd in the Haunted Yarn Shop Mystery Series.)

G.A. McKevett: Killer Physique (This will be the 19th in the Savannah Reid Mystery Series.)

James Patterson & Marshall Karp: NYPD Red 2 (This will be the 2nd in the NYPD Red Mystery Series.)

Anne Perry: Death on Blackheath (This will be the 29th in the Thomas & Charlotte Pitt Mystery Series.)

Peter Robinson: Children of the Revolution (This will be the 21st in the Inspector Banks Mystery Series.)

David Rosenfelt: Without Warning (This will be a Stand Alone mystery.)

Annelise Ryan (aka Allyson K. Abbot & Beth Amos): Board Stiff (This will be the 5th in the Mattie Winston Mystery Series.)

Catherine Shaw: Fatal Inheritance (This will be the 5th in the Vanessa Duncan Cambridge Mystery Series.) (This is a New Year’s Eve mystery.)

Clea Simon: Grey Howl (This will be the 7th in the Dulcie Schwartz Mystery Series.)

Nicola Slade: The Dead Queen’s Garden (This will be the 3rd in the Charlotte Richmond Investigates Mystery Series.)

Denise Swanson: Dead Between the Lines (This will be the 3rd in the Devereaux’s Dime Store Mystery Series.)

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

Mystery Books Recommendations – January 2014

I am sorry, but I absolutely cannot believe that the first month in 2014 is coming to a close! It seems like it was just yesterday that we were all getting ready for Halloween yet, looking at my calendar, I can see that January is almost over.

So, being the end of January, it is the perfect time for me to ask you ALL if there is a Cozy Mystery book (or two, three, or even four!) that you read this past month, which you think the rest of us have absolutely, without a question, got to know about.  Also, would you tell us why you enjoyed that particular Cozy Mystery? (The reasons you like the book are what make the rest of us interested in your Cozy Mystery book recommendations.)

I am going to start with a Cozy Mystery book which I read this past month that made me add yet another author to my favorite authors list. The book I am talking about is by Mary V. Welk. I had been toying with the idea of reading her series for a while, but the thing that held me back was the fact that her last mystery was published in 2004. When I “try” authors, I prefer it if they are currently writing mysteries. (With all of the author cuts the publishers seemed to make a few years back, it has made me hesitant to start with an author I know is no longer writing. I prefer getting to know characters that have the possibility of continuing.)

When I saw that Mary V. Welk was again publishing her Rhodes to Murder Mystery Series (Criminal Mischief was published in October 2013) I decided to finally “try” her. Boy am I glad I did! (And boy, am I glad she’s publishing more Cozy Mysteries!) I usually don’t read Christmas theme mysteries after Christmas, but I decided that I would make this exception, since I had been wanting to read Welk’s books for a while.

I read Welk’s A Merry Little Murder (aka A Deadly Little Christmas), the first mystery in the Rhodes to Murder series. This series features Caroline Rhodes, a nurse who has relocated to a small Illinois college town so that she can be close to her son and daughter in law. Caroline has recently lost her husband, and is trying to start her life without him. It hasn’t been an easy road for her. Caroline befriends Professor Carl Atwater (or more accurately, he befriends her) and together they try to solve the mystery of a rather dangerous Christmas tree.

I enjoyed the setting of Welk’s A Merry Little Murder. The little college town is very Cozy, and of course, being Illinois at Christmas time, it was cold and snowy… exactly what I enjoy reading during our 70º winter days. Also, I liked Caroline. She is a flawed woman, but smart. She is a very believable “person”, a fleshed-out character for me. She is someone I could envision knowing and liking. Her relationships with both her son and daughter in law seem real to me. And the fact that she can have a male side-kick who is not a love interest nor a policeman/detective is an added bonus for me!

When I finished the mystery I felt like I was leaving Caroline and wanted to know what she would do next. She was that “real” to me.

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

[If you click on the author’s name (blue) link, it will take you to their page on the Cozy Mystery site. Their page has all of the author’s books listed chronologically.]

What Cozy Mystery book (or author) have you read during January 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 Jary Jane Maffini & Victoria Maffini): Book Collector’s Mystery Series

Robin Allen: Poppy Markham: Culinary Cop Mystery Series

Donna Andrews: Meg Langslow Mystery Series

Emily Brightwell: Mrs. Jeffries Mystery Series

Anne Canadeo: Black Sheep Knitting Mystery Series

Laurie Cass: Bookmobile Cat Mystery Series

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

Joelle Charbonneau: Rebecca Robbins Mystery Series

Laura Childs: Tea Shop Mystery Series

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

Hy Conrad: Mr. Monk Mystery Series

Jana DeLeon: Miss Fortune Mystery Series

Elizabeth J. Duncan: Penny Brannigan Mystery Series

Jerrilyn Farmer: Madeline Bean Mystery Series

Barbara Graham: Quilted Mystery Series

Virginia Hamilton: Vintage Kitchen Mystery Series

Betty Hectman: Crochet Mystery Series

Joan Hess: Claire Malloy Mystery Series

Ellen Elizabeth Hunter: Magnolia Mystery Series

Miranda James (aka Dean James, Honor Hartman, & Jimmie Ruth Evans): Cat in the Stacks Mystery Series

Carol Ann Martin: Weaving Mystery Series

Maggie Sefton: Molly Malone Mystery Series

Deborah Sharp: Mace Bauer Mystery Series

Livia J. Washburn: Fresh-Baked Mystery Series

Mary V. Welk: Rhodes to Murder Mystery Series

Christine Wenger: Do or Diner

Jacqueline Winspear: Maisie Dobbs Mystery Series

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

Alice Duncan, Barbara Graham, Dee Henderson, & Kate Parker : Four Mystery Author Additions to the Cozy Mystery Site

I know it has been less than a week since I added four new Mystery Authors to the Cozy Mystery site. I have actually surprised myself! (It usually takes me so long to get pages up for mystery author additions to the site.)

Alice Duncan: Daisy Gumm Majestic Mystery Series (Daisy is a séance and tarot psychc medium in 1920s California.)
Mercy Alcutt Mystery Series (Mercy is the owner of a rooming house in 1920s Hollywood.)
Annabelle Blue Mystery Series (Annabelle works at her family’s dry good store during in 1920s New Mexico.)

Barbara Graham: Quilted Mystery Series (Theo Abernathy is the owner of a quilting shop in Tennessee. Her husband Tony is the county’s sheriff.)

Dee Henderson: O’Malley Family Mystery Series (This Romantic Suspense series features a family of non-related adults who were abandoned as children. All six of the members have chosen professions that help other people. There’s a paramedic, a fireman, a child psychologist, and a hostage negotiator among them.)

Kate Parker: Victorian Bookshop Mystery Series (Georgia Fenchurch is the sleuth in this Victorian London mystery series. Georgia is a member of the secret “Archivist Society” and is an antiquarian bookseller.

Mystery Books Theme: Main Sleuth Who Is In the Medical Field (Sort of…)

Here is the last part of the Medical Field Sleuths theme. This list is comprised of authors who are on the Cozy Mystery site who write mysteries that feature sleuths who are in the medical field, but aren’t your traditional “doctor, nurse, or midwife”. As you can see, these amateur sleuths’ professions are pretty varied.

Here is a list of authors who are on the Cozy Mystery site who write series which feature amateur sleuths who work primarily in the medical fields. 

Susan Wittig Albert: China Bayles Herbal Mystery Series (Herbalist)

Hannah Alexander: Hideaway Mystery Series (Every book has different medical sleuth)

Suzanne Arruda: Jade del Cameron Mystery Series (Ambulance Driver)

Lori Avocato: Pauline Sokol Mystery Series (Medical Fraud Investigator)

Patricia Cornwell: Kay Scarpetta (Medical Examiner)

Barbara D’Amato: Gerritt DeGraaf Mystery Series (Forensic Pathologist)

Claire Daniels (Jaqueline Girdner): Karma Crime Mystery Series (Alternative Healer)

Susan Dunlap: Kiernan O’Shaughnessy Mystery Series (Ex-Medical Examiner)

Kathy Lynn Emerson (aka Kaitlyn Dunnett) : Lady Susanna Appleton Mystery Series (Herbalist)

Chrystle Fiedler: Natural Remedies Mystery Series (Naturopathic Doctor)

Chris Forman: Maria Hart Mystery Series (Insurance Investigator)

Christine Green: Kate Kinsella Mystery Series (Medical Examiner)

Nancy Herriman: Mystery of Old San Francisco Mystery Series (1860s Doctor)

Iris Johansen: Eve Duncan Mystery Series (Forensic Sculptor)

Deryn Lake: John Rawlings Mystery Series (Apothecary)

Liz Osborne: Robyn Kelly Mystery Series (Hospital Patient Representative)

James Patterson: Women’s Murder Club (Medical Examiner)

Ellis Peters: Brother Cadfael Mystery Series (Herbalist)

Kathy Reichs: Temperance Brennan Mystery Series (Forensic Anthropologist)

Fran Rizer: Callie Parrish Mystery Series (Mortuary Cosmetologist)

Annelise Ryan (aka Allyson K. Abbot & Beth Amos): Mattie Winston Mystery Series (Deputy Coroner)

Rebecca Tope: Drew Slocombe Mystery Series (Undertaker)

Elaine Viets: Death Investigator Mystery Series (Medical Examiner)

Patricia Tichenor Westfall (Meal Delivery Program Director)

Lis Wiehl & Pete Nelson: East Salem Trilogy (Forensic Psychiatrist)

If you are interested in finding a Sleuth Who Is a Doctor/Physician, click here.

If you are interested in finding a Sleuth Who Is a Nurse or a Sleuth Who Is a Midwife, click here.

If I have missed any other Cozy Mystery site authors who have a sleuth who works in the medical field (not as a traditional doctor, nurse, or midwife), please post a comment so that I can add the omission.

♦To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme click on this link.♦

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