The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Starry Night’s Debbie Macomber on the Hallmark Channel’s Home & Family Show

Here’s a quick note to let those of you who are Debbie Macomber’s fans know that she will be on the Hallmark channel’s Home & Family show tomorrow, Tuesday, October 22. I know this is short notice, but better now than never.

I am currently writing a post about the Home & Family show, so I will keep this brief. It airs from 9:00 to 11:00 AM (Central), obviously on the Hallmark channel.

Debbie Macomber is on the Cozy Mystery site, even though she is not a mystery author. I know a lot of you follow her books. (I believe I added her to the site after watching the first of the two Mrs. Miracle Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel. Mrs. Miracle in 2009 followed by Call Me Mrs. Miracle the next year. >>> Can you tell I enjoy her Christmas movies?)

Debbie Macomber will be talking about Starry Night, her 2013 Christmas novel. I don’t know how they plan on interviewing her, but a lot of the time, on this show, they have the guest for the day stay with them the entire two hours. We’ll see what they do tomorrow!

Mystery Books with a Cards Theme: Poker, Bridge, Gambling, & Card Games Mysteries

Susan* recently asked this question:

“… do you have a page for Card Game / Gambling Mysteries? I looked, but I couldn’t find one, …  I’ve found several Poker / Bridge based mysteries.”

At first I thought that I did have a Mystery Books with Cards Theme already done, but when I looked, it turns out I had the wrong type of Card in mind: Card Making Cozy Mystery theme. Still on my quest, I came up with two other possibilities: Crossword Puzzles and Bunco Mystery Books and Sudoku Mystery Books. (As Groucho Marx used to say: Close, but no cigar.)

Mystery Books with a Cards Theme (Poker, Bridge, Gambling, & Card Games Mysteries):

Jackie Chance: Poker Mystery Series

Jessie Chandler: Bingo Barge Murder (Shay O’Hanlon Caper mysteries, book #1)

Agatha Christie: Cards on the Table

Debra H. Goldstein: Carrie Martin and the Mah Jongg Players Mystery Series

Honor Hartman (aka Miranda James, Jimmie Ruth Evans, & Dean James): Bridge Club Mystery Series

Marlys Millhiser: Nobody Dies in a Casino

Gail Oust: Bunco Babes Mystery Series

Please post a comment if you know of any other mystery authors who write Poker Mysteries, Bridge Mysteries, Gambling Mysteries, or any other Card Game Mysteries.

Thanks!

Halloween Mystery Book List Recommendations

I have gotten many nice notes about how much people like our Mystery Book Monthly Recommendations lists. And, since I have been trying to update all of the holiday mystery book lists on the site, I started thinking that maybe it was time for us to make up a list of Halloween mystery book recommendations.

Here is the link to my Halloween Mystery Book List page. Of all of these Halloween mysteries, are there any that you think definitely stand out as being mystery books the rest of us should be aware of? These should be Halloween mysteries that we think others should definitely know about, so they can read and enjoy them the same way we did.

Also, if you wouldn’t mind letting me know about any Halloween mysteries that I don’t have on the list, that would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. If you would like to take a look at all of the different holiday mystery book lists that I have, here is the link: Holiday Mystery Book Lists. You can click on each individual holiday to see all of the mystery books that I am aware of.

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I’ll start out with one of my favorite Halloween Mysteries. I actually skipped the first book in the series so that I could read this book during a Halloween season, and I enjoyed it so much that I went back and read the preceding book right after I finished this one. Death of a Trickster is the second in Kate Borden’s Peggy Jean Turner Mystery Series. It takes place in New England, so you get the crisp, autumnal setting. Another reason I enjoyed it (besides liking Borden’s writing style) is that it features Halloween (almost) as a character. (There are many references to Halloween.) I liked all of the characters, the setting, the writing style, and the mystery.

Halloween Mystery Book Recommendations:

Alice K. Boatwright…. Under an English Heaven 

Kate Borden….. Death of a Trickster

Ray Bradbury…. The Halloween Tree

Bailey Cates (aka Cricket McRae)….. Bewitched, Bothered, and Biscotti

Laura Childs ….. Bedeviled Eggs

Agatha Christie….. The Hallowe’en Party

Isis Crawford (aka Barbara Block) ….. A Catered Halloween

Kathi Daley ….. Halloween Hijinks

Krista Davis ….. The Diva Haunts the House

Kaitlyn Dunnett (aka Kathy Lynn Emerson) ….. Vampires, Bones, and Treacle Scones

Shelley Freydont ….. Trick or Deceit

Kylie Logan ….. The Legend of Sleepy Harlow

Donna McLean…. A Sparrow Falls Trick or Treat? (story)

Leslie Meier: Trick or Treat Murder

Leslie Meier: Wicked Witch Murder

Annelise Ryan (aka Allyson K. Abbott & Beth Amos): Scared Stiff

Valerie Wolzien: All Hallow’s Evil

If you know of any Halloween theme mysteries that you think should definitely be on this Halloween mysteries recommendations list, please post a comment.

Thank you!

Mystery Books that Take Place in Nevada…

Here are some fun Nevada facts:
The state capital is Carson City.
The largest city is Las Vegas.
State motto is “All for our country.”
State nickname is the Silver State and/or the Sagebrush State .
State flower is the Sagebrush.
State bird is the Mountain Bluebird.
State animal is the Desert Bighorn Sheep.
A bill was passed in 1931 legalizing gambling in the state of Nevada. In 1899 “Liberty Bell” was invented. It was the slot machine upon which all slot machines were based.

Mystery authors who are found on the Cozy Mystery Site who feature Nevada locations in their books:

Rita Mae Brown: Mags & Baxter Mystery Series – Mags moves to her great aunt’s ranch with her dachshund, Baxter, and solves crimes.

Kathi Daley: TJ Jensen Paradise Lake Mystery Series

Carole Nelson Douglas: Midnight Louie & Temple Barr Mystery Series – Midnight Louie is a sleuthing tomcat.

L.C. Hayden: Dan Springer Mystery Series – Dan is a magazine author who also investigates (and solves) crimes.

Perri O’Shaughnessy: Nina Reilly Mystery Series – Nina is a lawyer who sleuths in Lake Tahoe.

Karen E. Olson: Tattoo Shop Mystery Series – Brett Kavanaugh runs a tattoo shop and puts her stamp on crime!

Diane Vallere: Costume Shop Mystery Series

Sue Owens Wright: Beanie & Cruiser Mystery Series – Elsie “Beanie” MacBean is a freelance writer and member of the Washoe Tribe. She and her Basset Hound, Cruiser, sleuth in Lake Tahoe.

Please feel free to comment if you see an author from the Cozy Mystery Site who belongs on this list, or if you have any corrections.

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

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