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Cozy Mysteries Recommendations – September 2013

Happy Fall! I hope you are all enjoying the beauty of autumn, or at least some cooler weather. It is the time when some of us have to start playing tricks to “get us in the autumnal” mood. One of my tricks is to immerse myself in mysteries that take place in either cold locations or during the holiday seasons. With Halloween right around the corner, it’s easy enough to find some cold weather books to set the mood. Another one of my tricks is to start using scented wax that “smells like fall.” Even though I don’t bake, that doesn’t mean I can’t fill the house with the aroma of cinnamon apples.

It’s also that time of the month when I ask you all to tell us about your monthly favorite Cozy Mystery books. Please tell us about the one Cozy Mystery (or possibly more than one) that you read during September which you enjoyed so much you want the rest of us to know about. Of course, if you read more than one great mystery book this month, tell us about the others, too. Please include why you enjoyed each book so that we can read your reason and then determine if it sounds like a good book for us to try reading.

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

[Also, 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 September 2013, and why did you enjoy it (or him/her)?

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

Ellery Adams (aka J.B. Stanley, Jennifer Stanley, & 1/2 of Lucy Arlington): Books by the Bay Mystery Series

Ellery Adams (aka J.B. Stanley, Jennifer Stanley, & 1/2 of Lucy Arlington): Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery Series

Isabella Alan (aka Amanda Flower): Amish Quilt Shop Mystery Series

Robin Allen: Poppy Markham Culinary Cop Mystery Series

Margery Allingham: Albert Campion Mystery Series

Annie’s Attic Mystery Series

Kate Atkinson: Case Histories (Jackson Brodie Mystery Series) 

Lori Avocato: Pauline Sokol Mystery Series

Ella Barrick (aka Lila Dare & Laura DiSilverio): Ballroom Dance Mystery Series

Jessica Beck (aka Elizabeth Bright, Melissa Glazer, Casey Mayes, Chris Cavender, & Tim Myers): Donut Shop Mystery Series

Mike Befeler: Paul Jacobson Geezer-Lit Mystery Series

C.A. Belmond: Penny Nichols Mystery Series

Laurien  Berenson: Melanie Travis Mystery Series

Cindy Blackburn: Playing with Poison (Cue Ball Mystery Series, book #1)

Rhys Bowen: Her Royal Spyness Mystery Series

Mollie Cox Bryan: Cumberland Creek Mystery Series

Leslie Budewitz: Death al Dente (Food Lovers’ Village Mystery Series, book #1)

Ellen Byerrum: Crime of Passion Mystery Series

Kate Carlisle: Bibliophile Mystery Series

Erika Chase Ashton Corners Book Club Mystery Series

Laura Childs: Cackleberry Club Mystery Series

Barbara Cleverly: Joe Sandilands Mystery Series

Philip R. Craig: Martha’s Vineyard Mystery Series

Bill Crider: Dan Rhodes Mystery Series

Ellen Crosby: Multiple Exposure (Sophie Medina Mystery Series)

Mary Daheim: Hillside Manor Bed & Breakfast Mystery Series

Lila Dare (aka Joanna Campbell Slan): Southern Beauty Shop Mystery Series

Diane Mott Davidson: Goldy Bear Mystery Series

Krista Davis: Domestic Diva Mystery Series

Julianna Deering: Rules of Murder (Drew Farthering Mystery Series, book #1)

Jana DeLeon: The Accused (Mystere Parish: Family Inheritance Mystery Series)

Caroline Dunford: A Death in the Family (Euphemia Martins Mystery Series, book #1)

Carola Dunn: Daisy Dalrymple Mystery Series

Kaitlyn Dunnett (aka Kathy Lynn Emerson): Liss MacCrimmon Mystery Series

Dawn Eastman: Pall in the Family (Family Fortune Mystery Series, book #1)

Joanne Fluke: Hannah Swensen Mystery Series

Daryl Wood Gerber (aka Avery Aames): Cookbook Nook Mystery Series

Marni Graff: The Blue Virgin (Nora Tierney Mystery Series, book #1)

Sue Grafton: Kinsey Millhone Mystery Series

Ellie Grant (aka Joyce and Jim Lavene & J.J. Cook): Pie in the Sky Mystery Series

Kerry Greenwood: Phryne Fisher Mystery Series

Jane Haddam: Gregor Demarkian Mystery Series

Victoria Hamilton: Merry Muffin Mystery Series

Carolyn Hart: Death on Demand Mystery Series

B.B. Haywood: Candy Holliday Mystery Series

Hazel Holt: Mrs. Malory Mystery Series

Maddy Hunter: Passport to Peril Mystery Series

Julie Hyzy: Manor House Mystery Series

J.A. Jance: J.P. Beaumont Mystery Series

Diane Kelly: Tara Holloway Death and Taxes Mystery Series

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

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

Molly MacRae: Haunted Yarn Shop Mystery Series

Carol Ann Martin: Weaving Mystery Series

Catriona McPherson: Dandy Gilver Mystery Series

Gladys Mitchell: Mrs. Bradley Mystery Series

Liz Mugavero: Pawsitively Organic Gourmet Pet Food Mystery Series 

Clare O’Donohue: Someday Quilts Mystery Series

Sharon Pape: Portrait of a Crime Mystery Series

Louise Penny: Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery Series

Leigh Perry: A Skeleton in the Family (Skeleton in the Family Mystery Series, book #1)

Barbara Ross: Clammed Up

Connie Shelton: Samantha Sweet Mystery Series

Paige Shelton: Country Cooking Mystery Series

Denise Swanson: Scumble River Mystery Series

Charles Todd:Bess Crawford Mystery Series

Betty Webb: Gunn Zoo Mystery Series

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

Laurie Cass, Christine DeSmet, Rosie Genova, Carol Ann Martin, & Caroline Miller – 5 Mystery Author Additions on the Cozy Mystery Site

I have been trying to get authors posted recently. It feels like as soon as I get some mystery authors posted, I hear about new ones who should be posted. Thank you, ALL, for telling me about mystery authors who you think belong on the Cozy Mystery site. The five most recent authors to “join us” are:

Laurie Cass: Bookmobile Cat Mystery Series
Minnie Hamilton is a librarian who, along with her rescue cat (Eddie) travels around her community in her bookmobile.

Christine DeSmet: Fudge Shop Mystery Series
Ava Oosterling is the owner of the Copper-Kettle Fudge Shop in Wisconsin. She shares space in her grandad’s bait shop, so the sign on her establishment says “Oosterlings’ Bait, Bobbers & Belgian Fudge”.  (DeSmet is a faculty associate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.)

Rosie Genova: Italian Kitchen Mystery Series
Victoria Rienzi is a mystery series author, who is taking a break from writing. She currently works in her family’s Italian restaurant in New Jersey. (Genova is an English and Journalism teacher.)

Carol Ann Martin: Weaving Mystery Series
Della Wright is the proud owner of Dream Weavers. She teaches weaving in this North Carolina weaving shop.

Caroline Miller: Stand Alone Mysteries
Miller has her M.A. in Literature and has taught English in both the university and high school levels. She writes Stand Alone mysteries.

October 2013 Mystery Book New Releases

The following Mystery Books will be released in October 2013:

Ellery Adams (aka J. B. Stanley, Jennifer Stanley, ½ of Lucy Arlington): Poisoned Prose (This will be the 5th in the Books by the Bay Mystery Series.)

Tasha Alexander: Behind the Shattered Glass (This will be the 8th in the Lady Emily Mystery Series.)

Donna Andrews: Duck the Halls (This will be the 16th in the Meg Langslow Mystery Series.) (This is a Christmas theme mystery.)

Donald Bain & “Jessica Fletcher”: Close-up on Murder (This will be the 40th in the Murder, She Wrote Mystery Series.)

Jessica Beck (aka Elizabeth Bright, Melissa Glazer, Chris Cavender, Casey Mayes, & Tim Myers): Assault and Batter (This will be the 11th in the Donut Shop Mystery Series.)

Josie Belle (aka Jenn McKinlay & Lucy Lawrence): Buried in Bargains (This will be the 3rd in the Good Buy Girls Mystery Series.) (This is a Christmas theme mystery.)

Emily Brightwell: Mrs. Jeffries and the Merry Gentlemen (This will be the 32nd in the Victorian Mystery Series.) (This is a Christmas theme mystery.)

Emily Brightwell: Mrs. Jeffries Sallies Forth (This is an omnibus of Mrs. Jeffries Mystery Series books 10, 11, & 12.)

Rita Mae Brown: The Litter of the Law (This will be the 22nd in the Mrs. Murphy Mystery Series.) (This is a Halloween theme mystery book.)

JoAnna Carl (aka Eve K. Sandstrom): The Chocolate Book Bandit (This will be the 13th in the Chocoholic Mystery Series.)

Joelle Charbonneau: Skating Under the Wire (This will be the 4th in the Rebecca Robbins Mystery Series.)

Jennifer Chiaverini: The Spymistress ’13 (This will be the 2nd in the Elizabeth Van Lew Civil War Sery Series. This is not a mystery book.)

Laura Childs: Gilt Trip (This will be the 11th in the Scrapbooking Mystery Series.)

Sheila Connolly (aka Sarah Atwell): Golden Malicious (This will be the 7th in the Orchard Mystery Series.)

E. J. Copperman: An Open Spook (This will be a Haunted Guesthouse Mystery Series novella.)

Isis Crawford (aka Barbara Block): A Catered Christmas Cookie Exchange (This will be the 9th in the Mystery with Recipes Mystery Series.) (This is a Christmas theme mystery.)

Waverly Curtis: The Big Chihuahua (This will be the 3rd in the Barking Detective Mystery Series.)

Jeffery Deaver: The October List (This will be a Stand Alone Mystery.)

Elizabeth J. Duncan: Never Laugh As a Hearse Goes By (This will be the 5th in the Penny Brannigan Mystery Series.)

“Jessica Fletcher” & Donald Bain: Close-Up on Murder (This will be the 40th in the Murder, She Wrote Mystery Series.)

Elizabeth George: Just One Evil Act (This will be the 18th in the Inspector Lynley Mystery Series.)

John Grisham: Sycamore Row (This will be the 2nd in the Jake Brigance Mystery Series.)

Rebecca M. Hale: Afoot on St. Croix (This will be the 2nd in the Mystery in the Islands Mystery Series.)

Tarquin Hall: The Case of the Love Commandos (This will be the 4th of the Files of Vish Puri, India’s Most Private Investigator Mystery Series.)

Charlaine Harris: After Dead: What Came Next in the World of Sookie Stackhouse (This will be the 14th in the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mystery Series. It will be perfect for Sookie’s fans, so they get answers to their many “What happened to…?” questions.)

Carolyn Hart: Ghost Gone Wild (This will be the 4th in the Bailey Ruth Ghost Mystery Series.)

Ellen Hart: Taken by the Wind (This will be the 21st in the Jane Lawless Mystery Series.)

Inherit the Dead anthology of 20 mystery authors, including Mary Higgins Clark & Charlaine Harris

Iris Johansen: Silencing Eve (This will be the 17th in the Eve Duncan Mystery Series.)

Diane Kelly: Death, Taxes, and Green Tea Ice Cream (This will be the 6th in the Death and Taxes Mystery Series.)

Sofie Kelly: Final Catcall (This will be the 5th in the Magical Cats Mystery Series.)

Kate Kingsbury (aka Allison Kingsley & Rebecca Kent): Mulled Murder (This will be 9th in the Special Pennyfoot Hotel Mystery Series.) (This is a Christmas theme mystery.)

Joyce and Jim Lavene (aka J. J. Cook & Ellie Grant): A Finder’s Fee (This will be the 5th in the Missing Pieces Mystery Series.)

Kylie Logan (aka Miranda Bliss & Casey Daniels): Chili Con Carnage (This will be the 1st in the NEW Chili Cook-Off Mystery Series.)

Gail Lukasik: Peak Season for Murder (This will be the 3rd in the Leigh Girard Mystery Series.)

Debbie Macomber: Starry Night (This will be a Stand Alone Christmas theme novel. This is not a mystery.)

G. M. Malliet: Pagan Spring (This will be the 3rd in the Max Tudor Mystery Series.) (This is an Easter theme mystery.)

Archer Mayor: Three Can Keep a Secret (This will be the 24th in the Joe Gunther Mystery Series.)

Miss Read: Mrs Griffin Sends Her Love (This is a Miss Read novel. It is not a mystery.)

Sara Paretsky: Critical Mass (This will be the 17th in the V.I. Warshawski Mystery Series.)

James Patterson & Maxine Paetro: Confessions: The Private School Murders (This will be the 2nd in the Confessions Mystery Series.)

Richard North Patterson: Loss of Innocence (This is the 2nd in a planned trilogy.)

Sara Rosett: Milkshakes, Mermaids, and Murder (This will be the 8th in the Mom Zone Mystery Series.)

Lisa Scottoline: Accused (This will be the 12th in the Rosato and Associates Mystery Series.)

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

Cozy Mysteries Recommendations – August 2013

Today is the first day of school for our school district. Unbelievable! It is just so hard to believe that fall will officially begin in less than a month (September 22). I am getting a little antsy to put my fall theme knick-knacks out on my desk so that I know it will officially be the time of year when the leaves are supposed to be turning different hues of golds and coppers. Good grief, living here in San Antonio I really miss my seasons!

Getting back to the purpose of this entry: It is time to post our August 2013 Cozy Mysteries Recommendations. I am going to begin with my current book’s author, Margaret Grace. (I’m reading her Halloween mystery, Monster in Miniature. I just could not wait until next month!)

Margaret Grace (aka Camille Minichino & Ada Madison) writes the Miniature Mystery Series.  I started reading Grace’s books after I finished reading Minichino’s Periodic Table Mystery Series. (I should probably explain that her “real name” is Camille Minichino.)

I find Grace (I’ll refer to her as Grace, since it is “her” series I am currently reading) to be a no-nonsense author. By this I mean that she doesn’t dilly-dally with stupid sleuths doing stupid things in stupid plots. Hmmm, I guess that doesn’t explain it either. I mean that her sleuths are very smart women. These women are not shrinking violets in any manner. They are strong women, with definite purposes in life.

Grace has the ability to write the way I think. That probably doesn’t make a lot of sense, but what I mean is both the plot and the dialog in her books ring true. (For those of you who don’t like swearing, you’ll be glad to know that Grace doesn’t have to rely on it to get her point across.)

I am also going to include two other authors who I wrote an entry about very recently: Hazel Holt and Spencer Quinn. (This link will take you to my entry which explains why I enjoy them.)

Please tell us about the one Cozy Mystery (or possibly more than one) that you read during August. These should be books that you think the rest of us simply have got to know about. Please include why you enjoyed each book so that we can read your reason and then determine if it sounds like a good book for us to try reading.

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

[Also, 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 August 2013, and why did you enjoy it (or him/her)?

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

Donna Andrews: Meg Langslow Mystery Series

Connie Archer: Soup Lover’s Mystery Series

C.A. Belmond: Penny Nichols Mystery Series 

Annette Blair: Vintage Magic Mystery Series

Melissa Bourbon (aka Misa Ramirez): Magical Dressmaking Mystery Series

Rhys Bowen: Royal Spyness Mystery Series

Susan Boyer: Lowcountry Bombshell (reportedly not a Cozy)

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

Peg Cochran (aka Meg London): Gourmet De-Lite Mystery Series

Kate Collins: Flower Shop Mystery Series

J.J. Cook (aka Joyce and Jim Lavene & Ellie Grant): Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade Mystery Series

Shelley Costa: Miracolo Mystery Series

Ellen Crosby: Multiple Exposure (Sophie Medina Mystery Series)

Diane Mott Davidson: Goldy Bear Mystery Series

Julianna Deering: Rules of Murder (Drew Farthering Mystery Series)

Gale Deitch: A Fine Fix (Trudie Fine Mystery Series)

Ilsa Evans: Nefarious Doings (Nell Forrest Mystery Series)

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

Earlene Fowler: Ruby McGavin Series (reportedly not a mystery)

Margaret Grace (aka Camille Minichino & Ada Madison): Miniature Mystery Series

Kerry Greenwood: Phryne Fisher Mystery Series

Elly Griffiths: Ruth Galloway Mystery Series (The Crossing Places – book 1 & Dying Fall – book #5 )

Rosemary Harris: Dirty Business Mystery Series

Hazel Holt: Mrs. Malory Mystery Series

Jerusha Jones: Imogene Museum Mysteries (Rock Bottom – book #1)

Amanda Lee (aka Gayle Trent): Embroidery Mystery Series 

Sherry Lewis(aka Jacklyn Brady): Fred Vickery Mystery Series

Lisa Lutz: Izzy Spellman Mystery Series

Karen MacInerney: Gray Whale Inn Mystery Series

Charlotte MacLeod (aka Alisa Craig): Peter Shandy Mystery Series

Susan Elia MacNeal: Maggie Hope Mystery Series

Molly MacRae: Haunted Yarn Shop Mystery Series

Jenn McKinlay (aka Josie Belle & Lucy Lawrence): Hat Shop Mystery Series

Judy Nickles: The Bogus Biker (Penelope Pembroke Mysteries Series)

Gigi Pandian: Artifact (Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery Series)

Spencer Quinn (aka Peter Abrahams): Chet and Bernie Mystery Series

Eve K. Sandstrom (aka JoAnna Carl): Down Home Mystery Series

Maggie Sefton: Molly Malone Mystery Series

Shirley Tallman: Death on Telegraph Hill (Sarah Woolson Mystery Series)

Gayle Trent (aka Amanda Lee): Daphne Martin Cake Mystery Series

Victoria Thompson: Gaslight Mystery Series

Patricia Wentworth: Miss Silver Mystery Series

Lauren Willig: Pink Carnation Mystery Series

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

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