The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Mystery Books that Take Place in Maine…

Here are some fun Maine facts:
The capital is Augusta.
The largest city is Portland.
State motto is “Dirigo” (“I direct”)
State nickname is “Pine Tree State”
State flower is the White Pine Cone and Tassel
State bird is the Black-capped Chickadee
Maine shares its borders with only one state, and has the USA’s most eastern city – Eastport.
Maine supplies almost all of USA’s blueberries (99%).

Mystery authors who are found on the Cozy Mystery Site who feature Maine locations/settings in their books:

Annie’s Antique Shop Mystery Series

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

Jennie Bentley: Do It Yourself Mystery Series

J. S. Borthwick: Deane & McKenzie Mystery Series

Kerry J. Charles: Dulcie Chambers Mystery Series

Vivian Conroy: Country Gift Shop Mystery Series

Leighann Dobbs: Blackmoore Sisters Romantic Cozy Mystery Series AND Mooseamuck Island Cozy Mystery Series

Claire Donally: Sunny & Shadow Mystery Series

Kaitlyn Dunnet (Kathy Lynn Emerson): Liss MacCrimmon Mystery Series

Jessica Estevao (aka Jessie Crockett): Change of Fortune Mystery Series

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

Cynthia Gallant-Simpson: Coastal Maine Mystery Series 

Sarah Graves: Home Repair is Homicide Mystery Series

Sarah Graves: Death by Chocolate Mystery Series

Linda Hall: Whisper Lake Mystery Series AND Fog Point Mystery Series AND Teri Blake-Addison Mystery Series AND Coast of Maine Mystery Series

B. B. Haywood: Candy Holliday Mystery Series

Lee Hollis: Hayley Powell Food & Cocktail Mystery Series

Margaret Lawrence: Hannah Trevor Mystery Series

Karen MacInerney: Gray Whale Inn Mystery Series

Leslie Meier: Lucy Stone (Holiday) Mystery Series

Meira Penterman: a Stand Alone

Virginia Rich: Eugenia Potter Mystery Series

Barbara Ross: Maine Clambake Mystery Series

Sofie Ryan (aka Sofie Kelly): Second Chance Cat Mystery Series

Lea Wait: Shadows Antique Print Mystery Series AND Mainely Needlepoint Mystery Series

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.♦

Bouchercon Awards: 2010 Anthony Awards Lists… Nominees & Winners

The Bouchercon Convention was held in San Francisco from the 14th to the 17th of October  – 2010. What a great honor to receive a nomination for Bouchercon’s Anthony Awards. Here are both the nominees and winners for bouchercon’s 2010 Anthony Awards:

Best Novel: The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny (Winner)
The Last Child by John Hart
The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death by Charlie Huston
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson (translated by Reg Keeland)
The Shanghai Moon by S.J. Rozan

Best First Novel: A Bad Day for Sorry by Sophie Littlefield (Winner)
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley
The Twelve/The Ghosts of Belfast by Stuart Neville
In the Shadow of Gotham by Stefanie Pintoff

Best Paperback Original: Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley (Winner)
Bury Me Deep by Megan Abbott
Tower by Ken Bruen & Reed Farrel Coleman
Quarry in the Middle by Max Allan Collins
Death and the Lit Chick by G.M. Malliet
Air Time by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Best Short Story: On the House by Hank Phillippi Ryan (Quarry: Crime Stories by New England Writers) (Winner)
Last Fair Deal Gone Down by Ace Atkins (Crossroad Blues)
Femme Sole by Dana Cameron (Boston Noir)
Animal Rescue by Dennis Lehane (Boston Noir)
Amapola by Luis Alberto Urrea (Phoenix Noir)

Best Critical Non-Fiction Work: Talking about Detective Fiction by P.D. James (Winner)
The Line Up: The World’s Greatest Crime Writers Tell the Inside Story of Their Greatest Detectives by Otto Penzler, ed.
Haunted Heart: The Life and Times of Stephen King by Lisa Rogak
Dame Agatha’s Shorts: An Agatha Christie Short Story Companion by Elena Santangelo
The Talented Miss Highsmith: The Secret Life and Serious Art of Patricia Highsmith by Joan Schenkar

And, here are some of the Guests of Honor who attended Bouchercon 2010 with Eddie Muller as the Toastmaster:

Distinguished Contribution to the Genre: Lee Child
International Guest of Honor: Denise Mina
American Guest of Honor: Laurie R. King

♦For more Mystery Book Awards, click here.♦

Hannah Alexander, Kate Jacobs, Delia Rosen, & Ann Summerville… the Four Newest Additions to the Cozy Mystery Site…

Thank you for your recommendations of authors who you feel belong on the Cozy Mystery site! Here are the four latest additions to the site:

Hannah Alexander: Hideaway Mystery Series… Alexander is a pseudonym for a husband and wife writing team (Mel & Cheryl Hodde) who specialize in Christian mysteries that blend a little medical suspense (Mel Hodde is a physician) with romance. They are Christy award-winning authors.

Kate Jacobs: Friday Night Knitting Club Series… Although Jacobs is not a mystery writer, she is a New York Times bestselling author. I know that this is a mystery site, but she comes highly recommended as belonging on the site. Her series features a woman who owns a yarn shop in Manhattan, which has a knitting circle.

Delia Rosen: Deadly Deli Mystery Series… Gwen Silver (aka Nashville Katz) is the sleuth in this new mystery series. She has just inherited her uncle’s Jewish Deli in Nashville, and has some sleuthing on the menu.

Ann Summerville: Summerville was born in England, but currently lives in Texas. Her stand-alone Cozy Mystery books feature British sleuths… one in a Cornish village and another in Texas.

Authors Similar to Nancy Atherton

I just received a comment from Princezzz:

“Help!! I really enjoy Nancy Atherton’s “Aunt Dimity”. I am looking for other authors who write the same type of stories. She sets Aunt Dimity in the U.K. and that’s what I am looking for. I can’t afford to jump on a plane and go to England every year, so reading those kinds of stories are like a “mini vacation”. Any help would be appreciated!”

Authors Who Are Similar to Nancy Atherton:

Susan Wittig Albert: Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter Mystery Series

M. C. Beaton: Agatha Raisin Mystery Series AND Hamish Macbeth Mystery Series

Carrie Bebris: Mr. & Mrs. Darcy Mystery Series

Rhys Bowen: Constable Evan Evans Mystery Series

Simon Brett: Fethering Mystery Series AND Melita Pargeter Mystery Series

Emily Brightwell: Mrs. Jeffries Mystery Series

Dorothy Cannell: Ellie Haskell Mystery Series

Carola Dunn: Daisy Dalrymple Mystery Series

Hazel Holt: Mrs. Malory Mystery Series

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

Robin Paige (aka Susan Wittig Albert & Bill Albert): Sir Charles and Kate Ardleigh Sheridan Victorian Mystery Series

Please post your recommendations of authors who are similar to Nancy Atherton, and I will add them to the list.

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

MENU