The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Authors Similar to Janet Evanovich …

I was prompted to start a new theme for the Cozy Mystery site by a site reader. She thought that I should have an “authors similar to…” section. What a great idea! I will be doing some research, as well as using my own ideas for coming up with the authors who are similar to the given authors. I would also love to have input from you all! So, please post a comment if you think there is an author (or two!) who I am leaving off of the lists.

Authors similar to Janet Evanovich:

Donna Andrews: Meg Lanslow Mystery Series

Lori Avocato: Pauline Sokol Mystery Series

Kathleen Bacus: Calamity Jayne Mystery Series

Nevada Barr: Anna Pigeon Mystery Series

M. C. Beaton: Agatha Raisin Mysteries

Stephanie Bond: Body Movers Mystery Series

Jan Burke: Irene Kelly Mystery Series

Meg Cabot: Heather Wells Mystery Series

Dorothy Cannell: Ellie Haskell Mystery Series

Tori Carrington: Sophie Metropolis Mystery Series

Dixie Cash: Domestic Equalizers Mystery Series

Harlan Coben: Myron Bolitar Mystery Series

Mary Daheim: Emma Lord Alpine Mystery Series

Lila Dare: Southern Beauty Shop Mystery Series

Diane Mott Davidson: Goldy Bear Mystery Series

Jana DeLeon: Miss Fortune Mystery Series

Shelly Fredman: Brandy Alexander Mystery Series

Kinky Friedman: Kinky Friedman Series

Sue Grafton: Kinsey Millhone Mystery Series

Carolyn Haines: Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery Series

Parnell Hall: Puzzle Lady Mystery Series

Gemma Halliday: Hollywood Headlines Mystery Series

Joan Hess: Maggody Mystery Series

Dorothy Howell: Haley Randolph Mystery Series

J. A. Jance: Joanna Brady Mystery Series AND J. P. Beaumont Mystery Series AND Alison Reynolds Mystery Series

Karen Kijewski: Kat Colorado Mystery Series

Harley Jane Kozak: Wollie Shelly Mystery Series

Rita Lakin: Gladdy Gold Mystery Series

Victoria Laurie: Psychic Eye Mystery Series

Laura Levine: Jaine Austen Mystery Series 

Jess Lourey: Murder by Month Mystery Series

Lisa Lutz: Izzy Spellman Mystery Series

Valerie S. Malmont: Tori Miracle Mystery Series

Nancy Martin: Blackbird Sisters Mystery Series

Susan McBride: Debutante Dropout Mystery Series 

Karen E. Olson: Tattoo Shop Mystery Series

Rhonda Pollero: Finley Anderson Tanner Mystery Series

J. D. Robb: Eve Dallas Mystery Series

Gillian Roberts: Amanda Pepper Mystery Series

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

Deborah Sharp: Mace Bauer Mystery Series

Sarah Strohmeyer: Hairdresser Mystery Series

Elaine Viets: Dead End Job Mystery Series AND Mystery Shopper Mystery Series

Ayelet Waldman: Mommy Track Mystery Series

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

♦To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme click here.♦

Joanna Campbell Slan Free Signed Book & Mini Scrapbook Album Give-Away … Yes! Free!

Joanna Campbell Slan wrote to me about a give-away that she is hosting. Yes, a FREE give-away!

As you all know, Joanna Campbell Slan is the author of the Kiki Lowenstein Scrap-n-Craft Mystery Series. Her first mystery in that series was nominated for an Agatha Award in the category of Best First Novel in 2008… which is quite an accomplishment! Photo, Snap, Shot, the third mystery in the Scrap-n-Craft Mystery Series was published just last month –  May 2010.

Slan will be giving away “a signed copy of Photo, Snap, Shot; two I (heart) Kiki buttons, bookmarks, and a small album kit.” What a wonderful way to start out the summer!

All of the details for this very fun give-away can be found on her Joanna Campbell Slan Blogspot. Good luck to all of you! (This contest is over.)

Authors Similar to Lilian Jackson Braun …

This is a list of authors who just might quench your appetite for more Lilian Jackson Braun, and her The Cat Who… Mystery Series. It’s always sad when you run out of your favorite author’s books, isn’t it?

Authors similar to Lilian Jackson Braun:

Lydia Adamson: Alice Nestleton Mystery Series AND Deirdre Quinn Nightingale Mystery Series AND Alice Nestleton Mystery Series AND Lucy Wayles Mystery Series

Garrison Allen (aka Gary Amo): Big Mike Mystery Series

Nancy Atherton: Aunt Dimity Mystery Series

Marian Babson: Douglas Perkins & Gerry Tate Mystery Series AND Trixie Dolan & Evangeline Sinclair Mystery Series AND many Stand Alone Mysteries

Rita Mae Brown: Mrs. Murphy Mystery Series

Laurie Cass (aka Laurie Alden): Bookmobile Cat Mystery Series

Melissa Cleary: Dog Lovers Mystery Series

Susan Conant: Dog Lover’s Mystery Series

Carole Nelson Douglas: Midnight Louie Mystery Series AND Midnight Louie & Templar Barr Mystery Series

Dorothy Gilman: Mrs. Pollifax Mystery Series

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

Virginia Lanier: Jo Beth Sidden Mystery Series

Evan Marshall: Jane Stuart & Winky Mystery Series

Miss Read: not mysteries… Fairacre Series AND Thrush Green Series

Gilbert Morris: Jacques and Cleo, Cat Detectives Mystery Series

Shirley Rousseu Murphy: Joe Grey Mystery Series

Denise Swanson: Scumble River Mystery Series

Leann Sweeney: Cats in Trouble Mystery Series

Please post your recommendations of authors who are similar to Lilian Jackson Braun, and I will add them to the list.

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

Miss Marple: The Secret of Chimneys – Agatha Christie – PBS NEW Masterpiece Mystery!

As the title of this Cozy Mystery site entry says: Miss Marple Series V is back – with a NEW 90 minute episode: The Secret of Chimneys. And, if you are ANYTHING like me, you are probably ready for your “dose” of Agatha Christie via the good folks of British television and PBS. (Thank goodness PBS still airs our favorite British mysteries… now that other channels like A & E no longer do so!)

Anyway… tomorrow, Sunday, June 20, PBS will be airing the NEW  Miss Marple Masterpiece Mystery! : The Secret of Chimneys.

Now for the bad news >>> The Secret of Chimneys is one of Agatha Christie‘s earliest mystery books. That, in itself, is not the bad news. But, the fact that it was written in 1925, five years before the first Miss Marple mystery book (Murder at the Vicarage) is.

The Secret of Chimneys is the first mystery in Agatha Christie’s lesser-known Superintendent Battles Mystery Series, which is made up of five mysteries. Superintendent Battles is a Scotland Yard man, definitely not an older, knitting-needles-wielding spinster! Because of this, I cannot be sure what part Miss Marple (played by the talented actress Julia McKenzie) will actually play in the episode. It’s anyone’s guess as to how much actual screen time Miss Marple will have, and also, how much of the screen time will be taken by Superintendent Battles.

Hmmm… It does seem a shame that with so many Agatha Christie Miss Marple mysteries available, recently several NON Miss Marple books have been made into Miss Marple movies. Oh well… I am just going to look at this from the glass-half-full perspective and simply ENJOY this show, regardless of what liberties the producers have made!

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