I just added a new author to my list:  Shirley Rousseau Murphy. I belong to a forum, and some of the posting members thought that her Joe Grey Cat Mystery series should have been on my cozy site. I haven’t read any of her books yet, but when I looked her up, yes indeed, her books look like they qualify as cozy.

I know that I have said this before, but I always enjoy hearing about a new author who has a lot of books out. By "new" I mean new to me. Isn’t it fun when you find an author who has… let’s say… seven books out already?

An example of this comes to my mind… When I "discovered"  M. C. Beaton, I started by reading her Agatha Raisin series. It took me a little while to "catch up" with the recently released, and I got a lot of enjoyment from reading those books.  When I read the synopsis of her Hamish Macbeth books, they simply didn’t interest me. I had found, in the past, that when I was a devoted fan of one of an author’s series, I generally didn’t like the other series that author wrote. That had happened on several occasions.

Anyway, I finally "made" myself read the first Hamish Macbeth book. I could NOT believe I had been putting that series off! I absolutely loved it! (And still do!) As a matter of fact, I have found that I much prefer the recent Hamish books over the recent Agatha books. 

I have finally tracked down the first book of Steve Allen’s mystery book series! I used to enjoy seeing Steve Allen on his frequent visits to television talk shows. His mind was so quick… very funny, very bright. So, when I discovered that he also wrote a mystery series featuring Steve and his wife, actress Jayne Meadows, I knew that I would have to give his books a try.

I already own four of the seven books in the series, and am so happy that I finally found The Talk Show Murders, which is the first of the series. I just started reading it last night, and I must say that it is really a kick to "see" people who I remember from the 80s… Toni Tennille, Burt Reynolds, and a number of other people… who some of you may also remember.

Allen wrote the mystery novels between 1982 and 1999. I know that I have previously written about how I don’t like reading series out of chronological order, so my four books have just sat on my book shelf…. patiently awaiting the first of the series. And, now that I have it, I can’t wait to make my way through this series. The person who told me about the series loved it, and I have high hopes that I will love it, too. I mean, a book written by Steve Allen that is a mystery…… how couldn’t I love it!