The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

My Cozy Christmas Reading…

Christmas PuppyI just finished reading both The Neon Ornaments, a novella in Camille Minichino‘s Periodic Table Mystery Series and The Deadliest Christmas Pageant Ever, a novella in Teresa Trent‘s Pecan Bayou Mystery Series. Both of these Cozy Mystery authors are authors I really enjoy reading, and they are both on my favorite authors list.

Let’s see, what else do I have to tell you about … Oh, I started putting our Christmas decorations up after Thanksgiving and am finally finished. Having our puppy, Cocoa, under foot made it a little more taxing than it would have ordinarily been. It’s been so many years since our Sprite was a puppy, so I had sort of forgotten how much more time it takes while being careful not to drop anything on the floor.

I sure enjoyed seeing all the ornaments as I unwrapped them. In the past I have mentioned that the only ornaments I decorate our tree with are those that our son and daughter made while growing up as well as ornaments made out of their tiny toys. I was transported back to when our children’s little, itty-bitty hands played with these beloved toy characters (I hang them on the tree with festive Christmas ribbons). Little, itty-bitty Transformers, My Little Ponies, Care Bears, Bert, Ernie, Cookie Monster, and Oscar, etc. Boy, do they take me back!

I certainly hope all of you are enjoying this holiday season. Whether it’s Christmas, pre-Hanukkah, pre-Kwanzaa, or simply the winter season!

P.S. If you’re interested in seeing a terrific Christmas mystery book list, click on this link.

Rae Davies: Dusty Deals Mystery Series

I know I normally write entries about Cozy Mystery authors who have been recommended by ALL of you, however I’ve decided to write this entry about an author who I am recommending.

Several people wrote to me telling me how much they enjoy Rae Davies (aka Lori Devoti), so I added her to the Cozy Mystery site. I also was intrigued by her series, so I decided to add her to my authors-to-try list. Once I read Loose Screw (the first in her Dusty Deals Mystery Series) I added her to my “favorite authors” list. Yep! That’s how much I enjoyed Loose Screw…

The Dusty Deals series has a rather unique setting. Well, at least it’s different to me. It takes place in Helena, Montana >>> which Rae Davies makes seem like a typically small, Cozy village, even though it’s Montana’s state capital!

The sleuth, Lucy Mathews, owns and operates an antique shop, but also works as a crime reporter for the newspaper. She’s not terribly happy about being rail-roaded back to her job as a crime journalist, but it does provide a very good way for the author to explain why Lucy involves herself so much with the solving of the crime. Brava to Rae Davies for providing an absolutely great reason >>> other than nosiness!

Lucy’s side-kick “in crime” is Kiska, her Malamute. (Exactly the type of dog I’d envision in Montana!) There are also other important characters >>> which I’m guessing will be present in the following books of the series. Rhonda is Lucy’s best friend, Betty works at Dusty Deals, Gary’s the paper’s photographer, and Peter Blake is the police detective. I like all of these characters – which is important to me. If I don’t like the sleuth or the other recurring characters in a series, it’s unlikely I’ll keep reading the series.

There were plenty of red herrings thrown in, making the book more interesting. I enjoyed Rae Davies’s style of writing, too. (Rae Davies was a reporter before becoming a full-time author of novels.)

For those of you who like looking at book covers, I want to warn you about this one. I know I have a “no-negative policy” on my site, so I’ll just say this: Don’t judge this book by its cover! (I know that several of you have said you don’t like Cozies with cartoon-like covers…)

As I said before, I have added Rae Davies to my “favorite authors” list. I already have the second book in the series (Cut Loose) waiting for me on my Kindle! I hope some of you give Loose Screw a try. You may end up liking it as much as I did!

P.S. As always, if you are interested in reading some of the other entries about highly recommended Cozy Mystery series, you can find them at the Most Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page on my site.

Sprite, Cola, and Cocoa: More than Fun Drinks…

cocoa(For those of you who only want to read my entries about mysteries, this one’s not for you.)

My husband and I finally forgot about how difficult life becomes when you adopt a puppy. Our last “puppy” (if you can call our 16 and a half year old dog, Sprite, a puppy) passed away five years ago. Yep! It took us all these years since Sprite was really a puppy to forget about the chewing of furniture/walls/shoes, the almost hourly wake-ups during the night, the baby rails locking off the kitchen, and the continual need to sit on the floor playing tug-of-war and squeaky-ball-toss.

And, I’m happy to say that it’s a terrific thing that we forgot! We are absolutely in love with our new little girl. (This is something that my husband and I keep reminding ourselves!)

Her name is Cocoa.  We considered for a long time naming her “Cola” as a sort of tribute to our beloved Bichon, “Sprite” (although Sprite was not named for the soft drink but rather for elf-type sprites because of the way she hip-hopped on the grass when she was a little puppy.) Our new puppy is so dark that we considered Cola to be a good name because of the color and the reference to Sprite. Also, she has almost no tail so “Cola”, (meaning tail in Spanish) seemed like a fun reverse description.

However, we just couldn’t get used to calling her Cola. Somehow when we tried Cocoa, the name just seemed to fit. So, Cocoa it is!

Cocoa, being the runt of the litter, is quite tiny. Sprite was very big for her breed, but Cocoa is very small for her’s. I’m surprised that her tiny size was not the cause for me hurting my foot a few days after we brought her home. She is so small that I am always worried about her scooting under my feet. As I stepped over the dog fence in our kitchen, I caught my foot and went sprawling on the floor. My son was holding Cocoa at the time, so she was not to blame, just my being in a hurry. (We went to the ER and nothing was broken, but I have been limping around for a couple of weeks now.)

Unfortunately for my husband, because of my foot I haven’t been able to share in the night time duties. I’m getting a whole lot better which means that I’ll be doing more than just providing him with step by step “helpful” instructions about how he should be doing things. (I sure hope he isn’t as “helpful” to me when I am taking care of Cocoa during the night.)

Well, I just thought I’d let you all know about our family’s newest addition. I have to go now, Cocoa’s nature is calling!

Cozy Mystery Villages, Towns, Communities We Would Love to Live In…

friendsAbout a week ago, WJ made a comment right here on the blog that got me thinking about all of the Cozy villages/towns/communities that we have been introduced to by some of our favorite Cozy Mystery authors. WJ’s comment referred to Leslie Meier’s Lucy Stone mysteries setting. Here is WJ’s comment:

I love her books and want to move to Tinkers Cove, Maine!!

So, naturally I started thinking about some of the Cozy Mystery fictional places seem (almost) real to me.  The characters have become like friends >>> no matter how long it has been since I was last with them, things go back as if no time has passed. The locations have taken on brick and mortar realities to me, so much so that when the characters in the Cozies talk about their shops or cafés (etc.), I feel like I have been in them, too!

I have a few Cozy Mystery places I would love to live in, with characters I would love to hang out with. Let’s see, right off the top of my head I can think of four: Gerry Porter’s Lincoln Point (by Margaret Grace), Hannah Swensen’s Lake Eden (by Joanne Fluke), Jessica Fletcher’s Cabot Cove (by Donald Bain & “Jessica Fletcher”), and Peggy Jean Turner’s Cobb’s Landing (by Kate Borden).

How about you? Are there any Cozy Mystery towns you would love to move to? (Without all the murders, of course!) If so, please post a comment with the town, series, and author. Thank you!

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