The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Most of Us Started with Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, Right?

I have got to tell you, I am so happy I did this month’s Upcoming Television Mystery list! I wonder if I would have watched the 1938 movie called Nancy Drew… Detective if we hadn’t had the comments about how good these movies are!

Thank you, Patti S and Pamela, for telling us how much you enjoyed these Nancy Drew movies with Bonita Granville. I was in the same boat as Sheila, who told us she hadn’t watched these particular movies. Sheila mentioned that she was looking forward to seeing them, and after reading the comments, so was I!

On July 5th, they aired the first of these movies Nancy Drew, Detective. This week, on a day when I didn’t feel like doing much, I decided to watch it. I had read my older sister’s Nancy Drew mysteries when I was little, so wasn’t quite sure how they would hold up for me now that I’m “not so little”!

Let me just say déjà vu (!), and I loved it! I immediately loved Bonita Granville’s depiction of Nancy, and I thought Ted (Frankie Thomas) and her dad (John Litel) were perfect, as well.

I want to hurry up and get this entry posted, since I see that tomorrow morning, at 9:45 (Central time zone) they will be airing the 1939 Nancy Drew, Reporter. Then, next week (Saturday, July 19) they will be airing the 1939 Nancy Drew… Trouble Shooter at 9:45 AM (Central time zone). The following Saturday (July 26) they’ll be airing the 1939 Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase at the same time.

I just looked Bonita Granville up, and it looks like TCM is going to be showing all of the Nancy Drew movies in which she starred. There are only four.

Well, if you decide to watch these movies, you may find yourself going back, some of us going back farther than others! Enjoy!

Extra, Extra: Cozy Mystery News! (Shelley Freydont, Marcia Talley, Nevada Barr, & Barbara Graham) Pt. 2

On to the second part of the Cozy Mystery news!

Shelley Freydont (yes, the author of the  Celebration Bay Mystery Series, the Sudoku Mystery Series, and the Lindy Haggerty Mystery Series) will be writing a mystery series that features a debutante in Newport, Rhode Island. It takes place during the Gilded Age (between 1870 and 1900).

Marcia Talley has gotten the green light for her 14th in her Hannah Ives Mystery Series. It will be entitled Daughter of Ashes. (I’m always hesitant about listing titles to books that haven’t yet been published. A few times I have had them listed, and then found that the titles were changed!)

All of you Nevada Barr fans, there is great news! Anna Pigeon will be back in 2016. OK, now I know it’s a while off, but the good news is that this National Park ranger will continue to entertain us in her Anna Pigeon Mystery Series.

The sixth Cozy Mystery in Barbara Graham‘s Quilted Mystery Series has just been given the go-ahead. We will be able to keep up with Theo, her quilt shop, and husband, Tony (sheriff). That’s great news for the quilters among us, as well as for all Cozy Mystery readers in general.

Also, in the news are some new mystery series that are slated to begin:

Diane Vallere will be writing the Costume Shop Mystery Series which will feature a sleuth who works in (yes, you guessed it!) a costume shop.

Vannetta Chapman is writing the Amish Village Mystery Series. The first book is called Murder Simply Brewed.

Joyce Tremel will be writing a Cozy Mystery series that features a brewmaster. The first book will be called To Brew or Not to Brew. (Not to be confused with the first book in Vannetta Chapman’s series!)

Judith Flanders will be releasing a mystery called Writer’s Block. Her series will feature a sleuth who works in the publishing arena.

And, Mary Lawrence will be writing an historical mystery series set in Tudor London (sometime between 1485 and 1603). The first mystery in the series is A Matron’s Bane.

Well, that’s a wrap on my information. Hopefully next month I will have some more really good Cozy Mystery news to share.

Extra, Extra: Cozy Mystery News! (Kathy Lynn Emerson, Lizbeth Lipperman, Miranda James, Clea Simon, & Amanda Flower) Pt. 1

I am VERY FORTUNATE to receive updates from Sisters in Crime! The updates that I get are extremely informative, and I absolutely love getting them. (Thank you!)

I have so much Cozy Mystery news to tell you about that I am cutting it in half. But first, I want to remind you that in the Cozy Mystery reading world, we can’t always be sure that our favorite authors are “allowed” to release another Cozy Mystery book in a series.

For those of you who are Kathy Lynn Emerson/Kaitlyn Dunnett fans, this news is really good! Kathy Lynn Emerson has a new mystery series coming out in the (possibly very near) future. I’m not sure when, but she just got the go-ahead for an historical mystery series, which, like her historical Lady Susanna Appleton Mystery Series, is set during Queen Elizabeth’s reign. Murder in the Queen’s Wardrobe is the name of the first of these Elizabethan mysteries. This time, a young woman becomes a spy for Queen Elizabeth. Didn’t I tell you this would be good news?

Now for the Lizbeth Lipperman (aka Liz Lipperman) fans, the green light for her 3rd Dead Sister Talking Mystery Series book is shining brightly! We’ll be seeing more of Lainey and Tessa Garcia!

As if there was any question about this next tidbit of information! New York Times bestselling author of the Cat in the Stacks Mystery Series, Miranda James (aka Dean James), has a three book deal. This way we’ll be able to keep up with Charlie and Diesel for quite a while, and hopefully, after the next three mysteries, there will be lots more!

Here’s some great news for Clea Simon‘s Dulcie Schwartz Mystery Series fans! You can relax now… books #9 and #10 have been green-lighted! Mr. Grey must be happy about this!

Oh Boy! In case no one knows this, Amanda Flower (aka Isabella Alan) will be starting her new Living History Museum Mystery Series some time soon. The first mystery in the series will be Brick and Bugles, and this time, her main sleuth solves a crime during the Civil War? Well not really during the Civil War, I should have typed during a Civil War reenactment.

Stay tuned! I’ll be bringing you more Cozy Mystery News!

Malice Domestic Convention 2014 – 2013 Agatha Awards

Well, I guess we know where most of our favorite Cozy Mystery authors are right now, and what they are doing this weekend! That’s right, the 26th Malice Domestic Convention is underway right now in Bethesda, Maryland.

I have often said that out of all of the awards that are given to mystery authors/books, the Agatha Awards are by far the Coziest of Cozy! And, those are the very same awards that are being handed out this weekend at the 26th Malice Domestic Convention. (The Agatha Awards are so Cozy that they are actually tea pots that are inscribed!)

This is where some of our very favorite authors first came to our attention, either having been nominated or having won an award for his/her first mystery novel. If you take a look at the Agatha Awards Best First Novels page, you will (no doubt) recognize a lot of the authors. It seems like a lot of our favorite Cozy Mystery authors started winning awards right here.

Next take a look at the Agatha Awards Best Novel page. Yow! You will see more of our favorite Cozy Mystery authors on this page! Also, in 2011 they began giving the Agatha Awards Best Historical Novel awards. I can’t imagine why it took so long for them to add this category, but I’m certainly glad they did!

I have already listed the authors and their nominated mystery books on these pages. I’ll be posting the winners soon… very soon!

Congratulations to all of the nominees and winners!

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