The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

The Case of the Free First Mystery in a Series…

A couple of days ago I posted the latest Free and Cheap Kindle (and Nook) Mystery Books entry. When I make up these lists, I always go to the author’s page on the Cozy Mystery site, and then, with the use of Notepad, I go through each of the author’s mysteries. Each time I go through this process, I wonder why publishers/authors don’t do what Leslie mentioned in her comment:

“… If I were a cozy mystery author (or publisher) I would make the first one of a series FREE or very affordable with the idea that I could “hook” new readers to the series. I have found several series that way and now have to keep a personal list by author so I keep up with the latest editions of my favorites and avoid reading out of sequence…”

Going over the latest of these entry, I can see that either Deb Baker (aka Hannah Reed) or her publisher has done just that. Both of the first books in both of her mystery series (Gertie Johnson Murder Mystery Series and Dolls to Die For Mystery Series) are FREE. Another author (or her publisher) who has done this is L.L. Bartlett (aka Lorraine Bartlett & Lorna Barrett). The first mystery in her  Jeff Resnick Mystery Series is FREE.

Leslie O’Kane (aka Leslie Cane) is another mystery author who offered the first in her Molly Masters Mystery Series FREE.  And although not FREE, Kerry Greenwood (or her publisher) greatly reduced the price of the first mystery in her Phryne Fisher Mystery Series. When was the last time you paid only 99¢ for a mystery novel by a best-selling author?

What a great way for an author to introduce potential future fans to his/her mysteries! These Kindles (and Nooks) make it so easy for this >>> since there are no shipping and handling hassles involved.

Having said all this, I’d like to know if you all take advantage of the FREE first mysteries  or not. What I mean is, when you see a Kindle/Nook mystery novel is FREE, are you more apt to try an author who you may not have thought about trying?

(P.S. I am!)

Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot’s Return (?)

Oh my gosh! I simply can’t believe it!!! Good grief! And, as Batman’s Robin would say: “Holy Smokes!”

Yes, this is literally how I feel right now! I kid you not!!!

Imagine my surprise to just find out that “Agatha Christie Limited” has okayed an author to write a Hercule Poirot mystery novel. I know I said this before, but “I kid you not!!!”

Before I give away how I feel about this (Duh!) I am going to ask you all for your opinions.

What do you think of best-selling British author Sophie Hannah getting the go-ahead for writing a Hercule Poirot mystery?

P.S. The new mystery is set to be released in September 2014.

Updating the Holiday Mysteries Pages on the Cozy Mystery Site…

I have been busy “behind the scenes” getting the holiday pages updated and in a more orderly format. I know, I know! It’s way too early to be thinking about the holidays, or is it?!?

Around here, as soon as children return to school, the stores down-size their school supply merchandise and start pushing their Halloween items. And with school starting in just a few days (Monday) that means we’ll have more than two months to “enjoy” the Halloween items.

I say “enjoy” rather skeptically. As a home with diabetes, the all-too-often and all-too-present large bags of chocolate bars greeting me at the entrance of almost all the stores is rather tempting. I say tempting because I know all too well that we simply can’t have it in the house. (Chocolate is simply a red light item for ALL of us, those with and without diabetes!)

Getting back to my “behind the scenes” goings on >>> I am just about finished updating and consolidating the different Holiday pages.  I have added more books and holiday themes, although I’m not quite finished yet. (I am thinking about adding a Birthday mysteries list, although I’m not 100% sure.)

The one draw-back of updating the lists is that I am now starting on a holiday book that I have been wanting to read for a while, but that I tried to put off until the correct season. I have been wanting to read Margaret Grace’s Monster in Miniature for several months, but made myself save it until the Halloween season. Well, after all of these holiday titles, I simply could not hold myself back, and am (probably for the first time ever!) reading one of “my” holiday mysteries out of season. (Now you see how bad I am about foregoing my temptations!)

Double the Flavor, Double the Fun >>> Two Very Different Mystery Authors I’m Currently Enjoying (A Lot!)

I am in Cozy Mystery Seventh Heaven right now! What could be better (as a mystery reader) than being swept up into not one, but two different mystery reading shangrilas? Yes, I am in the enviable position to be reading one and listening to another of two of my favorite authors at the same time, and it is such a treat!

I know I have said (many times) that I space my favorite authors between new-to-me authors so that I can try new authors while still being able to enjoy authors off of my “favorite authors” list. Well, my (almost) Russian Roulette method has finally lined up to where I am able to enjoy two of my faves at the same time, and it is really great.

I am currently reading one of Hazel Holt‘s Mrs. Mallory mysteries which, although written during the last (less than) twenty years, is quite reminiscent of the classic mysteries à la Agatha Christie. You’ve got a quaint village by the sea, some great characters (including “Mrs. Malory”, her best friend Rosemary, and her son Michael), and some very realistic dialog. You also have “eccentric” characters who are believable, not outlandish. There isn’t a perfunctory romance going on and Mrs. Mallory (Sheila) doesn’t put herself in crazy, dangerous situations. And, did I mention, the mystery is really good?

The audio book that I’m listening to comes from Spencer Quinn‘s Chet and Bernie mysteries. These mysteries are extremely different from Hazel Holt’s series. Bernie is an ex-policeman and Chet is his ex-K-9 dog. (Actually Chet never graduates from K-9 school, for reasons out of his control… well, not exactly out of his control.)

I tried to explain the Chet and Bernie mysteries to my son (who reads a lot of science fiction) but he kept summing it up as a “So, you have a talking dog.” type of mystery series. For some reason, I am not able to explain that this is no normal “talking dog” mystery series. This is because Chet doesn’t actually talk, he thinks in human words. There, you see! I’m simply am not able to explain this really enjoyable mystery series.

I think that because my son read all of Brian Jacques Redwall Series when he was quite young (obviously only those that had been published by then) he thinks of talking animals as actually “talking animals”. Chet doesn’t actually “talk” per se. The Chet and Bernie mysteries are told from Chet’s perspective. Chet is a perfect personification for animal lovers everywhere.

I guess that having both of these authors on my “favorite authors” list shows how diverse mysteries are. While the Chet and Bernie mysteries are not Cozy Mysteries, they are doggone good. (Warning, however, there is some swearing in this series.) And it is very safe to say that the Mrs. Mallory mysteries are exactly what Cozy Mysteries should be.

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