The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

To Kill, OR Not to Kill, That Really Is the Question!

I received a really good idea for an entry from one of you, who wishes to remain anonymous. Actually, I think it’s a really, really good idea, and would have loved to give credit to the person posing the question, but will go with what he/she asked.

“I was having a conversation with a mystery writer whose books feature an amateur sleuth. He mentioned he was thinking of killing her off a few books in, and having another younger (more interesting) character take over the crime solving business. Now my instinct as a reader was “No! Don’t do it!”, but I was really curious whether you or your readers knew if a mystery writer has gotten away with this successfully, or did it destroy the series. I don’t mean spin-off series, but out-and-out remove the main sleuth permanently and replace with a whole different lead sleuth. What do you think?”

I don’t know of any mystery series where the author has killed off the main sleuth and brought in a more “interesting” sleuth to take his/her place. I wonder just how boring (my word, not anybody else’s) this particular author’s main sleuth is. Is she/he boring to readers? (The sleuth, not the author!) Is he/she boring to just the author? Is this particular author’s mystery series a well-known and well-established mystery series?

If this particular author’s series is popular, my advice would be to: “Get over it! Don’t tamper with success! Go get yourself a pseudonym and start another series with a more interesting (to you) main sleuth.” (Many other authors are going the pseudonym route, so just join them. It makes it more difficult for the readers to keep the particular authors with pseudonyms straight, but apparently that doesn’t seem to bother the authors. And, let’s face it, with pseudonyms, if people don’t like one of your series, they may still give another one of your series a try.)

I am one of those people who missed Captain Hastings when he moved to Argentina. Yes, I know he wasn’t the main sleuth in Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot Mystery Series, but he sure was a great secondary character. And as such, he added a lot to the series. Imagine, though, that Christie has gotten rid of Hercule instead, and made Hastings the sleuth. So much more exciting: a military hero and a gaucho, to boot! Can’t get more “interesting” than that! Good thing Christie didn’t, or we would be reading the Captain Hastings Mystery Series!

So, although I don’t know of any successful mystery authors who have managed to pull the old bait and switch routine, I will agree with the person who sent me this entry’s subject:

“No! Don’t do it!”

Getting back to the actual topic of this entry:

“I was really curious whether you or your readers knew if a mystery writer has gotten away with this successfully, or did it destroy the series. I don’t mean spin-off series, but out-and-out remove the main sleuth permanently and replace with a whole different lead sleuth. What do you think?”

One of My Fall Rituals OR How I Do (Plan) My Television Viewing

With all of these current comments about television shows, I decided to share a little about what I do each year at this time.

Every new fall television season, I tape all of the new shows and watch them. (We have a Sage television recorder which is fabulous – although “extinct”. It enables us to record a lot of different shows at the same time.) I actually go through the television roster and pick out all of the new shows. I then record and watch them, to determine whether they are keepers or not.

You might think that I must devote hours and hours to watching all of the new shows the four major networks have to offer. Actually, I wish that were the case! Unfortunately, I usually don’t last more than ten minutes for most shows. I try to “force” myself to watch at least ten minutes, but sometimes I don’t even last that long. I can usually tell if the show is something that will “last” for me rather quickly. Some of the time, all I need to see is a “funny” sex joke. If a show’s writers think they have to rely on a “funny” sex joke within the first ten minutes to catch the viewer’s attention, then they are looking for a different type of viewer than me.

Another thing that tells me the show isn’t for me is when I see a cute, angelic, little child doing quick double-take looks at the parents. That or the “always funny” same sweet child rolling his/her eyes at something one of the parents said. Relying on that is a definite turn-off to me. I guess I just don’t agree with the laugh-track technician.

Let’s see, what are some other pet peeves of mine… (I think I’m on a roll!!!)

How about doctors and lawyers on these shows who look like they are nineteen years old? >>> And I’m not talking about Dougy Hauser, MD! What happened to all of those years of college and then medical school, interning, residency, etc.? At least give me a lawyer with four years of college, followed by three years of law school, I’ll give it a break and not put in the LL.M.s!

Here’s yet one more thing that will determine if I’m able to last longer than ten minutes watching a new show: Give me some actors who are not “generic” looking actors. I’d like to be able to differentiate between the actresses and actors. I mean, do all of the actors have to be buff, Chippendale looking men? Do all of the actresses need to look like they all received the same cosmetic surgery upon graduating from high school? And, when I say I’d like them not to all look alike, I don’t mean throw a blonde in amongst the brunettes!

Yes, I know, I’m a tough crowd!!!

So far, this season, I have two possible shows that I will continue watching. Two out of the entire new television roster for all three channels. That’s pretty telling, isn’t it? But, at least I have two possible shows. Some years I don’t even have one!

How about you? How do you find new shows to follow? Do you have any pet peeves when it comes to finding a new show?

Author Susanna Calkins Interviews… Me!

I’ll bet that a lot of you didn’t know that our very own “Susie” is actually Susanna Calkins, the soon-to-be published author of A Murder at Rosamund’s Gate.

Here is the blurb about Susie (or I guess I should say Susanna) that appears on her Amazon page:

“SUSANNA CALKINS became fascinated with seventeenth-century England while pursuing her doctorate in British history. A former pirate, she once served on the Golden Hinde–a museum replica of Sir Frances Drake’s ship–now dry docked in the Thames. Originally from Philadelphia, Calkins now lives outside of Chicago with her husband and two sons. The Murder at Rosamund’s Gate, featuring Lucy Campion, is her first novel.”

This is the blurb from her actual website:

“Educator, historian, faculty developer by day… writer by night…

I’ve had a morbid curiosity about murder in seventeenth-century England ever since grad school. The ephemera from the archives–tantalizing true accounts of the fantastic and the strange–inspired my historical mysteries.

Born and raised in Philadelphia, I live outside Chicago now, with my husband and two sons. Represented by David Hale Smith of Inkwell Management, my first novel, A Murder at Rosamund’s Gate (Minotaur/ St.Martin’s Press), will be published in Winter 2013.”

I am anxiously awaiting its release, have already pre-ordered my copy of this historical mystery book, and cannot wait until it is finally released.

Now, I hate to toot my own horn, but Susie/Susanna recently posted an interview with me, and I thought I would pass it along for those of you who might be interested in reading it:

Some insights about mysteries from a long-time blogger and reader…

Thank you, Susie, for the opportunity to share a little about myself.

Wyoming to Montana to Wyoming…

Here I am in Yellowstone Park, loving it, but not so crazy about not having internet access – or cell phone capability. I would never have guessed how important those two things have become to me. Good grief! Shame on me! Complaining about the lack of those two things – with this phenomenal beauty all around us.

Here’s a tip: If you don’t have children in school, this time in September is a wonderful time to visit. We have not encountered any large crowd problems… even while watching Old Faithful – twice!

It looks like the Park Rangers have done a great job convincing people not to feed the animals. All of those old documentaries that show bears coming right up to the cars looking for food – well, that’s not happening anymore, at least as far as we can see. (Or am I remembering Yogi Bear and Boo Boo stealing picnic baskets from unsuspecting visitors at Jellystone Park?)

While on route, we went through beautiful Shoshone National Forest. It just kept getting more beautiful as we went through Bridges-Teton National Forest, then through Grand Teton National Forest, only to arrive at spectacular Yellowstone National Park. After living for so many years in San Antonio, it was a truly inspring thing to see all of the clusters of Aspen trees amongst the pine trees, as their golden leaves shimmered.

I am going to post this entry on our last day at Yellowstone, as we head out to see Little Big Horn, and then south, back to our home. As nice as this vacation has been, it will be nice not to have to deal with luggage, arranging and then rearranging our car, and, lastly our everyday “necessities” like cell phone and internet connections.

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