Cozy Mystery Administrator’s Observations

Do You Read Mystery Books for the Mystery?

October 18, 2011

I just finished a mystery by a favorite author of mine, but I am not sure I am going to continue with her. My problem is that this was her third consecutive mystery book that I have read where I absolutely knew the mystery solution by at least page fifty.

I have all of the rest of her books in my TBR bookshelf, which shows you just how committed I am to her. But, I have been toying with dropping her. I read mysteries for the mystery factor, along with all of the other ingredients it takes to make up a good mystery novel. I mean, if I want to read great NON-mystery fiction, I could spend my time reading Charles Dickens’ Bleak House. (Both my husband and my daughter love that novel, and have been trying to get me to read it for… forever!)

I actually pulled my remaining mysteries by this favorite author of mine from my TBR bookshelf. But then I felt the same feeling I have felt in the past when I dropped one of my favorite authors: DISLOYAL!!! She had given me so many hours of very enjoyable reading, but lately, she was starting to get on my nerves! “Come on” I would mentally urge, “don’t let the solution of this mystery be this obvious. Get with it!” I would coax…

I have spoken before about going to the end of a mystery book when I am absolutely sure I know the culprit, and then being annoyed if I am correct. Well, with this author’s last book I didn’t pull that trick. Sure, I wanted to, but I held myself back. I KNEW she wouldn’t let me down… not after the last two mysteries let me down. Surely she was back on her game. NOPE!!!

I want to drop this author, but just can’t seem to do just that. I feel like I enjoy her writing, but I find myself truly annoyed that her crimes are so obvious. There’s a lot of really great fiction out there, why should I continue with an author just because she writes mysteries? Perhaps it’s time for me to take a break from mysteries… but mysteries are what I enjoy reading…

Have any of you found yourself in this position? To drop or not to drop, that is the question!

P. D. James & Jane Austen: Death Comes to Pemberley with Pride and Prejudice

October 13, 2011

Here is some very important news for all of you P. D. James fans: She has just finished a sequel to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice! Yes, it’s true! The book, Death Comes to Pemberley, will be available in the USA in December, and a month earlier in Great Britain.

According to James, it took her two years to complete this project, and she does not plan on doing anything like this again. James has long been a fan of Jane Austen, as well as crimes. So, what better way to follow up Pride and Prejudice than with a murder at Pemberley?!?

If you want more information, go check out The Associated Press. They are responsible for “breaking the story.”

Doris Day and Rock Hudson Comedy Movies…

October 10, 2011

As this is a Cozy Mystery site, I know that I really should limit the entries on the Television and Movie page to… Cozy Mystery shows, or at least mysteries. But there are some shows and/or actors/actresses that I enjoy so much, I just cannot imagine not “spreading the word.” Judy Holliday is one such actress, and now, I am adding Doris Day, once known as “America’s Sweetheart”. Actually as much as I enjoy this “feel good” actress, I am devoting this entry to the three comedies she made with Rock Hudson: Pillow Talk, Send Me No Flowers, and Lover, Come Back.

The last time I watched these three comedies was with my daughter who was (and still is) in her early twenties. There are some television shows and movies that, although they were produced way before her time (and some were even way before my time!), I think she “should” see. Some of these movies are: The Little Foxes with Bette Davis, Dodsworth with Walter Huston and Ruth Chatterton, and Lady Eve with Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda.

Getting back to the Doris Day and Rock Hudson comedies:

Pillow Talk (1959) Ah yes, party lines! I don’t personally remember them, but have seen enough “old movies” to know that they were a hassle. Imagine sharing access to your telephone with strangers. Next, imagine having a job that requires your clients to call you at home. Now take it one step further… you share your party line with a womanizing jerk who talks incessantly with bimbettes. Oh, and every time you pick up your phone to use it, you hear this womanizing jerk snow-job this bevy of women. Doris Day is the long-suffering interior decorator and Rock Hudson is the selfish “player.” Tony Randall adds even more fun to this very funny comedy. (If you’re only going to watch one of these three highlighted Doris Day/Rock Hudson movies, I recommend this be your choice.)

Lover Come Back (1961) Doris Day and Rock Hudson are back at it – this time as competing advertising executives. Doris Day is again the “live-by-the-rules” good girl, with Rock Hudson playing a no-good-hound dog sort of guy, with no scruples. He makes his own rules as he goes, and hits a dead-end when Doris makes him come clean, so to speak. Tony Randall, again adds a lot of cute moments. (While I recommend all three of these comedies, I definitely rank this one as my least favorite of the three — although I believe it is way better than a lot of today’s box office hit comedies.)

Send Me No Flowers (1964) This third Doris Day/Rock Hudson pairing has them married. Rock plays a hypochondriac who is convinced he is going to die. He enlists his best friend (played by Tony Randall) to find a good husband replacement for himself so that his home-maker wife won’t be alone… without a “good provider.” Enter Clint Walker>>> a tall, suave, rich, handsome, gentleman from cattle country… a little “too good” of a replacement…

If what you are looking for is a fun movie, that doesn’t require a lot of “yadda-yadda” thinking, that is simply funny and clever, then any one of these Doris Day/Rock Hudson/Tony Randall comedies should fit the bill. However, if you’re looking for a “funny movie” with a lot of twists and turns, profanity, “hidden” messages”, bathroom humor, and/or nudity>>> pass on these three.

If you would like to see more TV and Movies suggestions, click here.

Cozy Mystery Sleuths Who Leave Their Cozy Towns, Villages, “Worlds”…

October 1, 2011

I just finished another mystery by one of my favorite mystery authors, and I’m not sure I am very happy about it. Actually, if I hadn’t been happy about reading it, I would have not finished it, but I am unhappy about the setting.

Let me use this example to demonstrate what I am talking about:

In the very popular Murder, She Wrote television show, Cabot Cove was a little haven of friends and “regulars” who we all grew to enjoy spending time with. Doc might have been grumpy, but he was “our” Doc. Amos might not have been the best sheriff, but he was “our” sheriff. As much as we enjoyed our “regulars”>>> we didn’t begrudge Jessica as she occasionally globe-trotted. OK, some of the globe-trotting shows seemed a little more like boondoggles, but we knew that the next week, we would be back with “our friends.” An occasional week without Amos and Doc was OK. But, what about when Jessica moved away from Cabot Cove? Hmmmm…..

Now that it is taking me longer and longer to make it through one book, do I really enjoy it when my favorite sleuths head out of town for the entire book, and leave behind some of my other favorite characters? No, I do not!

I just finished a Cozy Mystery where the main sleuth left the “village type setting” and took with her, my LEAST favorite regular character in the series. YIKES!!! I guess it wouldn’t have been so bad if my sleuth had taken her little vacation with my very favorite character in the series >>> and by that I mean that I like a secondary character even more than the sleuth! This meant that I didn’t get to “spend time” with a well-developed character who I really enjoy.

I know that places like Cabot Cove might have started with a population of less than a thousand at the beginning, and that after all of the shows, the population probably dwindled down to less than one hundred, with the cemetery having to buy up more and more land parcels for all of the victims Jessica sought justice for. But, when an author spends time developing her/his characters, why “drop” those characters for an entire book?

This type of “let’s take a vacation from the very same village the readers love” switcheroo has me as grumpy as Cabot Cove’s Doc!

What about you? Do you miss the “regular” characters in your favorite mystery series when the sleuth leaves town in order to do her/his sleuthing with a whole new group of characters?

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