Every so often, I go through all of my “private lists” of authors with their chronological lists of cozy mystery books, and try to make sense of the notes that I have added to the list. (The date of my last update was about two years ago.)

The Cozy Mystery Site is the basis of my private list. It is the reason I started the site. I used to keep a version of the site as my way of keeping track of my favorite authors and their mystery books. I know that I have talked about this before, so I won’t go into the details… AGAIN!!!

Anyway>>> I am updating my private lists, and this usually takes me a few days of wrangling around with the notes I have written in the margins and the one inch space I leave between my authors. Yes, I not only have the site’s lists, but I have another copy on my desktop with just the authors I follow (which are quite a few!) and then I have a printed copy on which I like to mark off the books as I read them, add my authors’ new published books, and write “important” notes to myself about some of the books and/or authors. I have to admit, though, that the important notes are usually in the negative vein… something like “YUCK” or “NO MORE OF THIS SERIES“… and of course, there is sometimes the X-ing off of an author.

On a more positive note, I also cram new authors into the margins of my paper copy list. Cyril Hare is one author who comes to mind. I feel like he is my “happy discovery” this year… and I wish I could remember who recommended him to me! THANK YOU!!! I have his Christmas mystery, which I consider a “keeper” as I am sure I will be re-reading it in a few years. (That’s one good thing about a memory that seems to be deteriorating with age…. I can read the same books twice, and just get that little hint of déjà vu… nothing major, though… the EUREKA moment of finding out who the culprit is still takes place, but I have that little nagging sensation that I already knew he/she did it. Of course, I prefer not to read the same books twice, which is the reason for my obsession with chronological lists!)

So, since it is the beginning of the new year, I am updating my lists, and urge some of you who are as obsessive/compulsive about these chronological series to do so, also. I’m on a mission! Another reason to forget the housework, serve frozen TV dinners, and not apply any of the minimal make-up I usually don. Hmmm……. I might have to do this updating gig more often!

Yesterday, Ray T posted this comment:

“What do you think about The Good Wife now that CBS has decided to show reruns of old episodes over and over? They ruined a good show.”

I decided that rather than post the comment on the entry about the show, I would take this opportunity to write exactly how I feel about this:

Yes, Ray T, CBS has ruined a good show. I am absolutely incredulous every time the “high-ups” of one of the major networks think they can “get by” with this sort of thing. Rather than promote a new show during its first season, and treat the viewers with respect, they pull this type of lame-brained trick. Quite frankly, I would think that the major networks have a difficult enough time trying to attract viewers from all of the other channels that are available today.

I remember the first year that I became aware of this type of  major network shuffle, the  “air-six-episodes-during-twelve-weeks” game. It was the year that ER premiered. I considered myself “hooked” on that show…. until I saw that they started showing repeats of the brand new show over and over, and over again!

That’s when I found out that I really wasn’t that “hooked” on the show. I left it, and never looked back! Unfortunately, The Good Wife is not the only show with which the major networks are pulling this sort of stunt. I simply don’t have the patience to be strung-along. A show had better be downright wonderful for me to stay with it once the network decides to keep RE-airing the same shows.

And, as long as I’m writing about The Good Wife,  I have to admit that I am getting VERY TIRED of the whole subplot involving the son hiding important black-mail items that arrive at their apartment. Right! >>> My dad’s in jail, and is being framed, but I’m not going to let my parents know about this black-mailing stuff that is intended for them. >>> Good grief! That got old for me the fourth time they tried to incorporate it into the plot! 

(That’s right, I am still with the show, although I have to admit that I am on the fence about dropping it.)

Now I’ll get off my soap box….

Yesterday, in a conversation I had with my daughter, I described a “problem” I just had with the mystery book I finished very recently. While I really appreciate the author’s writing style, my “complaint” is that since I LOVE cozy mysteries, I put a lot of weight on the “mystery” part of the book. I have only read two of this author’s mysteries. I don’t know if the third will prove to be different, but in the first two books of her series, I knew exactly who the culprits were as soon as I was “introduced” to the characters.

I don’t mean to say that the characters first appeared holding  knives, while their clothes were drenched in a telltale crimson-colored substance >>> I mean that the characters did something as simple as say hello. I absolutely KNEW they were the culprits… Why else would they have been included in the mystery books?!? The culprits seemed to ingratiate themselves with the sleuth >>> becoming overly friendly with the sleuth in a very short time >>> always asking about the sleuth’s progress solving the crime.

Of course, mystery books are full of new characters… Some are added to the series’ rosters of  “regulars” and some are simply there for one book. So, why is it that in both books by this author, I knew which characters were the “bad guys” upon meeting them? Have I read too many mystery books? Nope!!! That could never be the case for me!

Why am I not able to do this with every author? Why can I be left wondering whodunit in the vast majority of the mysteries I choose to spend my time reading?

When I told my daughter about this particular “problem,” she asked me if the author’s style of writing outweighs the “problem.” And, she suggested that I write an entry about this and ask you all:

If you really enjoy the writing style of an author, is it important that the mystery be well-played? Do you continue with authors who aren’t able to keep the culprit a mystery until the end of the book? Do you enjoy going along with the author as he/she weaves red herrings in and out of the mystery?

PS>>> I am currently taking a break from the author described above  while I read my next Susan Wittig Albert mystery. She keeps me guessing all of the time, and I love her writing style!

Sprite (our 15 year old puppy) has quite a regimen in the morning… or should I say “I” have that regimen?!? She keeps me on my toes… everything has to be punctual, and everything in the correct order. (She didn’t used to be like this!)

When it is wet outside, I have to carry her over the muddy area of the yard which is right up against the house. Our oak trees provide too much shade for the grass to thrive. When we moved into our house over sixteen years ago, we made sure to plant evergreen oaks so that they would shade the house. We simply hadn’t thought that too much shade makes grass difficult to sustain. We had wonderfully thick grass until our oaks grew to be so enormous that they now provide the shade we wanted from them, at the price of grass.

Anyway, Sprite loves the feeling of the mud in between her toes (or should that be paw pads?) Of course, on days when it is raining, this is a big drag for me. I have to stay right with her while she’s outside, unless I want to give her a bath… That’s how much she loves the feeling of mud.

After she comes inside, we get down to business! By this, I mean that I have to cajole her to swallow two very small pills. Sprite doesn’t know any traditional dog tricks… She doesn’t roll over on command, she doesn’t “shake” her paw with anyone, she doesn’t even sit on command. But, she does have one trick>>> She can find a little pill inside of whatever you wrap that doggone thing in… She will peel the food right off of the pill inside her mouth, and then spit it out.

I have tried to outsmart her, but, apparently I don’t have dog psychology down! She is the one with the psychology-thing going! She knows that if she spits the pill out, she will get another (and then another!) morsel of food with the same little pill. And she takes these two little pills in the a.m. and then again in the p.m. Double the fun for me!