Tour Guide Cozy Mysteries… Mystery Books that Involve Travel:

What better time to travel than in the summer months? Well, that is true if you have children in school… My guess is that most empty-nesters or people who have opted from having children would rather travel during the times when school is in session… making places of interest a whole lot more accessible and less crowded. Either way, you can take along a cozy mystery which features travelling as a central theme:

Peter Abresch: James P. Dandy Elderhostel Mystery Series

Taffy Cannon: The first novel in the Roxanne Prescott Mystery Series features a tour guide for a very first-class tour business.

Lynne E. Chandler: Mrs. Baul Investigates: Bishop Kidnapped in Egypt

Hy Conrad: Conrad writes the Abel Adventures Mystery Series which revolves around mystery-solving tours.

William Doonan: The Henry Graves Mystery Series features an octogenarian who works on a cruise ship as a senior investigator.

Dorothy Gilman: In Mrs. Pollifax Mystery Series, Mrs. Pollifax is often traveling. In Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station, she is on a tour group to China.

Sue Henry: The Maxi & Stretch Mystery Series features a 60s something RV traveler who sleuths across the country with the help of her Mini Dachshund.

Maddy Hunter: The Passport to Peril Mystery Series features a tour guide who travels with her senior citizen group… who prove that there is such a thing as being “young at heart”.

Anna Loan-Wilsey: The Hattie Davish “Have Typewriter Will Travel” Mystery Series features a traveling secretary/typist in the late 19th century. Hattie travels to different locales in the USA.

Marie Moore: The Sydney March Mystery Series has, as its sleuth, a woman who takes vacationing groups on tours.

Nancy J. Parra (aka Nancy Coco & Nell Hampton):  Wine Country Mystery Series – Taylor O’Brian runs wine tours in Sonoma valley – California.

Emily Toll: Are you Booked for Travel?… as in the Booked for Travel Mystery Series which features a widowed tour guide with a penchant for sleuthing.

Livia J. Washburn: The Literary Tour Mystery Series… With tours that are based on literary works, “plots” (as in the type you find in cemeteries!) are sometimes on the agenda.

Marty Wingate: The Birds of a Feather Mystery Series stars a tourist manager in Smeaton-under-Lyme.

Aaron Marc Stein: The Bombing Run

♦ To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme click on this link ♦

Another theme that is very popular in the summer months is Weddings. This summer (August 2008), I am actually going to be touched by that theme… My niece is getting married in Chicago, and I am so excited about this! She is an innately good person… and I wish all good (as in WONDERFUL!) things for her.

The authors who I am going to include in the Wedding Cozy Mystery Theme are:

Beverly Allen (aka Barbara Early): Bridal Bouquet Shop Mystery Series… Audrey Bloom co-owns a flower shop in Virginia that specializes in wedding arrangements.

Stephanie Blackmoore: Wedding Planner Mystery Series

Ginger Bolton (aka Janet Bolin): Goodbye Cruller World (Deputy Donut Mystery Series)

Mary Jane Clark : Piper Donovan Wedding Cake Mystery Series

Peg Cochran (aka Meg London): Bought the Farm (Farmer’s Daughter Mystery Series)

Marla Cooper: Destination Wedding Mystery Series…

Kathy Cranston ….. Weddings are Murder (Bee’s Bakehouse Mystery Series)

Deborah Donnelly: Donnelly has a masters in library science… I believe that her Carnegie Kincaid is the only wedding planner I know of who is also a sleuth, and who lives on a houseboat! (Carnegie Kincaid Mystery Series)

Laura Durham: Durham is a Duke graduate with a degree in English who became a wedding planner. That paved the way for her Annabelle  Archer Mystery Series>>> Annabelle is also a sleuth and wedding planner…

Amanda Flower (aka Isabella Alan): Maid of Murder (India Hayes Mystery Series)

Agatha Frost: Champagne and Catastrophes ( Peridale Cafe Cozy Mystery Series)

Lee Hollis: Death of a Wedding Cake Baker (Hayley Powell Mystery Series)

Nancy J. Parra (aka Nancy Coco) writes the Perfect Proposals Mystery Series. Pepper Pomeroy was an event planner until she tried coordinating a perfect marriage proposal, which quickly made her change her specialty.

There are, of course, several mysteries that feature weddings in their plots…

Donna Andrews included not one, but three weddings in Murder with Peacocks, her first Meg Lanslow Mystery.

Catherine Bruns: Frosted with Revenge from her Cookies & Chance Mystery Series.

V.M. Burns: Wed, Read and Dead from her Mystery Bookshop Mystery Series.

Meg Cabot has The Bride Wore Size 12, which is the fourth in the Heather Wells Mysteries.

JoAnna Carl (aka Eve K. Sandstrom) wrote a wedding-setting mystery in her Chocoholic Mystery Series named The Chocolate Bridal Bash.

The Jane Jeffry Mystery Series by Jill Churchill gave us A Groom with a View andThe Accidental Florist, while Goldy Bear (of the Goldy Bear Mystery Series) had her own wedding to plan in The Last Suppers by Diane Mott Davidson.

Kate Collins: Seed No Evil, of the Flower Shop Mystery Series.

Elizabeth Spann Craig: Tying the Knot Southern Quilting Mystery Series

Isis Crawford (aka Barbara Block) has A Catered Wedding in her Mystery with Recipes Series, while Joanne Fluke‘s Cookie Jar Mystery Series has the Peach Cobbler Murder as its wedding themed-mystery.

Isis Crawford (aka Barbara Block) A Catered Cat Wedding (Mystery with Recipes Mystery Series)

Krista Davis: The Diva Takes the Cake – Sophie’s sister is getting married >>> again. (Domestic Diva Mystery Series)

Kathleen Delaney: Murder Half Baked (Ellen McKenzie Mystery Series)

Laura Durham wrote To Love and to Perish, which is the third in her Annabelle Archer Mystery Series.

K.J. Emrick….. Till Death Do Us Part (Darcy Sweet Mystery Series)

Christy Fifield (aka Christy Evans) ….. Murder Ties the Knot, from the Haunted Souvenir Shop Mystery Series.

Joanne Fluke: Wedding Cake Murder (Hannah Swensen Mystery Series)

Earlene Fowler: Steps to the Altar, in which sleuth Benni Harper is responsible for planning both her grandmother’s and best friend’s weddings

A. Gardner: Wedding Soufflé and a Dead Valet is in her Poppy Peters Mystery Series. Poppy is a former ballet dancer who then goes on to be a pastry chef.

Margaret Grace (aka Camille Minichino, Ada Madison, & Jean Flowers): Matrimony in Miniature (Miniature Mystery Series)

Sarah Graves: Death by Chocolate Malted Milkshake (Death by Chocolate Mystery Series)

Yes, even the Gregor Demarkian Mystery Series (by Jane Haddam/Orania Papazoglou) has a wedding inspired mystery: Deadly Beloved.

Jean Hager‘s Iris House Bed & Breakfast Mystery Series gave us both Sew Deadly and The Bride and Doom… While Bride and Groom was offered up for our reading enjoyment from Susan Conant‘s Dog Lover’s Mystery Series.

Gemma Halliday: Mayhem in High Heels from her High Heels Mystery Series

Miranda James (aka Jimmie Ruth Evans, Honor Hartman, & Dean James): Dead with the Wind – The Southern Ladies, An’gel and Dickce Ducote, are off to a wedding!

Diane Kelly: Death, Taxes, and a Shotgun Wedding from the Tara Holloway Mystery Series.

Colette London: Dangerously Dark from her Chocolate Whisperer Mystery Series.

Alyssa Maxwell: A Murderous Marriage (Lady and Lady’s Maid Mystery Series)

Maggie McConnon (aka Maggie Barbieri): Wedding Bel Blues (Belfast McGrath Mystery Series)

Jenn McKinlay (aka Josie Belle & Lucy Lawrence): Wedding Cake Crumble – Cupcake Bakery Mystery Series

Staci McLaughlin: Marriage is Pure Murder from her Blossom Valley Mystery Series.

Leslie Meier‘s Lucy Stone Mystery Series had the Wedding Day Murder, and who can forget M. C. Beaton‘s Agatha Raisin and The Murderous Marriage… with its crazy ending!?! M. C. Beaton also has There Goes the Bride.

Liz Mugavero (aka Cate Conte): Murder, She Meowed (Pawsitively Organic Mystery Series)

Cynthia Riggs: Widow’s Wreath (Martha’s Vineyard Mystery Series)

Sara Rosett: Marriage, Monsters-in Law, and Murder – This wedding has two mothers-in-law getting a little more involved than they should! This is from the Ellie Avery Mystery Series.

Sara Rosett: Death at an English Wedding – from the Murder on Location Mystery Series.

Arlene Sachitano: Double Wedding Death – from the Harriet Truman/Loose Threads Mystery Series.

Denise Swanson writes the Scumble River Mystery Series which has a Wedding Theme mystery called Murder of a Wedding Belle.

Teresa Trent: Buzzkill (Pecan Bayou Mystery Series)

LynDee Walker: Lethal Lifestyles (Headlines in Heels Mystery Series)

Marty Wingate: Between a Rock and a Hard Place (Potting Shed Mystery Series)

I am sure that there are other Cozy Mystery novels with Wedding Themes that I have read, but I just cannot seem to remember their titles… If you know of a novel that I have been remiss in adding to the Cozy Mystery Wedding Theme list… please send a comment and I will gladly add it.

♦To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme click on this link.♦

This Bed & Breakfast Cozy Mystery Theme also includes mystery series that take place in boarding houses and hotels:

Annie’s Amish Inn Mystery Series Liz Eckardt is an ex-lawyer who now owns a Bed & Breakfast in Pleasant Creek, Indiana.

Claudia Bishop: The Hemlock Falls Mystery Series features Sarah Quilliam, the owner of an inn and Meg Quilliam, the chef at the inn, and is set in New York.

Stephanie Blackmoore: The Wedding Planner Mystery Series stars Mallory Shepard, a wedding planner who hopes to open a B & B in Port Quincy, Pennsylvania.

Ellen Byron: The Cajun Country Mystery Series stars Maggie Crozat, owner of a plantation-turned bed and breakfast in Louisiana.

Bill Crider & Willard Scott: The Stanley Waters Mystery Series features an ex-weatherman who now operates a B & B in Virginia.

Jill Churchill: The Grace & Favor Mystery Series is set in 1930s New York and features Robert and Lily Brewster, a brother and sister who live in the boarding mansion of that name.

E. J. Copperman: Haunted Guesthouse Mystery Series… New guesthouse owner on the Jersey shore has two “uninvited” (ghostly) guests.

Tina Czarnota: Country Inn, Bed & Breakfast Mystery Series… Trina runs the Tudor Grove Inn while sleuthing.

Mary Daheim: The Hillside Manor Bed & Breakfast Mystery Series features the owner of the Seattle B&B.

K.J. Emrick: the Pine Lake Inn Mystery Series features the owner of an inn.

Janet Finsilver: the Redwood Cove Mystery Series, starring the manager of a B&B.

Cynthia Gallant-Simpson writes the Deadly Mystery Series, which features a British expatriate who inherits an inn in Provincetown, Cape Cod.

Victoria Gilbert: Book Lover’s B&B Mystery Series, starring the owner of a B&B in Beaufort, North Carolina.

Jean Hager: The Iris House Bed & Breakfast Mystery Series is set in Missouri and features the owner of that B&B.

Heather Horrocks: The Who-Dun-Him-Inn Mystery Series stars the owner of a mystery-themed hotel.

Kate Kingsbury: The Pennyfoot Hotel Mystery Series takes place in the very early 1900s, is set in England, and features the hotel owner.

Kylie Logan: The League of Literary Ladies Mystery Series takes place on an island in Lake Erie and features a bed and breakfast.

Karen MacInerney: The Gray Whale Inn Mystery Series takes place in Maine and features the inn’s owner, an ex-Texan.

Charlotte MacLeod:  The Sarah Kelling & Max Bittersohn Mystery Series features Sarah, the owner of a boardinghouse in Boston.

Emma Miller: The Amish Mystery Series stars a former Amish woman in an Amish town in Pennsylvania.

Ruth Moose: The Beth McKenzie Mystery Series, starring the owner-operator of the Dixie Dew Bed and Breakfast.

Tamar Myers:  The Pennsylvania Dutch Mystery Series features the owner of a Mennonite Inn.

Tim Myers: The Lighthouse Inn Series features the owner of the inn in North Carolina.

Rose Pressey: The Trash to Treasure Crafting Mystery Series features the owner of a hotel in Kentucky.

Kirsten Weiss: Doyle Mystery Series – Susan Witsend is the owner of a UFO themed bed and breakfast.

***To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme click on this link.***

This Cozy Mystery Gardening Theme includes  authors who can be found on the Cozy Mystery site who write Cozy Mysteries with sleuths who are gardeners, botanists, horticulturalists, florists, or even people who simply love gardens.

Susan Wittig Albert (aka “half of” Robin Paige) writes the China Bayles Herbal Mystery Series which features an ex-attorney who lives half-way between Austin and San Antonio, Texas.

Alyse Carlson writes the Garden Society Mystery Series, which features a PR promoter of the exclusive Roanoke Garden Society.

Kate Collins writes the Flower Shop Mystery Series that is set in Indiana, with Abby Knight (the owner of Bloomer’s Florists Shop) as the sleuth.

E. V. Cunningham (aka Howard Fast) is the author of the Masao Masuto Mystery Series which features a Beverly Hills homicide sergeant who loves his rose garden.

Anthony Eglin‘s English Garden Mystery Series has a British professor of botany as the main sleuth.

Kathy Lynn Emerson has the Lady Susanna Appleton Mystery Series which features an herbalist in England during the reign of Elizabeth I.

Mary Freeman‘s Gardening Mystery Series features Rachel O’Connnor, an Oregonian landscaper.

Ann Granger writes the Markby and Mitchell Mystery Series, which although not a gardening mystery series, all of her fans know about Inspector Markby’s fondness for beautiful gardens.

Joan Hadley (aka Joan Hess) wrote the (short-lived) Theo Bloomer Mystery Series which revolved around a florist who used to be a spy. (I remember enjoying the novels and hoping that she would continue with the series.)

Rosemary Harris writes the Dirty Business Mystery Series. Paula Holliday is a master gardener and an amateur sleuth!

Janis Harrison pens the Bretta Solomon Gardening Series which features a floral shop owner from Missouri.

Julie Wray Herman‘s Three Dirty Women Landscaping, Inc Mystery Series is set in the south, and features three friends who don’t just get their hands dirty planting marigolds.

Vicky Lane pens the Elizabeth Goodweather Mystery Series which features a sleuth who owns a flower/herb farm in North Carolina…

Joyce & Jim Lavene write the Peggy Lee Garden Mystery Series which is set in North Carolina… in the “Potting Shed”.

Charlotte MacLeod (aka Alisa Craig) writes the Peter & Helen Shandy Mystery Series which feature a professor of horticulture and his wife, a librarian, in Massachusetts.

Ann McMillan: McMillan writes the Civil War Mystery Series set in Virginia, and featuring an herbalist.

Ellis Peters has the Brother Cadfael Mystery Series which takes place in Medieval England with a monk/herbalist as the sleuth…

Ann Ripley‘s Gardening Mystery Series takes place in Virginia and features an organic gardener/TV hostess as the sleuth.

Lora Roberts writes the Liz Sullivan Mystery Series which features a California sleuth who both writes and gardens… all from the comfort of her VW van.

John Sherwood writes the Celia Grant Mystery Series set in London, with a botanist/horticulturalist who looks for clues in places other than his microscope slides.

Susan Sleeman pens the Garden Gate Mystery Series which takes place in Oregon, and features a landscaper.

Dorothy St. James writes the White House Gardener Mystery Series which features an organic gardener.

Rex Stout‘s Nero Wolfe loves his orchids in New York!

Nancy Jill Thames writes the Jillian Bradley Mystery Series which features a gardening  columnist and her Yorkie.

Maggie Toussaint writes the Dreamwalker Mystery Series. The sleuth is both a landscaper and a pet sitter.

Heather Webber‘s Nina Quinn Mystery Series revolves around the “Taken by Surprise” landscaping company in Ohio which specializes in “surprise garden makeovers”.

Marty Wingate: Potting Shed Mystery Series

Suzanne Young writes the Edna Davies Mystery Series which features an amateur herbalist in Rhode Island.

Here is my Florist, Flower Shop, and Flower Farm Cozy Mystery Series entry.

If you know of any other authors from the Cozy Mystery site who write gardening-related mysteries, please post a comment.

***To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme click on this link.***