I’ve got a fair amount of good news for Cozy Mystery news this month!

First, Donna Andrews has had six more books approved for the Meg Langslow Mystery Series! That will bring the series to a total of at least 32! (I say at least because I think she’s also already got a few more coming out that haven’t been given names yet, but weren’t part of this batch.) That’s quite an extension, but considering how long the series has been around and how popular it is, it’s hardly a surprise!

Next up, Rhys Bowen will be putting out two stand alone historical novels. Rhys Bowen has put out a few stand alone novels lately, but most site readers will probably know her more for the Molly Murphy Mystery Series, starring an Irish immigrand in the early 1900’s, and the Royal Spyness Mystery Series, starring the daughter of a duke in 1930’s London.

Finally, Gigi Pandian will be continuing the Jaya Jones Treasure Hunt Mystery Series with four more entries, bringing the series to a total of 10 entries. Gigi Pandian is also the author of the Accidental Alchemist Mystery Series, starring an alchemist in Portland, Oregon.

I have a fair amount of good Cozy Mystery news to share with you this month, including good news for four site authors!

First, Betty Hechtman will be starting another new mystery series, the Writer in Residence Mystery Series, which will star a writer-for-hire in the United Kingdom. Hechtman already writes the Crochet Mystery Series, starring a crochet group member and events planner, and the Yarn Retreat Mystery Series, starring a dessert chef and yarn business owner in Monterey, California.

Next up, Anna Lee Huber will be adding another set of books to her Lady Darby Mystery Series, starring the wife of a deceased anatomist in 1830s Scotland. This will bring the series to at least 11 entries! Huber is also the author of the Verity Kent Mystery Series, a widow form the Great War who worked for the Secret Service in post-war England.

 

Andrea Penrose will be continuing the Wrexford & Sloane Mystery Series, which stars the Earl of Wrexford and Charlotte Sloane, a widowed artist, in Regency London. The next novel will be titled Murder at the Royal Botanic Gardens. Penrose also writes the Lady Arianna Regency Mystery Series, also set in the early 1800s, starring a Lady returning to London from the West Indies.

Finally, Elaine Viets will be continuing her Death Investigator Mystery Series, with A Star Is Dead. This, and another as-yet-unnamed entry, will bring the series to a total of four books. Elaine Viets is also the author of the Dead-End Job Mystery Series, starring Helen Hawthorne, worker at a series of bad jobs, and the Mystery Shopper Mystery Series, starring Josie Marcus, a plain clothes store detective in Missouri.

I’ve got several pieces of news to share with you all that has occurred recently… not all of it good, unfortunately.

The good first. New York Times best selling author Laura Lippman will be putting out three more novels, a short story collection, and a nonfiction personal essay collection, though whether any of this will be a continuation of her existing Tess Monaghan Mystery Series or not is still unconfirmed.

 

Next, Sarah Stewart Taylor will be releasing The Mountains Wild, a new mystery about a police detective returning home to Ireland after a relative disappears in the Wicklow Mountains. There will be at least one sequel to this new novel, making it a series. Taylor is also the author of the existing Sweeney St. George Mystery Series, though she hasn’t written any entries in this for over a decade, making this a return to us!

Unfortunately, the rest of the month’s news is absolutely nowhere near as positive. There have been two deaths recently in the mystery world, both authors featured on the site. First, Orania Papazouglou, who wrote as Jane Haddam, has passed. Haddam was the author of the very popular Gregor Demarkian Mystery Series, the Patience Campbell Mystery Series, and recently began the Georgia Xenakias Mystery Series.

Finally, the other loss is Sarah Andrews, who also passed recently. Sarah Andrews wrote the Em Hansen Mystery Series and the Valena Walker Mystery Series.

Both authors will be greatly missed, and I’m sure I’m just one of many to extend condolences to the families and friends of both authors.

We’ve got quite a lot of great Cozy Mystery news this month, with six entries about site authors!

First up, Mollie Cox Bryan will be writing Tangled Web, the story of a Shakespearean professor who wants to solve the mystery of her mother’s death. I’m not sure (yet!) whether this will be a stand-alone mystery novel or the beginning of a new series. (I sure hope it’s the beginning of a new series!) Bryan also writes the Cora Crafts Mystery Series, the Cumberland Creek Mystery Series, the Classic Star Biography Mystery Series – which just made its debut in May, and the Buttermilk Creek Mystery Series – which will be debuting with a Christmas themed mystery this September.

Here’s some fantastic news for those of us who are knitting and Cozy Mystery lovers! Mary Ellen Hughes  will be starting a new series with A Wicked Yarn, the first of at least three books starring a knitting enthusiast and her knitting circle (the Ninth Street Knitters) in small-town Pennsylvania. (The not so great news is that Mary Ellen Hughes will be writing this series as Emmie Caldwell – yes another name for us to keep track of… ) Hughes also writes the Keepsake Cove Mystery Series, the Pickled and Preserved Mystery Series, the Craft Corner Mystery Series, and the Maggie Olenski Mystery Series. 

Susan Elia MacNeal will be continuing her Maggie Hope Mystery Series for at least another three entries. The sleuth, Maggie, is an American typist in 1940s London, and is MacNeal’s sole series. The first book in this series was nominated for both the Edgar and Dilys awards. Also, two of her Maggie Hope mysteries were nominated for the Agatha Awards Best Historical mysteries category. So it’s pretty terrific to know Maggie will continue sleuthing at least three more times!

Carol J. Perry will be continuing the Witch City Mystery Series with three more books. That’s right – we’ll be sleuthing again in Salem, Massachusetts with WICH-TV reporter Lee Barrett. This paranormal series also features O’Ryan, the cat Lee inherited, and O’Ryan just may have some magical powers of his own! Carol J. Perry will also be starting a new paranormal mystery series called the Haunted Haven series in the near future. I’ll keep you posted on that series (which will also be a paranormal series) when I find out more.

Deanna Raybourn will be writing two more mysteries in her Veronica Speedwell Mystery Series, bringing the series to a total of seven entries. Veronica Speedwell is a Victorian sleuth who is a world traveler/adventuress seeking scientific answers, as well as the answers to crimes! Raybourn released her fourth Veronica Speedwell mystery (A Dangerous Collaboration) in March of this year and we can expect the fifth (A Murderous Relation) next March. Deanna Raybourn is also the author of the Lady Julia Grey Mystery Series. Lady Julia is a widow who also lives in Victorian England.

Finally, this isn’t exactly a Cozy release, but it’s still worth mentioning that Kathy Reichs will be returning to the Temperance Brennan Mystery Series after a five year hiatus with the 19th novel-length entry in that series, A Conspiracy of Bones. That should be great news for any fans of the Bones television series, which was based upon the series! Again, this series isn’t quite Cozy, but a lot of us who use this site enjoy her books and New York Times bestselling Reichs is on the site, so I’ve decided to mention it here.

Wow! That’s a great list of news to be able to share all at once! I hope everyone has at least one thing mentioned that they can be excited about!