The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Ladies of Intrigue – Orange County – March 29, 2014

All of you lucky people who live in Orange County (yes, as in California) have a super-terrific treat heading your way! One of the board members of the Orange County Sisters in Crime sent me a letter telling me about an event that will be taking place on Saturday, March 29, that sounds pretty super-terrific-ally special.

The Orange County Sisters in Crime will be sponsoring the “Ladies of Intrigue” event in Huntington Beach, California. The event will be an all-day affair, and will feature both speakers and panelists who write mysteries.

Yes, it gets even better than that! Carolyn Hart and Rhys Bowen will be two of the authors who will be there. Yes, Carolyn Hart as in Death on Demand Mystery Series, Bailey Ruth Ghost Mystery Series, and Henrie O Mystery Series. And, yes, Rhys Bowen as in Molly Murphy Mystery Series, Her Royal Spyness Mystery Series, and Evan Evans Mystery Series. (I told you it is going to be a super-terrific treat!)

They will be covering topics that explore… well, I don’t think I can tell you as well as the letter I got said it, so I am simply going to copy and paste the rest of this information:

Fourteen Orange County and Los Angeles authors are panelists and moderators. Topics include: Tough Cookies: Strong Female Protagonists; Down a Dark Alley: How Setting Shapes Story, and Passport Required: Mystery Goes International.

The authors are Jill Amadio, Cara Black , Lisa Brackmann, Jan Burke, Carol Higgins Clark, Kim Fay, Naomi Hirahara, Tammy Kaehler, Sheila Lowe, Jeanne Matthews, Jeri Westerson, and Patricia Wynn. Moderators are Aileen Baron, Terri Nolan, and Patricia Smiley.

Location: Hotel Huntington Beach. The program is from 8:45 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and includes lunch. For more information and registration: http://www.ocsistersincrime.org.

There is only one thing that bothers me about this phenomenal line-up of mystery-related fun, and that is: Why don’t these types of events ever take place where I live? I’m guessing you are probably asking the very same thing!

One Cozy Mystery Author, Multiple Mystery Series, One Preference…

I received a letter from “Lynn T.” last month with two great ideas for entry posts. Thank you, Lynn T, for both of the ideas. While I like both of them, I have been thinking about this one the most. Lynn T.:

“… I really enjoyed the blog where an author wrote more than one series. You asked which of the series by the author would you recommend to a person who wasn’t familiar with the series. I remember off the top of my head a few you asked about-Susan Wittig Albert, Mary Daheim and I think Paige Shelton and Sheila Connolly. There were more. I know I started the Emma Lord series by Mary Daheim from that post. …”

I have seen a definite increase of Cozy Mystery authors who write multiple series. Some of the authors use pseudonyms, while others don’t. I’m going to use my favorite Cozy Mystery author of all time to start the ball rolling:

So, you haven’t yet ventured into the world of Agatha Christie? Wow! Do you have a reading treat in store for you! She wrote several Cozy Mystery series, but two of them are more popular/famous than the others: Hercule Poirot Mystery Series and Miss Marple Mystery Series. Hmmm, since you can only try one book at a time, I want to be sure to recommend the series I think you might enjoy the most. Hmmm, this is particularly difficult, but if I could only choose one, it would hands-down, unequivocally be the Miss Marple Mystery Series. (I guess it really wasn’t that difficult for me to choose!)

While I have read and am currently re-reading both the Hercule Poirot series as well as the Miss Marple series, I tend to look forward to my Miss Marple mysteries a little more. When you think about both of the main sleuths, you can see that they are very different from each other. There is almost a 180º difference between them. Poirot is arrogant, needs to be the center of attention, fussy, immaculately groomed, and sometimes condescending. Poirot solves mysteries by using his little gray cells to think through the puzzle. Miss Marple, on the other hand, is likely to fade into the background, friendly, quiet, and almost reserved. Miss Marple solves mysteries through her knowledge of human nature.

Miss Marple is a true amateur sleuth, while Poirot is a private detective and an ex-member of the Belgian police force. When it gets right down to it, which of these two sleuths would I want to spend time with and get to know? Hands-down again: Miss Marple! While I think Poirot would be fun to spend a little time with, I’m not quite sure if I would be able to overlook his pomposity, the way Hastings does. Miss Marple, on the other hand, enjoys the simple pleasures – knitting, gardening, with a little gossiping -which I think I’d very much enjoy with her.

What about you? Do you have a favorite Cozy Mystery author who writes more than one mystery series? If so, without being too negative about the other series(s), which of his/her series would you recommend over his/her other(s), and please tell us why.

Danna:
Agatha Christie: Miss Marple Mystery Series

Teressa:
Susan Wittig Albert: China Bayles Mystery Series
Victoria Laurie: Psychic Eye Mystery Series
Maggie Sefton: Knitting Mystery Series

Carol:
Margaret Maron: Sigrid Harald Mystery Series

Angela:
Jenn McKinlay (aka Josie Belle & Lucy Lawrence): Cupcake Bakery Mystery Series
Sheila Connolly (aka Sarah Atwell): Orchard Mystery Series
Agatha Christie: Miss Marple Mystery Series

Susan*:
Agatha Christie: Tommy & Tuppence Mystery Series
Susan Wittig Albert: China Bayles Mystery Series
Victoria Laurie: Ghost Hunter Mystery Series
Elizabeth Peters: Amelia Peabody Mystery Series
Kerry Greenwood: Corinna Chapman Mystery Series

Chris:
Agatha Christie: Miss Marple Mystery Series

Suzanne:
Carolyn Hart: Death on Demand Mystery Series

Jackie:
Agatha Christie: Miss Marple Mystery Series
Mary Daheim: Bed & Breakfast Mystery Series

Pat:
M.C. Beaton: Hamish Macbeth Mystery Series

Laura:
Susan Wittig Albert: (written as Robin Paige with husband Bill Albert): Kate Ardleigh Sheridan & Sir Charles Sheridan Victorian Mystery Series
Laurie R. King: Mary Russell Mystery Series
Elizabeth Peters: Amelia Peabody Mystery Series

Lynn T.:
Susan Wittig Albert: Darling Dahlias Mystery Series
Paige Shelton: Country Cooking School Mystery Series
Ellery Adams: Books by the Bay Mystery Series
Julie Hyzy: White House Chef Mystery Series
Victoria Abbott: Book Collector’s Mystery Series
Sheila Connolly: County Cork Mystery Series
Charlotte MacLeod: Sarah Kelling Mystery Series

Marja:
Clea Simon: Theda Krakow Mystery Series
Margaret Maron: Deborah Knott Mystery Series
Carolyn Hart: Henrie O Mystery Series
Lydia Adamson: Alice Nestleton Mystery Series

Donna Mc:
Agatha Christie: Harley Quin Stories

MJ:
Amanda Flower: Appleseed Creek Mystery Series
Joan Hess: Claire Malloy Mystery Series
Crickett McRae: Home Crafting Mystery Series

Judith:
Charlotte MacLeod: Inspector Mado Rhys Mystery Series

♦To return to the Cozy Mystery site, click on this link.♦

Alice Duncan Has 20 Daisy Gumm Majesty Mysteries to Give Away

I thought I would make this “public” for all of you who may want to participate. On Thursday, February 20, I asked for help to identify an author for Tessa. It turns out that the author Tessa was looking for is Alice Duncan. Yesterday we heard from Alice Duncan with this great give-away she has going. I thought several of you might want to participate, so here is the information:

Alice Duncan:

Thanks for looking for my books! I’m giving the first one (Strong Spirits) in audio this month, if you’d like to enter my contest. I have about 20 copies to give to folks, so if you’re interested, just email me at alice@aliceduncan.net

Thanks!

Good luck!

Sarcastic, Lazy, Young British Sleuth…

hammockA while back a Cozy Mystery reader posted a comment asking our help in identifying an author. Here is part of Sandy’s question:

I am desperate to find the title/author of a mystery I listened to 5+ years ago while packing one of our homes. (We have moved twice since then.) My brain wasn’t thinking straight enough to remember either the author or the name of the main character, but I am hoping someone here may know. I have searched the audio books in that library to no avail.

I remember the sleuth was a British young man who was sarcastic and lazy. He goes in the rich category, I think, but only because he had rich friends or relatives with whom he lived. I remember his name seemed ridiculous to me, and that is started with a W. I can’t even remember the plot, but I had that “cozy” feeling the whole way through and laughed and laughed.

I wonder if any of you can answer this identity question for Sandy. If you can, please post a comment. Thank you!

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