Cozy Mystery (and Other Favorite) Books, Movies, and TV
Susie (Susanna Calkins)asked:
“… I’ve heard many writers struggle with the second book, especially when their first book was well received. I’d be so curious to know if readers usually like the FIRST book in the series the best, or do they think it takes a few books for the author to hit his or her stride.
…I’d love to hear everyone’s responses!”
Please feel free to post a comment with your opinion. Thank you!
Ksenija just asked me if I had a Music/Musician mystery book theme on the site, and I responded that I don’t. Actually, I started putting all of the mystery authors I could think of with Music/Musicians, and came up with this list, which I wrote as a comment, but just decided to post as a theme.
Amanda Carmack: Elizabethan Mystery Series, starring Kate Haywood (musician in Elizabethan England)
Joelle Charbonneau: Glee Club Mystery Series (high school choir coach)
Alisa Craig (aka Charlotte MacLeod): Inspector Madoc Rhys Mystery Series (Trouble in the Brasses)
Sarah Fox: Music Lover’s Mystery Series
Sara Hoskinson Frommer: Joan Spencer Mystery Series (orchestra manager)
Kaye George (aka Janet Cantrell): Cressa Carraway Mystery Series (musician conductor)
Cynthia Harrod-Eagles: Bill Slider Mystery Series (young violin player girlfriend)
Morag Joss: Sara Selkirk Mystery Series – Sara is a world renown cellist.
Beverle Graves Myers: Baroque Mystery Series (18th Century Castrati)
Mark Scheweizer: Liturgical Mystery Series (choir director and organist at his Episcopal church)
I don’t know how I missed these authors, but here are some more authors who have been recommended by some of you:
K. K. Beck: Jane da Silva Mystery Series (lounge singer)
Meg Cabot: Heather Wells Mystery Series (ex teen pop star)
Church Choir Mystery Series: (church choir)
Carole Nelson Douglas: Irene Adler Mystery Series (French opera singer)
Sarah Fox: Music Lover’s Mystery Series (Dead Ringer, book #1) (violinist)
Kinky Friedman: Kinky Friedman Mystery Series (country western singer)
Andrew M. Greeley: Nuala Anne McGrail Mystery Series (singer)
Kerry Greenwood: Phryne Fisher Mystery Series (Ruddy Gore)
Kate Grilley: Kelly Ryan Mystery Series (radio station manager)
Lucille Kallen: C.B. Greenfield Mystery Series (musicians)
Barbara Paul: Opera Mystery Series (tenor)
Mary Saums: Willie Taft Mystery Series former (singer )
Dorothy L. Sayers: Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery Series (pianist)
And, here are some authors who aren’t on the Cozy Mystery site:
Deborah Grabien: J P Kinkaid Mystery Series (Rock & Roll Never Forgets)
Phyliss Knight: ‘Lil Richie’ Series (Switching the Odds and Shattered Rhythms)
Val McDermid: Kate Brannigan Mystery Series (Dead Beat)
Karen Sturges: Music Lover’s Mystery Series (Death of a Baritone and Death of a Pooh-Bah)
Please remember that I have only included the authors who are currently on the Cozy Mystery Site. Feel free to post a comment if you know of any other mystery authors from the site who write Music/Musician themed mystery books. Thanks!
♦ To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme click on this link ♦
Now that Halloween is a thing of 2012’s past, I thought I would share this letter I received about a Christmas mystery book that looks like it might be a lot of fun. I haven’t read the book, but from what Kerryn told me, it’s sort of a fun book that you can read chapter by chapter, solving the mystery along with its author, Simon Brett. (Kerryn, thank you for telling us about this pretty novel Christmas mystery novel!)
Kerryn:
“A number of years ago I bought a second hand copy of Simon Brett’s Christmas Crimes at Puzzle Manor. I noticed it listed on your website but unsure if you’ve read it. Basically each chapter ends with a puzzle to solve of various types (crossword, anagram, music etc). Solutions are given in the following chapter, if you don’t wish to do it yourself. However, I was very determined when I read the book not to continue with the story until I had solved each puzzle (some which took me several days before it clicked into place and worked out the solution). I loved the puzzles, and the fact that they were not basic, simple ones. I have never come across a book like this before or since and wondered if you possibly knew of any other books similar to this? Would be great to hear from you if you could point me in the right direction.”
This sounds like a lot of seasonal, holiday fun to me, and I think Kerryn has a great question. Do any of you know of any other mystery books that have the same ‘solve-the-puzzle’ as this Simon Brett The Christmas Crimes at Puzzle Manor? If so, please post us a comment. Thank you!
I have received a few comments and letters asking for help in coming up with mystery books that don’t focus on murders. I know, I know, the first thing I also think of when thinking of a mystery novel is… death, and that’s death – as in not natural! But when you think of it, there are all sorts of things that could be the basis of a mystery book: stealing, forging, cheating, cooking… well not really cooking as in the culinary theme sense – but definitely poisoning – but that usually ends in murder, which this theme is NOT about!
If you know of an author who prefers his/her mysteries without a requisite corpse, please tell us about him/her via a comment. Also, if you know of an author who generally deals with death, but has one or more mystery books that don’t require a mortician, please post a comment as well.
Susan Wittig Albert: The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter Mystery Series
Susan Wittig Albert: The Darling Dahlias and the Confederate Rose.
Nancy Atherton: Aunt Dimity Mystery Series
Jane Austen: Northanger Abbey
Kathleen Bacus: Tressa (Calamity) Jayne Turner Mystery Series (books 2,3,4,& 5)
Baxter Black: Ride, Cowboy, Ride: 8 Seconds Ain’t that Long
Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre
Dorothy Cannell: The Thin Woman
Erskine Childers: The Riddle of the Sands
Carol Higgins Clark: Regan Reilly Mystery Series
Beverly Cochran: The Housekeeper AND The Visit
Wilkie Collins: The Moonstone AND The Woman in White
Arthur Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmes Mystery Series
Frances Devine: Miss Aggie’s Gone Missing
Alice Duncan: Daisy Gumm Majesty Mystery Series
Janet Evanovich: Lizzy & Diesel Mystery Series
Monica Ferris: A Stitch in Time
Earlene Fowler: Mariner’s Compass & Steps to the Altar
Dick Francis: Decider (“Accidental deaths but no Murder.”)
Dorothy Gilman: Mrs. Pollifax Mystery Series
Jan Gleiter: A House by the Side of the Road
E.W. Hornung: Raffles, the Gentleman Thief Mystery Series
Laura R. King: Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes Mystery Series
Virginia Lanier: Death in Bloodhound Red
Maurice Leblanc: Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar Mystery Series
Lisa Lutz: Izzy Spellman Mystery Series
Peter Mayle: Chasing Cezanne, Anything Considered, AND The Vintage Caper
Donna McLean: The Butterfly Caper
Gladys Mitchell: Mrs. Bradley Mystery Series
Elizabeth Peters: Borrower of the Night
Ellis Peters: An Excellent Mystery
Ellery Queen: only some
Spencer Quinn (aka Peter Abrahams): Chet and Bernie Mystery Series
Ellen Raskin: The Westing Game (“Technically a Children’s/YA novel, but suitable for adults.)
Patricia Rockwell: Bingoed
Ann B. Ross: Miss Julia Mystery Series
Ian Sansom: Mobile Library Mystery Series
Dorothy L. Sayers: Gaudy Night
Maria E. Schneider: Sedona Mystery Series AND Haven Mystery Series
Alexander McCall Smith: No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Mystery Series
Josephine Tey: The Franchise Affair
Edgar Wallace: The Black
Donald E. Westlake: John Dortmunder Mystery Series
Mildred A. Wirt: Penny Parker Mystery Series
(When I have the names of the authors without a specific book listed, this means that generally, their books don’t include murder. This is not to say that they absolutely never include a body, or two.)
