As we continue toward the holidays, we’re going to be seeing more and more holiday related books, and November looks like it will have a total of thirteen of them! That’s too many for one post, so I’ll be dividing them up into two separate posts.
First up will be Amanda Lee‘s The Stitching Hour, the 9th in the Embroidery Mystery Series. Normally I do these entries in alphabetical order by last name, but I’m going to talk about this one first because it is one of only two non-Christmas Cozies in the list, specifically Halloween. Marcy will be enjoying not only Halloween but her shop’s one year anniversary, so her October will be looking pretty busy >>> even before a local waitress turns up dead with one of Marcy’s key-rings! Amanda Lee also writes as Gayle Trent, writing the Daphne Martin Cake Mystery Series and the Myrtle Crumb Mystery Series, as well as the Down South Cafe Mystery Series as Gayle Leeson.
Next is Rhys Bowen‘s Away in a Manger, which will be the 15th in the Molly Murphy Mystery Series. This entry in the series will see Molly Murphy Sullivan spending time with her family in New York City before Christmas, when she becomes involved with a pair of orphans whose mother has disappeared. Molly will need to sot out the clues to discover what has happened to their mother if she wants to get them home safe for the holidays. Rhys Bowen also writes the Royal Spyness Mystery Series, starring a noble spy in 1930s London, and the Evan Evans Mystery Series, starring a constable in Wales.
Vicki Delany will be beginning a new series, the Year-Round Christmas Mystery Series, with its first entry, Rest Ye Murdered Gentlemen. In this work, we’ll be introduced to Merry Wilkinson, owner of Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, a shop in Rudolph, New York. When a reporter writing a piece on the town’s Christmas spirit turns up dead, and her best friend Vicky is implicated, she’ll need to turn amateur sleuth to help clear her friend’s name! Delany also writes the Ray Robertson Mystery Series, the Constable Molly Smith Mystery Series, the Klondike Mystery Series, and a number of stand alone mysteries. As Eva Gates, she writes the Lighthouse Library Mystery Series.
Sally Goldenbaum will be putting out Trimmed with Murder, the 10th in her Seaside Knitters Mystery Series. This holiday in Sea Harbor, Izzy and her friends will be enjoying some pre-Christmas knitting when her brother Charlie Chambers helps out hitchhiker Amber Hanson, a local girl returning home to claim an inheritance. When she is found dead later, Charlie is one of the prime suspects, so Izzy will once again need to solve the case. Goldenbaum also wrote most of the novels in the Queen Bees Quilt Mystery Series.
White Colander Crime, the 5th in Victoria Hamilton‘s Vintage Kitchen Mystery Series will be coming out. In this kitchen and Christmas related mystery, Jaymie will need to help solve the murder of a local woman, who predicted her own murder in her journal and pointed toward Cody Wainwright, the son of Jaymie’s newspaper editor. However, Jaymie doesn’t believe Cody is a murderer, and will need to solve the case before the killer gets of scot free. Hamilton also writes the Merry Muffin Mystery Series, as well as the Teapot Collector Mystery Series under the name Amanda Cooper and the Lady Anne Addison Series under the name Donna Lea Simpson.
will be releasing Murder on St. Nicholas Avenue, the 19th in the Gaslight Mystery Series, a series set in nineteenth-century New York City. A family friend of Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy and Sarah Brandt, Mrs. O’Neill, needs their help >>> her son in law has been bludgeoned to death, and her daughter has been charged with the murder. Unfortunately, Frank and Sarah are still away on their honeymoon, so the other members of their household will need to do most of the legwork.
Finally (at least for today…) is Livia J. Washburn‘s The Candy Cane Cupcake Killer, the 10th in the Fresh-Baked Mystery Series, and the 4th Christmas based entry in that series. Weatherford, Texas, will once again be enjoying the holiday season, when local rancher Barney McCrory drops dead after eating one of Phyllis Newsom’s candy cane cupcakes. Fortunately, she isn’t a suspect, as he was obviously shot, not poisoned. Also fortunately, Phyllis feels like getting involved in the case, despite the fact that neither she nor a close friend or family member has been accused. Washburn also writes the Literary Tour Mystery Series and the Lucas Hallam Mystery Series.
As always, these and many more holiday themed mysteries can be found on their respective pages:
I was a little bummed that the Hallmark Movies and Mysteries channel didn’t have any new, original mystery movies based on Cozy Mystery series this month. Because of this, I went searching around to see if I could find out something new about their line-up. Well, I came upon several interesting mystery AND holiday movie tidbits: