The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Two New Holiday Themed Cozies Coming August 2015 – Ellery Adams: Murder In the Paperback Parlor, Leslie Meier: Candy Corn Murder

I love this time of year. Well, actually not so much the sweltering days of July, but I love the Cozy Mystery releases that start at this time of the year. It seems like August is when a lot of our holiday themed Cozies start being released, and it looks like we’ll have two new Holiday themed Cozy Mysteries to look forward to this coming August – one Valentine’s Day themed and one Halloween themed!

First is Ellery Adams‘s Murder in the Paperback Parlor, which takes place near Valentine’s Day. This second entry in the Book Retreat Mystery Series will see the return of amateur sleuth Jane Stewart, manager of the Storyton Hall Book Resort in the hills of western Virginia. When one of the prominent authors visiting the resort is killed, she’ll need to once again help get to the bottom of the case if she wants to keep her beloved resort afloat! Ellery Adams writes multiple other popular Cozy Mystery series, including the Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery Series, the Books by the Bay Mystery Series, and the Supper Club Mystery Series, among others!

Second is the Halloween-themed Candy Corn Murder by Leslie Meier. Halloween will once again be coming to Tinker’s Cove! This Cozy is the 22nd in the holiday themed Lucy Stone Mystery Series, and will be the third Halloween themed mystery in the series. Homemaker Lucy Stone’s plans for a festive Halloween are ruined when her husband Bill’s friend Evan turns up dead – and Bill is the primary suspect, since he’s the last person who saw Evan alive, Expect even more holiday mystery and fun in this continuation of the Lucy Stone series!

In case you’re interested in more mysteries in both of these themes, you can click on these links to go to the corresponding pages on my Cozy Mystery site:

Halloween Theme Mysteries

Valentine’s Day Mysteries

Carolyn Haines’ Bone to Be Wild: One New Halloween-Themed Cozy Mystery Coming May 2015

So here we are again, ready to discuss the great upcoming holiday mystery releases… Well… “release”, since we only have one entry this month, but it should be a good one!

Carolyn Haines will be releasing the second Halloween-themed novel in her long-running Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery Series, Bone to Be Wild. Sarah’s relationship with long-time fiance Graf has come to a sudden end, leaving Sarah feeling like she needs to hit the town and get back into a better state of mind, and what better than the Halloween ball her old friend Scott is holding in New Orleans? But when Scott’s band is threatened and the bartender at his club is gunned down, Sarah will need to once again get back to sleuthing to help make sure the party will go off without a hitch!

I have to admit I get too excited when I see a holiday Cozy Mystery book! I have written before about our two seasons down here in San Antonio, Texas. We pretty much have hot humidity or a few months of pleasant to cool humidity. I miss the four seasons! However a holiday Cozy Mystery will usually help me feel more in the fall or winter mood. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s are my very favorite Cozy Mystery holiday themes.

Easter Cozy Mystery Series Already?

Is anyone here reading an Easter Cozy Mystery? I’m just about to begin reading Nickeled-and-Dimed to Death, a Devereaux’s Dime Store Mystery by Denise Swanson. I have been wanting to read it for a while but as some of you know, I love to read my holiday Cozies during their appropriate holiday seasons, so I have saved it to read this Easter.

Rather than spend my time reading an Easter Cozy, I should be getting our house cleaned and buying a ham. Our daughter has decided to come home for Easter this year. I think she’s taking advantage of being so close to us >>> New Orleans to San Antonio. This is the last year she’ll be in our area. She’s moving to Washington D.C. this summer, where she’ll be starting her permanent job.

As I was saying, I should be out getting a ham or I should at least be cleaning, but instead, I find myself at my computer, writing about the Easter Cozy I’m excited to be starting. My priorities seem a little UNprioritized!

Are any of you reading an exceptionally good Easter Cozy Mystery? If you’re not reading one right now, do you remember a particularly good Easter Cozy Mystery that you’ve read in the past? If so, would you mind leaving a comment? Thank you!

P.S. Click here to see my Easter Mystery Book List. Also, while you’re there, if you notice any Easter mysteries that are missing, could you please either send me a note or leave a comment?

Christmas Mystery Books being Released during December 2014

Wow, it’s hard to believe that the year will be coming to an end so soon! It feels like just yesterday we were taking down our Christmas tree, but here we’ll be putting it up again before too long!

As usual, December will be a pretty good month for Christmas-themed Cozy Mysteries, though more are being released during November! We can look forward to another two Christmas related mysteries and a non-mystery by one of our mystery authors in December, so let’s get right to it!

First, Isabella Alan will be releasing the third book in her Amish Quilt Shop Mystery Series, Murder, Served Simply. Though the Amish Quilt Shop series has already built up quite a following, most Cozy readers are as likely to recognize her work as Amanda Flower, the name she has used for her previous works. This entry in the Quilt Shop series will see Christmas in Rolling Brook, Ohio, and Angie Braddock’s family will be visiting – unfortunately including her ex, for some reason!

Lucy Burdette will be releasing Death With All the Trimmings, the fifth book in her Key West Food Critic Mystery Series. Food critic Haylee Snow is asked to help investigate possible arson by a local chef, when a corpse turns up in the wreckage! As with many Cozy writers, Lucy Burdette has written under a different name in the past – you may be familiar with Roberta Isleib‘s Advice Column Mystery Series and Golf Lovers’ Mystery Series. Well, Lucy Burdette is also known as Roberta Ileib!

Finally, Carla Neggers will be releasing a story set in her Swift River Valley Romance Series, titled Christmas at Carriage Hill. This isn’t a Christmas Cozy exactly, as it isn’t even a mystery, but rather belongs in the romance genre. However, Neggers writes enough Cozy material that she has lots of fans here so I thought I should mention it.

If you just can’t wait to get started reading Christmas-themed mysteries, you might be more interested in seeing one of my previous articles, Christmas Books Released in November 2014. If even waiting for the rest of this month is too long, you might consider instead starting at my Christmas Mystery Book List.

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