And since it is the end of March, it is time for me to ask you if you would please tell us about your favorite Cozy Mystery reads of March 2013. As usual, these authors/books should be the ones you absolutely feel the need to tell us about. They should be the authors/books that you enjoyed so much during March that you want to let the rest of us know about them. Please include WHY you enjoyed these authors.
My recommendation for March 2013 is Joanne Fluke. As I have written before, I tried the first of Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swensen Cookie Jar Mystery Series because of your monthly recommendations. Fluke kept showing up on the lists during the months we have been compiling these monthly recommendations.
Fluke’s sleuth is Hannah Swensen, a baker in a cozy little town in Minnesota, who doles out cookies while solving her mysteries. I mean that quite literally! Hannah passes out cookie treats that are so delicious that the person she is “interviewing” doesn’t seem to mind sharing information that might otherwise not have come out.
Fluke has surrounded Hannah with good Cozy Mystery characters… even Hannah’s mother is likable. (Her mom seems determined to improve Hannah, even though Hannah is very content with the way she is.) Hannah’s sister is pretty much the opposite of Hannah, but that doesn’t stop them from having a very deep sisterly bond. Hannah’s brother in law is a deputy sheriff who is very willing to deputize Hannah (off the books, of course!) which makes it easy for Hannah to become privy to things an ordinary sleuth wouldn’t be privy to.
Another character who I was very happy to encounter is Moishe, Hannah’s cat. He doesn’t have any super-natural powers, isn’t able to talk, nor does he perform parlor tricks. What he is, however, is a sweet companion for Hannah. Sure, he likes his treats and he isn’t a lap-cat, but he is someone for her to look forward to seeing at the end of her day. (Can you tell I am still missing our Sprite?)
I enjoyed getting to know all of the characters in the book and also enjoyed the flow of the book. I looked forward to reading this book. Joanne Fluke is a Cozy Mystery author I want to continue reading.
Having told you why I am recommending Joanne Fluke, I now ask who you enjoyed and why. I will add the recommended authors to this entry as they come in. (Please do not tell us about the authors you did not like.) Thank you!
What Cozy Mystery book (or author) have you read during March 2013, and why did you enjoy it (or him/her)?
Here are the current authors who some of you have read this past month, and wanted to tell the rest of us about:
Avery Aames (aka Daryl Wood Gerber): Cheese Shop Mystery Series
Victoria Abbot: Book Collector’s Mystery Series
Ellery Adams (aka Jennifer Stanley, J. B. Stanley, & 1/2 of Lucy Arlington): Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery Series
Jessica Beck: Donut Shop Mystery Series
Josie Belle (aka Jenn McKinlay & Lucy Lawrence): Good Buy Girls Mystery Series
C. C. Benison: Her Majesty Investigates Mystery Series
Melissa Bourbon: Magical Dressmaking Mystery Series
Laura Bradford (aka Elizabeth Lynn Casey): Amish Mystery Series
Simon Brett: Mrs. Pargeter Mystery Series
Alyse Carlson: The Azalea Assault (Garden Society Mystery Series)
Ally Carter: Perfect Scoundrels (young adult book)
Laura Childs: Tea Shop Mystery Series
Sheila Connolly (aka Sarah Atwell): Orchard Mystery Series AND County Cork Mystery Series
Jeanne M. Dams: Hilda Johansson Mystery Series
Carola Dunn: Cornish Mystery Series
Joanne Fluke: Hannah Swensen Mystery Series
Elly Griffiths: The Crossing Places
Parnell Hall: Puzzle Lady Mystery Series
Carolyn Hart: Bailey Ruth Mystery Series
Erin Hart: Nora Gavin & Cormac Maguire Mystery Series
B. B. Haywood: Candy Holliday Mystery Series
Maddy Hunter: Passport to Peril Mystery Series
Julie Hyzy: Manor of Murder Mystery Series
Miranda James (aka Dean James, Honor Hartman, & Jimmie Ruth Evans): Cat in the Stacks Mystery Series
J. A. Jance: J. P. Beaumont Mystery Series
Diane Kelly: Death, Taxes, and Peach Sangria (Tara Holloway Mystery Series)
William X. Kienzle: Father Koesler Mystery Series
Kate Kingsbury (aka Rebecca Kent & Allison Kinsley): Manor House Mystery Series
Meg London (aka Peg Cochran): Sweet Nothings Vintage Lingerie Mystery Series
Rett MacPherson: Torie O’Shea Msytery Series
Nancy Martin: Blackbird Sisters Mystery Series
Amy Patricia Meade: Rosie the Riveter Mystery Series
J. J. Murphy: Algonquin Round Table Mystery Series
Marta Perry: Hide in Plain Sight (Three Sisters Inn Mystery Series)
Rose Pressy: Me and My Ghoul Friends
Annelise Ryan: Mattie Winston Mystery Series
Maggie Sefton: Molly Malone Mystery Series
Josephine Tey: The Franchise Affair
Victoria Thompson: Gaslight Mystery Series
Charles Todd: Ian Rutledge Mystery Series
Judith Van Gieson: Claire Reynier Mystery Series
Ethel Lina White: The Wheel Spins (aka The Lady Vanishes)
♦To access more Cozy Mystery Books Recommendations, click on this link♦
Oh my gosh! It’s the last day of February, and I forgot the monthly Cozy Mystery Recommendations! Good grief! Where have I been?!? In all fairness, I will say that the end of February sometimes catches me off balance. I mean, let’s face it, twenty eight days? (Even to me, that excuse is VERY lame!)
Here it is: 2013, a brand new year!
Ay! 2012 is on its way out! I can barely believe a whole year has passed since this very calendar day of last year! Where has the time gone?!? I have been so lucky to have both of my adult children living so close to my husband and me. Our son is here in San Antonio, and our daughter in Austin, 75 miles away. Perhaps that is why the year seems to have flown. I truly believe that while our daughter lived in Cambridge, the years seemed to just drudge on and on. I wish they would go by faster when the goings are good, and slow down when we are content!