I’m home from our California trip just in time to ask you all about your favorite Cozy Mystery reads of April 2013. I hate to keep repeating myself, because I know those of you who follow this particular entry know the drill, but for those of you who are new to this very helpful entry: these should be authors (books) about whom (which) you really want other Cozy Mystery readers to know. They should be the authors (books) you enjoyed so much during April that you want to let the rest of us know about them. Please include WHY you enjoyed these authors.

What Cozy Mystery book (or author) have you read during April 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:

Susan Wittig Albert: China Bayles Mystery Series

Esri Albritten: The Portrait of Doreene Gray

Connie Archer: Soup Lover’s Mystery Series

Lucy Arlington (aka Jennifer Stanley & Sylvia May): Novel Idea Mystery Series 

Nancy Atherton: Aunt Dimity Mystery Series

Donald Bain & “Jessica Fletcher”: Murder, She Wrote Mystery Series

Jessica Beck: Donut Shop Mystery Series

Jessica Beck: Ghost Cat Cozy Mystery Series

C. L. Beville: Bubba and the Dead Woman

Annette Blair: Vintage Magic Mystery Series

Heather Blake (aka Heather Webber): Witchcraft Mystery Series

Simon Brett: Mrs. Pargeter Mystery Series

Emily Brightwell: Mrs. Jeffries Mystery Series

Duffy Brown: Consignment Shop Mystery Series

Bailey Cates (aka Cricket McRae): Magical Bakery Mystery Series

Laura Childs: Cackleberry Club Mystery Series

Peg Cochran (aka Meg London): Gourmet De-Lite Mystery Series

Sheila Connolly (aka Sarah Atwell): County Cork Mystery Series

J. J. Cook (aka Joyce and Jim Lavene): Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade Mystery Series

Cleo Coyle (aka Alice Kimberly): Coffee House Mystery Series

Philip R. Craig: Martha’s Vineyard Mystery Series

Jeanne M. Dams: Hilda Johansson Mystery Series

Lila Dare (aka Joanna Campbell Slan): Southern Beauty Shop Mystery Series (book #4)

Anna Dean: A Woman of Consequence

“Jessica Fletcher” & Donald Bain: Murder, She Wrote Mystery Series

Amanda Flower: Applecreek Creek Mystery Series

Joanne Fluke: Hanna Swensen Cookie Jar Mystery Series

Erle Stanley Gardner: Perry Mason Mystery Series

Robert Goldsborough: Archie Meets Nero Wolfe: A Prequel to Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe Mysteries

Sue Grafton: Kinsey and Me

C. S. Harris: What Darkness Brings

Maddy Hunter: Passport to Peril Mystery Series

Dolores Johnson: Mandy Dyer Mystery Series

Sofie Kelly: Magical Cat Mystery Series

Victoria Laurie: Ghost Hunter Mystery Series

Mary Lou Kirwin: Librarian Mystery Series

Liz Lipperman: Clueless Cook Mystery Series

Charlotte MacLeod (aka Alisa Craig): Professor Peter Shandy Mystery Series

Jenn McKinlay (aka Lucy Lawrence & Josie Belle): Cupcake Bakery Mystery Series

Leslie Meier: Lucy Stone Mystery Series

Marcia Muller: Carpenter & Quincannon, Professional Detective Services Mystery Series 

Deborah Sharp: Mace Bauer Mystery Series

Denise Swanson: Devereaux’s Dime Store Mystery Series

Victoria Thompson: Gaslight Mystery Series

Kari Lee Townsend: Fortune Teller Mystery Series

♦To access more Cozy Mystery Books Recommendations, click on this link♦

Can you believe it is almost April? I can’t! I have my March doo-dads up, which include everything St. Patrick’s-ish. Years when Easter falls in March sometimes get me a little confused. I just “expect” an April Easter.

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!)

Please tell the rest of us about a few of your very favorite Cozy Mystery reads of February 2013. These authors should be authors who have written mystery books that you absolutely have GOT to tell the rest of us about. The books/series should be those mysteries that you absolutely loved reading this month. Please include WHY you enjoyed these authors.

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 February 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:

Lucy Arlington (Jennifer Stanley & Sylvia May): Novel Idea Mystery Series

Maggie Barbieri: Murder 101 Mystery Series

Kerry Barger: The Story of Lataine’s Ring

Christy Barritt: Squeaky Clean Mystery Series

Josie Belle (aka Jenn McKinlay & Lucy Lawrence): Good Buy Girls Mystery Series

Sheila Webster Boneham: Drop Dead on Recall

Rhys Bowen: Molly Murphy Mystery Series

Susan M. Boyer: Lowcountry Boil

Laura Bradford (aka Elizabeth Lynn Casey): Amish Mystery Series

Lilian Jackson Braun: The Cat Who ***** Mystery Series

Simon Brett: Fethering Mystery Series

Emily Brightwell: Mrs. Jeffries Mystery Series

Duffy Brown: Consignment Shop Mystery Series

Lucy Burdette (aka Roberta Isleib): Key West Food Critic Mystery Series

Erika Chase: Ashton Corners Book Club Mystery Series

G. K. Chesterton: Father Brown Mystery Series

Laura Childs: Scrapbooking Mystery Series

Peg Cochran (aka Meg London): Gourmet De-Lite Mystery Series

Sheila Connolly (aka Sarah Atwell): County Cork Mystery Series

Elizabeth Craig (aka Elizabeth Spann Craig & Riley Adams): Southern Quilting Mystery Series

Philip R. Craig: Martha’s Vineyard Mystery Series

Deborah Crombie: Kincaid & James Mystery Series

Waverly Curtis: Barking Detective Mystery Series

Mary Daheim: Emma Lord Alpine Mystery Series

Lila Dare (Ella Barrick & Laura DiSilverio, & Joanna Campbell Slan): Southern Beauty Shop Mystery Series

Carola Dunn: Cornish Mystery Series

Joanne Fluke: Hannah Swensen Mystery Series

L. A. Frazier: Back on the Market

Erle Stanley Gardner: Perry Mason Mystery Series

Anne George: Southern Sisters Mystery Series

Sue Grafton: Kinsey Millhone Mystery Series

Stephen F. Havill: Posadas County Mystery Series

B. B. Haywood: Candy Holliday Mystery Series

Lee Hollis: Hailey Powell Food & Cocktail Mystery Series

Hazel Holt: Mrs. Malory Mystery Series

Sofie Kelly: Magical Cats Mystery Series

William X. Kienzle: Father Koesler Mystery Series

Mary Lou Kirwin: Librarian Mystery Series

Rita Lakin: Gladdy Gold Mystery Series

Victoria Laurie: Psychic Eye Mystery Series

Liz Lipperman: Clueless Cook Mystery Series

Anna Loan-Wilsey: Hattie Davish “Have Typewriter Will Travel” Mystery Series

Karen MacInerney: Mother’s Day Out

Charlotte MacLeod (aka Alisa Craig): Peter Shandy Mystery Series

Ada Madison (aka Camille Minichino & Margaret Grace): Sophie Knowles Mystery Series

Mary Jane Maffini: Charlotte Adams Mystery Series 

J. J. Murphy: Algonquin Round Table Mystery Series

Stuart Palmer: Hildegarde Withers Mystery Series

Louise Penny: Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery Series

Rick Riordan: The Red Pyramid

James Runcie: Sidney Chambers and the Shadow of Death

Mark Schweizer: Liturgical Mystery Series

Connie Shelton: Samantha Sweet Mystery Series

Evelyn Smith: Miss Melville Regrets

Josephine Tey: Alan Grant Mystery Series

Suzi Weinert: Garage Sale Stalker

Lois Winston: Revenge of the Crafty Corpse

♦To access more Cozy Mystery Books Recommendations, click on this link♦

Here it is: 2013, a brand new year!