As some of you might know, I’ve been going through some of the most highly recommended Cozy Mystery series that have been frequently mentioned by visitors to the site. Today I’ll be discussing the first book in Kate Carlisle‘s Bibliophile Mystery Series, Homicide in Hardcover.

Generally speaking, like most Cozy readers, I really enjoy reading themed mysteries about topics that I enjoy in real life >>> themes I can relate to. (Some of the everyday things I enjoy are holidays, dogs and cats, needlework, ETC.) I also enjoy reading Cozies that involve professions I think of as “fun” >>> librarians would be a good example of this because the theme involves books, which I happen to love. The Bibliophile Series stars Brooklyn Wainwright, a professional book restorer >>> definitely a theme that interests me and that I don’t know anything about!

In this first book in the series, the sleuth, Brooklyn, investigates the murder of her mentor. While Homicide in Hardcover doesn’t go into huge amounts of technical detail on the restoration of a valuable copy of Goethe’s Faust, it does interject a very different tone that helps get a feeling for the character overall. In this case, because her work is very detail oriented and meticulous in nature, it helps define her character as being perhaps a bit more “logical” than some other Cozy Mystery protagonists, like an artist or a baker, who might be considered possessing of a more “creative” mindset.

I don’t want to give away too much of this series, so I’ll keep this brief: Brooklyn’s family and friends are some of the terrific aspects of the Bibliophile series. The dialogue between the characters is fun, so the “regulars” are sorely missed when Brooklyn leaves town to attend to her bookbinding professional commitments. Kate Carlisle is a good story-teller who provides enough red herrings and twists to keep the reader invested in the crimes Brooklyn solves.

Another particular highlight of the Homicide in Hardcover is its setting, San Francisco. San Francisco has a very definite atmosphere, particularly expressed through Brooklyn’s parents, who are a pair of aging hippies who still live out on a commune outside the city proper. Enough detail goes into the setting that it is no surprise that the author, Kate Carlisle, is herself a native Californian. It’s clear that she has a strong grasp of both the area and the sort of eccentric, cosmopolitan personalities that can be found there.

If you’re interested in seeing some of the other entries I’ve written on the other Cozy Mystery series I’ve written up before, they can be found at the Most Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page on my site.

I have been surveying some of the Cozy Mystery series that are most frequently recommended in our monthly recommendations, and next on my list is Isis Crawford’s Mystery with Recipes Series. Isis Crawford is somewhat of a veteran writer of Cozy Mysteries. As Barbara Block, she wrote the Robin Light Mysteries which included ten books published between 1994 and 2007.

The Mystery with Recipes Series began with A Catered Murder, published in 2003 and is now up to book sixteen which will be published in a few months (2016). As the name of the series suggests, these books fit squarely within the culinary cozy mystery theme, mysteries with recipes, that is so popular in the Cozy Mystery genre.

Set in Longely, New York, a town that is about a $200 cab ride from New York’s Kennedy Airport, the mysteries involve two sisters, Bernie and Libby Simmons as the sleuths. A Catered Murder begins with Bernie arriving at the family home/bakery/cafe early in the morning after taking such a cab ride. Bernie arrives with no luggage or cash after having flown from Los Angeles following a discovery that her long-time live in boyfriend has been cheating on her with one of her best friends. Bernie left literally everything behind.

Libby, Bernie’s older sister, has been running the cafe and catering business “A Little Taste of Heaven” while also taking care of their wheelchair-bound father who lives in the family’s quarters above the shop. Bernie arrives on the same day as Libby is catering the local high school’s reunion. So Bernie is immediately put to work helping. Yikes! At the reunion dinner, someone dies and the mystery begins!

Libby wants to help find the murderer both because the death occurred during her catering event, but more importantly, because one of her best friends, Tiffany, is accused of the killing. Bernie and Libby’s father, Sean, is the former chief of police of Longely. Luckily, he still has contacts that can help them try to solve the murder even though he is on the “outs” with the current chief of police.

Bernie has a nearly photographic memory. She is always annoying Libby with her encyclopedic knowledge on trivia related to food (or just about anything!) Libby, who is also suffering from a long-ago failed romance, is more the steady matronly type who took over the business of running the shop after their mother died.

Libby and Bernie are somewhat of a rarity in the Cozy Mystery genre in that they both provide substantial contributions to the sleuthing. In A Catered Murder it would be difficult to say which of the two sisters is the primary sleuth. To me, the relationship of the sisters is one of the most attractive parts of the book. The relationship is nicely drawn as complicated with some sparks and disagreements, but it obviously is still based on deep sisterly affection. (Love that!)

There’s a reason Isis Crawford’s Mystery with Recipe series has been recommended by other Cozy Mystery readers. It’s a series that keeps on delivering, a series that is full of characters who will draw you in and make Longely, NY  and the “A Little Taste of Heaven” shop a comfortable and inviting place to which to return.

As an added bonus (for Cozy Mystery readers like me >>> who love holiday themed Cozy Mystery books, Isis Crawford sets a lot of her Cozies during holidays (Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, St. Patrick’s Day, Mother’s Day, and even the Fourth of July!) She has written so many holiday themed Cozies that she is on the “Holiday Theme Mystery Authors …” page on my site. This page features Cozy authors who set a lot of their books during the holidays.)

P.S. If want to read some of the other entries about highly recommended Cozy Mystery series, you can see them on the Most Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page on my site.

Lately I’ve been going back and revisiting some of the Cozy Mystery series most recommended by visitors to the site. A few of my recent articles on these topics were on Sofie Kelly’s Magical Cats Mystery Series and the Consignment Shop Mystery Series by Duffy Brown. Another of these highly recommended mystery series is the Domestic Diva Mystery Series by Krista Davis – today I’ll be discussing the first book in the series, The Diva Runs Out of Thyme.

This novel introduces us to Sophie Winston, a divorcée with a talent for hosting parties, decorating, giving advice, and other domestic tasks that are traditionally considered the personal domain of divas. When the novel opens she is gearing up to face-off against one of her oldest friends and rivals, Natasha Smith. Natasha’s not a bad person certainly, but the domestic advice she gives out is definitely a bit on the impractical side, far different from Sophie’s more down to earth “common sense” style advice tips. Sophie and Natasha will be competing in a local stuffing competition, suitable since Thanksgiving is coming up over the long weekend.

Unfortunately (as in all Cozies!) disaster must strike for there to be a plot. Naturally, the two people who have turned up dead are tied to Sophie in some way (the first a somewhat-shady private investigator who is apparently investigating Sophie >>> whose body Sofie discovers, the second the main judge of the stuffing competition >>> again unluckily discovered by Sophie). So Sophie’s already complicated Thanksgiving suddenly becomes even more stressful with a pair of homicide investigations lurking in the background. A sudden fire at her rival Natasha’s house further complicates Thanksgiving, as Sophie finds herself suddenly hosting Natasha’s friends and family as well – including Sophie’s ex-husband Mars, who is now quite attached to Natasha! Even worse, Sophie ends up being considered a potential suspect in the fire as well!

The Diva Runs Out of Thyme is in many ways an archetypal Cozy since it takes an already surprisingly stressful situation (in this case a family visit rotating around Thanksgiving) and further adds complicating elements >>> namely police investigations, a wrinkle I think most people can be thankful they don’t have to face at the average holiday gathering! The Domestic Diva Series also gives out a lot of interesting advice, including recipes and tips for entertaining.

This is a fast-paced series, with end-of-chapter cliff hangers that will keep you turning the pages as quickly as you can. The characters are vividly colorful and make you feel like you’re right there spending time with friends. The mysteries are interesting; don’t be surprised to find red herrings, and Davis usually has a few little side mysteries going at the same time as the murders are being solved. Also, if you love holiday themed Cozies as much as I do, you’ll be happy to know that Krista Davis’ Domestic Diva series has several.

If you’re already a fan of the Domestic Diva Mystery Series, you might also be interested in the other series that Krista Davis started relatively recently, the Paws & Claws Mystery Series, which stars Holly Miller, an employee of a family-owned hotel intended for both human guests and their pets. (I’m sure our beloved Sprite would have loved staying at the Sugar Maple Inn in Wagtail, Virginia! I know I would have >>> minus the murders, that is!)

If you’re interested in seeing some of the other entries I’ve written on the other highly recommended Cozy Mystery series in these previous write-ups, you can find them at the Most Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page on my site. Also, if you would like to see even more holiday themed mysteries, check out the Holiday Mystery Book List page on my site.

The Consignment Shop Mystery Series by Duffy Brown is yet another of the most recommended Cozy Mystery series in our monthly recommendations. The first book from the series is Iced Chiffon from 2012 and the series is already up to book five. (Great news for us!)

In Iced Chiffon we are introduced to the heroine, Reagan Summerside, whose mother is a local judge and a staunch Republican (thus the name “Reagan”). Reagan has just recently divorced from Hollis Beaumont, a seemingly well-off and well-connected in Savannah, real estate broker. The marriage lasted seven years. Against the stern advice from her mother, Reagan had married Hollis and had signed a prenuptial agreement that had left her pretty much destitute after the divorce. The only things she has left are her house (which her ex-husband has agreed to sign over but has not yet done so in the first book) and some of her clothes.

The book opens with Reagan living in her much loved sparsely furnished Victorian house that she and Hollis had bought and that she has partially refinished. Most of the furnishings have gone to pay some of her bills, and she is going through her clothes to take them to a consignment shop to pay even more bills. Instead, she eventually opens her own consignment shop (the Prissy Fox) due to the rapidly spreading of the word that Reagan has some nice designer clothes to sell. When she discovers the body of her ex-husband’s new girlfriend in front of her house in his car’s trunk, not only does the hunt for the killer begin, but Reagan’s new business gets some free publicity! (Hmmm, I think it’s a good thing…)

Our plucky heroine gets involved in solving the mystery to prevent her house from needing to be sold to pay for Hollis’ attorney fees when he (inevitably) is arrested for the murder. Reagan, along with her Aunt Kiki (who conveniently lives and runs a dance studio right next door), begins searching for clues and suspects in order to get her ex-husband off before the attorney’s fees rack up too high.

Set in and around a district with lovely historic homes in Savannah, Georgia, Reagan and her Aunt Kiki make a classic modern Cozy Mystery sleuth duo. With those two, along with Reagan’s practical, stern, and political mother, and Reagan’s two retired teacher neighbors who make money being paid to attend wakes, there are plenty of interesting recurring characters to get to know. (Yes, that’s what I said! Paid mourners!)

And, there is the handsome ex-gang member lawyer, Walker Boone. Walker represented Reagan’s ex in their divorce proceeding and has been retained to defend him over the murder charge. Reagan can’t stand Walker Boone because of the divorce negotiations where she lost practically everything. But she has to work with him (after a fashion) to try to get her ex-husband off before the attorney fees skyrocket and she loses her house. A handsome lawyer with a bad-boy past whom our heroine hates but has to work with. Hmm, I wonder where that leads?

Duffy Brown’s Consignment Shop Mystery Series is frequently recommended in our monthly recommendations >>> and I know why. It is a modern Cozy series with interesting and quirky but not too kooky characters. It has a setting filled with southern charm (and possible romance), with a sleuth who adopts a stray dog, is not daunted by having to take the bus (she has sold her car) to search for clues, and stops at nothing to get the truth to save her house and business. Recommended for anyone looking for a light and fun modern Cozy Mystery read.

P.S. If you’d like to see other entries about some of the most recommended Cozy Mystery authors, be sure to check out the Most Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page on my site.