The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Librarian Is Starting a Cozy Mystery Book Club…

I just got a really interesting letter from a librarian  in New York who is planning to start a Cozy Mystery book group at her library. (What fun!) She asks for suggestions, and I thought our blog area would be a great place to come up with some possible ideas.

Christine says:

… I absolutely love the Cozy Mystery genre, so much in fact, I am going to be running a Cozy Mystery Book Group at my Library. I had a question for you, as a person who enjoys the genre, and has most likely read more of them, than I.

If you were going to be attending a Book Group on the genre, what type of things would you want to happen? I have the basic, talk about the genre/pick a book,/an author/ have a person lead a discussion – but I was wondering — what else could I add to make it more than just a regular book club?

Any input is appreciated! …

Christine, it might be fun to compare the classic Cozies to the new types of Cozies out there. Maybe read a classic by Agatha Christie or Ngaio Marsh one month, and then a Cozy by someone who is releasing books now. Also, since there are so many Cozies now that feature recipes (even in non-culinary series!) maybe it would be fun for people to try out some cookie recipes and bring them to the club.

Keeping in mind that this is a book club which will meet in person, not an online book group >>> do you have any ideas that would make this “more than just a regular book club?” If so, please post a comment. Thank you!

Anne George – Southern Sisters Cozy Mystery Series

I posed a question to myself the other day… If I was to try to convince a non-cozy "addict" (I’m afraid that the word "addict" does indeed describe some of us!) that the cozy mystery genre is worth pursuing, what would I do? Hmmm… I could give the person the definition of a cozy mystery novel and then try to convince the person that everyone who tries one goes back for another… sort of like potato chips. OR, I could try to liken cozy mystery books to books that the person had more than likely read. OR, I could pay the person a large amount of money to make it worth his/her while to read a cozy mystery novel, knowing that, again, the analogy with the potato chips. OR, I could give the person the first novel from Anne George‘s Southern Sisters cozy mystery series.

Now, I know that a lot of people prefer the ve-dy British types of cozy mystery series, and a lot of people prefer the cozy mystery series that feature… oh, say an older spinster aunt-type, or an unmarried, cerebral bachelor-type. But, if you haven’t yet tried "Murder on a Girls’ Night Out" (#1 in the series) then you should reserve your comments!

I read the first of the eight books of Anne George’s series as a monthly pick for one of my reading groups… I think it was the (now defunct) Mystery in the Morning… It was the chosen book of the month for all of us to read.

I might have "gone into" the book thinking… hmmm… another southern cozy… just what I need! Well, let me tell you, it was just what I needed! I cannot say enough good things about the Southern Sisters series of books.

The books feature Patricia Anne "Mouse" Hollowell, and Mary Alice "Sister" Crane. You can probably tell which one of the sisters is the ex-teacher and which one is the country western tavern owner…by their nicknames… If you guessed that "Mouse" didn’t own the tavern, you are right!

These two sisters actually talk and act like sisters. There is nothing false about their relationship… and, as a sister to my sister, I can vouch for that! Anne George based Mary Alice’s character on her cousin, and Anne shared the fact that she had been a school teacher with Patricia’s character… Hmmm….

The mysteries the two sisters solve involve a whole lot of fun for the reader, and the characters really are three dimensional, not flat cardboard personalities that lay flat on the paper. 

The next book in the series, Murder on a Bad Hair Day ( #2) continues with the fun… as do the rest of the books:
Murder Runs in the Family (#3)
Murder Makes Waves (#4)
Murder Gets a Life (#5)
Murder Murder Shoots the Bull (#6)
Murder Carries a Torch (#7)
Murder Boogies with Elvis (#8)

As I sit here typing this blog, I am smiling to myself as I remember how much enjoyment I got when I read these books. Also, I am thinking about a very good friend of mine who absolutely loves Anne George’s books. This particular friend found out that Anne George had been nominated for a Pulitzer for one of her poetry books. My friend wrote to Anne George and asked her where the book was available to buy. The very gracious Ms. George lost no time in sending my friend a signed copy of the particular poetry book. So, my friend and I found out that "Mouse" and Ms. George had more than just being school teachers in common… they were both very caring and generous.

Patricia Cornwell… I know she's not cozy, but still….

Years ago, when I first started using the internet, I joined a group of mystery readers who only read novels by Patricia Cornwell. At that time, I truly enjoyed Patricia Cornwell, even though she was not at all cozy!

As with most reading groups that only follow one author, the group fizzled out. At the time, Cornwell simply wasn’t able to keep up with our group’s demand… even though she was putting out one Kay Scarpetta book a year. I don’t mean that I think that a year is too short a time for an author to be able to write a novel, I just mean that for a group to only talk about that limited a number of books, it became a little tedious. Actually, I left the reading group before the group disbanded completely…

There were two reasons I stopped reading Patricia Cornwell’s novels:

1. Lucy, her niece, simply started grating on my nerves. Anytime Lucy appeared in the book, I knew that I was going to be in for some major complaining and whining. I found myself thinking things like: "Grow up!" "Get over it!" and "Get over yourself!" whenever Lucy came to visit her aunt, or even when she called her. I could have put up with Lucy had Lucy and Kay not been as close as they were…unfortunately, Lucy was around a lot!

2. The final straw…. For those of you readers who have never read a Kay Scarpetta novel, the books revolve around Kay, a chief medical examiner.  I know that the books are not intended to be cozy, but, believe me, I have read a lot of books that aren’t cozy. It seemed to me that Cornwell was trying too hard to impress her readers with new forensic details. Since she was writing so many books with so many forensic details, it seemed to me that she just had to keep pushing the envelope further to come up with something totally new. And, at one point, those "totally new" details just seemed superfluous to me… as if the more gross and gruesome the details could be, the more respect we were supposed to have for Kay. (I won’t get into details, since this is a cozy site, but believe me… I will never look at my large soup/stew pots the same way!)

I know that Cornwell has many, many fans out there, and that I am definitely in the minority. But, really, unless I’m training to become a forensic examiner, then spare me the most gruesome of gross details!

Some Cozies are Simply Cozier than Others!

It takes place at night… OR… on a bright, sunny morning.
It occurs in New York City, bustling with activity… OR… a quaint English village.
The main character is a hip, young man with a beautiful young wife and one child… OR… a nice "older" teacher, getting ready to retire.
It involves a sleek Corvette… OR… an umbrella/cane.

Hmmm… If you’re a reader of cozy mysteries, I don’t need to tell you the correct answers!

I am embarrassed to admit this, but I just started my FIRST Miss Emily D. Seeton novel! Yes, I know that they are almost as classic as the Miss Marple books. Yes, I have almost all of the Miss Seeton novels waiting in my bookshelf… along with many other wonderful cozy novels…. all of them seemingly there just to gather dust now that I am spending all of the time at my computer… rather than reading my favorite cozy mysteries!   ("More Reading/Less Typing" ought to be my new mantra!)

Getting back to the purpose of today’s blog:

The Miss Seeton’s series of books has been written by three different authors. Heron Carvic began the series in 1968, with Hampton Charles taking over during 1990, followed by Sarah J. Mason (aka Hamilton Crane) in 1991, with her last book (or should that be "his" for Hamilton?!?) published in 1999.

Miss Emily D. Seeton is a retired British teacher, although in the novel I am reading, she hasn’t quite decided to retire… at least she hasn’t by page 49! So far, "Picture Miss Seeton" has all of the things you would expect from a Cozy Mystery… all of the above correct answers come into play, but, alas, I haven’t met up with a cat yet… just egg-laying chickens…

I am really excited about starting this new cozy series, although I know it’s not new at all. Sometimes, when I start to read a book that has this much promise, I actually feel like "I’m home again"… It’s a difficult feeling to describe, but I am guessing that other cozy mystery readers have a sensation similar to my "I’m home again" feeling when they start reading a new author’s book that looks like it is really going to deliver the COZY that we all want so much!

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