It’s again time to post our favorite authors who we read this past month – August 2012. These are authors who we think other Cozy Mystery readers might want to try reading. As usual, I am asking you all to tell us about some of the authors you really enjoyed reading, and WHY you enjoyed these authors.

I’m going to do this a little differently this month, since I just added my author recommendation to the Cozy Mystery site. Rather than tell you why I am nominating Tarquin Hall in this entry, I will refer you to the Tarquin Hall: Vish Pury Mystery Series entry I just posted, telling you why I like Tarquin Hall so very much.

(I actually found out about Tarquin Hall because Sally recommended his books in last month’s recommendations. THANK YOU!!! I am so glad you made me aware of Tarquin Hall.)

Please do not just list a bunch of authors without telling us WHY you like each one. It’s your reasons that we would appreciate knowing, since you might enjoy the very same things we do. (And, I hate to keep adding this, please do not tell us about the authors you tried reading who you did not like.) I will add the recommended authors to this entry as they come in.

What Cozy Mystery book (or author) have you read during July 2012, 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:

Ellery Adams (aka J. B. Stanley, Jennifer Stanley, & 1/2 of Lucy Arlington): Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery Series

Donna Andrews: Meg Langslow Mystery Series

Connie Archer: Soup Lover’s Mystery Series

Kathleen Bacus: Tressa Jayne Turner Mystery Series

Ella Barrick (aka Laura DiSilverio & Lila Dare): Ballroom Dance Mystery Series

M. C. Beaton (aka Marion Chesney): Agatha Raisin Mystery Series

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

Dorothy Bodoin: Snowhedge, Secret of the Satyr, and The Cameo Clue

Melissa Bourbon (aka Misa Ramirez & Melissa Bourbon Ramirez): Magical Dressmaking Mystery Series

Rhys Bowen: Evan Evans Mystery Series

Mollie Cox Bryan: Scrapbook of Secrets

Meg Cabot: Heather Wells Mystery Series

Kate Carlisle: Bibliophile Mystery Series

Heron Carvic: Miss Seeton Mystery Series

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

Joelle Charbonneau: Glee Club Mystery Series

Erika Chase: Ashton Corners Book Club Mystery Series

G. K. Chesteron: Father Brown Mystery Series

Margaret Chittenden: Charlie Plato Msytery Series

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

Sheila Connolly (aka Sarah Atwell): Orchard Mystery Series

Lesley Cookman: Libby Sarjeant Mystery Series

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

Isis Crawford (aka Barbara Block): Mystery with Recipes Mystery Series

Bill Crider: Dan Rhodes Mystery Series

Mary Daheim: Bed-and-Breakfast Mystery Series

Maryjanice Davidson: Undead and Unreturnable

Claire Donally: The Big Kitty

Kaitlyn Dunnett (aka Kathy Lynn Emerson): Liss MacCrimmon Scottish Mystery Series

Janet Evanovich: Stephanie Plum Mystery Series

Amanda Flower: Appleseed Creek Msytery Series

Anne George: Southern Sisters Mystery Series

Rebecca M. Hale: Cats and Curios Mystery Series

Tarquin Hall: Vish Puri Mystery Series

Victoria Hamilton: Vintage Kitchen Mystery Series

Lynette Hall Hampton: Jilted by Death

Janice Hamrick: Jocelyn Shore Mystery Series

Veronica Heley: Ellie Quicke Mystery Series

Miranda James (aka Honor Hartman, Jimmie Ruth Evans, & Dean James) Cat in the Stacks Mystery Series

P. D. James: Adam Dalgliesh Mystery Series

J. A. Jance: Joanna Brady Mystery Series

Dardyna Jones: Second Grave on the Right

Rita Lakin: Gladdy Gold Mystery Series

Victoria Laurie: Psychic Eye Mystery Series

Victoria Laurie: Ghost Hunter Msytery Series

Joyce and Jim Lavene: Sheriff Sharyn Howard Mystery Series

Nancy Martin: Blackbird Sisters Msytery Series

Francine Mathews (aka Stephanie Barron): Jack 1939 (This is a Stand Alone)

Members of the Detection Club: The Floating Admiral

Katherine Hall Page: Faith Fairchild Mystery Series

Elizabeth Peters (aka Barbara Michaels): Jacqueline Kirby Mystery Series

Cynthia Riggs: Martha’s Vineyard Mystery Series

Ann B. Ross: Miss Julia Mystery Series

Mary Saums: Thistle and Twigg Mystery Series

Maggie Sefton: Molly Mallone Mystery Series (not Cozy)

J. B. Stanley (aka Jennifer Stanley, Ellery Adams, & 1/2 of Lucy Arlington): Supper Club Mystery Series

Leann Sweeney: Cats in Trouble Mystery Series

Marcia Talley: Hannah Ives Mystery Series

Charles Todd: Ian Rutledge Mystery Series

Kari Lee Townsend: Fortune Teller Mystery Series

Peter Tremayne: Mystery of Ancient Ireland

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

It’s really difficult for me to grasp the fact that it is already the end of July. But, it is!

I have tried several new authors because of your monthly recommendations. I have enjoyed most of them, and as I have told you before, added some of them to my “favorite authors” list.

Please tell us about a few of the authors you read this past month (July 2012), only those authors who you really, really enjoyed. And, as usual, please tell us WHY you enjoyed the author(s). (Please, do not tell us about the authors you tried reading who you did not like.) I will add the recommended authors to this entry as they come in.

What Cozy Mystery book (or author) have you read during July 2012, 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:

Ellery Adams (aka J. B. Stanley, Jennifer Stanley, & 1/2 of Lucy Arlington): Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery Series

Kate Atkinson: Started Early, Took My Dog

Elizabeth Bailey: Lady Fan Mystery Series

Lorna Barrett (aka L. L. Bartlett & Lorraine Bartlett): Booktown Mystery Series

Lorraine Bartlett (aka L. L. Bartlett & Lorna Barrett): Victoria Square Mystery Series

Heather Blake (aka Heather Webber): Witchcraft Mystery Series

Robin Blake: A Dark Anatomy

Janet Bolin: Threadville Mystery Series

Melissa Bourbon (aka Melissa Bourbon Ramirez & Misa Ramirez): Magical Dressmaking Mystery Series

Rhys Bowen: Lady Georgiana Mystery Series

Emily Brightwell: Mrs Jeffries Mystery Series

Frances Brody: Kate Shackleton Mystery Series

Dorothy Cannell: Ellie Haskel Mystery Series

Grace Carroll (aka Carol Culver): Accessories Mystery Series

Heron Carvic: Miss Seeton Mystery Series

Laura Childs: Tea Shop Mystery Series AND Cackleberry Club Mystery Series

Alisa Craig (aka Charlotte MacLeod): Grub-and Stakers Mystery Series

Isis Crawford (aka Barbara Block): Mystery with Recipes Mystery Series

Anna Dean: Miss Dido Kent Mystery Series

Janet Evanovich: Stephanie Plum Mystery Series

Sharon Fiffer: Jane Wheel Mystery Series

Amanda Flower: Appleseed Creek Mystery Series

Joanne Fluke: Hannah Swensen Mystery Series

Anne George: Southern Sisters Mystery Series

Katherine Miller Haines: Rosie Winter Mystery Series

Rebecca M. Hale: Cats and Curios Mystery Series

Tarquin Hall: Vish Puri Mystery Series

Victoria Hamilton: Vintage Kitchen Mystery Series

Tessa Harris: The Anatomist’s Apprentice

B. B. Haywood: Candy Holliday Mystery Series

Maddy Hunter: Passport to Peril Mystery Series

Julie Hyzy: Manor of Murder Mystery Series

Dorte Jakobsen: The Cozy Knave

P.D. James: Adam Dalgliesh Mystery Series

Craig Johnson: Walt Longmire Mystery Series

Garrison Keillor: Guy Noir and the Straight Skinny

Mitzi Kelly: Silver Sleuths Mystery Series

Sofie Kelly: Magical Cats Mystery Series

Allison Kingsley (aka Kate Kingsbury & Rebecca Kent): Raven’s Nest Bookstore Mystery Series

Victoria Laurie: Psychic Eye Mystery Series

Amanda Lee (aka Gayle Trent): Embroidery Mystery Series

Liz Lipperman: Clueless Cook Mystery Series

M. Louisa Locke: Victorian San Francisco Mystery Series AND The Misses Moffet Mend A Marriage: A Victorian San Francisco Story

Kylie Logan (aka Miranda Bliss & Casey Daniels): Button Box Mystery Series

Amanda Matetsky: Paige Turner Mystery Series

Lorena McCourtney: Cate Kinkaid Files Mystery Series.

Jenn McKinlay (aka Lucy Lawrence & Josie Belle): Cupcake Bakery Mystery Series AND Library Lover’s Mystery Series

Amy Patricia Meade: Rosie the Riveter Mystery Series

Miss Read: Fairacre Series

Katherine Hall Page: Faith Fairchild Mystery Series

Spencer Quinn (aka Peter Abrahams): Chet and Bernie Mystery Series

Clayton Rawson: The Great Merlini Mystery Series

Dorothy St. James: White House Gardener Mystery Series

Denise Swanson: Scumble River Mystery Series

Victoria Thompson: Gaslight Mystery Series

Kari Lee Townsend: Fortune Teller Mystery Series

Peter Turnbull: Hennessey & Yellich Mystery Series

Elaine Viets: Dead-End Mystery Series

P. G. Wodehouse: The Adventures of Sally

Dornford Yates: Chandos Series

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

Since we started this monthly recommendation of Cozy Mystery books, I have tried several new authors who some of you recommended… about a dozen. I thank you all for your previous recommendations! I have added a few of the new-to-me authors you all recommended to my list of “favorite authors” –  and will soon be reading  the second mysteries in their series.

These monthly recommendations of authors are great ways for us to take a look at your authors, and read the reasons you like them. Then, for those of us who are looking for the same things you listed, we can try the authors. So, please nominate one, two, or even three of your favorite Cozy Mystery authors who you read during the month of June 2012, and please tell us why you enjoyed the authors’ mystery books. (And, please don’t tell us about the authors you tried reading and didn’t like.)

What Cozy Mystery book (or author) have you read during June 2012, 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:

Nancy Atherton: Aunt Dimity Mystery Series

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

K. K. Beck: Iris Cooper Mystery Series

Emily Brightwell: Mrs. Jeffries Mystery Series

Frances Brody: Kate Shackelton Mystery Series

Heron Carvic: Miss Setton Mystery Series

Erika Chase: Ashton Corners Book Club Mystery Series

Laura Crum: Gail McCarthy Mystery Series

Krista Davis: Domestic Diva Mystery Series

Anna Dean: Dido Kent Mystery Series

Charlotte & Aaron Elkins: Alix London Mystery Series

Janet Evanovich: Stephanie Plum Mystery Series

Judy Fitzwater: Jennifer Marsh Mystery Series

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

Anne George: Southern Sisters Mystery Series

Isidore Haiblum: Murder in Gotham

Victoria Hamilton: Vintage Kitchen Mystery Series

Janice Hamrick: Jocelyn Shore Mystery Series

B. B. Haywood: Candy Holliday Mystery Series

Hazel Holt: Mrs. Malory Mystery Series

P. D. James: Adam Dalgliesh Msytery Series

Rita Lakin: Gladdy Gold Mystery Series

Edward Marston (aka Conrad Allen & Keith Miles): Railway Detective Mystery Series

Nancy Martin: Blackbird Sisters Mystery Series

Leslie Meier: Lucy Stone Mystery Series

Julie Moffett: No One to Trust

Katherine Hall Page: Faith Fairchild Mystery Series

Patricia Rockwell: Bingoed, an Essie Cobb Senior Sleuth Mystery Series

Sax Rohmer: Hangover House

Mark Schweizer: Liturgical Msytery Series

Cynthia Smith: Emma Rhodes Mystery Series

Lillian Stewart: The Blue Hackle 

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

I can’t believe that May is almost over! What a month!!! School terms are over,  neighborhood pools are opening, barbecues are being heated up, and birds are VERY abundant. (I wish we got more Cardinals here, and less of those drab-colored Doves and House Finches!)

Since it is the end of May, how about if we share the Cozy Mystery books we have enjoyed this month? Let’s tell each other why we are “nominating” these authors as writers we think other Cozy Mystery readers should try reading >>> it they aren’t already.

Once you tell us about the author you really enjoyed, and of course, why you enjoyed him/her, I will start accumulating the authors names on a list below. Please tell us a little about why you are recommending this author/book, >>> we’d especially like to know why the author is good.  (I hate to keep droning on about this next thing, but please don’t tell us about the authors you tried reading and disliked.)

What Cozy Mystery book (or author) have you read during May 2012, and why did you enjoy it (or him/her)?

The Cozy Mystery author who I read this month, who I think others might really enjoy is Margaret Grace. She’s also known as Camille Minichino and Ada Madison.

Perhaps the reason I enjoy Grace so much, is that her main sleuth has a lot of the same thoughts as I do. I find her main sleuth, Gerry Porter, thinking a lot of the same things I would have thought if I had encountered the exact event. Does that make sense? I hope so. I am sure I would not be able to identify with some of Gerry’s thoughts if she weren’t such a three-dimensional character. Grace’s characters are three-dimensional characters, much like those you would encounter in “real life”.

The main characters of the Miniature Mystery Series are Gerry and her granddaughter, Maddie, who is an elementary school age girl. Their relationship is a joy to read about. Gerry simply dotes on Maddie, and the feelings are mutual. Gerry’s nephew, Skip, is a police officer in this Cozy almost-everybody-knows-everybody town. Skip is (quite often!) aggravated by his Aunt Gerry, but he loves her all the same. The relationships between all of the  characters ring true to me, and very life-like. These are “people” who I would love to know!

I really enjoy the writing style of Grace. It isn’t super flowery, with big words sprinkled in to show us just how intelligent the author is, and it also doesn’t rely on profanity to get the different moods across. We “get it” when a character is mad, even without “*!#^*” being used as adjectives and adverbs. Her writing style is effortless and smooth, a very conversational tone, without being simplistic.

I strongly recommend the Miniature Mystery Series by Margaret Grace.

April 2012 Author and Series Recommendations:

Ellery Adams (aka J. B. Stanley, Jennifer Stanley, & 1/2 of Lucy Arlington): Books by the Bay Mystery Series

Charlotte Armstrong: The Turret Room & A Dram of Poison

Nancy Atherton: Aunt Dimity Mystery Series

Melissa Bourbon: Magical Dressmaking Mystery Series

Barbara Bretton: Chloe Hobbs’ Paranormal Mystery Series

Emily Brightwell: Mrs. Jeffries Mystery Series

Frances Brody: Kate Shackleton Mystery Series

Dorothy Cannell: Ellie Haskell Mystery Series

Sheila Connolly (aka Sarah Atwell): Orchard Mystery Series

Deborah Coonts: Lucky O’Toole Mystery Series

Ellen Crosby: Wine Country Mystery Series

Diane Mott Davidson: Goldy Bear Catering Mystery Series

Anna Dean: Dido Kent Mystery Series

Laura DiSilverio (aka Lila Dare & Ella Barrick): Mall Cop Mystery Series

Carola Dunn: Daisy Dalrymple Mystery Series

Anne George: Southern Sisters Mystery Series

Margaret Grace (aka Camille Minichino and Ada Madison): Miniature Mystery Series

Victoria Hamilton: Vintage Kitchen Mystery Series

Miranda James (aka Jimmie Ruth Evans, Honor Hartman, & Dean James): Cat in the Stacks Mystery Series

P. D. James: Adam Dalgliesh Mystery Series

Diane Kelly: Tara Holloway Mystery Series

Sofie Kelly: Magical Cats Mystery Series

Liz Lipperman: Clueless Cook Mystery Series

Nancy Martin: Blackbird Sisters Mystery Series

Amy Patricia Meade: Rosie the Riveter Mystery Series

Katherine Hall Page: Faith Fairchild Mystery Series

Mark Schweizer: Liturgical Mystery Series 

Paige Shelton: Farmers’ Market Mystery Series

Alexander McCall Smith: No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Mystery Series

Leann Sweeney: Cats in Trouble Mystery Series

Marcia Talley: Hannah Ives Mystery Series

Elaine Viets: Dead End Job Mystery Series

Dornford Yates: Jonathan Mansell Mystery Series

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