So having just finished re-reading a Christmas-themed Cozy (Leslie Meier‘s Mistletoe Murder – if you want to read that blog entry, go here), it’s gotten me in a bit of a “holiday” sort of mood >>> despite the fact that it is more than 100 degrees outside pretty much every day!
Normally I don’t read holiday themed Cozies “out of season” >>> I tend to read a lot of holiday themed Cozies but only when the actual holiday rolls around. While I was re-reading this Christmas themed Cozy during a rather hot spell here in San Antonio, I started thinking about Christmas in July Cozy Mystery reading. About two years ago, MJ wrote a comment about just this:
… Oft discussed on this blog are the ‘seasonal/theme’ cozies. Danna, too, has said she enjoys reading Christmas cozies in Nov/Dec., winter cozies in Jan/Feb, etc., etc. In addition, many of us have talked about how we enjoy the characters in our favorite series. I’m always looking forward (generally waiting for a year) to the next book in an enjoyable on-going series.
HERE’S THE DILEMMA …….what if a book in a series you enjoy is released with a Christmas theme in June?? Do you read it now because you’ve been waiting for the next ‘installment’? OR, do you wait for 6 months to enjoy the ambiance of the Christmas season?
That’s exactly what happened when I automatically picked up ‘The Diva Wraps It Up’ (released 6/3), by Krista Davis. Since it’s a series I follow, I didn’t even bother reading the story description. When I started reading the first page, I realized it has a Christmas theme! What’s with that?
I haven’t read it yet. But whether one does or doesn’t read it in the summer, probably will depend on how much patience one has. I’m thinking about a ‘Christmas in July’ read (perhaps around the 7/22, 7/23, 7/24 time frame). Since in the last book there was some ‘relationship’ uncertainty in a subplot, I assume this will be a continuing storyline in the new book. We’ll see………………..I’m not a real patient person.
And then just last month, “HookedOnCozyMysteries” wrote this:
Just finished a crazy Donna Andrews mystery: The Nightingale Before Christmas. She’s always good for a laugh, and she came through again; reading something that is set during chilly weather at least makes me feel a little cooler. Now I’m onto A Cherry Cheesecake Murder by Joanna Fluke. It’s March in Lake Eden, Minnesota … still chilly and Hannah Swenson is sure to bake up something yummy
I know we have discussed reading holiday/seasonal Cozies out of their corresponding season, but I’m wondering (again) when the rest of you Cozy Mystery lovers read holiday Cozies. Do you do what I normally do >>> read holiday mysteries in the “proper” season? (This is sort of a drag if you have to wait several months for the specific holiday.) Or do you read your favorite authors’ Cozies when they are released (or when they are the next books in your TBR pile), regardless of the holiday/season they take place in? Please leave a comment below. Thank you!
Sheila in CT says
QVC has Christmas in July. The Hallmark Movie Channel has Christmas Movies in July (and yes I watch them). I like reading the books in the order they are published. So it is fine to me to read Christmas in July (it does cool you off if it is too humid outside).
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Sheila in CT, QVC’s Christmas in July is one of my vices! I tape the shows that interest me just to see the beautiful Christmas items. One of their presenters used to do a lot of soy fragrance candles, which got me totally hooked on scented candles! That was years ago, and she no longer has them, so I now have to buy the Better Homes & Gardens’ scented wax cubes (at Walmart) to fill my scented candles addiction…
KG says
I have already purchased some Christmas decorations from Valerie on QVC. They have started to arrive and I have put a few out (I tell myself I am just testing them to see if they work). I also ordered Christmas popcorn today, but it won’t come until November. I have watched a few of the Christmas movies on Hallmark and I am currently re reading The New Year’s Eve Murder by Leslie Meier. Most of the time I wait at least until the season (fall. winter, spring, summer) of the holiday if I can hold off.
One of the drawbacks of reading holiday books early is that I am afraid I won’t have a holiday book to read during the correct holiday!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
KG, I don’t know if you’ll run out of holiday Cozies >>> there are so many holiday Cozy series out there. (Good news for those of us who love them!)
MRED says
I can’t watch Hallmark in July because I don’t want to think about Christmas themes in July.
Julie says
Yes, I’m watching a bunch of hallmark’s Christmas movies now. I don’t really like to, but here I am doing it. We were in scotland for a month and I think I just wanted to feel at home with American tv again. When we visit family in July in VA and the heat index is 114 – we watch Renee Zellweger ‘s ‘new in town’, to cool off. It’s the coldest movie we could find : )
Julie says
Off the Christmas topic, but has anyone read the Miss Seeton cozy mysteries? I’ve noticed they’re being released on Kindle now. I’ve read the first one or two and they were cute.
dragons3 says
I read most of them back in the day. I don’t remember a lot about them, but I do remember liking the earlier ones best. After Carvic died another author picked up the series. They were readable but not as good as the earlier ones.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Dragons3, there’s something to be said about series that are started by an author and then continued by another author (Hamilton Crane). And, in this case, two authors! The ones by Hampton Charles (aka Sarah J. Mason) aren’t available in Kindle format yet.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Julie, I read your comment and thought what a small world! I was getting the July Free & Cheap Kindle entry ready, and had all of the Miss Seeton Cozies that are available in Kindle format on the list!
Rob says
Julie: watch “Fargo”. That will cool you off! And it was a good movie.
I agree about watching something cool to get you in the mood. I envy you being in Scotland. I’ve never been out of the US. Always wanted to tour the UK. I’m not Scottish but I am British and Irish. I do like Anne Perry and M C Beaton though. And they both choose to live in Scotland.
I hope you had a good trip.
Rob J
Julie says
We planned the trip for 9 years and had the time of our lives. It was an adventure every day. Scotland is the most beautiful place on earth. Skye was incredible. Stayed in a Blackhouse on Lewis – fantastic. Saw the Loch Ness monster (or, at least my daughter photo-shopped her into one of our pictures, for our grandchildren : ), glencoe was atmospheric and beautiful (and very wet), -would go back right now! I read m c Beaton. I wonder if there are any other Cozy series set in Scotland?
Rob says
Julie: I don’t know. Maybe our expert Blog mistress or her capable co-horts would know?
Rob
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Julie & Rob, I have a Scotland theme on my Cozy Mystery site. (This blog is attached to my Cozy Mystery site. >>> I have a Cozy Mysteries by Themes page on my site.) Here is the Scotland/Scottish page:
Scotland: Cozy Mystery Books with a Scottish Theme
dragons3 says
Alexander McCall Smith has a series set in Scotland — the Isabel Dalhousie Sunday Philosophy Club books. Gerald Hammond has 3 series set in Scotland, and a lot of stand-alones. Unfortunately, most of the books that are in e-format are stand-alones. My favorite is the John Cunningham series. He breeds and trains hunting dogs. Candace Robb has 3 set in 13th century Scotland. Lillian Stewart Carl has the Jean Fairbairn series — these are procedural cozies. Jean works for a magazine, but she teams up with a police detective.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Dragons3, thank you!
Julie says
Oh thank you! I’ve read all the Alexander McCall smith but the others are new to me and it will be fun to give them a try!
Julie says
I spent most of last year catching up on the whole McCall smith Sotland Street book series, but it isn’t really a mystery series. I fell in love with 6 year old boy genius, Bertie, and McCall smith’s off-the-wall plot twists and humor had me laughing so hard while driving(I was listening to the audio books), I was afraid I’d be arrested : )
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Julie, what fun! Scotland for a month! Our daughter went to Ireland for just a week and she loved, loved, loved it. I just googled Renee Zellweger’s New in Town, and wonder how I missed that movie! Wikipedia says the weather got down to below −50 °F (−46 °C)! Yikes!!!
Julie says
It was as much fun watching the special features, as watching the movie, when they talked about the experience of filming in that kind of weather! I’ve always wanted to go to Ireland. But once we got a taste of Scotland we just had to go back. Almost 10 years ago our family sent us on a trip to the UK, and we covered 1700 miles (Scotland, England and Wales) in 14 days. That’s when we kind of raced through scotland and knew we wanted to return some day.
Rob says
Thanks, Julie: I needed that. Some day, I hope I can go to see all of the UK and those countries as well. As I said, I love Anne Perry and MC Beaton and they live there! I would just be happy to visit! I also knit so there would be an additional inspiration!
I hear food in the UK and Scotland, Ireland and Wales is really good? Is that rumor true?
Rob
Julie says
You can get sandwiches everyday from a vending machine that are fresh and better than any sandwich I’ve ever had here. We use those for lunch to take along and save time and money looking for lunch wherever we’re traveling that day. Sticky toffee pudding is to die for, depending on where you get it. We got fish from a little van on the Harbour pier and saw the man pull out the haddock fillet caught that day, and dip it and fry it in 6 or 7 minutes while we stood there. Fresh scallops everywhere we went. Italian food from little restaurants owned and run by Italians straight from Italy. The food was wonderful : )
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Julie, oh my gosh, what a trip! I looked up the movie and was shocked at the cold they had to endure!
dragons3 says
I read them when I get to them. There are some authors I just can’t wait on and sit down and start reading as soon as I get them. I prefer to read series in order when possible, so I don’t like to wait until the “proper” season comes around.
Slightly OT, but it’s seasonal and cozy — Jane Haddam’s “Act of Darkness” is $1.99 today. It’s one of the Gregor Demarkian holiday mysteries and is set over the 4th of July.
Tullita says
So many good reads out there. It’s fun to read something in season but so many of my favorites are coming out with holiday novellas until I don’t feel I have to wait. In series, I am usually anxiously awaiting the next installment so when it is released, I’m ready.
Mentioning Mistletoe Murder, I am ready to start a new series and do a catch up marathon (does any one else do that. find a series that’s been out and read like crazy) but I am thinking I may hold off until Christmas to start it. I am debating between Laura Childs tea series and the flower shop mysteries. Any recommendations on which one I should dive into? Again, I just love this blog. I get so many ideas and have found authors I would have never heard of or read. Thanks to everyone who contributes.
Dawn says
Both are good series, but I suggest reading the tea shop series next.
dragons3 says
I agree. They’re both good series but there’s so much local color in the tea shop books. Every one I read has new information about Charleston and the low country. I read them for that as much as for the characters and the mystery. Childs’ Cackleberry Club series is very good, too.
Rob says
I agree Tullita. I “marathon” and just finished Peter King’s Gourmet Detective series. I loved it and it is on Hallmark with Dylan Neal in the title role. Brooke Burke plays the female detective. It is good to see a book “come to life” on the small screen but sometimes you lose essential elements. Hallmark is pretty faithful to keeping a series close to the author’s intent. I also read a lot of a series all at once when I find an author that is hard to get at the library.
Rob
Tullita says
Thanks for the Gourmet Detective idea. I’ve put a reserve in at the library. I love British mysteries, food mysteries should be right up my alley.
Rob says
Tullita: Have you read Avery Aames Cheese shop or cook book nook series? Also Roberta Isleib writes under a different name for her Key West food critic series set in Florida I think. If you look up Roberta, her other pen name should come up or if you go to her website, her food critic series would show too. ALso, Krista Davis writes the Diva series and that whole series is about food and mysteries. I loved them. I just read Diva Steals a Chocolate Kiss and am starting Diva Hosts a High Tea or words with High Tea in them.
Hope that helps.
Rob
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Tullita & Rob, here are the Avery Aames (aka Daryl Wood Gerber), Roberta Isleib (aka Lucy Burdette), & Krista Davis pages on my Cozy Mystery site. You’ll find all of their Cozies listed chronologically on their pages.
Tullita says
Danna, thanks for the heads up on the Cheese shop mysteries. i’m not familiar with that series. My daughter turned me onto the Key West series, your right, it’s a great read. Thanks for the ideas and thanks again for this wonderful site. I’ve found so many good authors so much good reading
Nancy says
I’m currently reading Fogged Inn by Barbara Ross. It takes place in December, so I feel like I’m cooling off during a hot summer. This is a terrific series.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Nancy, Barbara Ross is in my (rather long!) TBR list of books. I’ve heard really good things about her series.
Susan in VT says
Watching “Once Upon a Holiday” now on the Hallmark Channel… Ironic BC I just read your Blog Danna;) Christmas in July works for me too⛄️..
Melissa says
I like to read cozies in the “proper season”. ( Its fun to read a cozy set in a certain holiday “during” that holiday )
But, sometimes I like to read Christmas cozies ( and romance books ) in July ( and other summer months )…it makes me feel a little cooler!
Great question!
Ingrid says
I tend to read books as they are published, season appropriate or not. Like others, I enjoy reading about cooler weather activities when it’s hot and humid outside or warm, carefree summer days when winter winds are blowing. I relate to holiday themes through memories, no matter the time of year. And sometimes the holiday theme fits the current season and that’s fun, too.
Sharon says
I have really changed. lol! There was a time when I couldn’t wait for all of the Christmas in July shopping, especially on QVC. But for the past few years, I find I don’t pay any attention to it. I guess I just don’t like to rush the days or the seasons. I like to enjoy them as they come. Maybe that’s part of getting older, I don’t know. Right now, I’m really enjoying Summer, and reading on my front porch and in the backyard. So, if I did see some Christmas and holiday-theme books I’d like to read, I would add them to my to-read lists (including Mistletoe Murder), and would more than likely save them for November/December.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Sharon, I have pared down my Christmas items a lot these past few years so I don’t actually buy anything. My husband and I keep talking about doing the empty-nesters thing >>> finding a smaller house. Even though I’ve “sifted through” many things, we are still in this rather large house. However, even though I don’t buy anything, I do enjoy seeing all of the glitter and lights on some of these shows.
I would love to have a summer where I could sit on my patio and read. You’re lucky to have that type of weather. I just went outside to water some of our new Red Tips, and now I’m sitting in front of my Vornado Zippi Personal Fan – it has soft blades so I can move it all over my desk without it damaging anything. (I love this fan!) I use it a lot after my brief visits into my yard.
Ellen Byron says
If I’m wrapped up in a series, I just want to read the next book whenever I can. Christmas in July, October, May… doesn’t matter to me. I want to know what happens next!
Terrym says
I also read cozys when they come out. I have just never had the willpower to wait for anything. We are on vacation and I bought a Lynn Cahoon in a bookstore (Killer Run). I have never read her before. Our library doesn’t carry her and neither does our Barnes & Noble.
Rob says
Terry M: I hope you have a chance to try Leigh Perry. I really enjoyed the Skeleton Haunts a House and the other two look fun as well! i love the Christmas themed cozies but I start reading them (to get in the mood) in October. LOL. I get in the mood early!
Rob
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Terrym, last year I had to wait to read Margaret Grace’s Christmas themed Manhattan in Miniature. It was rather difficult, since this is one of my very favorite Cozy series. (The book came out in April!)
Rob says
Danna: I’ve read that one (all in her miniature series) and they are all very good and worth waiting for! Fun to read any time of the year.
Rob
Rob says
Danna et all: I don’t have to wait for a season for a favorite author if she or he has a book out that I’ve waited for. I’ll read them when they are released. But for some reason, I do read Anne Perry’s Christmas novellas at Christmas. Otherwise, I don’t obey my own reading rules. LOL.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Rob, well then you’re in luck! Anne Perry’s A Christmas Message is due to be released in November.
Rob says
Thanks, Danna; Yes, I’ll get that one to buy and keep! I have a whole shelf of Anne Perry’s Christmas novellas. Thanks for the heads up!
Rob
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Rob, I’ve said this before, I just don’t know how Anne Perry finds the time to write all of her books!
Billie says
I read the series in order that they are published, but if its summer and I see a Christmas book that I may have missed I go ahead and get it. I get most of my books thru the local library system and we are fortunate to have most of the state’s libraries available to us.
Rob says
I just picked up a book in a series (ordered the other two books in that series from the library! I love this last one, The Skeleton Haunts a House by Leigh Perry. Excellent, fun and frivolous (in a good way). But Halloween was always my favorite holiday and this book is great. After all, October is only 4 months off!
I recommend Leigh highly. This is going to be a fan favorite!
Rob
Billie says
I like to read the books as they come out. Then during the Holidays go back to read my favorites. If any of you watch “Murdock Murder Mysteries” there is a Christmas special on this month too! Love that program! I too, order from QVC during July. I like to get the food products for family and friends.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Billie, I didn’t know the Murdock Murder Mysteries are on TV. I watched them through discs from Netflix, but now that we’re members of Acorn, I see they are there. (I think our daughter is watching them on Hulu, but I could be mistaken about where she’s getting the shows.)
grammadonnie says
It depends on my mood when I pick up the book to read. Billie have you seen the TV shows called “the Artful Detective”? It has all the same characters and actors as “Murdock Murders Mysteries”! I have no idea why this is but it is true. I like them too.
Billie says
I heard that the name change to “Artful Detective” would appeal to the American audience better than the original title of “Murdock Murder Mysteries”. The program is out of Canada and very popular. I watch cast interviews on YOU-TUBE too. Glad you enjoy it too!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Billie, it’s really a fun, innovative mystery show. Thanks for clearing up the name confusion.
Cynthia says
I like to read “in season” for the most part. But reading a cold themed book in July or vice versa is good also.
Tullita says
Thanks Dawn and Dragons 3. It sounds like the tea shop it is. One of my best friends recently bought a retirement cottage in Charleston. I may have to turn her on to them too. I have the first of the Cackleberry series in my to read pile as well. So much to read and so little time 🙂