Picking up from last time, here are the rest of the Christmas-themed holiday novels we can look forward to in October. It sure sounds like it will be a busy month for Cozy lovers!
Joyce and Jim Lavene will be releasing their second book under the pen name Ellie Grant, Treacherous Tart. This will be the second book in their Pie in the Sky Mystery Series, starring pie shop employee and North Carolina resident, Maggie Grady. When her Aunt Clara’s new, suspicious boyfriend dies suddenly, Maggie will be forced to help clear her name. (The Lavenes write multiple well-known mystery series, including the Missing Pieces Mystery Series, starring the mayor of her town, the Renaissance Faire Mystery Series, set in a renaissance faire, the Peggy Lee Garden Mystery Series, starring the owner of a gardening shop, and the Sheriff Sharyn Howard Mystery Series. As J.J. Cook they write the Sweet Pepper Fire Brigade Mystery Series as well as the Biscuit Bowl Food Truck Mystery Series. )
Lee Hollis (actually the pseudonym of a brother-sister writing duo) will be releasing the fifth book in their Hayley Powell Food & Cocktail Mystery Series, entitled Death of a Christmas Caterer. This series stars divorced mom and local newspaper food columnist, Hayley Powell, who is often called upon to solve murders related in some way to food and drink. This time her office party will be an unfortunate casualty. The caterer who Hayley hand-picked for the party turns up dead before the first of the appetizers can even be delivered. Can Hayley once again serve up a hot batch of justice?
Sofie Kelly (aka Sofie Ryan) will be releasing A Midwinter’s Tail , the sixth book in her Magical Cats Mystery Series. Minnesotan librarian Kathleen Paulson will once again need to rely on the talents of her uncannily clever cats, catnip-addicted Owen and Barry Manilow-lover Hercules… and to a lesser extent, her boyfriend Marcus. When a guest at a charity benefit dies suddenly, she’ll need to once again harness the problem-solving skills of her feline friends to help get to the bottom of things. (As Sofie Ryan, she recently began a second cat-themed Cozy Mystery series, the Second Chance Cat Mystery Series.)
Debbie Macomber will be releasing Mr. Miracle. This will be the 3rd in the Mrs. Miracle Series, which hasn’t seen an entry since 2010 – a pretty long time between releases for a Cozy series! Of course, this isn’t necessarily a surprise for Macomber fans, as she’s well known for reviving some of her older series every few years. Also, it isn’t a Cozy Mystery – but she’s been recommended by enough fans of the site over the years that I’ve decided to include her here as an “honorary Cozy” author anyway! (Debbie Macomber writes a number of other series beyond Mrs. Miracle, including the Cedar Cove Series, the Blossom Street Series, and the Knit Along with Debbie Series of instructional knitting books inspired by characters from her books.)
Finally, Sharyn McCrumb will be releasing a novella, Nora Bonesteel’s Christmas Past, set after the tenth book in her Ballad Mystery Series. This series stars Spencer Atwood, Appalachian sheriff, and Nora Bonesteel, local clairvoyant. Unfortunately, the summaries I’ve seen for this particular entry are fairly brief (not too unusual for novellas, which have less plot to cover), so we’ll have to discover this one together! (Sharyn McCrumb also writes the Elizabeth MacPherson Mystery Series, starring an anthropologist, and the relatively short Jay Omega Mystery Series, starring a science fiction author and professor.)
Yow! The five Christmas theme mysteries from the last entry and the five from today’s entry sure make October 2014 a great month for Christmas theme mystery releases! It looks like it’ll be a good holiday season for Cozy Mystery lovers!
If you would like to see more Cozy Mystery Christmas-themed books, click on this link to take you to the Christmas Mystery page.
Here is the first part of this entry: Christmas Mystery Books being Released during October 2014!
(If you are interested in all sorts of holiday mysteries, click on this link to take you to the Holiday Mystery Book page.)
Susan* says
I think I’m on the wrong page – Donna Andrews was mentioned yesterday – but for any fans, like me, there is another tentatively scheduled for July next year.
No. 19: ‘Lord of the Wings’. Lol!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Susan*, thanks for the info! I’ll keep an eye out for Lord of the Wings.
LuAnn Braley says
Personally, I think the Lavenes’ must have cloned themselves, a couple of times, maybe, in order to turn out the number of wonderful cozies that they do! 😉 (j/k. kinda.)
I have a bookish bucket list goal to read them all!
Karen says
My bucket list was the same. I will tell you the Sheriff Sharyn books the early ones are kinda hard to find.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
LuAnn, Joyce and Jim Lavene must have a great time coming up with new ideas to keep all of their series’ characters busy in the world of crime-solving!
Melissa @ My Recent Favorite books says
Thanks for the great list! I’m a big fan of Debbie Macomber!
Pinned.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Melissa, the only bad thing about this being Mr. Miracle is I am wondering if Doris Roberts will have a part in the Hallmark Christmas movie. I sure hope so!
Sheila says
Looking forward to Sofie Kelly’s Midwinter’s Tail.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Sheila, the only bad thing I can think of about holiday theme Cozy Mysteries is having to decide whether to wait until the given holiday, or not!
Julia says
The Lees Hollis mystery looks good, and of course the new Donna Andrews Christmas mystery someone mentioned. But oh how I wish Sharyn McCrumb would revive her Elizabeth MacPherson series!
I know she prefers the Ballad series because she never really intended to get into writing mysteries in the first place (i saw her at a book signing years ago, I think even before the first sort of entry in the Ballad series, “If Ever I Return, Pretty Peggy-O” came out). But for me, “Highland Laddie Gone” was the book that got me hooked on her writing in the first place, and I really miss that world.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Julia, how interesting that Sharyn McCrumb never intended writing mysteries!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Julia, I just found another Christmas mystery that is coming out. It’s by Barbara Allan and it’s a novella called Antiques Fruitcake. I just love my holiday Cozy Mysteries!