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Cozy Mystery Books I've Been Reading: Ngaio Marsh, Ellis Peters, and Cyril Hare

I am taking all of our Christmas decorations down and getting them ready for storage, which means that I am once again, attached to my audible book. I know I have written about doing mindless chores in the house… and how I always listen to my audible books when those times arise.

I feel like I am starting the New Year off with a bang! I am re-visiting some of my very favorite authors… I just finished listening to my latest audio by Ngaio Marsh. I always enjoy seeing what Inspector Roderick Alleyn and Troy (not to mention his sergeant, Fox) are up to. It is always a treat.

Since I finished my Marsh audible mystery, I started a new mystery… which is by Ellis Peters. LOVE her! And, LOVE Brother Cadfael! I have to admit that sometimes it takes my brain a little while to adjust to the 12th century setting, but once I’m there, I’m really there!

As for my “hard copy mystery”… Having loved An English Murder so much, I am now starting on Cyril Hare‘s Inspector Mallet mystery series. It took me a while to gather up all of the books in the series, as they are no longer in print. But, now that I have all of them, I am ready to see if Hare’s mystery series is on par with his Christmas mystery. So far, very good!

Man! These three authors really bring to life that saying: “It doesn’t get any better than this!” for me. Authors like Marsh, Peters, and Hare make doing mindless chores a whole lot less tedious for me.

Now that I have told you all what I am reading, would any of you mind telling us what you are currently reading?

Comments

  1. Someone on this site recently recommended Camille Minichino’s periodic table series, so I decided to try the first one, The Hydrogen Murder. Excellent! I will continue this series and try her other one also.

    My current mystery is The Ninth Daughter by Barbara Hamilton, which takes place in Boston during the American Revolution years. I’m loving it so far.

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  2. Well, I am proud to say I am finally caught up on S.W. Albert’s China Bayles series! I am currently reading the last paperback, “Wormwood”. I began the series last January, it took me all year but I caught up with time to spare before “Holly Blues” pb release!

    Next up will be the third in Ann George’s series which I am loving and the third in Carolyn Haines Sarah Booth series. I have so many books in my TBR bookcase (not shelf case) it’s mind blowing! So much to read and so little time.

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    • Angela, the last time I read right through a mystery series is when I found out about M. C. Beaton’s Hamish Macbeth series. I didn’t read any other mysteries until I caught up with Hamish. Unfortunately, I’m no longer caught up with Hamish…

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      • Funny you should mention that, the first Hamish is one of the books in the TBR piles! Last year I also read the entire Diane Mott Davidson series, sorry to say I don’t think I’ll be keeping up with that one. By the last book I was hoping Goldy would take her last “trip and fall” if you know what I mean, lol.

        I try to choose 2 long series per year to catch up with. On the agenda for this year…the Aunt Dimnity series and Earlene Fowler’s Benni Harper series. I sprinkle in some of the smaller series to keep things interesting.

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        • Angela, yes, I actually do know what you mean! (Not about Diane Mott Davidson, but about other authors who I have felt fed-up with…)

          Don’t you just hate it when you “catch up” with an author, and you then feel like you have had enough of that author>>>who you really enjoyed at the beginning? I have had that happen with many of the authors who I really enjoyed, but who simply became too predictable OR the sleuths in the series seemed to become total idiots… always putting themselves in the same type of danger, ETC.

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        • I was contemplating diving into the Diane Mott Davidson series but in reading reviews it sounds like they may be too predictable. Do you have suggestions for a cozy series that is interesting and well written? I have read all of Rita Mae Brown’s cat series and the hunt series and really enjoyed them. Also the Tea Shop series – I loved that one. I am snowed in and would love to find a new series to read on my Kindle.

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          • Ellen, I actually like Diane Mott Davidson… I just ammended by comment to Angela stating that while I like Davidson, there are other authors who have affected me like that…

            I love Anne George’s Southern Sister Mystery Series, and have recommended them to everyone…

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  3. Danna: Here are the cozy mysteries I have going right now: 1) “Hog Wild” by Cathy Pickens (third in the Avery Andrews mystery series); 2) “Town in a Blueberry Jam” by B. B. Haywood (first in a new series); 3) “A Truth for a Truth” by Emilie Richards (fifth in the Ministry is Murder series).

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  4. Since I got my Kindle I’ve been reading two books a week. I’m catching up on the few Nero Wolfs I missed by Rex Stout, I’ve read the first two of the Cookie Shop series by Joanne Fluke, the first of the donut mysteries by Jessica Beck, and the first two Jaine Austin books by Laura Levine.

    I started one other series. but I stopped reading it about a third of the way in when I decided that I hoped the main character would go to jail for the murder she was trying to solve.

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    • Chris, I’ve had a feeling about some of the sleuths I have read… but could not have said it better than you did! “when I decided that I hoped the main character would go to jail for the murder she was trying to solve.”

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  5. Wow, I feel like a real slacker. Maybe my brain is too small, but I read one book at a time . . and I like to read all thru a series. Currently reading the Bed & Breakfast books by Mary Daheim. Read her Alpine series last year from A to U and didn’t want it to end.
    Been sneaking in book club assignments in between the B&B series. Book club books are like homework – annoying when I’m reading them, but at the end I’m glad I did! January’s book club selection: The Faith Club. Next, a biography of Eleanor Roosevelt.

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    • Jackie, I only read one hard copy book and listen to one audio at a time… BUT I know of some people who have a “next-to-my-bed” book, a purse book, a family room/living room book, and to top that off, they have an audio book going at the same time. There is no way I could do that.

      (I bet that biography of Eleanor Roosevelt is good. I used to enjoy reading biographies a lot.)

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  6. I’m not sure I could listen to an audio book. My mind tends to wander to places (who knows where).
    I loved the Agatha Raisin series but I wasn’t quite so hooked on Hamish.
    Ann

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    • Ann, I sometimes have to put the audio book on hold when I know that I really need to concentrate on something that is going on…

      As for Agatha VS Hamish… I started out with Agatha and was hesitant about reading Hamish because I thought there was no way they would compare. I became such a Hamish fan that I actually started finding fault with the Agatha Raisin mysteries!

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    • How to concentrate on a good mystery on audio whilst doing work. No! Crazy about Ngaio Marsh–have read 22 so far. Exquisite. Love Agath Raisin and Hamish. Saw Hamish on DVD. Could hardly understand the thick Scotch accent.

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  8. Hi Danna and All, Does anyone know if Hazel Holt’s Mrs. Mallory series has come to an end? I know there are 19 of them now but there wasn’t a new one for 2010. Was just wondering. thanks.

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    • Alfred, I have been unable to find any information about the next Mrs. Malory mystery. If you find out anything about Hazel Holt, please let us know. She is one of the authors who I follow. (And, she is Tom Holt’s mother… who penned the last two Lucia novels in my VERY FAVORITE series by E. F. Benson.)

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      • Hazel Holt has a new mystery but it is not in the Mrs. Mallory series. It is called “My Dear Charlotte” and is based on letters by Jane Austen. I too have been reading a great deal of old mysteries and am buying them used. I bought all of N. Marsh, Ann Cleeves, Faye Kellerma, Charlotte MacLeod and Hazel Holt. I also bought Mark Schweitzer’s books–hilarious. I have not started Gayle Wigglesworth but they look good. Amanda Cross is an oldie but goodie.

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  9. I’m finishing up a YA novel now (Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins) but getting ready to start Jasper Fforde’s The Eyre Affair. It’ll be my first Fforde book.

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  10. I find I enjoy most series more if I don’t read them all in a row! Even when I absolutely love the characters and everything, by the time I read two or three, I begin to notice the flaws in characters and in editing and in continuity from book to book. So I read a couple of the Agatha Raisin series, then a couple of the Dianne Mott Davidson series, a couple of Aunt Dimity and so on. Otherwise, I fall into the same thinking as Angela! Right now I am looking forward to another Linda Berry book. I must say she has us Georgians spot on!

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    • Deborah, you are making a really good point about reading a series all the way through. It is really rare that I will read a series back-to-back, but I have done so a few times.
      I remember trying to do that with a particular author, but when I found that she made absolutely no references to a secondary, recurring character being killed in the mystery book that followed the actual killing, I stopped reading the series altogether. I’m guessing that the publisher/editor didn’t want that fact revealed, in case people were reading the books out of order… What a cop-out!

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  11. I’m currently reading The Diva Runs Out of Thyme by Krista Davis and Fudge Cupcake Murder, great books!
    Next up is Dearly Depotted by Kate Collins and I Scream, You Scream by Wendy Lyn Watson.

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  12. Just finished reading Touch Me Not by Riggs, starting Homicide in Hard Cover by Kate Carlisle and am waiting on Skating Around the Law (Thanks for the new author) and To Have and To Kill:A Wedding Cake Mystery from my local library.
    On the subject of audio books I tried to listen to one when I was walking and I got so involved in the story that I just stopped walking and was listening to the book on the side of the road. I guess I am one of those people who can’t chew gum and talk at the same time – only with a book. Go figure.

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    • Oh, my treat to myself on the weekends is taking my MP3 player along and listening to books as I walk (on weekdays I’m usually walking before the sun comes up so I can’t afford the distraction). I have to admit I’m fussy about which ones I will listen to, though; they have to be more narrative than dialogue and I prefer if the person reading the book makes an effort to use different voices for the different characters, otherwise it can get confusing. Elizabeth Peters and Patricia Wentworth mysteries are my favorites for audio books – they just paint the scene so well you can literally see it instead of the road.

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  13. I adore Laura Levine’s books. I have a long commute so I listen to a ton of audio books. I’m listening to The Book Thief by Zusak. Not what I’d call a cozy. It’s for a book discussion. I’m reading A Good Thief’s Guide to Vegas by Chris Ewan. I’m really enjoying it. It’s also not a cozy but is funny.

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    • Cathy N, I used to spend more time in the car than I do now, and listening to audio books made the time so much more enjoyable. Like you, my husband has a long commute. The audio books make the commute just a little more tolerable for him.

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  14. I often have 2 or 3 books (in different formats) going at the same time. As for listening to audio books–I wouldn’t be able to iron or do housework without listening to a book. I’d be bored to tears. I also like to listen to a book when I’m pulling weeds in the summer (another boring task).

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    • Carol, although we have “evergreen” oak trees (which aren’t leafless for any amount of time), they still drop their leaves and acorns once a year. I listenend to a lot of Ngaio Marsh this “leaf-dropping” season!

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  15. I have branched out on a few new authors, but admit to returning to the “oldies” which have a certain style.
    Have recently read another of the Tea Shop Mysteries by Laura Childs “Chamomile Mourning”; Mrs Malory – Death of a Dean by Hazel Holt; A New Lease of Death and From Doon to Death by Ruth Rendell; Overture to Death by Ngaio Marsh.
    New author I came across in my local library was Susan Hill and just finished The Various Haunts of Men, which is followed by Pure in Heart and The Risk of Darkness. Suppose these could be classified as murder/mysteries, but enjoyed the style of writing.

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  16. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who wants to have all the books to date in a series before I start reading them. (This is why my house if full of books.)

    Audio books keep me sane in the car in traffic, but I carry around a book at all times in my purse for those time I have to wait like at the doctor’s office or other places.

    Carole Nelson Douglas’ Midnight Louie books are my favorite and I can’t wait for the Ultramarine book to come to paperback. I also enjoy Victoria Laurie and Blaze Clement. I alternate these series.

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  17. I always have a book with me, in my vehicle in case I have to wait for anything…sometimes the book takes me awhile to get it through. Even when I go in a restaurant by myself the book goes in, time flies when you are reading and it is like the food comes really fast. Where would we be without our books?

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    • I can hardly wait for Susan Hill’s new book. It is due out in May, 2011. I carry a paperback book with me at all times so if I must wait anywhere’ I have something to read. Call me an old fogy, but I do not like the “young chick” mysteries. I did not think I would like a Nook but mine has been great on cruises and vacations. At home sometimes, I use it with large print when my eyes are tired.

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  18. Hi – New to this blog and I am not sure if anyone can help with this, but I was debating on whether to buy a Kindle or a Nook. I pretty much only read cozies, especially MC Beaton, Donna Andrews & Laura Childs. Has anyone found that one over the other has more titles? No reason for me to buy an ereader if I can’t get my all of my favorites author’s books!

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    • Dawn,

      I just did a book by book check on both Amazon and B & N:

      Donna Andrews: 6 of the 12 Meg Langslow mystery books are available on both the Kindle and B & N’s… It looks like the very same books.

      It’s a little time-consuming, but if you check each book on both sites, you will be able to see which store has more.

      PS>>>> My husband loves his Kindle!

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  19. On the nook v. Kindle – more and more of the books are on both. The two reasons I use the nook more are (1) the Kindle is a proprietary format while there are ebooks available at my library that I can read on the nook and (2) when I order ebooks from the Barnes & Noble website, I go through a shopping portal that gets me airline miles for the purchase and Amazon does not have a similar option.

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  20. This is a reply to the original post, because I saw a mention of Ellis Peters and I couldn’t resist. I started out with the Brother Cadfael mysteries (loved them and the BBC movies with Derek Jacobi), but I think my true favorites among her work are the stand-alones, like “Black is the Colour of My True Love’s Heart” and “Flight of the Witch.” I love that her characters are both hopeful romantics and pragmatists at the same time – it’s very Miss Marple (and what higher praise could there be? )

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    • Thanks, Julia, for the heads up about Ellis Peters’ stand alone mysteries. As much as I love her Brother Cadfael mysteries, I didn’t “get into” her Felse family (Inspector George Felse) mysteries. I think that when I started reading the first book, I kept comparing it to her Brother Cadfael series>>> which of course, was a very silly thing to do!

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  21. In case someone wants two new authors, try Barbara Cleverly and Kerry Greenwood. ah I forgot Jacqueline Winspear.
    Sure everyone knows Hazel Holt did write another Mrs Mallory, as always I enjoyed it.

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