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Cozy Mystery Books Recommendations – March 2013

Can you believe it is almost April? I can’t! I have my March doo-dads up, which include everything St. Patrick’s-ish. Years when Easter falls in March sometimes get me a little confused. I just “expect” an April Easter.

And since it is the end of March, it is time for me to ask you if you would please tell us about your favorite Cozy Mystery reads of March 2013. As usual, these authors/books should be the ones you absolutely feel the need to tell us about. They should be the authors/books that you enjoyed so much during March that you want to let the rest of us know about them. Please include WHY you enjoyed these authors.

My recommendation for March 2013 is Joanne Fluke. As I have written before, I tried the first of Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swensen Cookie Jar Mystery Series because of your monthly recommendations. Fluke kept showing up on the lists during the months we have been compiling these monthly recommendations.

Fluke’s sleuth is Hannah Swensen, a baker in a cozy little town in Minnesota, who doles out cookies while solving her mysteries. I mean that quite literally! Hannah passes out cookie treats that are so delicious that the person she is “interviewing” doesn’t seem to mind sharing information that might otherwise not have come out.

Fluke has surrounded Hannah with good Cozy Mystery characters… even Hannah’s mother is likable. (Her mom seems determined to improve Hannah, even though Hannah is very content with the way she is.) Hannah’s sister is pretty much the opposite of Hannah, but that doesn’t stop them from having a very deep sisterly bond. Hannah’s brother in law is a deputy sheriff who is very willing to deputize Hannah (off the books, of course!) which makes it easy for Hannah to become privy to things an ordinary sleuth wouldn’t be privy to.

Another character who I was very happy to encounter is Moishe, Hannah’s cat. He doesn’t have any super-natural powers, isn’t able to talk, nor does he perform parlor tricks. What he is, however, is a sweet companion for Hannah. Sure, he likes his treats and he isn’t a lap-cat, but he is someone for her to look forward to seeing at the end of her day. (Can you tell I am still missing our Sprite?)

I enjoyed getting to know all of the characters in the book and also enjoyed the flow of the book. I looked forward to reading this book. Joanne Fluke is a Cozy Mystery author I want to continue reading.

Having told you why I am recommending Joanne Fluke, I now ask who you enjoyed and why. I will add the recommended authors to this entry as they come in. (Please do not tell us about the authors you did not like.) Thank you!

What Cozy Mystery book (or author) have you read during March 2013, 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:

Avery Aames (aka Daryl Wood Gerber): Cheese Shop Mystery Series

Victoria Abbot: Book Collector’s Mystery Series

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

Jessica Beck: Donut Shop Mystery Series

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

C. C. Benison: Her Majesty Investigates Mystery Series

Melissa Bourbon: Magical Dressmaking Mystery Series 

Laura Bradford (aka Elizabeth Lynn Casey): Amish Mystery Series

Simon Brett: Mrs. Pargeter Mystery Series

Alyse Carlson: The Azalea Assault (Garden Society Mystery Series)

Ally Carter: Perfect Scoundrels (young adult book)

Laura Childs: Tea Shop Mystery Series

Sheila Connolly (aka Sarah Atwell): Orchard Mystery Series AND County Cork Mystery Series

Jeanne M. Dams: Hilda Johansson Mystery Series

Carola Dunn: Cornish Mystery Series

Joanne Fluke: Hannah Swensen Mystery Series 

Elly Griffiths: The Crossing Places

Parnell Hall: Puzzle Lady Mystery Series

Carolyn Hart: Bailey Ruth Mystery Series

Erin Hart: Nora Gavin & Cormac Maguire Mystery Series

B. B. Haywood: Candy Holliday Mystery Series

Maddy Hunter: Passport to Peril Mystery Series

Julie Hyzy: Manor of Murder Mystery Series 

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

J. A. Jance: J. P. Beaumont Mystery Series

Diane Kelly: Death, Taxes, and Peach Sangria  (Tara Holloway Mystery Series)

William X. Kienzle: Father Koesler Mystery Series

Kate Kingsbury (aka Rebecca Kent & Allison Kinsley): Manor House Mystery Series

Meg London (aka Peg Cochran): Sweet Nothings Vintage Lingerie Mystery Series

Rett MacPherson: Torie O’Shea Msytery Series

Nancy Martin: Blackbird Sisters Mystery Series

Amy Patricia Meade: Rosie the Riveter Mystery Series

J. J. Murphy: Algonquin Round Table Mystery Series 

Marta Perry: Hide in Plain Sight (Three Sisters Inn Mystery Series)

Rose Pressy: Me and My Ghoul Friends

Annelise Ryan: Mattie Winston Mystery Series

Maggie Sefton: Molly Malone Mystery Series

Josephine Tey: The Franchise Affair

Victoria Thompson: Gaslight Mystery Series

Charles Todd: Ian Rutledge Mystery Series

Judith Van Gieson: Claire Reynier Mystery Series

Ethel Lina White: The Wheel Spins (aka The Lady Vanishes)

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

Comments

  1. Three good books I read in March.
    Deadly Politics by Maggie Sefton – this is the first in a new series. This book explores the world of politics in Washington DC. Molly investigates the death of her niece who was an intern and having an affair with her boss a chief of staff. I love Maggie Seftons Knitting series and this was completely different but very good.
    Frozen Stiff by Annelise Ryan – this was the third in the series and still one of my favorites. Mattie was once a nurse but now is with the coroner’s office. She gets involved and investigates the murder cases with lots of twist, turns & laughter.
    Alpine for You by Maddy Hunter – this is the first in the series that I finally read after all the rave reviews on this site and why did I wait so long!!! Emily goes on a tour to Switzerland with her grandmother. Of course it is a senior tour group with many funny moments with all the various personalities. I really enjoyed this and trying to get to the second in the series but my kindle is overloaded with so many wonderful cozy mysteries.
    I can’t wait to read what everyone else read this month..

    • Elaine, it may be too late for me to comment on your recommendation about Maggie Sefton’s ‘Deadly Politics’ because you may not get back to reading this entry. It’s been a busy week.

      I was wondering what you thought of the ending of this book? I recommended it last fall, it’s an excellent story and a real page-turner. I agree it is a real departure from her knitting series. The characters are richly developed. The mystery storyline is intense with much political intrigue. Sefton’s knitting series is lighter and ends with the crime solved and the criminals caught. Not so with this new series. I was frustrated with the lack of resolution. I decided it must be the way of crime in ‘DC’. In fact, I thought this book would be a stand alone, but I see the second book is due out this fall. If she continues in the second book where this book left off, then I would have preferred she labeled the first book as such (“first book in a two book series” or even “part of a trilogy”, if that’s the case). I sent an email to her asking just that, but didn’t get a response. I expect a ‘romance’ storyline to continue, but in a cozy I also expect the mystery to be solved and the criminals caught at ‘The End’.

  2. March was a very good month for reading as most of the books I read I liked. One that I liked a lot was Crossing Places By Elly Griffiths.
    The strengths of the book are the protagonist, the location and the mystery.
    Ruth Galloway is a forensic archeologist. She is almost forty, single, a little overweight, and independent. I have to mention the location here as it takes place in Norfolk England area. The main location where Elly lives and bones are found is the saltmarsh. It is so atmospheric. One can almost see the gray skies and feel the biting wind and strong rain. The saltmarsh is neither land or sea. It was a sacred area in the Bronze and Iron age. Elly loves this remote area and is living in one of the three cottages on the saltmarsh with her two cats.
    Elly is called in as an expert to judge the age of bones recently found in the saltmarsh. A young girl went missing ten years ago. She is introduced to Det. Chief Inspector Harry Nelson at this time. This appears to be a series that I will follow. I have downloaded the next three books on my Kindle. Thanks to BB alerting us to bargains, the books are on a special price for awhile and then go back to regular price.
    Looking forward to reading the Janus Stone the next book in the series.

    • Wish there was an edit key as I need to correct my recommendation. When writing about the protagonist Ruth Galloway, I used the name Elly instead. That is the author’s first name. I should have written Ruth. It’s funny when I write something and reread it, it looks fine. When I reread it later, a mistake sticks out like a sore thumb to me.

      • Lynn T, I didn’t even notice the Ruth – Elly switch. I know exactly what you are talking about – when you reread something and it looks fine.

    • I discovered Elly Griffiths this month, too, and love her protagonist and the weird but very human characters.

    • Lynn, so glad you are enjoying the deals. I have help from various sources finding them.

      Also, I do the SAME thing sometimes about rereading to find mistakes before sending and no sooner do I hit the submit or reply button than notice something I missed! Aggghhh… An edit button sure would be helpful.

      • BB and Lynn T, I’ll ask my husband (again!) about an editing button.

  3. I have read several good books this month. I read the Christie Curse by Victoria Abbott- this was really good. Looking forward to more in this series. The Agony of the Tea Leaves by Laura Childs- this series just keeps getting better and better. I also re-read a couple of books by C.C. Benison, Her Majesty Investigates-Murder at Windsor Castle, Murder at Sandrigham House and Murder at Buckingham Palace. These are about a girl that is a maid who works at Buckingham Palace who investigates several murders that happen while she is working there. These are really fun! Also reading Proof of Guilt by Charles Todd, these are always good.

    • Patti. I have the Christie Curse in My to read pile. I also have C C Venison books and enjoyed them. There is a new one in that series and also has a new series out.

  4. To Brie or Not to Brie by Avery Aames

    Most all of the cozies I read are written by female authors. The ones I like best develop strong, interesting, even sometimes weird female characters. I have found some male authors don’t develop as fascinating female characters. So I decided that was a somewhat ‘sexist’ conclusion. I thought I’d pay attention to how well some female authors develop male characters. If they did it well, I wanted to make sure I would point it out. Kudos to this author for creating several well developed, complex, and very interesting male characters in this story.

    This series is set at a cheese/wine shop in a small Ohio community. This book is an intricate mystery with some mafia and witness protection program aspects – a real page turner. There are a lot of characters, but the author deftly keeps them sorted, so it isn’t confusing. Some of the characters provide humor to the story, which I enjoy. The mystery plot is good and I had NO idea who was the criminal until the end. The romance storyline is also complicated and somewhat captivating.

    The downside is all the cheese info is imbedded in the story which bogs down many paragraphs. I usually skip over this because I am not a cheese aficionado, nor are the mentioned cheeses available anywhere near where I live!

    All in all this is a very enjoyable read.

    ————————————–

    Because it holds the readers’ interest with intriguing subplots that has many twists and turns, I feel I should recommend ‘Town In a Pumpkin Patch’ by B. B. Haywood (writing team). This is a book with 300+ pages set in a seaside Maine community in October. It holds one’s interest and is fairly well-paced. The main character/sleuth (Candy) runs a Blueberry Farm and writes for the local newspaper. She finds a dead body in a pumpkin patch she and a friend are operating.

    There are some inconsistencies which surprised me (I was wondering if a writing team edits each other’s work), but it’s a well crafted mystery. It has a little paranormal aspect to it – a bit confusing, but not overdone (at least by my standards).

    I’ve recommended the previous book in this series. In this story, the main character delves into the past to find resolution. There is a new possible romantic interest (one will have to read future books to see if it pans out). At the conclusion the mystery is solved. However, in the epilogue (involving friction between the Pruitt and Porter-Sykes families) there is a devious undercurrent of a continuing plot. It was the same with the previous book. I’m unlikely to remember this by the time the next book comes out in a year. BUT, I’ll read the next book anyway because I like the way these writers tell a story.

  5. Here is my list. It very short again this but in 2 months school will be out and I can read, read read. Here it goes:

    1. The Azalea Assault by Alyse Carlson. The first in the series garden society. Delightful and waiting for the second one. It is about a garden society and its media director.

    2. Peach Pies and Alibis. By Ellery Adams. The 2nd in the series of charmed pie series. I love this author but cannot wait to see how the next book works with the ending of this one. I love books that surprise me at the end.

    3. Don’t Die Under the Apple Tree by Amy Patricia Meade. The 1st in the Rosie the Riveter. A great new series. Waiting on the second one.

    4. A Deal to Die For by Josie Belle. The second in the good buy girls series. I got to the end of this book but I realized it. I was reading and next thing I knew I was at end. I got lost in following the story and could not put it down. Delightful and wonderful.

    5. Hide in Plain Sight by Marta Perry. A Love Inspired Suspense book. Three Sisters Inn series and I love this author.

    6. Close To You by Katy Perry. Laurel Heights series. The setting and people were wonderful.

    7. Me and My Ghoul Friends by Rose Pressy. I am not sure if this is cozy or not but I thought let my fellow readers decide. This is 1st in the series. I Loved the way that ghosts followed her around.

    • Thanks so much Ginger, for the reminder of the series by Josie Bell. I read the first one and really liked it!

    • Ginger, I just cannot believe it is only two more months before school is over for the year. Where has the time gone? It seems like it was just the Thanksgiving holiday time!

  6. I just finished The Book of Killowen by Erin Hart which I enjoyed even though it didn’t have as much action as previous stories. There were a lot of surprises in the plot, perhaps too many, but I still enjoy the setting and main characters.

    • Marianne K.
      It looks like we are reading similarly right now as you said you read an Elly Griffiths’s Ruth Galloway book this month too.
      I have Haunted Ground by Erin Hart which I plan to read in April. I see you have read other books by her but this is my first. I am looking forward to reading it.

      I am starting The Merchant’s House by Kate Ellis now. I have not read anything by her yet. It seems I am finding so many new to me authors that I will never catch up with a series. Nice problem to have though!

  7. I read several great mysteries this month, but one stands out – Pies and Predjudice by Ellery Adams. Adams has a way with words that few authors can match. I usually skim over descriptions but in this case I lapped up every word. Her descriptions were as delicious as the pies her main character bakes in her shop. I’m not much of a baker but even I may attempt one or two of the pie recipes in the book. I can’t wait to read the second book in the series, Peach Pies and Alibis.

    • I enjoyed Pies and Prejudice as well, although I was not really expecting to. I’m not a fan of “supernatural mysteries,” but I like Ellery Adams’ other series, so I thought I would give it a try. It turned out to be a light, fun read…and it made me really hungry. Actually it reminded me a lot of an old Sarah Michelle Gellar movie (Simply Irresistible), which wasn’t a bad thing at all because I enjoyed that movie too. 🙂

  8. if you like DOWNTON ABBY you will like this book by margaret powell she was in service in 1923. it is non-fiction. i ordered her other books

    • Marilyn, I just looked up Margaret Powell’s Below Stairs. It looks interesting.

  9. I read two books this month but by the same author. They are Glazed Murder and Fatally Frosted by Jessica Beck. I really like the settings and the characters in the books. Suzanne Hart is somebody you would like to be friends with and the town is a nice, quaint town where it would be fun to live. I am getting ready to read Sinister Sprinkles. I am not sure if others do like I do, but when I start a series I like to read them all in that series then move on to something else. Danna still computer trouble and it is the tower. It crashed so we will probably have to buy a whole new tower, hopefully in a few days. Prefer the desk top computers better than the laptops.

    • Alfred, I have tried reading an author’s series back to back, but that usually backfires for me. When I read too many books by an author without interjecting another author here and there, I end up tiring of the author.

    • Alfred, I also like to read a series straight through. Last year I read all of “The Cat who…” books and interspersed 2-3 others after each until I discovered this made it hard for me to keep track of semi-recurring characters. About to start the Midnight Louie series by Carole Nelson Douglas and think I’ll only interject a book occasionally. Maybe I’ll finish sooner, too!

  10. Although I am well over the target age group, I still enjoy reading young adult books. One of my favorite reads for this month was a young adult book: Perfect Scoundrels by Ally Carter. This is the third book in her Heist Society series. Kat, the protagonist of this series is a young girl from a family of thieves (not armed robbery type thieves, but con artist/heist type thieves). In the first book, she had tried to leave the family trade, but she gets pulled back in because her father is in trouble. In this latest book, Kat must deal with learning the truth about whether her boyfriend’s grandmother’s will (leaving him the family company) was forged. As an added treat for the month, I read an ebook short story, Double Crossed, where Kat’s boyfriend runs into a secondary character from Ally Carter’s other young adult series, Gallagher Girls, about a girl’s school for spies. I enjoy both series, so it was fun to see them meet up.

    I have also been having fun with the Tara Holloway series by Diane Kelly and this month read Death, Taxes and Peach Sangria as well as an ebook short story, Death, Taxes and a Sequined Clutch. Tara is a gun-toting IRS Criminal Investigations agent in Texas and in both stories she is helping other federal agencies follow the money while she is trying to figure out her own love life. There is a definite chick lit vibe to the books, but if you are comfortable with that these are fun books.

    Also a fun read this month was the latest in the Puzzle Lady books by Parnell Hall, Arsenic and Old Puzzles. Cora is definitely not the sweet old lady she appears to be in her picture in the syndicated crossword puzzle column (which is actually created by her niece) as she deals with murders that appear suspiciously like those in the classic Arsenic and Old Lace. Hall has created a wonderful community of wacky characters for this series.

    Finally, I really enjoyed The Valley of the Shadow by Carola Dunn, the third book in her Cornish Mystery series. This is a historical mystery set in the early 1960’s. I enjoy the characters and the mystery and looking back at a time of change.

    • I still like to go back and read the Nancy Drew mysteries. I know I am we’ll past the age for these, but I cannot help it, I really do love them!

      • I’m a Trixie Belden fan myself. I was so excited when I saw that Amazon had started to release them in Kindle format – I have some of the early ones in hardcover handed down from my sisters, but there are gaps in my collection I would love to fill.

        • Wow! Thanks for the info on Trixie Belden. I loved those books, too. Nice to know they are available on Kindle. Nice!

        • I loved both Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden – and today I introduced my niece to another old favorite, Judy Bolton.

  11. I finally decided to try out the Algonquin Round Table Mysteries by JJ Murphy. I’d been hesitant because I was afraid the author might portray the main character – Dorothy Parker – as a bit of a shrew. Happily, he is a fan of hers and has her as quite appealing. Still sharp witted and sometimes tongued, but someone I’d definitely want to spend time with. And there are lots of amusing quips in the book. How many are the author’s and how many are actually Parker’s, Wolcott’s, Benchly, etc I do not know. But it’s had me laughing more than once.

  13. Well I also had a good reading month. I’ll keep the list short and save a few for April! The first I want to mention is Nancy Martin’s Blackbird Sisters series. I have been reading these for a few months and have finally caught up with the series. The mysteries in these books are solid, the characters are a lot of fun and the setting of high society Philadelphia is interesting. Watching the main character keep her foot in the world of the old money blue bloods despite her families fall into poverty and shame is always interesting and usually amusing. Add in a mob boss boyfriend who’s trying to be good and these books are always a fun read!

    I also enjoyed Melissa Bourbon’s latest “Deadly Patterns” from the magical dressmaking series. This is the third installment of the series and I think it has finally found it’s rhythm. The characters are great, the relationships are building and the mysteries are entertaining. Add a small bit of “magic” courtesy of Butch Cassidy and it’s a really fun series!

    Finally, I found a new to me author this month. Meg London’s “Murder Unmentionable” is the first in the Sweet Nothings series. This one is about a fashion set designer who moves home to Tennessee to help her aunt get her lingerie shop back in the black. The writing flowed well, the characters were interesting and I am eager to learn more about them and most importantly the mystery was entertaining!

  14. I remember the C.C. Benison ones (Her Majesty Investigates series). I enjoyed the series, and I was sorry to see it stopped. I remember the last one was released a few months after Princess Diana died, but (since it was written well before her death), referred to her as alive. I’ve always had a feeling that might have contributed to the swift end of the series, which would be a shame.

  15. A few years ago I read one of Julie Hyzy White House Chef Mysteries. It was okay and I actually read the 2nd one but they didn’t give me that “I can’t wait for the next one” feeling. I just read her second series called Manor of Murder Series and I can not put them down. It takes place at an old mansion that has been turned into a hotel/museum with some unusually characters that you can’t decide if you love them or hate them and they all have a family secret which always makes for a good read.

    Another author I highly recommend is Sheila Connolly. She does the Apple Orchard Mystery Series about a girl who inherits a house (that needs repairs) and an apple orchard. She knows nothing about apples but she learns and you learn right along with her when you are not stumbling over bodies. Great characters. She also has one of those mothers that comes in and out of life messing up everything in her way if you know what I mean.

    She has just started another series called County Cork Series. I read this book in one day. Could not put it down.
    It takes place in a small village in Ireland called Leap. The main character’s grandmother dies and leaves her money to go to Ireland where her grandmother was born. It’s full of wonderful characters and Sheila decribes the area so well you think you are there. She writes a wonderful story that is full of surprises. I wrote Sheila to find out when the next one would be out and she responded and said both of these series are ongoing. The next apple orchard will be out in October with the Ireland one in Feb. of next year.

  16. I’d never read Kate Kingsbury’s Manor House series but when I saw ‘An Unmentionable Murder’ in a bookstore I just snatched it up. I think I like it even better than Pennyfoot. What I liked so much was that the characters were quirky and some of the circumstances lighthearted but it all seemed grounded in believability. No cartoonish pratfalls. Seems I may be in the minority, since I see the series ended which was disappointing. But now I’ve got to find all the rest since I started at the end! I look forward to it; great escapism.

    I also read ‘Green Grow the Victims’ by Jeanne Dams in her Hilda Johansson series. I’m a great lover of historical mysteries, and hers was so well written and chock full of period detail. I typically read British period pieces, and it was very interesting to read a midwestern American one. I really liked that it was from Hilda’s perspective as a servant and an immigrant, and her strength of will was great.

    I also sought out ‘The Wheel Spins’ by Ethel Lina White. Also known as ‘The Lady Vanishes’ since it’s the basis of the Hitchcock film. The film ‘Vanishes’ – along with ‘Murder on the Orient Express’ – was one of my first childhood memories of being exposed to Golden Age style mystery but I’d never read the book. I have to say I enjoyed it more than the film. The pacing is perfection, and I really liked getting the point of views of all the characters involved. Even though I knew how it ended from watching the film (though some things are changed), I couldn’t put it down. Can’t wait to read more by Ethel White. She had a great style.

    Also read the second Mrs Pargeter book by Simon Brett (‘Mrs, Presumed Dead’). I’ve mentioned that series before I think so won’t rehash, but just to say Mrs Pargeter is turning out to be one of my favorite sleuths. I love the image of her in her loud silk dresses and gaudy jewelry meddling into everyone’s affairs. Too fun. All in all, I had a great month of reading.

    • Joshua, thank you so much for telling us about Ethel Lina White. My husband and I just watched Alfred Hitchcock’s 1938 The Lady Vanishes, so when I read your recommendations, I got a déjà vu moment.

      • Danna, If you read it, please do let us know what you think. I haven’t seen the Hitchcock film in a few years but definitely want to rewatch it now. The BBC just did a new film version too, which is what prompted me to seek out the book. It’s closer to the book than Hitchcock, but borrows some of its elements as well. I just love how the story works, seemingly so simple but really complex.

        • Joshua, I’ll be sure to let everyone know about the book the movie was based on – but if I do read it, it won’t be for a while. I have so many books already queued on my TBR list.

  17. Another month over and time to enter the books I read in March and enjoyed very much.

    Ghost at Work by Carolyn Hart.
    The Christie Curse by Victoria Abbott
    Assaulted Pretzel by Laura Bradford
    Peach Pies and Alibis by Ellery Adams
    Murder on Lexington Avenue by Victoria Thompson

    • I can’t wait for the new series of Marple. I’ve been missing it, and have even taken to watching Poirot – whom I’m not a big fan of in the books but who is growing on me – to tide me over. I read on Wikipedia that they’re doing Greenshaw’s Folly (combined with the Thumb Mark of St Peter) this series. Looking forward to that one.

      • I miss it, too! They don’t seem to make the classic mysteries as often as they used to.

      • Joshua, if you’re a fan of the Miss Marple television shows, you have got to see (if you haven’t already) those shows which star Joan Hickson. She IS Miss Marple!

    • Thanks, Donna for this info. That is exciting to know that new episodes are being filmed.

      • You’re welcome, I just wish I had more information. Does anyone know when the episodes will air? It seems to take at least a year for the UK shows to reach the USA.

        • Donna, I don’t know anything for certain, of course, but on one of the blogs I read it said that as of January three of the four Poirots and two of the three Marples were done (and, as you mentioned, the last finishing filming in March). It said that Suchet had mentioned on twitter that the first Poirot will air this summer in the UK, with the rest running into 2014. So I am hoping this means Marple will start about the same time? Who knows when we’ll see them in the USA but I am hoping with the Downton inspired trend, as with Mr Selfridge and Call the Midwife, we’ll only have to wait a couple or three months. (Fingers crossed.)

    • Thanks for the Miss Marple info, Donna. I’ll be watching for the new series.

      • Me, too! I assume it will be on the local PBS stations. We finally got the BBC America channel and they aren’t showing even one of the classic Brit shows, unless you count Dr. Who. I like that one but not as much as the mysteries and comedies. Very disappointed that BBC America is mainly airing American reruns!

        • Donna, I gave up on BBC America several years ago. What a disappointing channel!

  19. I have been continuing to re-read old mysteries series. I finished Kienzle’s book and now I am working on J.A. Jance’s books about Beaumont. These books reinforce my viewpoint that mystery stories can be informative as well as entertaining. I learned a great deal about Seattle. They reminded me of my visits there. When I read these series, i am amazed at the number of books some of these authors have written and how well they have done so. Some of them even have 2 or 3 series being published at the same time. This has been a bad health time for me, therefore older books plus my Nook have proved a god send for me.

    • Regina, I’m sorry to hear that this month you haven’t been feeling well. I hope you’re on the road to recovery right now!

  20. I just love Miranda James’s Cat in the Stacks series featuring the Maine coon cat Diesel and his master and librarian, Charlie. I don’t much care for precocious cats who can solve mysteries, so I really like this one!
    I also just finished a book by Judith Van Gieson called Vanishing Point. It’s set in NM primarily, and the location adds to the feel of the book. Heroine is an archivist/librarian at U of NM in Albuquerque.

  21. During March, I finished Josephine Tey’s books. The one I liked best is not really part of the Inspector Grant series (he’s only a minor character), The Franchise Affair. It is about a civil attorney (or is that attourney? or solicitor?) who somehow ends up representing a couple of ladies who are accused of a horrible crime. To me, it was not a typical mystery. The women are not the type you immediately root for and there is no murder (a nice change of pace!). There’s a hint of romance thrown in and during the golf course scene near the end I was internally fuming at Robert to “just kiss her!” Had a satisfying ending which I prefer, too. Would definitely recommend The Franchise Affair over the much-lauded The Daughter of Time.

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