The Cozy Mystery List Blog

Cozy Mystery (and Other Favorite) Books, Movies, and TV

Cozy Mystery Site’s History with Author Recommendations

When I started the Cozy Mystery (List) site, I only made pages for Cozy Mystery authors. They were the Cozy Mystery authors who I was currently reading at the time, or they were Cozy Mystery authors with whom I was familiar. All of the authors I posted were writers I could vouch for.

At first I didn’t swerve from the Cozy Mystery authors path. But little by little I started adding authors who were not Cozy Mystery authors, people like E. F. Benson, Colin Dexter, and Reginald Hill. These were all authors who I had read and enjoyed.

I then started getting recommendations of mystery authors. They were all authors who some of you thought the rest of us should know about. I got so many requests that I finally had to post (on my contact page) that I only wanted Cozy Mystery authors. For years, I would send a thank you message to each person who  recommended a mystery author, but then I got so many requests that I had to start sending out a form letter advising the recommending person I had gotten his/her recommendation, and that I would take a look at their author later. (Which reminds me, I actually always look at the authors who are recommended. I either do a Google search, or in a lot of cases, the recommending person has sent me the author’s website, which I always look at.)

While I appreciate a lot of the recommendations I get, I have to say that I get a lot! I have now gone to a system that I never envisioned going to. I get so many recommendations that I now have posted:

… Since this is a Cozy Mystery site, please recommend only Cozy Mystery authors.

I am currently receiving so many requests that from here forward I will not be able to respond to each submittal. I’m sorry.

Yikes! This sounds rather impersonal for me to do, but my husband finally convinced me that I was spending way too much time thanking people for their recommendations, and way too little time actually posting new authors!

Having said that, I am going to go get some new authors posted on the site…

Comments

    • Nancy, I’m with you about Anne George. Have you read the Glady Gold series? Sisters in a Fl. retirement village and their senior pals who slueth. So funny!

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  2. I can totally understand your point, Danna. I love your website, because it is a Cozy mystery website. Thank you so much for all you do. It is appreciated so much!

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    • Patti S, when I first went to sending a form letter out I felt really badly about it. But, that didn’t compare with how bad I felt when I went to no acknowledgement at all.

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  4. You do so much with the blog and comments that it can work in the place of personal emails. We appreciate all your hard work, and people understand that you can’t be online all the time. I’m glad your site is so popular, it really is the best cozy mystery website.
    🙂 (PS – I referenced it in my author page on Goodreads, hope that is okay with you.)

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    • Thanks, Donna, for the kind words. And yes, I love getting links or mentions of any kind >>> as long as they’re positive!

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  5. Oh Dear One, your husband is Wise. And I’m glad he convinced you.

    I too have suffered from “being-polite-in-blogging” issues. They can over-whelm one, and they should not be allowed to do so. Blogging should be fun, for the blogger. And if our fun blogging, helps out others, that’s the icing on the cake.

    Please do your blogging, as is the most Wise. Never worry, about tooooooo-much-being-polite-guilt. It is horrible and can consume way too much of our time.

    Thank you so much, for all the information you provide to us!!!!!!!!! You are a Gem. Thank you!

    Tessa~

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  6. Smart move! I come to this site because I am a “cozy” mystery lover and appreciate the resource. Thanks for all the work you do on behalf of us cozy lovers.

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  7. Definitely sounds good to me.
    This is your hobby, no? Don’t let it take over. It’s a great site, and your hard work is very much appreciated, but you need to leave time for you!

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  8. Thank you so much for limiting your blog to coziness. I use it as a valued resource when looking for a new series to read. It’s invaluable for someone who reads about four books a week. In this crazy, messed up world, cozy mysteries are a refuge. Not wasting my precious reading time on books that don’t provide that feeling is a wonderful thing. Nikki

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    • Nikki, at the beginning of the site’s lifetime, I found that a lot of the authors who were being recommended were non-Cozy authors, which is why I finally stressed the Cozy part. (In some cases the “Cozy” didn’t work, but at least now I feel like I have warned the people that I won’t accept every mystery author out there.)

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  9. Danna – you have done a marvelous job with this web site. Did you ever think when you started the Cozy Mystery site that it would be so popular? Your hard work is appreciated by us Cozy Mystery/Mystery readers!

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  10. This is not a problem at all. I do wish you’d add Alice Duncan cozies to your list! though. Her humorous and fun books are great reads!

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  11. Completely understandable. I appreciate all the hard work you put into keeping us ‘cozies’ in books to read. Thanks for all the time and effort you put in for the enjoyment of all.

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  12. Thank you for what you do. Don’t worry about replying just knowing that you like our suggestions and comments is great pleasure to me.

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    • Ginger G, I am so glad I finally decided to do the monthly recommendations. You all have lots of great author/book ideas for the rest of us to find out about…

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  14. I want to thank you for the great job you have done
    I have an excel file of all the books from your website that I want to read or have read. I especially like that you list the books in order of the series. I love reading series from the beginning. Thank you so very much

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    • Becky, I also have a list of all of my favorite authors with their mysteries listed chronologically. I’m glad you’re enjoying the site.

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  15. I come to the site to find cozy mysteries, if I want I can go to my library and find others. As long as you keep the cozies I’m happy. Thanks for all you do.

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    • Suzanne M, I’m glad you’re finding different Cozy Mystery books to read from the site.(I do, too!)

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  16. Thank you! I found and have followed your blog because I recently fell in love with Cozy Mysteries, and want to hear as much as possible about; just Cozy Mysteries. Thanks for keeping me informed and up to date in So many mysterious ways! Seriously thanks for all that you do for your fans!!! 🙂

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  17. As it is your “hobby” don’t make it work! I also am a quilter, and when asked to make a quilt for someone I usually will not do it, as then it has become a “job”. I quilt to relax not to make money that is what my “real job” is for. Keep it fun and happy, don’t make extra work for yourself. I love this site it’s just endless ideas for authors and books to read. thank you for all the “work” you do on this.

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    • Annette, I don’t blame you for not wanting to make quilts for everyone who would like one. I know how much time goes into a quilt! (I hate to say this, but I can’t believe someone would have the nerve to ask you to make them one!)

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  18. I share the thoughts of all the other commenters. This blog is the ‘best’ for finding cozy authors or if you just want to read a particular book that has been recommended. It was an awesome day for me when I stumbled upon this blog this past spring. I keep trying to remember how I found it but, alas, can’t remember …just thankful I did. Many thanks to you Danna.

    Reply

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