The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Comments

  11. Happy New Year everyone. Here’s hoping everyone of you have a year of good mystery reading. I read a certain book yesterday that while I was reading it I thought this is really a very
    good book to finish the year out with——– that is until I got to the last few chapters of the book! Then I thought that I had stepped into the Twilight Zone! But my long ago passed away grandmother had a saying that what a person does on new year’s day that person will do repeatedly for the next year. Well, I don’t want to be a crabby crouch all of this year so I will wait until tomorrow to comment on this book!
    Have a good year anyway!

    Reply

  14. i want to start the New Year off with a question. When I am reading a series or in this case rereading a series,I often feel as if I am actually present in the author’s setting. for example I am re-reading Mary Daheim’s Alpine series and by now in the 4th, I feel I am in Alpine. Do any of you ever feel this way or i am just “kooky” ? regina

    Reply

    • Regina, I totally agree with the comment Denise makes below. You are not the only “kooky” out there! I think that is one of the characteristics of true Cozy Mystery books >>> The settings are such integral parts of the book series that we actually “think” we live there. We get to know all of the characters as if they are our own neighbors and friends. We start disliking the towns’ “grouches” and root for the towns’ nosy sleuths. We even feel like the pets in the series are real family members…

      Reply

  15. Happy New Year! In response to Regina. You are not the only “kooky ” one because I too feel like I am there when I read . I think that is what makes a good writer / author – someone who takes your wherever they are.

    Reply

    • I agree with Denise as well. I have my favorite cozies, and they are my favorites because I have grown to love the settings and characters. I find things in common with the characters in the series I read and that is why I read and enjoy them. If I did not connect with the characters and care about them I don’t think I could continue with the series. So “kookies” of the world unite!!! Viva-la cozies!!!

      Reply

      • Margaret, you make a good point… I have dropped several of my favorite authors because I simply stopped “connecting with the characters.”

        Reply

    • Denise, I totally agree with you on this. A great setting is an important part in the making a good author.

      Reply

  16. Thank you, ALL, for the New Years salutations. I hope 2012 is simply a terrific year for everyone!

    Reply

  18. Oh Regina, I know just what you are saying! I too, sometimes think that I am a member of that community that I am reading about! I also think that I personally know the characters in these series books. I can almost feel what these characters are feeling, what they are thinking. These characters have become like family to me. Whenever something happy happens to then I feel the happiness. Whenever these people have something tragic happen to them, I feel so sorry for them. I want to do whatever I can to help them cope. Whenever someone does something to hurt my favorite characters I want revenge on the person doing the hurting. I suppose this is the true sign of a good writer, or a good story teller. Long live these type of writers and story tellers.

    Reply

    • Linda, I am currently listening to a Miss Marple mystery, and even though Miss Marple is often not in her home village of St. Mary Mead, I think that Christie does such a superb job creating new communities within each of her mysteries, I actually feel like I get to know each of her book’s characters. (Of course, I always want to know what Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot are up to!)

      Reply

  19. Thank you for your comments, Regina. I think that it is common for a cozy mystery fan to feel exactly how you feel. I am about to start one of the Kate Kingsbury mysteries and will very much feel I am at the Bed and Breakfast. It is a wonderful escape from the cares of the day. Now that Christmas has just passed I remember the first book I got as a Christmas gift. It was a Trixie Belden mystery and it was in the Christmas of 1962. I loved that book and still have it stored in a safe place. I think my childhood love of that series planted the seed for my current enjoyment of cozy mysteries.

    Reply

    • Nancy, you are SO lucky to still have your treasured Trixie Belden mystery book. Because my family moved around so much, my parents would periodically “clean house” – which of course meant books, dolls, stuffed animals, you name it!

      Reply

      • I loved my Trixie Belden books! Also my Nancy Drew and Judy Bolton – as well as my brother’s Hardy Boys (I got double the reading!). My parents were suggesting that I did not need to keep them because I have so little room left – but I just can’t bear to give them up!

        Reply

        • It’s good to hear someone else loved Trixie Belden. I’ve spoken to people who did lots of reading who never heard of Trixie Belden. Nancy Drew was much more popular. I loved both of them, but was a little partial to Trixie Belden. I loved Trixie’s life and friends and neighborhood. To this day I believe my very first book planted the seed for my love of cozy mystery style of writing. I’ve kept many of my childhood books but Trixie Belden would definitely be the last to go.

          Reply

          • Nancy, your comment about Nancy Drew being “much more popular” than Trixie Belden rmade me think of a subject way off mystery books… I remember when all of the girls had Barbie dolls, and I had a Tammy doll. I’m guessing that most people didn’t even know that Tammy dolls existed. But, I loved her as much as my sister loved her “popular” Barbie…

            Reply

  20. I am glad to hear that so many of you feel the same way that I do. When I finished Jo Dereske’s series about Miss Zukas, I actually felt sad that it was over.Reading Daheim’s series about Alpine, I realize how many of the books in that series I have missed. I’m sick with a miserable sinus infection (Typical New Englander) so Daheim’s books on my Nook have been a god send. Regina

    Reply

    • Regina, I hope your sinus infection has cleared up, and that you are feeling a little better while enjoying Mary Daheim’s mysteries on your Nook!

      Reply

  21. Danna, I didn’t know just where to put this comment but I will try here. A few days ago people were discussing how sometimes we relate to some series as if the town, village or/and the characters become like family to us. I just finished reading “Naughty in Nice” by Rhys Bowen. Without giving too much of the plot away, much was said about how Adolph Hitler was starting to make himself known in Europe, how some people were portrayed in this book were not taking him seriously. Oh how I kept saying throughout this book “Take heed Europe, a monster is being let loose!” How much I wanted to turn back the clock for these people in Europe, because we all know what is in store for them!

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Please don't tell us about Cozy Mystery authors or books you don't enjoy.

Please use a nickname or your first name and last initial (unless you are an author and want your full name to appear).

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

MENU