Goodness gracious, it’s only the beginning of November and one of my holiday traditions has already bit the dust! This year will be the first year since 2003 without a Special Pennyfoot Hotel mystery. A Christmas-themed series that has been released annually, Kate Kingsbury‘s series has become a regular November release every year for over a decade, though there was a two year gap after the first release when she didn’t put out a Christmas book.
The Special Pennyfoot Hotel holiday series began as a spin-off from the main Pennyfoot Hotel mystery series, Kate Kingsbury’s original series. Published in 2003, No Clue at the Inn was a continuation of the characters and setting, which had been shelved since 1999 with the final Pennyfoot Hotel release. (I wanted to post these covers since I think they are so beautiful. Shrouds of Holly is the 3rd in this Christmas Cozy Mystery series, and Decked with Folly is the 5th.)
Kate Kingsbury is still putting out books, of course, though she isn’t using the name Kate Kingsbury any more. Instead, her new series, the Raven’s Nest Bookstore Mystery Series, is published under the name Allison Kingsley. I don’t know why she decided to change the name she publishes under, as my understanding is that the Pennyfoot holiday series continued to be well-received and popular with her fans. (Also, I should mention that she wrote the Bellehaven House Mystery Series as Rebecca Kent.)
So, as I said at the beginning, this will be the first November in years without a Cozy Christmas Pennyfoot Hotel mystery. It seems like a strange thing to get a bit sad about, but I feel like the month will be a bit different without what had sort of become a tradition for me.
Do any of you happen to share my tradition of curling up before the fire (well, leave out the fire part here in San Antonio!) with a good annual holiday mystery? Is there another holiday tradition that you’re fond of that you’ve had to let go of in recent years? As always, I appreciate all comments.
Wanda says
We use to draw names in my family but now we have grown so large each family unit does their own. I miss that
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Wanda, I have heard that drawing names works better in a large family. That’s too bad they decided to change that tradition.
Stash Empress says
I also really loved her manor house series. I wish she had continued with those!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Stash, I wonder if Kate Kingsbury was the one who decided to discontinue these series, or if her published decided they would rather have her writing as Allison Kingsley…
Jackie J. Griffey says
Danna: This is a good question – if the publisher insists, it’s ruined at least two sources of good cozies that really cut into my supply of good reading. I won’t give the names but the two are still writing. Just not the series I liked and one is so different I could tell from the info on Amazon.com it was just not ‘my cup of tea.’ Publishers shouldn’t ruin a good thing (or at least that’s how it seemed to me, plus one of them had an agent who interfered with (my opinion as a reader) bad advice. I’m thankful for the ones we still can get (and this helpful blog too 😎
Jackie
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Jackie, I just don’t get why popular Cozy Mystery series are discontinued!
Lois says
Oh I will miss the Pennyfoot Hotel mysteries. They were one of the treats of the Holiday Season. I am still trying to locate all of the books in the original series as I really like the characters. She did another series about World War II as Kate Kingsbury and they were discontinued also. Since I like both series, I wonder how the publishers decide no one wants to read these anymore?
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Lois, I have wondered that also.
Emma says
Every year I couldn’t wait for the Christmas Pennyfoot. I agree, whose decision was it?
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Emma, I couldn’t understand why the Christmas Pennyfoot Cozies were stopped, since it seems like they were so popular…
Tessa~ says
Oh I loved “The Pennyfoot Hotel” books!!!!
So sorry. No new one, this year. -pout-
Tessa~
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Tessa, the Christmas Pennyfoot Hotel books are tryly holiday Cozy Mysteries.
Jonathan says
I just ordered the first book this week and I was looking forward to reading it. I’d heard about these from tons of people, and I’m surprised they’re not being continued, but I can’t wait to read them!
Jeff says
I’m with you, I think I’ll grab the first one this year and at least ride the tradition for the next five years or so – until I run out. Maybe by then they will do a new one. I think it’s a really good idea, bringing a favorite genre into the holiday theme (besides Hallowe’en of course… that’s a bit too obvious and cliched for me).
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Jeff, this sounds like a great idea to me. You’ll have one a year for nine years before you need to worry about a new one coming out…
Jeff says
I know what you mean about missing the fire. I am Canadian, but live in Miami for now… like the surface of the sun outside! Nothing like the crackling fire to make a book – especially a cozy – surround the one reading it. Wonderful.
I used to watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” each Christmas Eve, but now with a new daughter, neither the book nor the movie is likely to happen this year. 🙂
If you don’t mind my adding in a plug here? Anyone in the Florida area, or who might want to meet James Patterson or James W. Hall, they are speaking at Sleuthfest this year. http://www.sleuthfest.com for info.
Margaret Anne says
I have never read any of the Pennyfoot Hotel mysteries before. Do you think I would be able to start with the first book of the Special Christmas series and be able to get acquainted with the characters and the story? Or is this a series where I would really need to read the previous books? With Christmas approaching, I would love to get started with the Christmas series.
As always, Danna, thank you for introducing me (and the rest of your followers) to such great series! (Although I am sorry that this series is being discontinued).
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Margaret Anne, I read the first two (of 12) “regular” Pennyfoot Hotel mysteries way back in (+/-) 1994. I then skipped many years before I started reading the Special Christmas Pennyfoot Hotel mysteries. I think I started reading the Christmas ones in (+/-) 2009, without reading the last ten mysteries of the original series. I was not at all lost. I didn’t remember exactly what happened in the first two books, but I remember thinking that Kate Kingsbury must have written the Christmas books for both the people who had read the previous books, as well as for those of us who hadn’t.
(AND, thank you for the kind words about the site. I’m glad you’re finding new Cozy Mystery authors who you enjoy reading.)
Denise says
Purchased Mulled Murder last year – in the acknowledgements Kingsbury states that this is the last book as it is time to let the series go . After reading that I put the book down and did not read it as I as a reader was not quite ready to let go of the folks at the Pennyfoot. I have it in my TBR for next month.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Denise, thank you for answering our question. Your memory is lots better than mine! I would not have remembered Kate Kingsbury making a point of saying Mulled Murder is the ninth and last Special Pennyfoot Hotel Christmas mystery.
Thanks, again!
Lisa H says
I’ve just recently discovered both the Pennyfoot series and the Manor House series to find out they are discontinued! I have not read them all yet, and I will use my lists I printed off of this site to search for them in used book stores. *heavy sigh*
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Lisa H, the bad news is that they have been discontinued. The good news is that you just recently started reading them, so you have lots of Cozy Mysteries to enjoy!
Angela says
I do! I just discovered the Holiday Pennyfoot Hotel Mystery books in early November when I went to the library in search of some good Christmas novels. I grabbed the 3 books that the library had (which happened to be the last 3 of the series) and am now trying to find all the previous ones so that I can start at the beginning. I would also like to read the non-Christmas series but they are not carried here in Canada at our libraries (that I can find) so it looks like I will have to purchase them online.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Angela, I’m glad you at least found three of the series. I can’t imagine why they aren’t carried in Canada…