There are a lot of good Cozy mystery series out there, many of them new even to me despite running this website. Still, sometimes, instead of trying out something new, I have the urge to go back to a series that I have particularly fond memories of, both to see how it holds up today and to have an opportunity to present it to an audience that may not be as familiar with it. Today I’ll be revisiting an old favorite, a mystery series that started in the 1990s, making it something of a “blast from the past” now, almost thirty years later – which certainly makes me feel old, as I believe I was reading most of these as they came out originally! Specifically, the book I’ll be discussing is The Good Friday Murder, the first entry in Lee Harris’s Christine Bennett Holiday Mystery Series.
As in so many other modern Cozies, Christine Bennett is in the middle of a change of lifestyle, but not from the now-normalized transition from “big city professional” to “small town hobby-shop owner”. Instead, Christine has recently left convent life, having spent the last fifteen years of her life as a nun at St. Stephen’s. Though she had planned to leave the convent for a year, when the book begins she has only recently moved to Oakwood, New York, where her recently deceased Aunt Meg left her a house.
One of the reasons she is determined to stay in Oakwood is that her cousin Gene, a mentally disabled man living in the nearby community of Greenwillow. Greenwillow wants to move to Oakwood, but the Oakwood city council objects on a number of reasons – the largest of which is that, forty years ago, another resident of the community was accused of the murder of his mother. Christine doesn’t believe that the murder was committed by the resident, and agrees to try to change the council’s mind – even if that means investigating a murder now over forty years old.
As you can probably tell from the above description, this particular brand of Cozy is a bit less “kooky” and “zany” than many of its modern equivalents. There’s a far more restrained atmosphere to Oakwood than most modern Cozy neighborhoods – the residents are mostly sympathetic, but hardly as “colorful” as is often the case nowadays.
All told, I’d recommend this book as both a “blast from the past” and an “oldie but goodie”. It’s definitely not quite in the same mold as modern Cozies, but if you’re looking for something with a bit of a more serious angle to it, this is definitely a great series to pick up.
One thing I’ll warn readers is that some of the terminology in the book is quite dated. Now the term “retarded” is generally intended as a juvenile insult, but it was considered an accurate medical term both at the time that the novel was written and in the era that the murder took place, so please keep that in mind when reading.
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Marsha Bly says
I LOVED Lee Harris’ Christine Bennett series. I was VERY disappointed, when she hadn’t published anything new in a while, when I did some research & learned her publisher had terminated her contract!
I was fortunate enough to see her & 3 of her fellow cozy writers at an author Q&A at my local Barnes & Noble. At the time, all of them spoke about the publishers pushing them to start new series. I wasn’t happy about that, because I liked the series I was already reading!!
I’ve always wondered is the publishers pushing the authors to abandon their established series might have caused the decline in popularity that resulted in termination. 🙄
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Marsha, it’s certainly a shame when a favorite author is forced to end a series that you love! I’m really not sure why publishers would push so hard for new series if the old one still has fans – I suppose the hope would be to either continue both, or that the new one would sell more?
Susy S says
I think this is why a lot of authors will self publish some new series. They don’t want the publisher to have so much control of their work.
Mary Joy Webster says
Marsha, I’m curious who the other 3 authors were. I’m thinking some of my old favorites.Several of my favorite series ended this way.
Texas Red says
I enthusiastically read the whole Christine Bennett series. It was a sad day for me when I read the last book in the series. Helping Christine solve the various murders was Christine’s former Mother Superior Sister Joseph, I believe was her name. Sister Joseph may have lived in a convent detached somewhat from the world, but when Christine got stuck on a problem solving a mystery, Sister Joseph became a sage of few words but she was right on track with her wisdom of the outside world. The Christine Bennett holiday series was a cozy that I devoured as I read the series, each a different holiday ranging from St. Patrick’s Day to a Bar Mitzah to Cinco de Mayo and Thanksgiving, and beyond. It’s a series of old-fashioned cozy treats!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Texas, I’m glad to hear from other fans of this series!
Robyn says
Your suggestion sounds very interesting to me!! I have not been reading much. The 100+ heat has me just laying in front of the AC just trying to stay cool. And looking at the forecast has another week coming with more of the same.
But this series has me thinking about Monica Ferris’s The Needlecraft Mysteries. I love this series and have re-visited the Crewel World shop.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Robyn, I hope that you find more time to do some reading! It’s certainly hot here as well – thank goodness for air conditioning.
PamB says
I was introduced to this series a few years ago from your blog. After reading the first book I was hooked and was fortunate to find most of the books at a used book store and purchased the rest. I particularly enjoyed reading as it is well written without all the descriptive words many of the newer cozy’s seem to have.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
PamB, the lack of a hugely integrated “hobby” like cooking or needlepoint or what-have-you might be part of the lower number of long descriptive words that you mention – it certainly does focus more on the mystery than many more modern Cozies.
Mary Joy Webster says
Lee Harris was one of the very few series I held onto when we moved.
Mary Joy Webster says
This series was the one that got me started on Cozy Mysteries – my first ever!! I found the Valentine Murder at a little book store on a night out to dinner at a town in the general area of where I lived. I so enjoyed it, that Went on to buy the whole series, and also read Lee Harris’ Alphabet City Series. from there I went on to Valerie Wolzien’s series (both of them) , Jill Churchill, Leslie Meier. I find I can’t quite get the level of cozy I used to – I don’t appreciate paranormal, but am happy for you who do. Seems there are a lot of those out there now. The closest I’ve come to enjoyment are the Booktown series and Victoria Square series by Lorna Barrett/Lorraine Bartlett. I’m currently reading the Lauren Elliot series (Beyond the Page Bookstore Mysteries, though the main character annoys me a little – I don’t mean this in a negative way, as I am still reading them all). It’s probably just my personality! Any suggestions on authors close to my favorites listed above, I am all ears. I believe I have asked before. For me – it’s all about the characters.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Mary, there’s always something special about the first series you fall in love with! As is often the case for me, I’d usually start by recommending “the classics” – authors like Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers.
robin in oregon says
I read the whole series many years ago and really enjoyed it. I’d almost describe it as a “gentle” cozy series. Christine doesn’t really get into dangerous situations as a rule(if I remember correctly) and goes about investigating cases intelligently. The series progresses with her life and relationships in a normal way. The series reminds me of the Joanna Carl Chocolate series with Lee Barrett and the Veronica Black series with Sister Joan. A great series to read and reread.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Robin, well, there’s a dangerous situation or two in this one, but that might not always be the case. It’s definitely a great series for a reread!
Barb E says
I enjoy reading your reviews and this one was a nice reminder of a series I read back in its day! I think I will try to find this title and read it again for old times sake.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Barb, I hope you enjoy it as much as the first time!
Hanna says
I loved the series and, frankly, did not realize that many more books were written since I left the series. At some point I wondered whether she ran out of holidays.. I also think that she formed good friendship with a local police officer. Also, I think that at some point she used the assistance of nuns from her former convent.
I will have to revisit the books. Thank you, Danna, for the reminder.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Hanna, you’re welcome! I hope you enjoy the series as much this time as you did the first time through.
Suzie G says
I read this post the day it came out. I looked for The Good Friday Murder at my local librarynope, at my local used book store, not there either. So I ordered a tattered copy off Ebay. Gosh! What a wonderful Cozy!! Thank you so much for recommending it! I am hooked. Can’t wait to read the rest of the series! Once again, thank you for this post and thanks for this blog. I’ve really enjoyed finding new (to me ) authors through you :))
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Suzie, I’m glad you’re enjoying it! And you’re welcome!