Karen just asked me for help locating cozies which have the following criteria:
“…I’m always looking for that cozy that takes place at ‘the old mansion’ where some type of gathering takes place and, of course, a murderer is in the midst. If you could give me any direction on what authors or books deal specifically with that topic I would be extremely grateful. ”
For some reason, I could only come up with Red Christmas by Patrick Ruell (aka Reginald Hill), not to mention a few Agatha Christie novels… but since all of those titles get a little confusing to me, I couldn’t even be sure of those!
I am (again!) asking for help from you all. If you can think of any cozy mysteries that have the old-mansion-with-a-murderer plot, please let us know by posting a comment.
Thanks!
Joseph says
I don’t know, but I can’t wait to read some of the comments to get some ideas.
I do know of one, actually: Murder, She Wrote: Gin and Daggers by Donald Bain & Jessica Fletcher. Jessica stays at the estate home of her idol, Christie-like novelist Marjorie Ainsworth. That is, until she no longer feels welcome after the murder has been committed and she checks into a hotel.
Laura says
The first book that comes to mind is “The Ghost and the Haunted Mansion” by Alice Kimberly (aka Cleo Coyle). It is the fifth book in the “Ghost and Mrs. McClure” series and I think it is the best one so far.
Keri says
I can think of two books that take place with a gathering of people but they are from a series.
The first is Anne Perry’s “A Christmas Journey”
and the second is Deanna Raybourn’s “Silent in the Sanctuary”.
I hope I was of help. Good Luck!
Tori Lennox says
Oh, fun!
The Red House Mystery by A. A. Milne (Yes, the guy wrote Winnie the Pooh! This was his one and only murder mystery.)
The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie
And Then There Were None (aka Ten Little Indians) by Agatha Christie
Danna - cozy mystery list says
I just thought of another… The Body in the Ivy by Katherine Hall Page… It is also a series book…
Connie says
Someone suggested Robin Paige to me. She does an historical fiction series set in Victorian/Edwardian times. Murders always occur at large mansion parties with lots of suspects. It is her Kate Ardleigh/Charles Sheridan series. Check it out right here on Danna’s site. I know I’m going to.
Maria BearMountainBooks says
This is a stretch, but some of the Barbara Michaels books kind of fit. Most of them are more ghost stories than locked room/perpetrator in our mist. But the theme is kind of there. Her books are very spooky.
Maria BearMountainBooks says
Midst. Not mist. Although there were some scenes with mist.
:>)
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Karen,
It looks like you’ve got a lot of reading to do!
AND
Thanks to all of you for your great suggestions.
Molly says
Death and the Lit Chick, a St. Just mystery by G.M. Malliet suits the bill quite well I think!
laura says
Its been a while since I’ve read them, but I think that at least the first book or two in Carola Dunn’s series might fit the bill.
Karen says
Thanks for all the suggestions. I’ve not read any of them except for the Agatha Christie books. I’ve just recently stumbled on to Cleo Coyle/Alice Kimberly and can’t wait to get my hands on some. Looks like I have lots of beach reading. Yea!!!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Laura, you are so right! And, Death at Wentwater Court made me a Carola Dunn fan! (See what I mean about making lists… If I don’t annotate something, it very well gets lost in my mind’s muddle!)
Carson says
As I recall, The Mysterious Affair At Styles, which is the first Hercule Poirot book, and the subsequent Curtain, which is the last book, both are that classic Murder In A Mansion story. Both great books, and both sort of take the classic mystery and turn it on its head a little bit. It’s been a few years since I read either, but they were some of my first introductions to the mystery genre.