The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Cozy Mystery News – November 2020

I’ve got a slew of good news for upcoming Cozies!

First up, Tasha Alexander will be releasing what sounds like either a new series or a stand-alone novel, Secret of the Nile. That certainly sounds like a very classic Cozy sort of plot in the Christie-era tradition! Tasha Alexander’s current series is the Lady Emily Ashton Mystery Series, another classic sort of series starring a Victorian England aristocrat.

Next up, Ellen Byron (aka Maria DiRico), a friend of the site, will be putting out another in her Cajun Kiss of Death, another entry in her Cajun Country Mystery Series starring the manager of her family’s plantation-turned-bed-and-breakfast in Louisiana. As Maria DiRico, she also writes the Catering Hall Mystery Series, starring a manager at a catering hall in Astoria, New York City.

Victoria Gilbert will be putting out at least two more entries in her Book Lover’s B&B Mystery Series, one of which will be titled A Stay With Death, starring the owner of a B&B in North Carolina. She will also be starting the Hunter & Clewe Mystery Series, with the first entry A Cryptic Clue, which will star a retired librarian and an eccentric collector of rare books and artifacts.

Carol J. Perry will be putting out a few more entries in the Witch City Mystery Series, including two titled Murder, Take Two, and See Something, in this series starring a reporter and a cat in Salem, Massachusetts. She’ll also be starting a new paranormal mystery series, the Haunted Haven Mystery Series, with the first book titled Be My Ghost.

Barbara Ross will be putting out three more entries in the Maine Clambake Mystery Series, starring the owner of a clambake business in Maine, taking the series to a total of twelve entries. She’s also the author of the new Professional Busybody Mystery Series, starring a retiree in Massachusetts.

Finally, Valerie Wilson Wesley will be starting a new series after a relatively long time away from mysteries. No news so far on the name of the series, but the first entry will be titled A Glimmer of Death, and star a widowed caterer turned realtor, and it sounds like it might have paranormal elements. Wesley’s other mystery series is the Tamara Hayle Mystery Series, which hasn’t had a new entry since 2008.

New Releases – November 16 to November 22, 2020

Here is the list of new releases for November 16 to November 22!

M. C. Beaton (aka Marion Chesney): Hot to Trot (This will be the 31st in the Agatha Raisin Mystery Series.)

Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke: Piece of My Heart (This will be the 7th in the Under Suspicion Mystery Series.)

Peg Cochran (aka Meg London): Berried Motives (This will be the 6th in the Cranberry Cove Mystery Series.)

Jane Haddam (aka Orania Papazoglou): One of Our Own (This will be the 30th in the Gregor Demarkian Mystery Series.)

Karen Rose Smith: Daisy’s Tea Garden Mystery Series

Murder with Lemon Tea Cakes (A Daisy's Tea Garden Mystery Book 1) I recently finished reading Murder with Lemon Tea Cakes, the first in a series by Karen Rose Smith, Daisy’s Tea Garden Mystery series. This is next in my list of most popular and recommended Cozy Mystery series. This is the second series by Karen Rose Smith, following her Caprice De Luca Mystery Series.

Murder With Lemon Tea Cakes follows the life of Daisy Swanson, the owner of “Daisy’s Tea Garden”, a shop in Willow Creek, a semi-tourist small town in Amish country near Lancaster. Daisy is 37, a widow, and has two teenage daughters, one of whom has just left for college. 

There was a tradition in Daisy’s family that all the women were given flower names. Her mother’s name was Rose, her aunt’s name was Iris, and Daisy’s sister’s name was Camellia. Daisy had named her daughters Violet and Jasmine. But Jazzi never used her full name. She preferred her nickname.

As it happens in Cozy Mysteries, the small-town charm of Willow Creek is soon marred by a murder — right in the middle of the garden of “Daisy’s Tea Garden”, no less. The small-town police of Willow Creek seem to have no business trying to solve the mystery of who is the murderer. They are even more incompetent than is normal and are soon grilling Daisy’s Aunt Iris as their chief suspect.

Luckily, Daisy and her new friend, the proprietor of the nearby furniture store, Jonas, who is, coincidentally, a very eligible bachelor and an ex-police detective, are available to try to solve the mystery and clear Iris from this cloud of suspicion.

There is a subplot involving Jazzi who has a mystery of her own to solve. (Jonas helps with that one too). And, the story contains a lot of information about tea and goodies served with tea. At the end of the book, there are several original recipes. (If I baked – other than boxed/prepared types of things, I’d be very tempted to try them.)

The small town of Willow Creek is a very comforting place to visit. I am very glad the series is already up to book six.  I always enjoy finding a new series that is already established…

Click here to read more posts about the most popular and recommended Cozy Mystery series.

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