The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

New Releases – May 18 to May 24, 2020

Here is the list of new releases for May 18 to May 24!

Christy Barritt: The Perks of Meddling (This will be the 2nd in the Sidekick’s Survival Guide Book Mystery Series.)

Rita Mae Brown: Furmidable Foes (This will be the 29th in the Mrs. Murphy Mystery Series.)

L.B. Hathaway: Murder on the White Cliffs (This will be the 8th in the Posie Parker Mystery Series.)

M. Louisa Locke: Lethal Remedies (This will be the 7th in the Victorian San Francisco Mystery Series.)

Kirsten Weiss: Hostage to Fortune (This will be the 2nd in the Tea and Tarot Cozy Mystery Series.)

Four New Cozy Mystery Series Coming June 2020

June will be a good month for new series by Cozy Mystery site authors – we’ll be seeing at least four new series starting next month!

First, Victoria Gilbert will be putting out the first in Book Lover’s Library Mystery Series, titled Booked for Death. Charlotte Reed is owner and manager of the Chapters Bed-and-Breakfast in Beaufort North Carolina, a historic and newly renovated inn that hosts a number of special events centered around literary themes such as author signings and conventions. Charlotte inherited the B&B from her great-aunt Isabella, but when a book dealer turns up dead and the victim’s daughter accuses Charlotte’s aunt of being a thief, Charlotte will need to solve this mystery herself. Gilbert is also the author of the Blue Ridge Library Mystery Series, which stars a former university librarian now managing a public library in Virginia.

Cheryl Hollon will be releasing Still Knife Painting, the first in her new Paint & Shine Mystery Series. This novel will star Miranda Trent, who has just inherited her uncles’ Red River Gorge homestead in the Daniel Boone National Forest in Eastern Kentucky. She plans on converting it into a summer tourist spot, with activities such as outdoor painting classes and local moonshine tastings. The Paint & Shine is a success, at least until her cook is killed. As an outsider and the victim’s employer, Miranda seems like a natural suspect, so she will need to solve the mystery herself. Hollon is also the author of the Webb’s Glass Shop Mystery Series, which stars a glass shop owner in Florida.

Next up, Barbara Ross will be starting her Professional Busybody Mystery Series, with first entry Jane Darrowfield, Professional Busybody. Jane has just started retirement a year ago, and has already earned a reputation of a helpful problem solver by assisting others at her bridge club. She is asked to help arbitrate a feud at a local seniors condo community, but the situation escalates rather alarmingly when one of the residents is bludgeoned to death with a golf club. Ross is also the author of the Maine Clambake Mystery Series, starring the owner of a clambake business in Maine.

Finally, Karen MacInerney will be starting the Snug Harbor Mystery Series with first entry A Killer Ending. Recent divorcee and bookseller Max Sayers has decided to begin a new phase of her life by purchasing the Seaside Cottage Books in Snug Harbor, Maine, but shortly after the grand opening her dog Winston finds a dead man on the beach behind the shop. Unfortunately, the murder weapon appears to be one of Max’s antique bookends, forcing her to get involved in the case. Karen MacInerney is also the author of the Gray Whale Inn Mystery Series, starring an inn owner in Maine, and the Dewberry Farm Mystery Series, starring the owner of a dairy farm in Texas.

For more new Cozy Mystery Series, check out the New Cozy Mystery Book Series page on the site.

Ginger Bolton: Deputy Donut Mystery Series

Survival of the Fritters (A Deputy Donut Mystery Book 1) Do you sometimes read a mystery book and find yourself just lost in the book so much that the characters, the setting and the overall tone of the book is so enjoyable that you are not even trying to solve the mystery? This just happened to me when I read The Survival of the Fritters, the first book in Ginger Bolton’s Deputy Donut Mystery Series which is the next book in my quest to cover some of the most popular and recommended mystery series. When I got near to finishing this book, I suddenly realized that the mystery was being revealed, and I had not even really tried to solve it myself!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying there is anything wrong with the mystery in this book — far from it! Maybe it was just the mood I was in, but I was enjoying the writing and being in the small northern Wisconsin town of Fallingbrook so much, the ending just kind of crept up on me.

The story opens in the Deputy Donut donut shop. Emily Westhill, our sleuth, and her father-in-law, Tom Westhill (who was the ex-chief of police of the town) run the Deputy Donut shop. Emily is actually the widow of Tom’s son Alec, who was a police detective in the town until he was shot and killed on duty. Emily and Alec were only married four years before he was killed, and Emily is still in her twenties. 

The little donut shop is frequented by many of the town’s people including quite a few members of the police force. Also often there are the Knitpickers, a group who, not surprisingly, are knitters. On this particular day, however, one of the regular Knitpickers, Georgia, was not there. By the end of the day, the Knitpickers had returned to the Deputy Donut shop in order to get Emily to go with them over to Georgia’s house to see what was wrong with her. Being a Cozy Mystery, of course, before long a body was discovered and Emily begins her side job of sleuthing!

The town has a lot of charm. Reading about Emily and her friends reminded me about why I enjoy Cozies so much. Emily has a wonderful little house. And she has a cat with the same name as her shop — Deputy Donut, which she shortens to “Dep” most of the time. Living right behind her in an identical house is Lois who has a long connection to Georgia. So Lois helps Emily with her snooping about. The town has a number of characters who could be involved with the murder(s), so if you are needing to practice your sleuthing skills, the clues and the suspects abound in this book.

But, as I said earlier, I was just along for the ride in this one — for once I left the solving of the mystery to the book’s sleuth! How about you, does this ever happen to you? (I don’t solve most of the mysteries in the books I read, but I sure do enjoy trying!) 

By the way, the author has another very popular series that she wrote as Janet Bolin, the Threadville Mystery Series. 

P.S. As always, if you are interested in reading some of the other entries about highly recommended Cozy Mystery series, you can find them at the Most Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page on the site.

Cozy Mystery News – May 2020

May is a bit better than last month for Cozy Mystery News – this month we’ve got three pieces of news for site authors!

First, Frances Brody will be adding two more books in the Kate Shackleton Mystery  Series, which stars a widow in a small village in post-WWI England. This will be the thirteenth novel in the series.

 

 

 

Next, Sarah Fox will be adding two more books to her Literary Pub Mystery Series, which stars a pub owner catering to lovers of literature in Vermont. This will bring the series to a total of five entries. She’s also the author of the Pancake House Mystery Series, and the Music Lover’s Mystery Series.

 

 

Finally, Elizabeth George (who isn’t really Cozy in my mind, but still very much a favorite!) will be putting out the 21st in her long-running Inspector Lynley Mystery Series, titled Something to Hide. This is quite good news, as this series has been slowing down a bit relatively recently – but still just as appreciated when it arrives!

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