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

Cozy Mystery Book Recommendations – December 2018

I hope everyone’s been having a great holiday season! December is coming to an end, and with it the end of the year. So now’s a great time to discuss our Cozy Mystery recommendations for the month!

If you read a Cozy mystery this month and want to recommend it to the rest of us, be sure to post it here! For this month, I read Charlotte MacLeod’s Peter Shandy Mystery Series, an old favorite of mine that I hadn’t read in a while that happened to start with a Christmas book. For the reasons I want to recommend it, be sure to check out the blog entry!

So, what have you been reading that you can recommend in December? Please be sure to tell us why you liked these Cozies so much. I know we’re all always on the lookout for more particularly good Cozy Mystery authors! (If you have a lot of Cozies you think are great, please post the ones you like the most at the top of the list.)

As always, please do not tell us about the Cozy Mysteries you did not like.

What really good Cozy Mystery did you read during December 2018 that you want the rest of us to know about, and why did you enjoy it?

Here are the current recommended authors who some of you have read and recommended this past month:

Jeffrey Allen (aka Jeff Shelby): Stay At Home Dad Mystery Series

Donna Andrews: Meg Langslow Mystery Series

Maymee Bell (aka Tonya Kappes): Southern Cake Baker Mystery Series

Stephanie Blackmoore: Wedding Planner Mystery Series

Rhys Bowen: Molly Murphy Mystery Series

Anne Celeste Burke: Georgia Shaw Cozy Mystery Series (fist entry Murder at Catmmando Mountain)

Kate Carlisle: Bibliophile Mystery Series

Leena Clover: Meera Patel Mystery Series (first entry Gone with the Wings)

Diane Mott Davidson: Goldy Bear Mystery Series

Krista Davis: Pen & Ink Mystery Series

Carole Nelson Douglas: Midnight Louis & Temple Barr Mystery Series

Kaitlyn Dunnett (aka Kathy Lynn Emerson): Liss MacCrimmon Mystery Series

Kay Finch: Bad Luck Cat Mystery Series

Amanda Flower (aka Isabella Alan): Magic Garden Mystery Series

Sarah Fox: Literary Pub Mystery Series

Jacqueline Frost (aka Julie Chase & Julie Anne Lindsey): Christmas Tree Farm Mystery Series

Daryl Wood Gerber (aka Avery Aames): Cookbook Nook Mystery Series

Sally Goldenbaum: Seaside Knitters Society Mystery Series

Hazel Holt: Mrs. Malory Mystery Series

M. Louisa Locke: Victorian San Francisco Mystery Series

Charlotte MacLeod (aka Alisa Craig): Peter Shandy Mystery Series AND Sarah Kelling & Max Bittersohn Mystery Series AND Inspector Madoc Rhys Mystery Series

Faith Martin: Hillary Greene Mystery Series (first entry Murder on the Oxford Express)

Jenn McKinlay (aka Josie Belle & Lucy Lawrence): Library Lover’s Mystery Series

Shirley Rousseau Murphy: Joe Grey Cat Mystery Series

Karen Musser Nortman: Mystery Sisters Mystery Series (first entry Reunion and Revenge)

Louise Penny: Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery Series

Shari Randall: Lobster Shack Mystery Series

Barbara Ross: Maine Clambake Mystery Series

Paige Shelton: Scottish Bookshop Mystery Series

Karen Rose Smith: Caprice de Luca Mystery Series

Lea Wait (aka Cornelia Kidd): Mainely Needlepoint Mystery Series

Ovidia Yu: Singaporean Mystery Series (first entry Aunty Lee’s Delights)

[If you click on the author’s name (blue) link, it will take you to his/her page on the Cozy Mystery site. The pages have all of the authors’ books listed chronologically.]

I will list the authors and series that have been recommended, but I urge you to read the comments below so you can see the reasons other Cozy Mystery readers thought these were their best reads of the month.

♦To access more Cozy Mystery Books Recommendations, click on this link♦

P.S. I usually don’t comment on your recommendations since they speak for themselves.

 

Charlotte MacLeod: Peter Shandy Mystery Series

Well, still “tis the season”, so to speak, so I hope you aren’t all quite sick of the holiday yet, as  I felt like revisiting an old personal favorite, and it seemed particularly appropriate to discuss one that started with a Christmas entry. With that in mind, I decided to revisit Charlotte MacLeod‘s Peter Shandy Mystery Series, specifically the first book, Rest You Merry.

Peter Shandy, tenured professor of horticulture at Balaclava Agricultural College doesn’t have quite the same idea of holiday cheer as his neighbors, as the college regularly holds a large public tourist attraction in an attempt to raise money for the college’s regular operation, clashing with Shandy’s love of a quiet holiday with a few relatives or close friends. So when he’s once again asked to contribute to the festive atmosphere, he snaps, hiring a company to install a grand, gaudy display intended to annoy rather than entertain… then immediately leaving town for a holiday cruise. But when the ship breaks down unexpectedly, he returns early to find a local librarian (and busybody) dead in his living room, apparently of an accident after breaking in to dismantle parts of Shandy’s display. Naturally, the police take the accident at face value, but Shandy (a somewhat obsessive individual) thinks there are a few details that don’t add up, and decides to look into it on his own.

The setting of a small academic community is an interesting parallel to the traditional English village more common in Cozies, and shares a number of traits in common that make both excellent sites for a murder mystery. Both are small, insular communities, where everyone knows everyone else, and all too often know one another’s dark secrets. Likewise, big, vibrant characters seem natural encounters in both settings, and this series certainly has plenty of those to enjoy. Shandy himself proves to be a clever, detail-oriented investigator who reminds me in many ways of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot – always a good thing! Indeed, many details of the series remind me of the “classic” Cozies of old, though this is much later than most of the “golden age” Cozies, with this entry written in the late 1970s.

One particular interesting thing that came to mind was how a book can change as it ages. I originally read this book years ago (probably decades…), and many of the things that I likely took for granted as normal then now strike me as being more than a bit odd. The most obvious is that whenever Shandy goes into someone’s house, the host seems interested in plying him with hard alcohol, often quite early in the day. It seems like he can’t get through a visit to any of his neighbors without one of them thrusting a glass full of bourbon into his hands. Admittedly, it might be that it’s the holidays, so a bit more “festivity” is socially acceptable, but it still seems a bit out of place now!

It’s also worth noting how some things have changed, which might be good or bad depending on your perspective. Peter Shandy is investigating a crime. He doesn’t sit down to crochet, or bake a cake, or operate his small business for a day or two between interviewing potential suspects and witnesses. This might put some people off, considering the modern Cozy’s love of hobby activities (which I do also love!), but there’s also something to be said for a mystery novel that is first and foremost about the mystery.

All told, I remember this as being a great start to a classic series by an author I’ve pretty much always enjoyed, and this most recent re-read did not disappoint. If you’re looking for a Cozy with great setting and characters, and the mystery being the most important part of the book, Rest You Merry is a great book to pick up.

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

Happy Holidays!

I hope all of you are having as good of a holiday season as we are here!

We’re lucky enough to have the whole family gathered once again this year – both myself and my husband, my son who lives in town, and my daughter who has to fly into town from Washington D. C. – and of course our darling “baby” (dog, that is), Cocoa.

I’ll be back to posting as usual in a day or two, but for now, I hope you all have Happy Holidays!

Danna

Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for January 2019

So, the year’s coming to an end, but that doesn’t mean that mystery movies will be coming to an end! I’m pretty busy with the holidays, so let’s get right to the movies!

***** ***** ***** *****

Tuesday – January 1

6:45 AM
THE MAD MISS MANTON (1938)
A daffy socialite gets her friends mixed up in a murder investigation.
Dir:  Leigh Jason Cast:  Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Sam Levene.
BW- 80 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Wednesday – January 2

2:30 AM
HAVING WONDERFUL CRIME (1945)
Three amateur detectives try to find a missing magician.
Dir:  Eddie Sutherland Cast:  Pat O’Brien, George Murphy, Carole Landis.
BW- 70 mins, CC

6:00 AM
LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE (1951)
An actress champions the cause of a man whom she believes has been falsely accused of murdering his wife.
Dir:  King Vidor Cast:  Ruth Roman, Richard Todd, Mercedes McCambridge.
BW- 90 mins, CC

7:45 AM
ARSENE LUPIN (1932)
A gentleman thief risks his life in an attempt to steal the Mona Lisa.
Dir:  Jack Conway Cast:  John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Karen Morley.
BW- 84 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Friday – January 4

2:00 PM
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN (1972)
A self-appointed judge cleans up a corrupt western town twice.
Dir:  John Huston Cast:  Paul Newman, Roy Jenson, Gary Combs.
C- 123 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Saturday – January 5

8:29 AM
SOMEWHERE IN SONORA (1933)
A young cowhand gets roped into the outlaw’s life when he’s falsely accused of a crime.
Dir:  Mack V. Wright Cast:  John Wayne, Duke, Henry B. Walthall.
BW- 58 mins, CC

10:08 AM
THE PLOT THICKENS (1936)
Schoolteacher Hildegarde Withers suspects a deadly link between two seemingly unrelated murders.
Dir:  Ben Holmes Cast:  James Gleason, ZaSu Pitts, Owen Davis Jr..
BW- 69 mins, CC
*****This movie is based on Stuart Palmer’s Miss Hildegarde Mystery Series.*****

1:30 PM
THE BLUE GARDENIA (1953)
A telephone operator kills in self-defense but can’t remember the details of the encounter
Dir:  Fritz Lang Cast:  Anne Baxter, Richard Conte, Ann Sothern.
BW- 88 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Sunday – January 6

4:00 AM
AN IDEAL HUSBAND (1947)
An upstanding politician is haunted by his past when a blackmailer threatens to reveal a youthful indiscretion.
Dir:  Alexander Korda Cast:  Paulette Goddard, Michael Wilding, Constance Collier.
C- 93 mins, CC

7:45 AM
NIGHT MUST FALL (1937)
A charming young man worms his way into a wealthy woman’s household, then reveals a deadly secret.
Dir:  Richard Thorpe Cast:  Merle Tottenham, Kathleen Harrison, Dame May Whitty.
BW- 116 mins, CC

10:00 PM
THE LETTER (1940)
A woman claims to have killed in self-defense, until a blackmailer turns up with incriminating evidence.
Dir:  William Wyler Cast:  Bette Davis, Herbert Marshall, James Stephenson.
BW- 95 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Monday – January 7

11:00 AM
DARK PASSAGE (1947)
A man falsely accused of his wife’s murder escapes to search for the real killer.
Dir:  Delmer Daves Cast:  Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Bruce Bennett.
BW- 106 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Wednesday – January 9

6:15 AM
SAGEBRUSH TRAIL (1933)
A man, wrongly imprisoned for murder, escapes to track down the real killer.
Dir:  Armand Schaefer Cast:  John Wayne, Nancy Shubert, Lane Chandler.
BW- 53 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Thursday – January 10

1:15 AM
PANIC IN THE STREETS (1950)
A killer evades the police not knowing he has a deadly plague.
Dir:  Elia Kazan Cast:  Richard Widmark, Paul Douglas, Barbara Bel Geddes.
BW- 96 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Saturday – January 12

10:08 AM
FORTY NAUGHTY GIRLS (1938)
A schoolteacher turns detective to solve a theatrical murder.
Dir:  Edward Cline Cast:  James Gleason, ZaSu Pitts, Marjorie Lord.
BW- 63 mins

*****Based on Stuart Palmer’s Miss Witherspoon Mystery Series.*****

***** ***** ***** *****

Sunday – January 13

12:00 AM
LURED (1947)
A woman helps the police catch the serial killer who murdered her best friend.
Dir:  Douglas Sirk Cast:  George Sanders, Lucille Ball, Charles Coburn.
BW- 103 mins

10:00 AM
LURED (1947)
A woman helps the police catch the serial killer who murdered her best friend.
Dir:  Douglas Sirk Cast:  George Sanders, Lucille Ball, Charles Coburn.
BW- 103 mins

1:45 PM
GILDA (1946)
A gambler discovers an old flame in South America, but she’s married to his new boss.
Dir:  Charles Vidor Cast:  Rita Hayworth, Glenn Ford, George Macready.
BW- 110 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Monday – January 14

6:00 AM
EMERGENCY CALL (1933)
A promising surgeon discovers his hospital is run by gangsters.
Dir:  Edward Cahn Cast:  Bill Boyd, Wynne Gibson, William Gargan.
BW- 61 mins

11:45 PM
OUT OF THE PAST (1947)
A private eye becomes the dupe of a homicidal moll.
Dir:  Jacques Tourneur Cast:  Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas.
BW- 97 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Tuesday – January 15

3:45 Am
MACAO (1952)
A man on the run in the Far East is mistaken for an undercover cop.
Dir:  Josef von Sternberg Cast:  Robert Mitchum, Jane Russell, William Bendix.
BW- 81 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Wednesday – January 16

6:00 PM
THE HAUNTING (1963)
A team of psychic investigators moves into a haunted house that destroys all who live there.
Dir:  Robert Wise Cast:  Julie Harris, Claire Bloom, Richard Johnson.
BW- 112 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
*****I’m not sure if this is actually a mystery, fantasy, or horror movie…”*****

***** ***** ***** *****

Thursday – January 17

8:00 AM
THE FALCON IN MEXICO (1944)
A society sleuth travels South of the border to investigate an art dealer’s murder.
Dir:  William Berke Cast:  Tom Conway, Mona Maris, Martha MacVicar.
BW- 70 mins, CC

10:45 AM
THE HAPPY THIEVES (1962)
A worldly art thief gets mixed up with murder.
Dir:  George Marshall Cast:  Rex Harrison, Rita Hayworth, Joseph Wiseman.
C- 89 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

2:30 PM
THE TWO MRS. CARROLLS (1947)
A woman slowly discovers that her artist husband is a deranged killer.
Dir:  Peter Godfrey Cast:  Humphrey Bogart, Barbara Stanwyck, Alexis Smith.
BW- 99 mins, CC

6:30 PM
ARSENE LUPIN (1932)
A gentleman thief risks his life in an attempt to steal the Mona Lisa.
Dir:  Jack Conway Cast:  John Barrymore, Lionel Barrymore, Karen Morley.
BW- 84 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Friday – January 18

6:15 AM
THE PETRIFIED FOREST (1936)
An escaped convict holds the customers at a remote desert cantina hostage.
Dir:  Archie L. Mayo Cast:  Leslie Howard, Bette Davis, Genevieve Tobin.
BW- 82 mins, CC

8:00 PM
SEANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON (1964)
A medium kidnaps a child so she can help the police solve the crime.
Dir:  Bryan Forbes Cast:  Kim Stanley, Richard Attenborough, Mark Eden.
BW- 117 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Saturday – January 19

4:15 AM
STRAIT-JACKET (1964)
Murder follows an axe murderer home when she’s released from a mental hospital.
Dir:  William Castle Cast:  Joan Crawford, Diane Baker, Leif Erickson.
BW- 93 mins, CC

8:29 AM
THE STAR PACKER (1934)
A U.S. Marshall takes on the job of defeating a mysterious criminal.
Dir:  R. N. Bradbury Cast:  John Wayne, Verna Hillie, George Hayes.
BW- 55 mins,

10:08 AM
THE CASE OF THE HOWLING DOG (1934)
Perry Mason gets caught between feuding neighbors who claim to be married to the same woman.
Dir:  Alan Crosland Cast:  Warren William, Mary Astor, Allen Jenkins.
BW- 74 mins, CC

1:45 PM
THE PROWLER (1951)
A policeman’s obsession with a married woman leads to murder.
Dir:  Joseph Losey Cast:  Van Heflin, Evelyn Keyes, John Maxwell.
BW- 93 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Sunday – January 20

12:00 AM
MURDER, MY SWEET (1944)
Detective Philip Marlowe’s search for a two-timing woman leads him to blackmail and murder.
Dir:  Edward Dmytryk Cast:  Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley.
BW- 95 mins, CC

10:00 AM
MURDER, MY SWEET (1944)
Detective Philip Marlowe’s search for a two-timing woman leads him to blackmail and murder.
Dir:  Edward Dmytryk Cast:  Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley.
BW- 95 mins, CC

2:00 PM
THE STRANGE LOVE OF MARTHA IVERS (1946)
Years after a murder drove them apart, an heiress tries to win back her lost love.
Dir:  Lewis Milestone Cast:  Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Lizabeth Scott.
BW- 115 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Monday – January 21

2:45 AM
PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK (1975)
When a group of schoolgirls mysteriously disappear, the survivors find their lives changed forever.
Dir:  Peter Weir Cast:  Martin Vaughan, Rachel Roberts, Vivean Gray.
C- 107 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Tuesday – January 22

12:30 AM
A SOLDIER’S STORY (1984)
During World War II, an African-American officer investigates a murder that may have been racially motivated.
Dir:  Norman Jewison Cast:  Howard E Rollins, Adolph Caesar, Denzel Washington.
C- 101 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

***** ***** ***** *****

Thursday – January 24

7:30 AM
MIDNIGHT SHADOW (1939)
A young girl must decide which of her suitors robbed and killed her father.
Dir:  George Randol Cast:  Frances Redd, Buck Woods, Richard Bates.
BW- 52 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Friday – January 25

6:30 AM
WASHINGTON STORY (1952)
A reporter in search of government corruption falls for a congressman.
Dir:  Robert Pirosh Cast:  Van Johnson, Patricia Neal, Louis Calhern.
BW- 82 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Sunday – January 27

2:15 AM
WAIT UNTIL DARK (1967)
A blind woman fights against drug smugglers who’ve invaded her home.
Dir:  Terence Young Cast:  Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna.
C- 108 mins, CC

8:00 PM
ACT OF VIOLENCE (1949)
An embittered veteran tracks down a POW camp informer.
Dir:  Fred Zinnemann Cast:  Van Heflin, Robert Ryan, Janet Leigh.
BW- 82 mins, CC

9:45 PM
IN A LONELY PLACE (1950)
An aspiring actress begins to suspect that her temperamental boyfriend is a murderer.
Dir:  Nicholas Ray Cast:  Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy.
BW- 93 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Monday – January 28

10:00 PM
BULLITT (1968)
When mobsters kill the witness he was assigned to protect, a dedicated policeman investigates the case on his own.
Dir:  Peter Yates Cast:  Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, Jacqueline Bisset.
C- 114 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Wednesday – January 30

1:30 PM
BLOOD AND BLACK LACE (1964)
A mysterious killer stalks a design house’s models.
Dir:  Mario Bava Cast:  Eva Bartok, Cameron Mitchell, Thomas Reiner.
C- 88 mins

3:00 PM
HUSH… HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE (1964)
A wealthy southern spinster fights to keep her family’s secrets hidden.
Dir:  Robert Aldrich Cast:  Bette Davis, Olivia De Havilland, Joseph Cotten.
BW- 133 mins, CC

5:30 PM
WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962)
A crazed, aging star torments her sister in a decaying Hollywood mansion.
Dir:  Robert Aldrich Cast:  Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Victor Buono.
BW- 134 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Thursday – January 31

2:30 AM
JAMAICA INN (1939)
A young woman on the British coast stumbles onto a ring of bloodthirsty scavengers.
Dir:  Alfred Hitchcock Cast:  Charles Laughton, Horace Hodges, Hay Petrie.
BW- 99 mins, CC
*****Based on the Daphne du Maurier novel.*****

7:15 AM
SOMEWHERE IN SONORA (1933)
A young cowhand gets roped into the outlaw’s life when he’s falsely accused of a crime.
Dir:  Mack V. Wright Cast:  John Wayne, Duke, Henry B. Walthall.
BW- 58 mins, CC

9:45 AM
THE FIGHTING GRINGO (1939)
A cowboy tries to clear an innocent Mexican rancher of murder charges.
Dir:  David Howard Cast:  George O’Brien, Lupita Tovar, Lucio Villegas.
BW- 59 mins

11:00 AM
TROUBLE IN SUNDOWN (1939)
A man’s friend searches for the real crooks when he’s accused of robbery and murder.
Dir:  David Howard Cast:  George O’Brien, Rosalind Keith, Ray Whitley.
BW- 60 mins, CC

12:15 PM
COME ON DANGER (1942)
When a woman turns outlaw, she’s suspected of murder.
Dir:  Edward Killy Cast:  Tim Holt, Frances Neal, Ray Whitley.
BW- 59 mins

1:30 PM
SAGEBRUSH LAW (1943)
A Western bank president is framed on embezzlement charges.
Dir:  Sam Nelson Cast:  Tim Holt, Cliff “Ukulele Ike” Edwards, Joan Barclay.
BW- 56 mins

5:00 PM
GUNS OF HATE (1948)
Two drifters are falsely accused of murder.
Dir:  Lesley Selander Cast:  Tim Holt, Nan Leslie, Richard Martin.
BW- 62 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Friday – February 1

3:15 AM
THE PLAYER (1992)
A rising producer tries to cover up the accidental killing of a screenwriter who was stalking him.
Dir:  Robert Altman Cast:  Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Peter Falk.
C- 124 mins, Letterbox Format

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

If you’re really looking forward to these or other mystery-themed tv specials coming up in January, be sure to leave a comment below!

In case you’re interested in seeing the rest of this month’s television mystery movies, here’s the December 2018 television mystery movies schedule:

Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for December 2018 on Turner Classic Movies channel

And here is the page on my site with plenty of entries about movies and television shows you may enjoy:

Cozy Mystery List TV and  Movie Section – all you have to do is click on the link to go to that page on my site.

(All of the movie descriptions were taken off their respective websites.)

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