The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Cozy Mystery Book Recommendations – July 2018

July is coming to an end, so it’s time to discuss our favorite Cozy Mysteries that we’ve read over the course of 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! This month, I reread one of my own favorites, the first in the Brother Cadfael Mystery Series by Ellis Peters. If you want to know why I recommend that series, be sure to check out the post I wrote on it!

So, what have you been reading that you can recommend in July? 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 July 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:

Ellery Adams (aka J. B. Stanley, Jennifer Stanley, & 1/2 of Lucy Arlington): Supper Club Mystery Series

Ellie Alexander (aka Kate Dyer-Seeley): Bakeshop Mystery Series

Sandra Balzo: Maggy Thorson Mystery Series

Lorna Barrett (aka L. L. Bartlett & Lorraine Bartlett): Booktown Mystery Series

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

Ginger Bolton (aka Janet Bolin): Deputy Donut Mystery Series

Rhys Bowen: Royal Spyness Mystery Series

Simon Brett: Fethering Mystery Series

Lynn Cahoon: Farm-to-Fork Mystery Series

Kate Carlisle: Bibliophile Mystery Series

Laura Childs (aka Gerry Schmitt): Tea Shop Mystery Series

Peg Cochran (aka Meg London): Farmer’s Daughter Mystery Series

Sheila Connolly (aka Sarah Atwell): Victorian Village Mystery Series AND Victorian Village Mystery Series

Leslie Cookman: Libby Sarjeant Mystery Series

Deborah Crombie: Kincaid & James Mystery Series

Vicki Delany (aka Eva Gates): Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery Series

Carrie Doyle: Hamptons Murder Mysteries (first entry Death on Windmill Way)

Joanne Fluke: Hannah Swensen Mystery Series

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

Eva Gates (aka Vicki Delany): Lighthouse Library Mystery Series

Victoria Gilbert: Blue Ridge Library Mystery Series

Parnell Hall (aka J. P. Hailey): Puzzle Lady Mystery Series

H. Y. Hanna: Oxford Tearoom Mystery Series (first entry A Scone to Die For)

Hazel Holt: Mrs. Mallory Mystery Series

Vaseem Khan: Baby Ganesh Agency Investigation Mystery Series (first entry The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra)

Cornelia Kidd (aka Lea Wait): Maine Murder Mystery Series

R. J. Koreto: The Body in the Ballroom

Gayle Leeson (aka Gayle Trent & Amanda Lee): Down South Cafe Mystery Series

Laura Levine: Jaine Austen Mystery Series

Meg Macy: Teddy Bear Mystery Series

Olivia Matthews: Sister Lou Mystery Series (fist entry Mayhem & Mass)

Isabella Muir: Janie Juke Mystery Series (first entry The Tapestry Bag)

Katherine Hall Page: Faith Fairchild Mystery Series

Ellis Peters: Brother Cadfael Mystery Series

Karen Rose Smith: Daisy’s Tea Garden Mystery Series

Rosemary Stevens (aka Rosemary Martin): Beau Bremmel Mystery Series

Vidar Sundstøl: Minnesota Trilogy (first entry The Land of Dreams)

Denise Swanson: Chef-to-Go Mystery Series

Peter Tremayne: Sister Fidelma Mystery Series

[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.

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: The Murder at Roadhill House

Here’s another great example of British mystery movies! My husband and I were riveted by this terrific mystery movie (The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: The Murder at Road Hill House) which I would describe as Cozy. This 2011 ITV production is based on a real crime which took place in England in 1860. (Author Kate Summerscale wrote the non-fiction book (The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective), on which the movie is based.)

The costumes, settings, acting, well… everything is phenomenal. Detective Whicher is very convincingly played by Paddy Considine. As the first movie begins (The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: The Murder at Road Hill House) we discover that Inspector Whicher is the best detective in Victorian England’s Scotland Yard force, which is why he is chosen to go to a small town to solve a murder. The father of a murdered boy very much wants the case solved, so he informs the local police chief that Mr. Whicher is to be in charge of the case. Of course, this causes some bad feelings from the townspeople, including the entire local police force. They think of Mr. Whicher as an uppity outsider from London.

The movie follows Inspector Whicher’s detecting. He is given a very short amount of time to solve the case. He insists he needs more time. Toward the end of his allotted time, his fellow Scotland Yard friend Dolly (played by William beck) is sent to help him. I don’t want to divulge anymore, in hopes that you watch (and enjoy!) the movie.

I strongly recommend this British mystery movie. We haven’t watched the other three Mr. Whicher movies yet, but plan to watch them very soon. They are as follows:

Movie 2 – The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: The Murder in Angel Lane (2013)

Movie 3 – The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: Beyond the Pale (2014)

Movie 4 – The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: The Ties That Bind (2014)

If the last three Mr. Whicher mystery movies are as good as the first, we’re all in for a treat!

P.S. My husband and I watched The Suspicion of Mr. Whicher: The Murder in Angel Lane (the second TV mystery movie in the series) last night and while it was very good, it showed a few corpses that had been violently killed, so it might qualify as a bit less “Cozy” than the first.

P.P.P.S. I have received a letter from someone complaining that these are not Cozies. I liken the two movies my husband and I have watched more to Prime Suspect & Dalziel and Pascoe…

P.P.S. All four of the Mr. Whicher mysteries are available on Amazon Prime Video for streaming.

Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for August 2018

Another month is coming to an end, so it’s time to discuss the upcoming TCM mystery movies for August!

August 2018 Turner Classic Movies Channel Mystery Movies (Central time zone):

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

Wednesday – August 1, 2018

11:45 PM
SUDDENLY (1954)
Gunmen take over a suburban home to plot a presidential assassination.
Dir: Lewis Allen Cast: Frank Sinatra, Sterling Hayden, James Gleason.
BW- 77 mins, CC

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

Thursday – August 2, 2018

7:15 AM
EVELYN PRENTICE (1934)
A criminal lawyer’s wife faces blackmail when she has an affair.
Dir: William K. Howard Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Una Merkel.
BW- 79 mins, CC

9:00 PM
I LOVE YOU AGAIN (1940)
A solid married man discovers he’s forgotten a past existence as a con artist.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke II Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Frank McHugh.
BW- 99 mins, CC

12:45 AM
THE THIN MAN (1934)
A husband-and-wife detective team takes on the search for a missing inventor and almost get killed for their efforts.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O’Sullivan.
BW- 91 mins, CC

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

Friday – August 3, 2018

5:00 AM
THE FIREBIRD (1934)
A young girl’s secret romance is exposed when her lover is murdered.
Dir: William Dieterle Cast: Verree Teasdale, Ricardo Cortez, Lionel Atwill.
BW- 74 mins

6:30 AM
RENDEZVOUS (1935)
A decoding expert tangles with enemy spies.
Dir: William K. Howard Cast: William Powell, Rosalind Russell, Binnie Barnes.
BW- 94 mins, CC

11:00 AM
THE MURDER MAN (1935)
A hard-drinking reporter specializes in murder cases, until he becomes a suspect in one himself.
Dir: Tim Whelan Cast: Spencer Tracy, Virginia Bruce, Lionel Atwill.
BW- 69 mins, CC

1:45 PM
THE SECRET OF MADAME BLANCHE (1933)
A murder brings together a woman and the son she was forced to give up years earlier.
Dir: Charles Brabin Cast: Irene Dunne, Lionel Atwill, Phillips Holmes.
BW- 84 mins, CC

7:00 PM
MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM, THE (1933)
A disfigured sculptor turns murder victims into wax statues.
Dir: Michael Curtiz Cast: Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Glenda Farrell.
C- 77 mins, CC

8:30 PM
SECRET OF THE BLUE ROOM (1933)
Dir: Kurt Neumann Cast: Lionel Atwill, Gloria Stuart, Paul Lukas.
BW- 65 mins

10:00 PM
DOCTOR X (1932)
A reporter investigates a series of cannibalistic murders at a medical college.
Dir: Michael Curtiz Cast: Lionel Atwill, Fay Wray, Lee Tracy.
C- 76 mins, CC

11:30 PM
ABSOLUTE QUIET (1936)
Murder follows when a plane filled with shady characters is forced to land on a tycoon’s ranch.
Dir: George B. Seitz Cast: Lionel Atwill, Irene Hervey, Raymond
Walburn.
BW- 70 mins

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

Saturday – August 4, 2018

7:00 PM
HANG ‘EM HIGH (1968)
A mysterious drifter survives a lynching then goes back for revenge.
Dir: Ted Post Cast: Clint Eastwood, Inger Stevens, Ed Begley.
C- 115 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

9:15 PM
COOGAN’S BLUFF (1968)
An Arizona sheriff tracks an escaped killer to the wilds of New York City.
Dir: Donald Siegel Cast: Clint Eastwood, Lee J. Cobb, Susan Clark.
C- 94 mins

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

Monday – August 6, 2018

7:00 AM
THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1946)
Illicit lovers plot to kill the woman’s older husband.
Dir: Tay Garnett Cast: Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway.
BW- 113 mins, CC

4:00 PM
THE SELLOUT (1951)
A small-town newspaper editor risks everything to expose a corrupt sheriff.
Dir: Gerald Mayer Cast: Walter Pidgeon, John Hodiak, Audrey Totter.
BW- 83 mins, CC

7:00 PM
TENSION (1950)
A man who had planned to murder his wife’s lover becomes the prime suspect when somebody beats him to it.
Dir: John Berry Cast: Richard Basehart, Audrey Totter, Cyd Charisse.
BW- 91 mins, CC,

9:00 PM
HIGH WALL (1947)
Psychiatry provides the key to proving a veteran flyer innocent of his wife’s murder.
Dir: Curtis Bernhardt Cast: Robert Taylor, Audrey Totter, Herbert Marshall.
BW- 99 mins, CC

11:00 PM
LADY IN THE LAKE (1947)
Philip Marlowe searches for a missing woman in this mystery shot entirely from the detective’s viewpoint.
Dir: Robert Montgomery Cast: Robert Montgomery, Audrey Totter, Lloyd Nolan.
BW- 103 mins, CC

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

Tuesday – August 7, 2018

1:00 AM
THE UNSUSPECTED (1947)
The producer of a radio crime series commits the perfect crime, then has to put the case on the air.
Dir: Michael Curtiz Cast: Joan Caulfield, Claude Rains, Audrey Totter.
BW- 103 mins, CC

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

Thursday – August 9, 2018

11:00 AM
CHARADE (1963)
A beautiful widow tries to find her husband’s lost fortune while eluding the killers who want it themselves.
Dir: Stanley Donen Cast: Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, Walter Matthau.
C- 113 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

11:15 PM
THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE (1974)
Gunmen hold a New York subway train and its passengers for ransom.
Dir: Joseph Sargent Cast: Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam.
C- 104 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

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

Friday – August 10, 2018

12:00 PM
THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS (1954)
A wrongly convicted man takes a young woman hostage while fighting to clear his name.
Dir: Edwards Sampson Cast: John Ireland, Dorothy Malone, Bruce Carlisle.
BW- 74 mins, CC

1:30 PM
CONVICTED (1950)
A prison warden fights to prove one of his inmates was wrongly convicted.
Dir: Henry Levin Cast: Glenn Ford, Broderick Crawford, Millard Mitchell.
BW- 91 mins, CC

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

Sunday – August 12, 2018

3:00 AM
TIP ON A DEAD JOCKEY (1957)
A grounded flier gets mixed up with smugglers in Madrid.
Dir: Richard Thorpe Cast: Robert Taylor, Dorothy Malone, Gia Scala.
BW- 99 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

*****Next, TCM will be airing three Doris Day/Rock Hudson comedies, followed by a Doris Day/James Garner comedy, and then on to a mystery with Doris Day.*****

5:00 PM
PILLOW TALK (1959)
A man and woman carry their feud over the telephone line they share into their real lives.
Dir: Michael Gordon Cast: Rock Hudson, Doris Day, Tony Randall.
C- 102 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

7:00 PM
LOVER COME BACK (1961)
An ad exec in disguise courts his pretty female competitor.
Dir: Delbert Mann Cast: Rock Hudson, Doris Day, Tony Randall.
C- 107 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

9:00 PM
SEND ME NO FLOWERS (1964)
When he mistakenly thinks he’s dying, a hypochondriac tries to choose his wife’s next husband.
Dir: Norman Jewison Cast: Rock Hudson, Doris Day, Tony Randall.
C- 100 mins, CC

11:00 PM
THE THRILL OF IT ALL (1963)
A doctor tries to cope with his wife’s newfound stardom as an advertising pitch woman.
Dir: Norman Jewison Cast: Doris Day, James Garner, Arlene Francis.
C- 108 mins, CC

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

Monday – August 13, 2018

1:00 AM
MIDNIGHT LACE (1960)
A young woman can’t get anyone to believe she’s being stalked.
Dir: David Miller Cast: Doris Day, Rex Harrison, John Gavin.
C- 108 mins, CC

3:00 AM
JULIE (1956)
A stewardess is stalked by her psychotic estranged husband.
Dir: Andrew L. Stone Cast: Doris Day, Louis Jourdan, Barry Sullivan.
BW- 97 mins, CC

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

Thursday – August 16, 2018

10:30 PM
THE STORY OF TEMPLE DRAKE (1933)
A society girl gets mixed up with blackmail and murder after a vicious sexual assault.
Dir: Stephen Roberts Cast: Miriam Hopkins, William Gargan, Jack La Rue.
BW- 71 mins, CC

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

Saturday – August 18, 2018

7:00 AM
IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT (1934)
A newspaperman tracks a runaway heiress on a madcap cross-country tour.
Dir: Frank Capra Cast: Clark Gable, Claudette Colbert, Walter Connolly.
BW- 105 mins, CC
*****Not a mystery, but very funny!*****

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

Monday – August 20, 2018

2:00 AM
JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG (1961)
An aging American judge presides over the trial of Nazi war criminals.
Dir: Stanley Kramer Cast: Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark.
BW- 179 mins, CC

11:00 PM
SCARAMOUCHE (1952)
In 18th-century France, a young man masquerades as an actor to avenge his friend’s murder.
Dir: George Sidney Cast: Stewart Granger, Eleanor Parker, Janet Leigh.
C- 115 mins, CC

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

Wednesday – August 22, 2018

9:00 AM
BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT (1956)
A novelist frames himself for murder to prove the fallibility of circumstantial evidence.
Dir: Fritz Lang Cast: Dana Andrews, Joan Fontaine, Sidney Blackmer.
BW- 80 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

10:30 AM
WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS (1956)
Reporters compete to catch a serial killer.
Dir: Fritz Lang Cast: Dana Andrews, Rhonda Fleming, George Sanders.
BW- 100 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

10:30 PM
FALLEN ANGEL (1945)
A man is accused of killing a waitress he had tried to seduce with his wife’s money.
Dir: Otto Preminger Cast: Alice Faye, Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell.
BW- 97 mins, CC

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

Thursday – August 23, 2018

2:45 AM
BRAINSTORM (1965)
A young scientist fakes insanity so he can kill the husband of the woman he loves.
Dir: William Conrad Cast: Jeff Hunter, Anne Francis, Dana Andrews.
BW- 105 mins, Letterbox Format

7:00 PM
FLAXY MARTIN (1949)
Messing with a mobster’s girlfriend gets a lawyer framed for murder.
Dir: Richard Bare Cast: Virginia Mayo, Zachary Scott, Dorothy Malone.
BW- 86 mins, CC

8:45 PM
BACKFIRE (1950)
A veteran tries to clear an old friend of a murder charge.
Dir: Vincent Sherman Cast: Viveca Lindfors, Dane Clark, Virginia Mayo.
BW- 91 mins, CC

10:30 PM
SMART GIRLS DON’T TALK (1948)
A society woman gets involved with a gangster only to find he has hidden plans.
Dir: Richard Bare Cast: Virginia Mayo, Bruce Bennett, Robert Hutton.
BW- 81 mins

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

Friday – August 24, 2018

6:30 AM
ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (1944)
A young man about to be married discovers the two aunts who raised him have been poisoning lonely old men.
Dir: Frank Capra Cast: Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey.
BW- 118 mins, CC

1:00 PM
ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT (1942)
A criminal gang turns patriotic to track down a Nazi spy ring.
Dir: Vincent Sherman Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Conrad Veidt, Kaaren Verne.
BW- 107 mins, CC

4:45 PM
SCENT OF MYSTERY (1960)
Dir: Jack Cardiff Cast: Denholm Elliott, Peter Lorre, Beverly Bentley.
BW- 125 mins
*****Wikipedia says: “the first to use the Smell-O-Vision system to release odors at points in the film’s plot. It was the first film in which aromas were integral to the story, providing important details to the audience.” – Sounds pretty 1960-ish!

7:00 PM
M (1931)
The mob sets out to catch a child killer whose crimes are attracting too much police attention.
Dir: Fritz Lang Cast: Peter Lorre, Theo Lingen, Otto Wernicke.
BW- 110 mins

9:00 PM
CRIME AND PUNISHMENT (1935)
A young student murders for money then tries to escape his guilt and a brilliant detective.
Dir: Josef von Sternberg Cast: Peter Lorre, Edward Arnold, Marian Marsh.
BW- 88 mins, CC

10:45 PM
THE MASK OF DIMITRIOS (1944)
A meek novelist investigates the mysterious death of a notorious scoundrel.
Dir: Jean Negulesco Cast: Sydney Greenstreet, Zachary Scott, Faye Emerson.
BW- 96 mins, CC,

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

Saturday – August 25, 2018

12:30 AM
THE VERDICT (1946)
A retired Scotland Yard chief tries to prove his friend is innocent of murder.
Dir: Don Siegel Cast: Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Joan Lorring.
BW- 86 mins, CC

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

Monday – August 27, 2018

11:00 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

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

Tuesday – August 28, 2018

2:30 PM
THE UNFAITHFUL, THE (1947)
While her husband is away, a woman gets mixed up in murder.
Dir: Vincent Sherman Cast: Ann Sheridan, Lew Ayres, Zachary Scott.
BW- 109 mins

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

Wednesday – August 29, 2018

12:30 AM
NO ESCAPE (1953)
A woman and a songwriter suspected of murder join forces to crack the case.
Dir: Charles Bennett Cast: Lew Ayres, Sonny Tufts, Marjorie Steele.
BW- 76 mins

2:00 AM
FINGERS AT THE WINDOW (1942)
A magician uses hypnosis to create an army of murderers.
Dir: Charles Lederer Cast: Lew Ayres, Laraine Day, Basil Rathbone.
BW- 81 mins, CC

3:30 AM
THE GOLDEN FLEECING (1940)
A mild-mannered insurance salesman gets mixed up with gangsters.
Dir: Leslie Fenton Cast: Lew Ayres, Rita Johnson, Lloyd Nolan.
BW- 68 mins, CC

5:00 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

7:00 PM
THE BIG SLEEP (1946)
Private eye Philip Marlowe investigates a society girl’s involvement in the murder of a pornographer.
Dir: Howard Hawks Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely.
BW- 114 mins, CC

9:00 PM
KEY LARGO (1948)
A returning veteran tangles with a ruthless gangster during a hurricane.
Dir: John Huston Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall.
BW- 100 mins, CC

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

Friday – August 31, 2018

9:45 AM
THE LAST OF MRS. CHEYNEY (1937)
A chic jewel thief in England falls in love with one of her marks.
Dir: Richard Boleslawski Cast: Joan Crawford, William Powell, Robert Montgomery.
BW- 98 mins, CC

7:00 PM
SUDDEN FEAR (1952)
An ambitious actor insinuates himself into the life of a wealthy middle-aged woman, then plots with his mistress to murder her.
Dir: David Miller Cast: Joan Crawford, Jack Palance, Gloria Grahame.
BW- 111 mins

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

Saturday – September 1, 2018

1:00 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,

2:45 AM
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

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

If you’re really looking forward to these or other mystery-themed tv specials coming up in August, 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 July 2018 television mystery movies schedule:

Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for July 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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