The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

New Releases – March 26 to April 1, 2018

Here is the list of new releases for March 26 to April 1!

Cynthia Baxter: Murder with a Cherry on Top (This will be the 1st in the NEW Lickety Splits Ice Cream Shoppe Mystery Series.)

Kathi Daley: Hippity Hoppity Homicide (This will be the 28th in the Zoe Donovan Mystery Series.) (This is an Easter mystery.)

Kate Dyer-Seeley (aka Ellie Alexander): Natural Thorn Killer (This will be the 1st in the NEW Rose City Mystery Series.)

J.C. Eaton: A Riesling to Die (This will be the 1st in the NEW Wine Trail Mystery Series.)

Vickie Fee: Til Death Do Us Party (This will be the 4th in the Liv and Di in Dixie Mystery Series.)

Emma Miller: Plain Confession (This will be the 5th in the Amish Mystery Series.)

Jacqueline Winspear: To Die but Once (This will be the 14th in the Maisie Dobbs Mystery Series.)

Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for April 2018

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

First, I’m not going to discuss them seperately, but TCM will have a biblical themed movie marathon for Easter, April 1. So if you’re interested in Bible based movies, be sure to take a look!

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

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

Tuesday – April 3, 2018

3:00 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
*** Not a mystery. Great Rock Hudson/Doris Day comedy.

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

Wednesday – April 4, 2018

3:45 AM
CHINA PASSAGE (1937)
Murder and jewel theft plague a China-bound steamer.
Dir:  Edward Killy Cast:  Constance Worth, Vinton Haworth, Leslie Fenton.
BW- 64 mins, CC

9:15 AM
THE KEYHOLE (1933)
A private eye specializing in divorce cases falls for the woman he’s been hired to frame.
Dir:  Michael Curtiz Cast:  Kay Francis, George Brent, Glenda Farrell.
BW- 69 mins

10:30 AM
PRIVATE DETECTIVE 62 (1933)
A private eye in Paris falls for the beautiful gambling lady he’s investigating.
Dir:  Michael Curtiz Cast:  William Powell, Margaret Lindsay, Ruth Donnelly.
BW- 66 mins, CC

1:15 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

5:30 PM
THE KENNEL MURDER CASE (1933)
Society sleuth Philo Vance investigates a murder tied to a Long Island dog show.
Dir:  Michael Curtiz Cast:  William Powell, Mary Astor, Eugene Pallette.
BW- 73 mins, CC

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

Thursday – April 5, 2018

2:00 AM
JIMMY THE GENT (1934)
An unscrupulous detective makes a killing locating missing heirs.
Dir:  Michael Curtiz Cast:  James Cagney, Bette Davis, Allen Jenkins.
BW- 68 mins, CC

5:30 AM
THE NANNY (1965)
A disturbed young man tries to prove his nanny is out to kill him.
Dir:  Seth Holt Cast:  Bette Davis, Wendy Craig, Jill Bennett.
BW- 93 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

7:15 AM
DEAD RINGER (1964)
A woman murders her rich twin and tries to take her place.
Dir:  Paul Henreid Cast:  Bette Davis, Karl Malden, Peter Lawford.
BW- 116 mins, CC

4:15 PM
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

7:00 PM
THE LODGER (1944)
The inhabitants of a boarding house fear the new lodger is Jack the Ripper.
Dir:  John Brahm Cast:  Merle Oberon, George Sanders, Laird Cregar.
BW- 84 mins, CC

8:45 PM
GASLIGHT (1944)
A newlywed fears she’s going mad when strange things start happening at the family mansion.
Dir:  George Cukor Cast:  Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten.
BW- 114 mins, CC

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

Friday – April 6, 2018

2:45 AM
SWEENEY TODD: THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET (1982)
A father returns to London after being deported to find out what happened to his wife and child.
Dir:  Terry Hughes Cast:  George Hearn, Angela Lansbury, Cris Groenendall.
C- 140 mins, CC

5:15 AM
BACK IN CIRCULATION (1937)
A reporter tries to win her editor’s heart by solving a murder case.
Dir:  Ray Enright Cast:  Pat O’Brien, Joan Blondell, Margaret Lindsay.
BW- 81 mins, CC

7:30 AM
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (1940)
An American reporter covering the war in Europe gets mixed up in the assassination of a Dutch diplomat.
Dir:  Alfred Hitchcock Cast:  Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, Herbert Marshall.
BW- 121 mins, CC

11:30 PM
THE PHANTOM OF PARIS (1931)
A magician is charged with killing his fiancee’s father.
Dir:  John S. Robertson Cast:  John Gilbert, Leila Hyams, Lewis Stone.
BW- 74 mins, CC

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

Saturday – April 7, 2018

7:00 AM
HOW TO BE A DETECTIVE (1936)
Robert Benchley attempts to teach the audience what it takes to be a successful detective in this short film.
Dir:  Felix E. Feist Cast:  Robert Benchley, Dewey Robinson, Arthur Hoyt.
BW- 9 mins

3:00 PM
THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (1968)
A bored tycoon turns to bank robbery and courts the insurance investigator assigned to bring him in.
Dir:  Norman Jewison Cast:  Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, Paul Burke.
C- 102 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

11:00 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

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

Sunday – April 8, 2018

9:00 AM
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

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

Monday – April 9, 2018

5:00 AM
THE MOONLIGHTER (1953)
A former jailbird makes good after the wrong man is accused for his crime.
Dir:  Roy Rowland Cast:  Barbara Stanwyck, Fred MacMurray, Ward Bond.
BW- 78 mins, CC

5:30 PM
ON DANGEROUS GROUND (1952)
A tough cop sent to help in a mountain manhunt falls for the quarry’s blind sister.
Dir:  Nicholas Ray Cast:  Ida Lupino, Robert Ryan, Ward Bond.
BW- 82 mins, CC

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

Tuesday – April 10, 2018

9:30 AM
TWO O’CLOCK COURAGE (1945)
An amnesiac discovers he’s wanted for murder.
Dir:  Anthony Mann Cast:  Tom Conway, Ann Rutherford, Richard Lane.
BW- 66 mins, CC

1:45 PM
CROSSROADS (1942)
A French diplomat who’s recovered from amnesia is blackmailed over crimes he can’t remember.
Dir:  Jack Conway Cast:  William Powell, Hedy Lamarr, Claire Trevor.
BW- 83 mins, CC

3:15 PM
HYSTERIA (1965)
An amnesiac stumbles on to a murder plot.
Dir:  Freddie Francis Cast:  Robert Webber, Anthony Newlands, Jennifer Jayne.
BW- 85 mins, CC

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

Wednesday – April 11, 2018

2:45 PM
VIRGINIA CITY (1940)
A rebel spy poses as a wild West dance hall girl.
Dir:  Michael Curtiz Cast:  Errol Flynn, Miriam Hopkins, Randolph Scott.
BW- 121 mins, CC

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

Thursday – April 12, 2018

5:30 AM
SUPER SLEUTH (1937)
A movie detective gets carried away with his role and starts trying to solve real-life crimes.
Dir:  Ben Stoloff Cast:  Jack Oakie, Ann Sothern, Eduardo Ciannelli.
BW- 70 mins, CC

6:45 AM
MURDER ON A HONEYMOON (1935)
A schoolteacher jumps into detective mode when a fellow airplane passenger gets sick and dies.
Dir:  Lloyd Corrigan Cast:  Edna May Oliver, James Gleason, Lola Lane.
BW- 74 mins, CC

8:00 AM
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

11:15 AM
GASLIGHT (1944)
A newlywed fears she’s going mad when strange things start happening at the family mansion.
Dir:  George Cukor Cast:  Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten.
BW- 114 mins, CC

1:15 PM
SUSPICION (1941)
A wealthy wallflower suspects her penniless playboy husband of murder.
Dir:  Alfred Hitchcock Cast:  Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Sir Cedric Hardwicke.
BW- 99 mins, CC

3:00 PM
UNDERCURRENT (1946)
A sheltered woman realizes that either her husband or his mysterious brother is a psychopath.
Dir:  Vincente Minnelli Cast:  Katharine Hepburn, Robert Taylor, Robert Mitchum.
BW- 116 mins, CC

5:00 PM
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,

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

Saturday – April 14, 2018

11:00 AM
ANATOMY OF A MURDER (1959)
A small-town lawyer gets the case of a lifetime when a military man avenges an attack on his wife.
Dir:  Otto Preminger Cast:  James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara.
BW- 161 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

11:00 PM
MYSTERY STREET (1950)
Criminal pathologists try to crack a case with nothing but the victim’s bones to go on.
Dir:  John Sturges Cast:  Ricardo Montalban, Sally Forrest, Bruce Bennett.
BW- 93 mins, CC

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

Sunday – April 15, 2018

5:00 AM
NIGHT NURSE (1931)
A nurse discovers that the children she’s caring for are murder targets.
Dir:  William A. Wellman Cast:  Barbara Stanwyck, Ben Lyon, Joan Blondell.
BW- 72 mins, CC

9:00 AM
MYSTERY STREET (1950)
Criminal pathologists try to crack a case with nothing but the victim’s bones to go on.
Dir:  John Sturges Cast:  Ricardo Montalban, Sally Forrest, Bruce Bennett.
BW- 93 mins, CC

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

Wednesday – April 18, 2018

11:00 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

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

Saturday – April 21, 2018

12:30 PM
THE YOUNG PHILADELPHIANS (1959)
A young lawyer from the wrong side of town tries to break into society.
Dir:  Vincent Sherman Cast:  Paul Newman, Barbara Rush, Alexis Smith.
BW- 137 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

7:00 PM
THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (1968)
A bored tycoon turns to bank robbery and courts the insurance investigator assigned to bring him in.
Dir:  Norman Jewison Cast:  Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, Paul Burke.
C- 102 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

9:00 PM
OCEAN’S ELEVEN (1960)
A group of friends plot to rob a Las Vegas casino.
Dir:  Lewis Milestone Cast:  Peter Lawford, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra.
C- 127 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

11:15 PM
CRY DANGER (1951)
An innocent ex-con sets out to find the real criminals.
Dir:  Robert Parrish Cast:  Dick Powell, Rhonda Fleming, Richard Erdman.
BW- 79 mins, CC

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

Sunday – April 22, 2018

3:00 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

9:00 AM
CRY DANGER (1951)
An innocent ex-con sets out to find the real criminals.
Dir:  Robert Parrish Cast:  Dick Powell, Rhonda Fleming, Richard Erdman.
BW- 79 mins, CC

7:00 PM
WONDER MAN (1945)
A murdered nightclub star possesses a mild-mannered look-alike to bring his killers to justice.
Dir:  Bruce Humberstone Cast:  Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo, Vera-Ellen.
C- 98 mins, CC

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

Friday – April 27, 2018

12:30 AM
THE WRONG BOX (1966)
Two elderly brothers plot to kill each other for a fortune.
Dir:  Bryan Forbes Cast:  John Mills, Ralph Richardson, Michael Caine.
C- 106 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

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

Monday – April 30, 2018

4:15 PM
ANATOMY OF A MURDER (1959)
A small-town lawyer gets the case of a lifetime when a military man avenges an attack on his wife.
Dir:  Otto Preminger Cast:  James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara.
BW- 161 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

7:00 PM
BORN YESTERDAY (1950)
A newspaper reporter takes on the task of educating a crooked businessman’s girlfriend.
Dir:  George Cukor Cast:  Judy Holliday, Broderick Crawford, William Holden.
BW- 102 mins, CC
***Not a mystery. Very good Judy Holliday movie.***

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

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

Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for March 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.)

Name That Cozy – March 2018 Edition

One of the most frequent questions I get is “what Cozy is this from?” And while I like to think that I can help more often than not, I just haven’t read anything… so that’s when I fall back on asking you, the site readers!

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these posts, so this time I’ve got a whole bunch of them. Five, in fact. So without any further ado…

From Cindy C:

I’m looking for a series featuring an English peer who is the 4th richest man in England or the world. I believe his name is Alex. His parents were murdered on a boat when he was about 7 and he inherited all their money. He has a faithful butler and a policeman friend who help him solve mysteries and later in the series he has a little boy, also named Alex.

UPDATE: Judith (and several others, including Laura and Diane) suggested that this is probably Ted Bell’s Alex Hawke series, which starts with Hawke. Looking at the description, I’m pretty confident that it’s the book Cindy is looking for!

From Diane:

I read a mystery some time ago and really enjoyed it. It was set in Milwaukee and dealt with the Arabian carpet trade. I learned so much about those wonderful carpets, but to save my life I can’t remember the author/title. Any ideas?

Thanks

UPDATE: Susan* suggested that this could be The Bloody Bokhara by William Campbell Gault. It seems like it fits somewhat, though the descriptions I’ve found have unfortunately been very short so it’s hard to tell…

From Paula R:

I’m trying to locate a book series I read long ago. The books were purchased from a Christian bookstore. It was written by a man who was a medical doctor and the books were based in Michigan cities, mostly in the Upper Peninsula.

UPDATE: Sandra suggested this might be the Prescription for Trouble series by Richard L. Mabry, which starts with Code Blue.

UPDATE 2: Cindy suggested another possible answer, the works of Harry Kraus, another medical doctor. His main series is the Claire McCall series, which starts with All I’ll Ever Need.

From Betsy:

Looking for a book about two white arabian horses. Thriller, mystery, romance about a woman and her musical daughter. Her former lover shows up to protect her and fight the bad guys. Of course, they rekindle their relationship after a tryst in the barn and it turns out he is the girls father. Running through the story are the two white arabian horses. Can’t remember the title or author.

From Sheila:

I’m looking for a mystery about a woman who hits her sisters abusive husband, they press charges, she goes to prison. When she gets out she leads bird enthusiasts in central park.

UPDATE: Judy S suggested that this is probably Little Night, by Luanne Rice. Looking at the synopsis, it seems to match the description well.

So, if you think you’ve got the answer to either of these stumpers, please let us know in the comments below! Thank you!

Agatha Christie: Miss Marple Mysteries

The Murder at the Vicarage: A Miss Marple Mystery (Miss Marple Mysteries Book 1) Recently I was surprised when I discovered that I had not yet included Agatha Christie’s Poirot in my posts about the the Most Popular and Recommended Series that I have been compiling. So, I corrected that oversight in this entry. At the same time, I also saw that I had not yet included the Miss Marple Mysteries in that list. When I first discovered this oversight, I had a hard time deciding which of Christie’s characters to write about first. The first Poirot book was written over ten years earlier than the first Miss Marple book so I did the Poirot series first. But, although I have enjoyed reading the Poirot books and I believe he is a great character, I have to admit that Miss Marple is my favorite of the two.

I have written about Miss Marple several times before. Mostly when discussing the different television versions of Miss Marple. Such this post, this one, and this one where  I talk about my favorite actress portraying Miss Marple >> Joan Hickson.

The first book in the Miss Marple Mysteries series is Murder at the Vicarage. As the book begins, in Miss Marple’s small home town of St. Mary Mead, we meet the narrator, the Vicar, his wife and his nephew, and a number of other local characters, including Miss Marple. Before long, there is, as the title suggests, a murder at the Vicarage. The Vicar takes  a particular interest in solving the murder, so we gain much insight into what the police (including Inspector Slack and the Chief Constable, Colonel Melchett) are doing to solve the mystery.

Upon re-reading this book in order to write this blog, I was surprised to see how small a part Miss Marple plays until fairly near the end. She is introduced to us in a scene near the beginning of the book, but then we don’t see her again until about the 20% mark of the book. After that, we only meet her sporadically. Until very near the end, it would be fair to say that Miss Marple is not the main character of the book.

Miss Marple is introduced as an elderly spinster who takes a very strong interest in human nature. In fact, she declares that the study of human nature is her hobby:

You see,” she began at last, “living alone, as I do, in a rather out-of-the-way part of the world, one has to have a hobby. There is, of course, woolwork, and Guides, and Welfare, and sketching, but my hobby is— and always has been— Human Nature. So varied— and so very fascinating. And, of course, in a small village, with nothing to distract one, one has such ample opportunity for becoming what I might call proficient in one’s study. One begins to class people, quite definitely, just as though they were birds or flowers, group so-and-so, genus this, species that. Sometimes, of course, one makes mistakes, but less and less as time goes on.

Miss Marple has solved some local mysteries in the past, but she has never tackled something as large as murder before — and she jumps at the chance to test herself:

But I have always wondered whether, if some day a really big mystery came along, I should be able to do the same thing. I mean— just solve it correctly. Logically, it ought to be exactly the same thing. After all, a tiny working model of a torpedo is just the same as a real torpedo.

Needless to say, Miss Marple passes the test with flying colors!

Miss Marple is a truly great and interesting character. Her knowledge of human nature helps here to solve this murder (and many others in the future). She draws on a vast experience gained by observing human behavior, and she solves her mysteries by starting from the point of view that almost anyone is capable of almost anything.  I was particularly struck by this passage wherein she talks about something she learned from her Aunt Fanny:

I remember a saying of my Great Aunt Fanny’s. I was sixteen at the time and thought it particularly foolish…. She used to say: ‘The young people think the old people are fools; but the old people know the young people are fools!’

How can you not enjoy a sleuth who speaks such wisdom?

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

MENU