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Cozy Mystery Book Recommendations – December 2017

Well, 2017 is finally drawing to a close, and that means it’s time for the last recommendations thread of the year!

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 December, I’ve read two Cozy series I feel strongly enough about to recommend: first, Ali Brandon‘s Black Cat Bookshop Mystery Series, and second, Laura Bradford’s Emergency Dessert Squad Mystery Series.

If you’re interested in reading why I’m recommending these series, you can go to the Most Popular & Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page on my Cozy-Mystery site for my full write-ups on each of these great Cozy series.

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 2017 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:

Adele Abbott: Witch P.I. Mystery Series (first entry Witch Is When It All Began)

Kristi Abbott: Popcorn Shop Mystery Series

Victoria Abbott (Writing duo Mary Jane Maffini & daughter Victoria Maffini): Book Collectors Mystery Series

Ellery Adams (aka J. B. Stanley, Jennifer Stanley, & 1/2 of Lucy Arlington): Books by the Bay Mystery Series AND Secret, Book & Scone Society Mystery Series

Donna Andrews: Meg Langslow Mystery Series

Alice K. Boatwright: Ellie Kent Mystery Series

Laura Bradford: Emergency Dessert Squad Mystery Series

Ali Brandon: Black Cat Bookshop Mystery Series

Emily Brightwell: Mrs. Jeffries Mystery Series

Allison Brook: Haunted Library Mystery Series (first entry Death Overdue)

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

Edie Claire: Leigh Koslow “Never” Mystery Series

Cleo Coyle (aka Alice Kimberly): Coffeehouse Mystery Series

Vicki Delany (aka Eva Gates): Year-Round Christmas Mystery Series

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

Barbara Early (aka Beverly Allen): Vintage Toy Shop Mystery Series

Dawn Eastman: Family Fortune Mystery Series

Sarah Fox: Pancake House Mystery Series

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

Sally Goldenbaum: Seaside Knitters Mystery Series

Kerry Greenwood: Phryne Fisher Mystery Series

Nancy Haddock: Silver Six Crafting Mystery Series

Leigh Hearon: Carson Stable Mystery Series (first entry Reining in Murder)

Cheryl Hollon: Webb’s Glass Shop Mystery Series

Sue Ann Jaffarian: Odelia Grey Mystery Series

Craig Johnson: Walt Longmire Mystery Series (first entry The Cold Dish)

Alexander McCall Smith: The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series

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

Liz Mugavero (aka Cate Conte): Pawsitively Organic Mystery Series

Gail Oust: Spice Shop Mystery Series

Katherine Hall Page: Faith Fairchild Mystery Series

Nancy J. Parra (aka Nancy Coco and Nell Hampton): Perfect Proposals Mystery Series

Louise Penny: Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery Series

Rose Pressey: Haunted Vintage Mystery Series

D. M. Quincy: Atlas Catesby Mystery Series (first entry Death in May)

Deanna Raybourn: Veronica Speedwell Mystery Series

Patricia Rockwell: Essie Cobb, Senior Sleuth Mystery Series (first entry)

Barbara Ross: Maine Clambake Mystery Series

Paige Shelton: Dangerous Type Mystery Series

Fran Stewart: Scotshop Mystery Series

Denise Swanson: Scumble River Mystery Series

Diane Vallere: Sylvia Stryker Mystery Series

Lea Wait: Mainely Needlepont Mystery Series

Cy Wyss: Eyeshine

Diana Xarissa: Isle of Man Cozy Mystery Series (first entry Aunt Bessie Assumes)

[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.

Laura Bradford: Emergency Dessert Squad Mystery Series

Éclair and Present Danger (An Emergency Dessert Squad Mystery Book 1) I’ve just finished reading the first book in the Emergency Dessert Squad Mystery Series, Éclair and Present Danger, by Laura Bradford (aka Elizabeth Lynn Casey). This is the next book of the Most Popular and Recommended Series list that I have been compiling.

Laura Bradford is a new-to-me author, but she has been writing Cozies as Elizabeth Lynn Casey since 2009. She has five series listed on the site, and after having read Éclair and Present Danger, I believe that I must make time to try her other series!

Winnie Johnson is having a very bad day as the book begins. She discovers that her neighbor who recently died left her a cat (who doesn’t like Winnie) and an old ambulance. Winnie was hoping that she was being left some money or at least something of great value since this is also the last day her dream bakery is open. She is being forced to close because of an increase on the rent which she cannot pay and still keep the bakery a going concern. Her bad day gets worse by far when she discovers another elderly neighbor dead — murdered.

Of course, being a Cozy series, Winnie takes it upon herself to find the killer of her neighbor. And, it turns out that there are a number of people with ample motive to want him dead. Winnie, her friend Renee and her other elderly neighbors Bridget O’Keefe and Parker Nelson (Mr. Nelson lives in the other apartment in her house) all lend a hand (to varying degrees) in the sleuthing to find the killer.

And, Winnie has the brilliant idea to turn her old ambulance into a mobile delivery van for her new idea >> the “Emergency Dessert Squad” bakery business.  With Renee as her helper, Winnie uses her own home to bake the goodies with each having emergency-related names. And, then she delivers them using the ambulance. The names of the baked goods are along the lines of “You Are One Smart Cookie, Cookie”, and “Don’t-Be-Blue Berry Pie”. The business quickly becomes a great success with Bridget’s help >> Bridget writes a column in the local paper.

There are several potential romantic interests in the book for Winnie. Her friends are quite keen to see her find someone and settle down. Winnie is not so much in a hurry, but in the first book she does find someone who she likes a lot.

I enjoyed Éclair and Present Danger, and I am quite tempted to read the first book in Laura Bradford’s Amish Mystery Series soon (if I can find the time to squeeze in even more reading time!

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

PS: There are a bunch of recipes included at the end of the book!

 

New Releases – December 25 to December 31, 2017

Here is the list of new releases for December 25 to December 31!

Winnie Archer (aka Melissa Bourbon & Misa Ramirez): Crust No One (This will be the 2nd in the Bread Shop Mystery Series.)

Susan Furlong (aka Lucy Arlington, Susan Furlong-Bolliger, & S. Furlong-Bolliger): Splintered Silence (This will be a Stand Alone Novel.)

Alyssa Maxwell: A Devious Death (This will be the 3rd in the Lady and Lady’s Maid Mystery Series.)

Barbara Ross: Stowed Away (This will be the 6th in the Maine Clambake Mystery Series.)

Karen Rose Smith: Murder with Lemon Tea Cakes (This will be the 1st in the NEW Daisy’s Tea Garden Mystery Series.)

Happy Holidays!

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

We’re lucky enough, once again, to have the whole family here and assembled – myself and my husband, my son who lives in town, and my daughter who is visiting from D. C. – plus our dog Cocoa of course!

I’ll be back again tomorrow with the normal Monday post for the weekly new releases, but for now…

Happy Holidays!

Danna

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