The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Cozy Mystery News – December 2017

I have just a few Cozy Mystery news tidbits to share with you this month. All six of these authors have pages on my Cozy Mystery site. (That’s how I determine what news items to tell you about each month.)

Great news for those of us who follow the sleuthing exploits of Cora (from the Cora Crafts Mystery Series) and Annie (from the Cumberland Creek Mystery Series). Mollie Cox Bryan will be starting a new Cozy Mystery series, and it will feature a sleuth who is a cheese cream maker in Virginia’s beautiful Shenandoah Valley. The first book looks like it will take place during Christmas – so I’m hoping it will be out by next year’s holiday season.

Some of us have been reading Cozies by Laurie Cass since way back in 2010 when she released her first Cozy in the PTA Mystery Series (as Laura Alden). And a lot of us follow Minnie as she solves mysteries with Eddie, her bookmobile-riding rescue cat in Laurie Cass’s Bookmobile Cat Mystery Series. Here’s some really terrific news: Laurie Cass has just gotten the go-ahead for at least two more Bookmobile Cat Cozies. Yahoo!

Sheila Connolly (aka Sarah Atwell) has been busy, busy, busy releasing Cozies for us to enjoy reading. Connolly is the author of the very popular Orchard Mystery Series (featuring apple orchard owner Meg Corey), Museum Mystery Series (which stars Nell, a museum fundraiser), Relatively Dead Mystery Series (with ghost-seeing Abby), and the County Cork Mystery Series. (And, as Sarah Atwell, she released the Glassblowing Mystery Series , which features Em, the owner of a glassblowing shop in Tucson.) Well, it looks like County Cork’s Bostonian Maura Donovan will be able to continue to sleuth in Ireland at least two more times. That’s right… Sheila Connolly will be releasing at least two more County Cork Mysteries!

Fans of Denise Dietz‘s Diet Club Mystery Series are in for a very welcome surprise. Deni Dietz will be releasing a historical mystery (with a lot of romance!) that will take place during the 1950s. She will be releasing this as Mary Ellen Dennis. [I’m not entirely sure, but I wonder if Cirque (the name of the book) could possibly be her Dream Dancer book that she released as Deni Dietz…]

 

Now here is some terrific news for all the Cozy Mystery readers who enjoy Paige Shelton‘s books. Most of us already know that Shelton writes several very popular Cozy series: the Scottish Bookshop Mystery Series (starring Delaney – a rare book & manuscript expert in Scotland), the Dangerous Type Mystery Series (featuring printing press shop expert Clare Henry), the Farmers’ Market Mystery Series (with Becca, a sleuth who makes jams), and the County Cooking School Mystery Series (with Betts & Gram running their cooking school). Here’s some great Paige Shelton news: she’s going to be releasing Murder on Ice which is not a part of any of the previously listed series. This book will feature an author who is trying to rid herself of a stalker, and it is set in Alaska. (Let’s hope this is the beginning of a new series!)

Leslie Wheeler has her Bachelor’s from Stanford (in English and History) and her Master’s from UC Berkeley (in English) which she puts to great use writing the Living History Mystery Series. She will be starting the new Berkshire Hilltown Mystery Series with Rattlesnake Hill. The series will have, as it’s sleuth, a curator of a Boston library.

This wraps up my Cozy Mystery news for December 2017. I hope one of your favorite authors can be found amongst the above authors!

New Releases – December 11 to December 17, 2017

Here is the list of new releases for December 11 to December 17!

Mary Daheim: Alpha Alpine (This will be the 27th in the Emma Lord Mystery Series.)

Dawn Eastman: Unnatural Causes (This will be the 1st in the NEW Dr. Katie LeClair Mystery Series.)

Katherine Bolger Hyde: Bloodstains with Bronte (This will be the 2nd in the Crime with the Classics Mystery Series.)

Karen MacInerney: Mistletoe Murder (This will be the 4th in the Dewberry Farm Mystery Series.) (This is a Christmas themed mystery.)

Gail Oust: Ginger Snapped (This will be the 5th in the Spice Shop Mystery Series.)

Nancy J. Parra (aka Nancy Coco & Nell Hampton): A Case of Syrah, Syrah (This will be the 1st in the NEW Wine Country Mystery Series.)

Six Soon to be Released Cozy Covers

Here are some of the upcoming Cozy Mystery covers that I’ve found recently!

Dawn Eastman: Unnatural Causes (This will be the 1st in the NEW Dr. Katie LeClair Mystery Series.)
Molly MacRae: Scones and Scoundrels (This will be the 2nd in the Highland Bookshop Mystery Series.)
Donna Huston Murray: For Better or Worse (This will be the 8th in the Ginger Barnes Main Line Mystery Series.)
Sharon Pape: Magick Run Amok (This will be the 3rd in the Abracadabra Mystery Series.)
Victoria Thompson: Murder on Union Square (This will be the 21st in the Gaslight Mystery Series.)
Marty Wingate: Farewell, My Cuckoo (This will be the 4th in the Birds of a Feather Mystery Series.)

The Doctor Blake Mysteries (TV Mystery Shows)

For those of you who enjoy the Miss Fisher Mysteries, here’s some good news. Australia is back! This is another very good Australian television mystery series. It’s well-worth your time, mate!

The Doctor Blake Mysteries series takes place in Ballarat, Australia,  which looks like an absolutely beautiful, serene place – other than the occasional, weekly murders! Dr. Lucien Blake returns to his hometown after a long time away to take over his late father’s medical practice. He doesn’t seem particularly happy to be back, nor does he seem to have been missed very much while he was away. Lucien had been captured by the Japanese during WWII and had been held in a prisoner of war camp. He was separated from his wife and daughter during the war and does not know where they are.

Lucien inherited his father’s large Victorian house, which came with a few boarders: a young police man, a young nurse, and a beautiful middle-age housekeeper. At the beginning of the series you see Lucien interact with his patients a lot of the time. However, in later shows, Lucien’s job as police surgeon seems to dominate his time – which is fortunate for viewers with a penchant for well-told and thought-out mysteries.

The acting in The Doctor Blake Mysteries is terrific. Craig McLachlan plays Lucien Blake, housekeeper Jean Beazley is played by Nadine Garner, and Joel Tock is Chief Superintendent Matthew Lawson. All three of them are very, very convincing as three adults who grew up knowing about each other’s secrets. Cate Wolfe plays the young nurse, Rick Donald is the young constable who is then replaced by Charlie Cousins.

The late 1950s atmosphere is also very convincing. It’s very reminiscent of old 1950 television shows/movies. Of course, since Lucien inherits his father’s old Victorian house, a lot of the furniture dates way back.

I should mention that since the police chief and Lucien go way back, they share a friendship and mutual respect that is really enjoyable to see. This is rather refreshing because many TV mystery shows display an antipathy between the police and an amateur sleuth. Lucien is actually encouraged to do more than just the forensic necessities and to involve himself in the mysteries.

All in all, this is another beautiful Australian mystery series. The acting, writing, wardrobe, scenery, and yes, the mysteries are all very good. I highly recommend watching The Dr. Blake Mysteries, and from the letters I’ve received recommending the series, many other Cozy Mystery readers also enjoy watching the show.

P.S. This show is available on Netflix.

For more Cozy viewing ideas, click on my Cozy Mystery TV & Movies page.

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