The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Cozy Reader Questions

It’s been some time since I put up a post like this, so I’ve gotten a number of questions that have come up that I don’t have a quick answer for…

From Tina:

I am looking for a book that is about a man who passes away and comes back as a ghost and haunts his wife. All I can remember about it is that the man is an architect and their house is built around trees. The family names the trees names like Longfellow and their Gardner, I think, puts little balls of herbs maybe around the house to keep the ghost out. Any help in finding this book would be appreciated. I’ve been trying to find it for years and can’t.

EDIT: Aunty suggested this could be The Overstory by Richard Powers…

From Anita:

There is a series, rich widow, finds out her husband had an illegitimate son, feels sorry for mistress, has a black housekeeper who helps her, she winds up taking the boy and his mother in. Maybe takes place in Birmingham.

EDIT: Many readers have suggested that this is likely the Miss Julia Series by Ann B. Ross. Thanks everyone!

From AC:

Hello! I am looking for a book I read as a kid. It has a leading female character, young, and she is an archaeologist or an egyptologist. She travels to Egypt for a reason I do not recall, and she gets herself in a lot of problems, deadly ones (people trying to kill her, she gets locked up inside a chamber in a pyramid). I believe that the novel is set in the 1980s, or maybe the 1970s. Do you have any information that can help my research?
PS: it is not the Amelia Peabody series.
Thank you so much.

EDIT: I have had several suggestions for this one… Nancy and Aunty suggested it could be the Vicky Bliss series, by Elizabeth Peters…  JC suggested The Jackal’s Head, also by Elizabeth Peters… Teresa and V thought it could be The Sphinx, by Robin Cook…

Thank you in advance for any possible answers! As I get potential answers, I’ll update the post with them…

February 12 to February 18

Death of a Spy (A Hamish Macbeth Mystery Book 36) Here is the list of new releases for February 12 to February 18!

M. C. Beaton (aka Marion Chesney): Death of a Spy (36th in the Hamish Macbeth Mysteries)

Laurie R. King: The Lantern’s Dance (18th in the Mary Russell Mysteries)

Jenn McKinlay (aka Josie Belle & Lucy Lawrence): Fatal First Edition (14th in the Library Lover’s Mysteries)

Kirsten Weiss: The Cannoli Caper (10th in the Perfectly Proper Paranormal Museum Mysteries)

Enola Holmes

Hmmm, what would you say to Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes having a much younger sister? I’d say it’s great — if she’s as intelligent as her brothers are! And, fortunately for us, Enola Holmes is a very enterprising, intelligent, and determined young lady.

Enola Holmes is a 2020 Netflix mystery movie that Millie Bobby Brown both starred in and produced. The script is based on Nancy Springer’s first Enola Holmes mystery book. (I believe it’s a “tween” or young adult focused book.)

Enola has been raised by her suffragette mother (beautifully played by Helena Bonham Carter) to be very self-sufficient. It is no wonder that Sherlock has such phenomenal skills!

Enola wakes up one morning to find that her mother has left their countryside estate. By putting many clues together, Enola deduces that she must go to London to finder her mother, who is on a very important mission.

Enola disguises herself as a boy and embarks on a journey to London. She is joined by a very privileged runaway boy who has no apparent survival skills. The two of them arrive in London where thy go their on ways, though through many adventures, they are reunited.

Enola hasn’t seen her brothers in a very long long time. When she is reunited with them, Mycroft (who is her legal guardian) puts her in a girls’ boarding school, where she will be “tamed”. Sherlock, on the other hand, thinks she’s a terrific, very intelligent girl who does not belong in that Victorian ladies’ boarding school.

It turns out that the lord (runaway boy) is in grave danger. It’s a good thing Enola is there to help him.

The wardrobe department, acting, Victorian setting, and plot are all terrific. This is a fun family movie that my husband and I enjoyed a lot.

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