The Cozy Mystery List Blog

Kerry J Charles is another Cozy Mystery author who I am adding to the most popular and recommended Cozy Mystery series page on my site. Charles has worked for some very prestigious places: Harvard University, the Smithsonian, and the National Geographic Magazine. Her duties have ranged all the way from researcher to editor. She has her Master’s degree in Art History and uses her art knowledge when writing this Cozy series.

Dulcie (Dulcinea) Chambers is the main character/sleuth of the Dulcie Chambers Mystery Series, and she is the curator of the Maine Museum of Art. I have read both of the first two Cozies in this series – both of which focused on crimes that involved the art world. However, these are mystery books, not  “how-to, step-by-step” type of books that get bogged down with the details of the art theme.

Dulcie is an unusual sleuth in that she is somewhat of an introvert. She functions well in the nine-to- five duties of her job, but she isn’t crazy about the after-hour functions her job requires her to perform. However, Nicholas Black (police detective) makes some of these after-hour functions more positive for Dulcie – even though these “functions” revolve around murder. (Lucky for Dulcie that Nick needs help with the artistic details!)

Because Dulcie and Nick grew up in the town, they both have some knowledge of the people. Dulcie and her brother, Dan, grew up in the fishing boat area and Nick comes from “across the tracks” (so to speak) and has a very privileged background. So, between them both, they pretty much have the citizens of Portland, Maine covered!

The characters are well-developed and smart; even the very minor characters have backstories. I enjoy Kerry J Charles‘ writing style. Her writing seems polished and smooth.

I appreciate the author writing these Cozies without using the “300 page rule” – which sometimes makes books seem very padded to me. Sorry, I know a lot of you feel like 300 is the ideal page count. (Thank goodness Agatha Christie didn’t have to stretch her books to today’s almost obligatory page count!)

Kerry J Charles interjects a possible love interest for Dulcie – which has its ups and downs. But since this is a Cozy Mystery series and not a romance mystery series, it’s just enough romance for me.

If you’re looking for a new Cozy Mystery series that features smart people and good writing >>>I recommend the Dulcie Chambers Mystery Series by Kerry J Charles.

If you are interested in reading some of the other entries about highly recommended Cozy Mystery series, you can find them at the Most Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page on my site.

PS: As several people have mentioned in the comments, the first entry in this series is free on Kindle, so if you have one, that’s definitely a great way to check the series out!