The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Carolyn Haines: Fear Familiar Mystery Series

I absolutely love it when authors who are on my Cozy Mystery site write to me and tell me about new series they are planning to begin, or in this particular case, have already begun. (Love it!)

Well, here is some news that I received from Carolyn Haines, which I am going to pass on to you all. (Most of you are already familiar with Carolyn’s very popular Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery Series.)  Carolyn Haines (also) wrote the Fear Familiar Mystery Series years ago which featured a detective who happened to be a black cat named Familiar, who had escaped from a research facility. She wrote this series as Caroline Burnes, and you can find the entire list by clicking here to go to the Carolyn Haines page on my site. Familiar now has a son named Trouble who is featured in the new Familiar Legacy Mystery Series.

The series is going to be written by different authors. The first book, Familiar Trouble, was released in July of this year and was written by Carolyn Haines. Trouble in Dixie (written by Rebecca Barrett) was released in August, and will be followed by Trouble in Tallahassee in September which is written by Claire Matturro. Susan Tanner will write the fourth in this series, Trouble at Summer Valley Ranch, which will be released in October. Carolyn writes that they are already planning the books which will be released during 2018 – which is great news, since it means there will be more!

Obviously, I will be adding this series to the Kittens, Cats, and Cozies page of my site!

New Releases – August 21 to 27, 2017

Here is the list of new release for August 21 to 27!

Sue Grafton: Y is for Yesterday (This will be the 25th in the Kinsey Millhone MysterySeries.)

Susanna Gregory (aka Simon Beaufort): The Habit of Murder (This will be the 23rd in the Chronicles of Matthew Bartholomew Mystery Series.)

William Kent Krueger: Sulfur Springs (This will be the 16th in the Cork O’Connor Mystery Series.)

Rebecca Tope: Peril in the Cotswolds (This will be the 14th in the Cotswold Mystery Series.)

What Cozy is Described Here?

I get a lot of questions about Cozies, and one popular category of question is “what book is this from?”, posed by people who sort-of-half-remember something that they read years ago. While I can help sometimes, it isn’t always possible – even I haven’t read every Cozy, and I’m afraid to say my memory might not be quite what it used to be! So I thought I’d ask if any of the other readers happen to have the answers to the following questions that have been asked.

First, from Billie:

Who is the author that writes about a woman who is an animal photographer with a dog who tracks, has a boyfriend and they both go to dog training classes?

EDIT: A number of people who have written in think that this is the Animals in Focus series by Sheila Webster Boneham.  Thanks!

Second, from Carolyn, who is asking on behalf of someone in her reading group:

In the book I’m looking for, a young woman is driving back to her hometown, late at night, raining hard, she blows a tire, and gets out to dig out her spare with all her belongings on top of it. The local cop stops to help her, another car comes by nearly hitting her, but the cop pulls her to safety and they roll down the embankment.

EDIT: Some people have indicated this might be Murder, She Barked by Krista Davis. Thanks!

If anyone happens to know which book either of these questions might be describing, please be sure to leave a comment below. Thank you!

Kerry J Charles: Dulcie Chambers Mystery Series

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!

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