The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

New Releases – May 29 to June 4, 2017

May 28, 2017

Normally I post weekly releases on Mondays, but since I plan on asking for monthly recommendations this Monday, I’ve decided to post the upcoming weekly releases today (Sunday) instead this week.

So… here is the list of new release for May 29 to June 4!

Nancy Atherton: Aunt Dimity and the Widow’s Curse (This will be the 22nd in the Aunt Dimity Mystery Series.)

Rita Mae Brown: A Hiss Before Dying (This will be the 26th in the Mrs. Murphy Mystery Series.)

Kate Collins: Yews with Caution (This will be the 19th in the Flower Shop Mystery Series.)

Vickie Fee: One Fete in the Grave (This will be the 3rd in the Liv and Di In Dixie Mystery Series.) (This is a Fourth of July mystery.)

Meg Macy: Bearly Departed (This will be the 1st in the NEW Teddy Bear Mystery Series.)

Jenn McKinlay (aka Josie Belle & Lucy Lawrence): About a Dog (This is not a mystery. It is a Contemporary Romance novel.)

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Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for June 2017

May 23, 2017

It’s the time of the month again to find out about next month’s upcoming mystery movies that will be on television. As usual, I’m posting the Turner Classic Movies channel mysteries (and some non-mystery movies with my favorite actors and actresses) that I think are definitely worth looking at.

There are three things worth mentioning here – two marathons and a movie that’s worth mentioning. First, there will be a Father’s Day marathon on Father’s Day, Sunday the 18th. Second will be an Aubrey Hepburn mystery marathon on Monday the 19th. Finally, I’m recommending This is Spinal Tap, which will be airing on Wednesday the 21st – it isn’t a mystery, but it is a very funny movie for anyone who is a fan of classic rock. I know that may not include everyone here, so I though it bore mentioning.

***** ***** ***** *****

June 2017 Turner Classic Movies Channel Mystery Movies (Central time zone):

***** ***** ***** *****

Thursday – June 1, 2017

5:00 AM
SECRETS OF THE FRENCH POLICE (1932)
Strange crimes committed by a hypnotized woman are solved by a French detective.
Dir:  Edward Sutherland Cast:  Gwili Andre, Gregory Ratoff, Frank Morgan.
BW- 58 mins

11:00 AM
TROUBLE FOR TWO (1936)
Before he can marry, a European prince gets mixed up with a suicide club.
Dir:  J. Walter Ruben Cast:  Robert Montgomery, Rosalind Russell, Frank Morgan.
BW- 74 mins, CC

10:15 PM
THE WOMEN (1939)
A happily married woman lets her catty friends talk her into divorce when her husband strays.
Dir:  George Cukor Cast:  Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russell.
BW- 133 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Friday – June 2, 2017

2:30 PM
THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1934)
A British family gets mixed up with spies and an assassination plot while vacationing in Switzerland.
Dir:  Alfred Hitchcock Cast:  Leslie Banks, Edna Best, Nova Pilbeam.
BW- 76 mins, CC

4:00 PM
THE KING’S THIEF (1955)
A highwayman uncovers a plot to assassinate King Charles II.
Dir:  Robert Z. Leonard Cast:  Ann Blyth, Edmund Purdom, David Niven.
C- 79 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

5:30 PM
THE TALL TARGET (1951)
A detective tries to prevent the assassination of President Lincoln during a train ride.
Dir:  Anthony Mann Cast:  Dick Powell, Paula Raymond, Adolphe Menjou.
BW- 78 mins, CC

9:00 PM
POLLYANNA (1960)
An orphan’s relentless optimism changes lives in a sleepy small town.
Dir:  David Swift Cast:  Hayley Mills, Jane Wyman, Richard Egan.
C- 134 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Saturday – June 3, 2017

9:30 AM
CONFESSIONS OF BOSTON BLACKIE (1941)
A reformed thief cracks a ring of art thieves to clear himself of murder charges.
Dir:  Edward Dmytryk Cast:  Chester Morris, Harriet Hilliard, Richard Lane.
BW- 65 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Sunday – June 4, 2017

9:00 AM
OUT OF THE PAST (1947)
A private eye becomes the dupe of a homicidal moll.
Dir:  Jacques Tourneur Cast:  Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas.
BW- 97 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Tuesday – June 6, 2017

5:30 PM
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES (1934)
A young orphan goes to stay with elderly relatives in the country.
Dir:  George Nicholls Jr. Cast:  Anne Shirley, Tom Brown, O. P. Heggie.
BW- 78 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Wednesday – June 7, 2017

1:15 AM
DETOUR (1945)
A hitchhiker takes on a dead man’s identity only to face blackmail by an unscrupulous woman.
Dir:  Edgar G. Ulmer Cast:  Tom Neal, Ann Savage, Claudia Drake.
BW- 68 mins, CC

10:45 AM
UNDERCURRENT (1946)
A sheltered woman realizes that either her husband or his mysterious brother is a psychopath.
Dir:  Vincente Minnelli Cast:  Katharine Hepburn, Robert Taylor, Robert Mitchum.
BW- 116 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Thursday – June 8, 2017

3:45 PM
THE SMILING GHOST (1941)
A newswoman investigates a haunted house.
Dir:  Lewis Seiler Cast:  Wayne Morris, Brenda Marshall, Alexis Smith.
BW- 71 mins, CC

5:00 PM
THE WOMAN IN WHITE (1948)
Classic mystery about the adventures of a young tutor sent to a ghostly country estate.
Dir:  Peter Godfrey Cast:  Alexis Smith, Eleanor Parker, Sydney Greenstreet.
BW- 109 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Friday – June 9, 2017

12:00 AM
ROPE (1948)
Two wealthy young men try to commit the perfect crime by murdering a friend.
Dir:  Alfred Hitchcock Cast:  Dick Hogan, John Dall, Farley Granger.
C- 81 mins, CC

11:00 AM
THE KENNEL MURDER CASE (1933)
Society sleuth Philo Vance investigates a murder tied to a Long Island dog show.
Dir:  Michael Curtiz Cast:  William Powell, Mary Astor, Eugene Pallette.
BW- 73 mins, CC

2:00 PM
THE THIN MAN (1934)
A husband-and-wife detective team takes on the search for a missing inventor and almost get killed for their efforts.
Dir:  W. S. Van Dyke Cast:  William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O’Sullivan.
BW- 91 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Saturday – June 10, 2017

9:30 AM
ALIAS BOSTON BLACKIE (1942)
A reformed thief tracks down an escaped convict so he can prove the man is innocent.
Dir:  Lew Landers Cast:  Chester Morris, Adele Mara, Richard Lane.
BW- 67 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Sunday – June 11, 2017

9:00 AM
PHANTOM LADY (1944)
A mystery woman is a murder suspect’s only alibi for the night of his wife’s death.
Dir:  Robert Siodmak Cast:  Franchot Tone, Ella Raines, Alan Curtis.
BW- 87 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Monday – June 12, 2017

5:00 AM
Z (1969)
A political assassination uncovers a hotbed of corruption.
Dir:  Costa-Gavras Cast:  Yves Montand, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jacques Perrin.
C- 127 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Wednesday – June 14, 2017

1:00 AM
WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (1957)
A British lawyer gets caught up in a couple’s tangled marital affairs when he defends the husband for murder.
Dir:  Billy Wilder Cast:  Tyrone Power, Marlene Dietrich, Charles Laughton.
BW- 116 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Thursday – June 15, 2017

6:30 AM
PRIVATE DETECTIVE 62 (1933)
A private eye in Paris falls for the beautiful gambling lady he’s investigating.
Dir:  Michael Curtiz Cast:  William Powell, Margaret Lindsay, Ruth Donnelly.
BW- 66 mins

9:30 AM
BRITISH AGENT (1934)
An Englishman falls in love with a Russian spy.
Dir:  Michael Curtiz Cast:  Leslie Howard, Kay Francis, William Gargan.
BW- 81 mins, CC

4:30 PM
NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
An advertising man is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.
Dir:  Alfred Hitchcock Cast:  Cary Grant, Eva Marie Saint, James Mason.
C- 136 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Friday – June 16, 2017

1:15 AM
NOWHERE TO GO (1958)
A burglar on the run holes up with an innocent English girl.
Dir:  Seth Holt Cast:  George Nader, Maggie Smith, Bernard Lee.
BW- 87 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

9:00 AM
LAW OF THE UNDERWORLD (1938)
A respectable citizen lures two innocents into his secret criminal plots.
Dir:  Lew Landers Cast:  Chester Morris, Anne Shirley, Eduardo Ciannelli.
BW- 61 mins

4:30 PM
SEVEN KEYS TO BALDPATE (1947)
A mystery writer runs into the real thing when he holes up at a deserted inn.
Dir:  Lew Landers Cast:  Phillip Terry, Jacqueline White, Eduardo Ciannelli.
BW- 68 mins, CC

5:45 PM
TWELVE CROWDED HOURS (1939)
A reporter avenges his editor’s murder by gangsters.
Dir:  Lew Landers Cast:  Richard Dix, Lucille Ball, Allan Lane.
BW- 65 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Saturday – June 17, 2017

9:30 AM
BOSTON BLACKIE GOES HOLLYWOOD (1942)
When he’s framed for robbery, a reformed thief takes off to find the real culprit.
Dir:  Michael Gordon Cast:  Chester Morris, William Wright, Constance Worth.
BW- 68 mins, CC

1:30 PM
IN A LONELY PLACE (1950)
An aspiring actress begins to suspect that her temperamental boyfriend is a murderer.
Dir:  Nicholas Ray Cast:  Humphrey Bogart, Gloria Grahame, Frank Lovejoy.
BW- 93 mins, CC

7:00 PM
THE BIG SLEEP (1946)
Private eye Philip Marlowe investigates a society girl’s involvement in the murder of a pornographer.
Dir:  Howard Hawks Cast:  Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely.
BW- 114 mins, CC

9:15 PM
MARLOWE (1969)
Detective Philip Marlowe probes the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles in search of a woman’s missing sister.
Dir:  Paul Bogart Cast:  James Garner, Gayle Hunnicutt, Carroll O’Connor.
C- 96 mins, CC

11:00 PM
LADY IN THE LAKE (1947)
Philip Marlowe searches for a missing woman in this mystery shot entirely from the detective’s viewpoint.
Dir:  Robert Montgomery Cast:  Robert Montgomery, Audrey Totter, Lloyd Nolan.
BW- 103 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Sunday – June 18, 2017

9:00 AM
HE RAN ALL THE WAY (1951)
A crook on the run hides out in an innocent girl’s apartment.
Dir:  John Berry Cast:  John Garfield, Shelley Winters, Wallace Ford.
BW- 78 mins

4:45 PM
LIFE WITH FATHER (1947)
A straitlaced turn-of-the-century father presides over a family of boys and the mother who really rules the roost.
Dir:  Michael Curtiz Cast:  William Powell, Irene Dunne, Elizabeth Taylor.
C- 118 mins, CC

7:00 PM
FATHER OF THE BRIDE (1950)
A doting father faces mountains of bills and endless trials when his daughter marries.
Dir:  Vincente Minnelli Cast:  Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, Elizabeth Taylor.
BW- 93 mins, CC

9:00 PM
FATHER’S LITTLE DIVIDEND (1951)
In this sequel to Father of the Bride, a doting father faces a series of comic trials when his daughter has her first child.
Dir:  Vincente Minnelli Cast:  Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett, Elizabeth Taylor.
BW- 81 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Monday – June 19, 2017

7:00 AM
SUSPICION (1941)
A wealthy wallflower suspects her penniless playboy husband of murder.
Dir:  Alfred Hitchcock Cast:  Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine, Sir Cedric Hardwicke.
BW- 99 mins, CC

10:30 AM
SLIGHTLY DANGEROUS (1943)
A small-town girl changes her identity to make it in New York, leaving her boyfriend a suspect in her “disappearance.”
Dir:  Wesley Ruggles Cast:  Lana Turner, Robert Young, Walter Brennan.
BW- 94 mins, CC

12:15 PM
MY NAME IS JULIA ROSS (1945)
A young girl finds herself entrenched in a murder cover-up when she goes to work for a wealthy widow.
Dir:  Joseph H. Lewis Cast:  Nina Foch, Dame May Whitty, George Macready.
BW- 65 mins, CC

7:00 PM
HOW TO STEAL A MILLION (1966)
A woman steals a statue from a museum to help conceal her father’s art forgeries.
Dir:  William Wyler Cast:  Audrey Hepburn, Peter O’Toole, Eli Wallach.
C- 123 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

9:15 PM
WAIT UNTIL DARK (1967)
A blind woman fights against drug smugglers who’ve invaded her home.
Dir:  Terence Young Cast:  Audrey Hepburn, Alan Arkin, Richard Crenna.
C- 108 mins, CC

11:15 PM
THE LAVENDER HILL MOB (1952)
An overlooked gold transporter with twenty years service plots to steal a million pounds of gold.
Dir:  Charles Crichton Cast:  Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway, Sidney James.
BW- 81 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Tuesday – June 20, 2017

12:45 AM
THE SECRET PEOPLE (1952)
A refugee gets mixed up in a plot to assassinate the dictator who killed her father.
Dir:  Thorold Dickinson Cast:  Valentina Cortese, Serge Reggiani, Charles Goldner.
BW- 95 mins, CC

2:45 AM
GASLIGHT (1940)
A turn-of-the-century bride moves into the house where her aunt was murdered and begins to fear she’s going mad.
Dir:  Thorold Dickinson Cast:  Anton Walbrook, Diana Wynyard, Frank Pettingell.
BW- 84 mins, CC

7:00 AM
GASLIGHT (1944)
A newlywed fears she’s going mad when strange things start happening at the family mansion.
Dir:  George Cukor Cast:  Charles Boyer, Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten.
BW- 114 mins, CC

10:45 AM
DIAL M FOR MURDER (1954)
A straying husband frames his wife for the murder of the man he’d hired to kill her.
Dir:  Alfred Hitchcock Cast:  Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings.
C- 105 mins, CC

2:45 PM
ARSENIC AND OLD LACE (1944)
A young man about to be married discovers the two aunts who raised him have been poisoning lonely old men.
Dir:  Frank Capra Cast:  Cary Grant, Priscilla Lane, Raymond Massey.
BW- 118 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Wednesday – June 21, 2017

9:00 PM
THIS IS SPINAL TAP (1984)
A filmmaker documents the history of Spinal Tap, the world’s loudest rock band.
Dir:  Rob Reiner Cast:  Harry Shearer, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean.
C- 83 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

***** ***** ***** *****

Friday – June 23, 2017

12:00 PM
TOP HAT (1935)
A woman thinks the man who loves her is her best friend’s husband.
Dir:  Mark Sandrich Cast:  Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton.
BW- 100 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Saturday – June 24, 2017

9:30 AM
AFTER MIDNIGHT WITH BOSTON BLACKIE (1943)
A reformed thief gets himself arrested fetching some jewels for a friend.
Dir:  Lew Landers Cast:  Chester Morris, Richard Lane, Ann Savage.
BW- 65 mins

7:00 PM
REAR WINDOW (1954)
A photographer with a broken leg uncovers a murder while spying on the neighbors in a nearby apartment building.
Dir:  Alfred Hitchcock Cast:  James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey.
C- 112 mins, CC

9:15 PM
THE WINDOW (1949)
A boy who always lies witnesses a murder but can’t get anyone but the killer to believe him.
Dir:  Ted Tetzlaff Cast:  Barbara Hale, Arthur Kennedy, Paul Stewart.
BW- 73 mins, CC

10:45 PM
WITNESS TO MURDER (1954)
A woman fights to convince the police that she witnessed a murder.
Dir:  Roy Rowland Cast:  Barbara Stanwyck, George Sanders, Gary Merrill.
BW- 82 mins

***** ***** ***** *****

Sunday – June 25, 2017

12:30 AM
THE SKULL MURDER MYSTERY (1932)
In this short, a mysterious Chinese merchant and his eccentric upstairs tenants come under suspicion when the skeleton of a man is dug up in an alley. Vitaphone Release 1348-1349.
Dir:  Joseph Henabery Cast:  Joanna Roos, Richard Wang, Maurice Cass.
BW- 21 mins

9:00 AM
HIGH WALL (1947)
Psychiatry provides the key to proving a veteran flyer innocent of his wife’s murder.
Dir:  Curtis Bernhardt Cast:  Robert Taylor, Audrey Totter, Herbert Marshall.
BW- 99 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Tuesday – June 27, 2017

8:45 AM
THE CASE OF THE CURIOUS BRIDE (1935)
Perry Mason helps a young woman whose supposedly dead husband suddenly returns to life.
Dir:  Michael Curtiz Cast:  Warren William, Margaret Lindsay, Donald Woods.
BW- 80 mins, CC

10:15 AM
NIGHT WAITRESS (1936)
A girl just out of prison gets mixed up in murder at the restaurant where she works.
Dir:  Lew Landers Cast:  Margot Grahame, Gordon Jones, Vinton Haworth.
BW- 57 mins

11:30 AM
THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE (1946)
Illicit lovers plot to kill the woman’s older husband.
Dir:  Tay Garnett Cast:  Lana Turner, John Garfield, Cecil Kellaway.
BW- 113 mins, CC

***** ***** ***** *****

Thursday – June 29, 2017

5:45 PM
THE WITNESS CHAIR (1936)
A woman lets her lover stand trial for the murder she committed.
Dir:  George Nicholls Jr. Cast:  Ann Harding, Walter Abel, Douglass Dumbrille.
BW- 64 mins

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

If you’re particularly looking forward to these or other mystery-themed tv specials coming up in June, be sure to leave a comment below!

In case you’re interested in seeing the rest of this month’s television mystery movies, here’s the May television mystery movies schedule:

Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for May 2017

And of course, here is the page on my site with plenty of entries about movies and television shows you may enjoy:

Cozy Mystery List TV and  Movie Section

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2016 Agatha Awards (Presented in 2017) & 2017 Edgar Awards

May 20, 2017

As always, I want to congratulate ALL of the nominees and winners of the Agatha Awards and Edgar Awards!

So, CONGRATULATIONS!

Late last month, both the Malice Domestic convention and the Edgars Symposium were held, the events where the Agatha Awards and the Edgars Awards are declared. The Edgars Awards are a general mystery fiction award, while the Agatha Awards are given to “traditional mystery” works in the vein of Agatha Christie >>> little to no graphic violence, sex, or profanity… in other words, the Agatha Awards are pretty much what I would define as “Cozies”. Of course, both awards are very prestigious!

THE AGATHA AWARDS

Best Contemporary Novel:
A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny (winner)
Body on the Bayou by Ellen Byron
Quiet Neighbors by Catriona McPherson
Fogged Inn by Barbara Ross
Say No More by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Best Historical Novel:
The Reek of Red Herrings by Catriona McPherson (winner)
Whispers Beyond the Veil
by Jessica Estevao
Get Me to the Grave on Time by D.E. Ireland
Delivering the Truth by Edith Maxwell
Murder in Morningside Heights by Victoria Thompson

Best First Novel:
The Semester of Our Discontent by Cynthia Kuhn (winner)
Terror in Taffeta
by Marla Cooper
Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon
Decanting a Murder by Nadine Nettmann
Design for Dying by Renee Patrick

Best Nonfiction:
Mastering Suspense, Structure, and Plot: How to Write Gripping Stories that Keep Readers on the Edge of Their Seats by Jane K. Cleland (winner)
A Good Man with a Dog: A Game Warden’s 25 Years in the Maine Woods by Roger Guay with Kate Clark Flora
Sara Paretsky: A Companion to the Mystery Fiction by Margaret Kinsman

Best Short Story:
“Parallel Play” by Art Taylor in Chesapeake Crimes: Storm Warning (winner)
“Double Jinx: A Bellissimo Casino Crime Caper Short Story” by Gretchen Archer
“The Best-Laid Plans” by Barb Goffman in Malice Domestic 11: Murder Most Conventional
“The Mayor and the Midwife” by Edith Maxwell in Blood on the Bayou: Bouchercon Anthology 2016
“The Last Blue Glass” by B.K. Stevens in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine

Best Children/Young Adult:
The Secret of the Puzzle Box: The Code Busters Club by Penny Warner (winner)
Trapped: A Mei-hua Adventure
by P.A. DeVoe
Spy Ski School by Stuart Gibbs
Tag, You’re Dead by J C Lane
The Mystery of Hollow Places by Rebecca Podos

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

THE EDGAR AWARDS

Since the Edgar Awards are a bit less Cozy related than the Agathas, I’m just going to list the winners of each category, with the exception of the Mary Higgins Clark category, which is basically for Cozies. If you’re interested in the full lineup for a category, it can be found in the page that I have linked for each category title.

Best Novel
Before the Fall by Noah Hawley

Best First Novel
Under the Harrow by Flynn Berry

Best Paperback Original
Rain Dogs by Adrian McKinty

Best Fact Crime
The Wicked Boy: The Mystery of a Victorian Child Murderer by Kate Summerscale

Best Critical/Biographical
Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin

Best Short Story
“Autumn at the Automat” – In Sunlight or in Shadow by Lawrence Block

Best Juvenile
OCDaniel by Wesley King

Young Adult
Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse

TV Episode Teleplay
“A Blade of Grass” – Penny Dreadful, Teleplay by John Logan

Robert L. Fish Memorial
“The Truth of the Moment” – Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
by E. Gabriel Flores

Mary Higgins Clark

The Shattered Tree by Charles Todd (winner)
The Other Sister
by Dianne Dixon
Quiet Neighbors by Catriona McPherson
Say No More by Hank Phillippi Ryan
Blue Moon by Wendy Corsi Staub

Grand Master
Max Allan Collins
Ellen Hart

Raven Award
Dru Ann Love

Ellery Queen Award
Neil Nyren

***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****

Again, Congratulations to all winners and nominees!

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Melissa Bourbon: Magical Dressmaking Mystery Series

May 18, 2017

I’m continuing to revisit some of the most popular and recommended Cozy Mystery Series. Today I’ll be discussing Melissa Bourbon‘s Magical Dressmaking Mystery Series, and to do that, I’ve re-read the first book in the series, Pleating for Mercy.

The basic story structure of Pleating for Mercy isn’t necessarily the most original for a Cozy – when Harlow Cassidy inherits her great-grandmother’s house, she decides to give up her big city fashion designer job in New York to return home to small town Bliss, Texas, and set up the small dressmaking shop she always dreamed of. Naturally, an old family friend is quickly implicated in a murder, and Harlow needs sets out to clear her name.

While the overall plot of the novel may not be the most innovative I’ve ever seen in a Cozy Mystery, Melissa Bourbon does particularly well is introducing an interesting cast with different characters without necessarily going overboard in making them seem “zany”. I personally am sometimes put off by too many “quirky” characters in a series, and upon hearing of the protagonist’s mother being able to grow plants in a supernatural fashion and her grandmother being a goat-whisperer, I was at first afraid that they would quickly cross the line into just being quirky for the sake of quirk. However, this didn’t turn out to be the case – while these features were certainly present in the Cassidy women, they weren’t necessarily their only defining characteristics.

The magical elements to the Cozy are also implemented well. The magical abilities of the Cassidy women are introduced in an interesting way, by discussing how their ancestor, Butch Cassidy, wished for a charmed life for his descendants, and every member of the family has possessed some magical charm ever since. Attaching the magical attributes of the series to a story that most people will easily remember (most people being at least vaguely aware of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, through the classic movie if nothing else), they become both easier to remember and more interesting.

The dressmaking elements of the Magical Dressmaking series are also largely successful. I’m not particularly knowledgeable about fashion, but even I was able to end up with reasonable mental images of the dresses that Harlow considers making for her clientele >>> though I’ll admit I did have to look up more than a few terms to make sure I was getting the right image in my head!

Overall, Pleating for Mercy is an interesting read for anyone who is a fan of fashion themed Cozies with a supernatural element, or anyone interested in a Cozy set in small town Texas. (I’ll admit, as a long-term Texas resident, I do have something of a soft spot for the state.)

If you’re interested in checking out some of the other entries I’ve written on fan favorites, be sure to check out the page on Most Popular & Recommended Cozy Mystery Series.

P.S. I should have mentioned that the author is now writing the Bread Shop Mystery Series (as Winnie Archer)…

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