The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Cozy Mystery Book Recommendations – January 2017

It’s the end of the first month of the year, so this will be our first Cozy Monthly recommendations for 2017! If you read a great Cozy in January, be sure to post it here! I haven’t had as much time as I would like to read unfortunately, so I only have one recommendation – Lucy Burdette‘s Key West Food Critic Mystery Series.

If you’re interested in reading why I’m recommending these series, you can go to the Most Popular & Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page on my Cozy-Mystery site for my full write-ups on each of these great Cozy series.

So, what have you been reading that you can recommend in January? Please be sure to tell us why you liked these Cozies so much. I know we’re all always on the lookout for more particularly good Cozy Mystery authors! (If you have a lot of Cozies you think are great, please post the ones you like the most at the top of the list.)

As always, please do not tell us about the Cozy Mysteries you did not like.

What really good Cozy Mystery did you read during January 2017 that you want the rest of us to know about, and why did you enjoy it?

Here are the current recommended authors who some of you have read and recommended this past month:

Victoria Abbott (writing duo Mary Jane Maffini & daughter Victoria Maffini): Book Collectors Mystery Series

Ellery Adams (aka J. B. Stanley, Jennifer Stanley, & 1/2 of Lucy Arlington): Book Retreat Mystery Series

Mary Angela: Professor Prather Mystery Series (first book An Act of Murder)

Nancy Atherton: Aunt Dimity Mystery Series

Lucy Burdette (aka Roberta Isleib): Key West Food Critic Mystery Series

Ellen Byron: Cajun Country Mystery Series

Lynn Cahoon: Tourist Trap Mystery Series

Joanna Carl (aka Eve K. Sandstrom): Chocoholic Mystery Series

Jane K. Cleland: Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery Series

Nancy Coco (aka Nancy J. Parra and Nell Hampton): Candy Coated Mystery Series

Sheila Connolly  (aka Sarah Atwell): County Cork Mystery Series

Leighann Dobbs: Lexy Baker Mystery Series

Elizabeth J. Duncan: Shakespeare in the Catskills Mystery Series

Carola Dunn: Daisy Dalrymple Mystery Series

Kate Dyer-Seeley (aka Ellie Alexander): Pacific Northwest Mystery Series

Victoria Hamilton (aka Amanda Cooper): Merry Muffin Mystery Series

A. W. Hartoin: Mercy Watts Mystery Series (first book A Good Man Gone)

Betty Hechtman: Crochet Mystery Series

Delia James: Witch’s Cat Mystery Series

Kate Kingsbury  (aka Rebecca Kent & Allison Kingsley): Pennyfoot Hotel Mystery Series

T. E. Kinsey: Lady Harcaslte Mystery Series (first book A Quiet Life in the Country)

Amanda Lee (aka Gayle Trent & Gayle Leeson): Embroidery Mystery Series

Catherine Lloyd: Kurland St. Mary Mystery Series

Karen Macinerney: Dewberry Farm Mystery Series

Susan Elia MacNeal: Maggie Hope Mystery Series

Molly MacRae: Highland Bookshop Mystery Series

Catriona McPherson: Dandy Gilver Mystery Series

Jenn McKinlay (aka Josie Belle & Lucy Lawrence): Library Lover’s Mystery Series and Hat Shop Mystery Series

Leslie Meier: Lucy Stone Mystery Series

Charlotte Moore:  Kate & Kylie Mystery Series (first book A Body in the Bargain)

Diana Orgain: Love or Money Mystery Series

Louise Penny: Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery Series

Carol J. Perry: Witch City Mystery Series

Barbara Ross: Maine Clambake Mystery Series

Samantha Silvers: Cassie Coburn Mystery Series (first book Poison in Paddington)

Karen Rose Smith: Caprice de Luca Mystery Series

Diane Vallere: Material Witness Mystery Series

Radha Vatsal: Kitty Weeks Mystery Series (first book A Front Page Affair)

Lea Wait: Mainely Needlepoint Mystery Series

[If you click on the author’s name (blue) link, it will take you to his/her page on the Cozy Mystery site. The pages have all of the authors’ books listed chronologically.]

I will list the authors and series that have been recommended, but I urge you to read the comments below so you can see the reasons other Cozy Mystery readers thought these were their best reads of the month.

♦To access more Cozy Mystery Books Recommendations, click on this link♦

P.S. I usually don’t comment on your recommendations since they speak for themselves.

Lucy Burdette: Key West Food Critic Mystery Series

The next in the series of most popular and recommended Cozy Mystery series is Lucy Burdette‘s Key West Food Critic Mystery Series.

I haven’t had as much time to read this month as I would have liked – to be honest I’m really not sure where the time has gone. That said, I’m glad that I’ve finally had the time to reread one of the most recommended Cozy series by site visitors, which begins with An Appetite for Murder.

This series stars Hayley Snow, who has recently uprooted her life to move to Key West, Florida, to live with a man she knew only a bit. When she found him in bed with another woman, she also found herself virtually homeless as well, living off of the kindness of friends in town.

In an attempt to bring her life back under control, she applies for the job as a food critic for a new local newspaper. Unfortunately, she already has an unpleasant history with one of the site’s owner, who is the woman her boyfriend was sleeping with. Naturally, the would-be boss dies suspiciously, and Hayley quickly becomes a prime suspect. Hayley needs to not only prove her innocence, but keep up her job application – just because she’s being considered for murder doesn’t mean life doesn’t go on, after all.

In this instance, the setting is of particular interest to me – as I was actually born in Key West. I haven’t spent much time there —> my parents didn’t live there, and I was only born there because it was the closest American hospital to where my father was stationed at the time. So it’s interesting to hear different perspectives and descriptions of Key West, as I haven’t had as much time to form an impression of the city as I would like.

It doesn’t hurt that another key component of the series is another personal favorite – food. It’s easy to connect with readers over the topic of food, simply because it is one of the few absolute common points that all humans have in common – we all have to eat, and we want to enjoy what we eat whenever possible. The murder mystery’s backdrop of food, particularly Hayley’s visits to local restaurants to help ensure her resume for the food critic position rises to the top. There are plenty of mouth-watering descriptions of various delicious dishes that Hayley patronizes throughout the mystery – particularly seafood, since Key West is a big fishing town after all!

If you’re interested in reading more of these brief revisits of some of the more popular Cozy Mystery Series that I’ve written in the past, you can find them at the Most Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page on my site.

Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for February 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. This month TCM is celebrating with the “31 Days of Oscars” which is the 22nd Oscar month that TCM has done! That’s right – where does the time fly? (Every movie they are showing has won or been nominated for an Academy Award.) (Since there are only 28 days in February, I’ve posted the Academy Award movies through March 3.)

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

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

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

Wednesday – February 1, 2017

7:00 AM
ADAM’S RIB (1949)
Husband-and-wife lawyers argue opposite sides in a sensational women’s rights case.
Dir: George Cukor Cast:  Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Judy Holliday.
BW-101 mins, CC
*****This is a delightful movie that features one of my favorite actresses – Judy Holliday.

1:00 PM
AFTER THE THIN MAN (1936)
Married sleuths Nick and Nora Charles try to clear Nora’s cousin of a murder charge.
Dir: W. S. Van Dyke Cast:  William Powell, Myrna Loy, James Stewart.
BW-112 mins, CC

3:00 PM
AGATHA (1979)
A fictional account of the real life, eleven day, never explained 1926 disappearance of famed murder mystery writer Agatha Christie.
Dir: Michael Apted Cast:  Dustin Hoffman, Vanessa Redgrave, Timothy Dalton.
C-98 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

7:00 PM
ALL ABOUT EVE (1950)
An ambitious young actress tries to take over a star’s career and love life.
Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz Cast:  Bette Davis, Anne Baxter, George Sanders.
BW-138 mins, CC
*****Not a mystery, but yikes – what a movie!

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

Thursday – February 2, 2017

4:30 AM
THE ASPHALT JUNGLE (1950)
A gang of small time crooks plots an elaborate jewel heist.
Dir: John Huston Cast:  Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen.
BW-112 mins, CC

8:30 AM
AUNTIE MAME (1958)
An eccentric heiress raises her nephew to be a free spirit.
Dir: Morton DaCosta Cast:  Rosalind Russell, Forrest Tucker, Coral Browne.
C-143 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
*****If you want to have a fun time watching a movie, be sure to watch this non-mystery classic…

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

Friday – February 3, 2017

11:15 PM
BLOW-UP (1966)
A photographer discovers a murder in the background of a candid photo.
Dir: Michelangelo Antonioni Cast:  Vanessa Redgrave, Sarah Miles, David Hemmings.
C-111 mins, CC

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

Saturday – February 4, 2017

7:15 AM
BOOMERANG (1947)
A prosecutor fights to prove the defendant in a scandalous murder case is innocent.
Dir: Elia Kazan Cast: Dana Andrews, Jane Wyatt, Lee J. Cobb.
BW-88 mins, CC

10:30 PM
BULLITT (1968)
When mobsters kill the witness he was assigned to protect, a dedicated policeman investigates the case on his own.
Dir: Peter Yates Cast:  Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, Jacqueline Bisset.
C-114 mins, CC

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

Monday – February 6, 2017

1:30 PM
THE CORSICAN BROTHERS (1941)
Siamese twins, separated in infancy, join forces to avenge their parents’ murder.
Dir: Gregory Ratoff Cast:  Douglas Fairbanks, Ruth Warrick, Akim Tamiroff.
BW-111 mins, CC

3:30 PM
CROSSFIRE (1947)
A crusading district attorney investigates the murder of a Jewish man.
Dir: Edward Dmytryk Cast:  Robert Young, Robert Mitchum, Robert Ryan.
BW-86 mins, CC

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

Tuesday – February 7, 2017

4:45 AM
DESIGNING WOMAN (1957)
A sportswriter and a fashion designer have a lot of adjusting to do when they marry in haste.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli Cast:  Gregory Peck, Lauren Bacall, Dolores Gray.
C-118 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
*****Not a mystery. I haven’t seen this in years, but I remember really enjoying this movie…

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

Wednesday – February 8, 2017

7:00 PM
FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT (1940)
An American reporter covering the war in Europe gets mixed up in the assassination of a Dutch diplomat.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock Cast:  Joel McCrea, Laraine Day, Herbert Marshall.
BW-121 mins, CC

11:00 PM
THE FRENCH CONNECTION (1971)
Two New York narcotics cops set out to bust a French drug smuggling ring.
Dir: William Friedkin Cast:  Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider.
C-104 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

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

Thursday – February 9, 2017

5:15 AM
‘G’ MEN (1935)
A mob protege joins the FBI when a friend is gunned down.
Dir: William Keighley Cast: James Cagney , Margaret Lindsay , Ann Dvorak .
BW-86 mins, CC

6:45 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
THE GAZEBO (1960)
A suburban couple tries to cope with a murder victim whose body refuses to stay put.
Dir: George Marshall Cast:  Glenn Ford, Debbie Reynolds, Carl Reiner.
BW-102 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

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

Sunday – February 12, 2017

7:30 AM
THE HEIRESS (1949)
A plain young woman’s money makes her prey to fortune hunters.
Dir: William Wyler Cast:  Olivia De Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson.
BW-115 mins, CC
*****TCM keeps showing this outstanding movie. Not a mystery.

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

Monday- February 13, 2017

4:45 AM
ICE STATION ZEBRA (1968)
A sub commander on a perilous mission must ferret out a Soviet agent on his ship.
Dir: John Sturges Cast:  Rock Hudson, Ernest Borgnine, Patrick McGoohan.
C-152 mins, CC

2:00 PM
IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT (1967)
A black police detective from the North forces a bigoted Southern sheriff to accept his help with a murder investigation.
Dir: Norman Jewison Cast:  Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates.
C-110 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

11:30 PM
KEY LARGO (1948)
A returning veteran tangles with a ruthless gangster during a hurricane.
Dir: John Huston Cast:  Humphrey Bogart, Edward G. Robinson, Lauren Bacall.
BW-100 mins, CC

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

Tuesday – February 14, 2017

1:30 AM
KIND LADY (1951)
A con artist and his criminal cohorts hold an old lady hostage in her own home.
Dir: John Sturges Cast:  Ethel Barrymore, Maurice Evans, Angela Lansbury.
BW-78 mins, CC
*****This is a remake of the 1938 movie, “The Young in Heart“*****

7:00 PM
THE LADY EVE (1941)
A lady cardsharp tries to con an eccentric scientist only to fall for him.
Dir: Preston Sturges Cast:  Barbara Stanwyck, Henry Fonda, Charles Coburn.
BW-94 mins, CC
***** Between the director and the cast, this movie is a terrific (non-mystery) comedy.

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

Thursday – February 16, 2017

5:15 PM
THE MALTESE FALCON (1941)
Hard-boiled detective Sam Spade gets caught up in the murderous search for a priceless statue.
Dir: John Huston Cast:  Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George.
BW-100 mins, CC

7:00 PM
THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1956)
International spies kidnap a doctor’s son when he stumbles on their assassination plot.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock Cast:  James Stewart, Doris Day, Brenda de Banzie.
C-120 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

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

Sunday – February 19, 2017

5:30 AM
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

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

Monday – February 20, 2017

3:00 PM
THE PINK PANTHER (1964)
In the first Inspector Clouseau film, the bumbling French police detective tries to stop a notorious jewel thief from nabbing a princess’ diamond.
Dir: Blake Edwards Cast:  David Niven, Peter Sellers, Capucine.
C-115 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

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

Tuesday – February 21, 2017

11:45 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-114 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

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

Wednesday – February 22, 2017

11:30 AM
THE RISE AND FALL OF LEGS DIAMOND (1960)
A small-time thief kills his way to the top of the New York rackets.
Dir: Budd Boetticher Cast:  Ray Danton, Karen Steele, Elaine Stewart.
BW-101 mins, CC

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

Thursday – February 23, 2017

9:00 PM
THE SEVEN-PER-CENT SOLUTION (1976)
Sherlock Holmes seeks psychiatric help from Sigmund Freud and gets caught up in mystery.
Dir: Herbert Ross Cast:  Alan Arkin, Vanessa Redgrave, Robert Duvall.
C-113 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

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

Saturday – February 25, 2017

3:00 PM
STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951)
A man’s joking suggestion that he and a chance acquaintance trade murders turns deadly.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock Cast:  Farley Granger, Ruth Roman, Robert Walker.
BW-101 mins, CC

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

Sunday – February 26, 2017

7:00 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

8:45 PM
THE THIRD MAN (1949)
A man’s investigation of a friend’s death uncovers corruption in post-World War II Vienna.
Dir: Carol Reed Cast:  Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles.
BW-104 mins, CC

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

Wednesday – March 1, 2017

3:30 AM
12 ANGRY MEN (1957)
A jury holdout tries to convince his colleagues to vote not guilty.
Dir: Sidney Lumet Cast: Henry Fonda, Lee J. Cobb, Ed Begley.
BW-96 mins, CC
*****Really good legal drama.

5:30 AM
TWILIGHT OF HONOR (1963)
A struggling lawyer takes on a controversial murder case that could make or break him.
Dir: Boris Sagal Cast: Richard Chamberlain , Joey Heatherton , Nick Adams .
BW-104 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

9:00 PM
VERTIGO (1958)
A detective falls for the mysterious woman he’s been hired to tail.
Dir: Alfred Hitchcock Cast: James Stewart , Kim Novak , Barbara Bel Geddes.
C-128 mins, CC, Letterbox Format

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

Thursday – March 2, 2017

6:45 AM
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,

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

Friday – March 3, 2017

1:15 AM
THE YOUNG IN HEART (1938)
A family of con artists saves the life of a wealthy old woman and plots to fleece her.
Dir: Richard Wallace Cast: Minnie Dupree , Paulette Goddard , Richard Carlson .
BW-91 mins, CC
*****On Tuesday (February 14, 2017) they showed the remake of this non-mystery movie, Kind Lady…

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

If you’re particularly looking forward to these or other mystery-themed tv specials coming up in January, 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 January television mystery movies schedule:

Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for January 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

First Time for Out-of-Sequence Cozy Reading

This year I started a different type of reading – at least it is different to what I’ve done in the past. Since I enjoy reading holiday Cozies so much during their appropriate seasons, I have started re-reading some of my favorite holiday Cozies >>> out of sequence!

This year had me revisiting Jessica Fletcher in Cabott Cove, Lucy Stone on Red Top Road, Gloria Lamerino in Boston, and Hanna Swenson in Lake Eden. Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas felt particularly Cozy with all my favorite sleuths. (This is one time when my not-so-great memory comes in handy!)

I have to admit that it was a little disconcerting re-visiting Toby as a toddler a month after spending time with Toby as a father of a toddler! (Toby comes from Leslie Meier’s Lucy Stone Mystery Series.) But, I found that as long as I thought of each book as a total entity rather than part of a chronological series, I was able to submerge myself into the correct mindset.

Now if they would just convert all of my favorite holiday Cozies to Kindle format! I’d love to spend time with Henry Tibbett and Peggy Jean Turner next holiday season!

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