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Cozy Mystery Book Recommendations – December 2016

Well, the New Year will be coming up very soon, so it’s time for the last discussion of our favorite Cozy reading material of 2016! If you’ve read a great Cozy in December, be sure to post it here! This month, I read Lucy Arlington‘s Novel Idea Mystery Series, so I’ll start it off with that! (I also read Last Bus to Woodstock, by Colin Dexter, but that’s just far enough from being “Cozy” that I’m not going to include it on this list…)

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 December? 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 December 2016 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

Donna Andrews: Meg Langslow Mystery Series

Lucy Arlington (co-written by Jennifer Stanley & Sylvia May): Novel Idea Mystery Series

Laura Childs (aka Gerry Schmitt): Tea Shop Mystery Series and Cackleberry Club Mystery Series

Jill Churchill: Grace and Favor Mystery Series

Jane Cleland: Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery Series

Cleo Coyle (aka Alice Kimberly): Coffeehouse Mystery Series

Ellen Crosby: Wine Country Mystery Series

Krista Davis: Domestic Diva Mystery Series

Vicki Delany (aka Eva Gates): Year-Round Christmas Mystery Series

Elizabeth J. Duncan: Penny Brannigan Mystery Series

Sharon Fiffer: Jane Wheel Mystery Series

Charles Finch: Charles Lenox Mystery Series

Kristine Husom: Snow Globe Shop Mystery Series

Nancy Lynn Jarvis: Raven McHenry Real Estate Mystery Series

Diane Kelly: Tara Holloway Mystery Series

K. J. Larsen: Cat DeLuca Mystery Series (book #1 Liar, Liar)

Karen MacInerney: Dewberry Farm Mystery Series

Gail Oust: Piper Prescott Mystery Series

Kathy Reichs: Temperance Brennen Mystery Series

David Rosenfelt: Andy Carpenter Mystery Series

Sarah Rosett: Murder on Location Mystery Series

Paige Shelton: Scottish Bookshop Mystery Series

Angela M. Sanders: The Lanvin Murders

Livia Washburn: Fresh-Baked 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 Arlington: A Novel Idea Mystery Series

The next in the series of most popular and recommended Cozy Mystery series is Lucy Arlington’s A Novel Idea Mystery Series.

As if the use of alternate names by authors wasn’t confusing enough, this series is written by three different authors. The first three books are written by Lucy Arlington (aka J. B. Stanley, Jennifer Stanley, & Ellery Adams) with her friend Sylvia May. The series was taken over by Susan Furlong on book #4. Can it get any more confusing? >>> I hope not!

In the first book of the series,  Buried in a Book we are introduced to Lila Wilkins, and we learn on the first page of the book that she has just lost her longstanding (20 years!) job writing features for the local newspaper. However, Lila lands on her feet fast, getting a job as an intern at the “A Novel Idea” literary agency which is located in a nearby small town called “Inspiration Valley” in North Carolina.

Lila is a 45 year-old single mother of a boy (Trey) who has just graduated from high school. Her mother (suitably quirky as befits a Cozy Mystery) makes a living telling fortunes in the small town where Lila’s new job is.

Soon, of course, there is a murder that happens almost right in front of Lila at the agency on her first day of work. A homeless person named Marlette, who has been coming to the agency everyday for some time, dies on the couch in the waiting area where Lila’s work area is. Before we know it Lila is deeply involved in trying to solve the mystery.

The small town is filled with interesting characters who Lila seems to have no trouble meeting and making connections with including the owner of the coffee shop that is downstairs from the agency. Lila also meets the handsome police detective who is officially responsible for trying to solve the murder mystery. I don’t think I am giving too much away to tell you that Lila has no problem interesting men >>> (she tells us that she has been told more than once that she looks a lot like Marilyn Monroe while she was still Norma Jeane Baker!)

So, the book has (more than) a hint of romance. It also has quite a rich backdrop with a convincing depiction of a small town and small workplace (the literary agency). If you are looking for a mystery where the whole book deals with only the mystery, this is probably not for you. If you want to lose yourself in the life of a character who is trying to make her way in the world of a new job and a new hometown while trying to take care of her teenage son and solving a complicated mystery, then probably this is a series for you. I know it is one for me!

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.

New Releases – December 26 to January 1, 2016

Here is the list of new release for December 26 to January 1!

Hy Conrad: Death on the Patagonian Express (This will be the 3rd in the Amy’s Travel Mystery Series.)

Tonya Kappes: A Ghostly Reunion (This will be the 5th in the Ghostly Southern Mystery Series.)

Alyssa Maxwell: A Pinch of Poison (This will be the 2nd in the Lady and Lady’s Maid Series.)

Liz Mugavero (aka Cate Conte): Custom Baked Murder (This will be the 5th in the Pawsitively Organic Mystery Series.)

Barbara Ross: Iced Under (This will be the 5th in the Maine Clambake Mystery Series.)

Diane Vallere: Pearls Gone Wild (This will be the 6th in the Style & Error Mystery Series.)

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