Cozy Mystery (and Other Favorite) Books, Movies, and TV
Fortunately, unlike September which only has one new Cozy series starting from site authors, October will have three different series beginning!
If you’re looking for other great new Cozy Mystery Series >>> these series and more can be found on the New Cozy Mystery Book Series page, or even more upcoming Cozies if you are looking for a continuation of a favorite series on the Soon to Be Released Mysteries page of my Cozy-Mystery site.
Kathy Aarons: Behind Chocolate Bars (This will be the 3rd in the Chocolate Covered Mystery Series.) (This is a Halloween themed mystery.)
Victoria Abbott (aka Mary Jane Maffini & Victoria Maffini): The Hammett Hex (This will be the 5th in the Book Collector Mystery Series.)
Tasha Alexander: A Terrible Beauty (This will be the 11th in the Lady Emily Mystery Series.)
Margaret Atwood: Hag-Seed (This will a retelling of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.)
Jenna Bennett (aka Jennie Bentley & Bente Gallagher): Scared Money (This will be the 13th in the Savannah Martin Mystery Series.)
Heather Blake (aka Heather Webber): The Witch and the Dead (This will be the 7th in the Wishcraft Mystery Series.)
Rita Mae Brown: Cakewalk (This will be the 5th in the Runnymede Series. This is not a mystery)
Catherine Bruns: Burned to a Crisp (This will be the 3rd in the Cookies & Chance Mystery Series.)
Leslie Budewitz: Killing Thyme (This will be the 3rd in the Seattle Spice Shop Mystery Series.)
D.W. Buffa: Hillary (This will be a Stand Alone mystery.)
Maia Chance: Teetotaled (This will be the 2nd in the Discreet Retrieval Agency Mystery Series.)
Laura Childs & Terrie Farley Moran: Crepe Factor (This will be the 14th in the Scrapbooking Mystery Series.) (This is a Winter Holiday mystery.)
Sheila Connolly (aka Sarah Atwell): Seeds of Deception (This will be the 10th in the Orchard Mystery Series.)
Kieran Crowley: Shoot (This will be the 2nd in the F.X. Shepherd Mystery Series.)
Clive Cussler: Built to Thrill: More Classic Automobiles from Clive Cussler and Dirk Pitt (This non fiction follows his “Built for Adventure” book.)
Barbara Early (aka Beverly Allen): Death of a Toy Soldier (This will be the 1st in the NEW Vintage Toy Shop Mystery Series) (This is a Christmas themed mystery.)
Kathleen Ernst: A Memory of Muskets (This will be the 7th in the Chloe Ellefson Mystery Series.)
Sharon Farrow (aka 1/2 of D.E. Ireland): Dying for Strawberries (This will be the first in the NEW Berry Basket Mystery Series.)
Ann Granger: The Dead Woman of Deptford (This will be the 6th in the Lizzie Martin Mystery Series.)
John Grisham: The Whistler (This will be a Stand Alone mystery.)
Charlaine Harris: All the Little Liars (This will be the 9th in the Aurora Teagarden Mystery Series.)
Carolyn Hart: Ghost Times Two (This will be the 7th in the Bailey Ruth Mystery Series.)
Veronica Heley: Murder in Style (This will be the 17th in the Ellie Quicke Mystery Series.)
Dorothy Howell: Pocketbooks and Pistols (This will be the 12th in the Haley Randolph Mysteries Mystery Series.)
Melanie Jackson: Death Drop (This will be a Stand Alone mystery.)
P.D. James: The Mistletoe Murder and Other Stories (This will be a collection of four of the best Christmas stories that P.D. James wrote for newspapers. Two of them star a young Adam Dalgliesh.) (This is a Christmas themed mystery collection.)
Linda O. Johnston: Unlucky Charms (This will be the 3rd in the Superstition Mystery Series.)
Tonya Kappes: Get Witch or Die Trying (This will be the 3rd in the Spies and Spells Mystery Series.)
Sofie Kelly (aka Sofie Ryan): Paws and Effect (This will be the 8th in the Magical Cats Mystery Series.)
Joyce and Jim Lavene (aka J.J. Cook & Ellie Grant): Putting on the Witch (This will be the 3rd in the Retired Witches Mystery Series.)
Karen MacInerney: Fatal Frost (This will be the 2nd in the Dewberry Farm Mystery Series.)
Susan Elia MacNeal: The Queen’s Accomplice (This will be the 6th in the Maggie Hope Mystery Series.)
Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, & Barbara Ross: Egg Nog Murder (This will be a Christmas themed anthology including: Lucy Stone Mystery Series, Hayley Powell Food & Cocktail Mystery Series, & Maine Clam Bake Mystery Series.)
Ann Myers: Feliz Navidead (This will be the 3rd in the Santa Fe Café Mystery Series.)
Sandra Orchard: Another Day, Another Dali (This will be the 2nd in the Serena Jones Mystery Series.)
James Patterson: Filthy Rich (This will be a True Crime Stand Alone. – John Connolly & Tim Malloy)
James Patterson: Kill or Be Killed (This will contain four “BookShot” – Amazon describes these as “Novels you can devour in a few hours” – previously only available as e-books.)
James Patterson & Richard DiLallo: French Kiss (This will be a Stand Alone “BookShot” – Amazon describes these as “Novels you can devour in a few hours”)
Paula Paul (aka Paula Carter): A Killer Closet (This will be the 1st in the NEW Irene Seligman Mystery Series.)
David Rosenfelt: The Twelve Dogs of Christmas (This will be the 15th in the Andy Carpenter Mystery Series.)
Alexander McCall Smith: Precious and Grace (This will be the 17th in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency.)
Paige Shelton: A Christmas Tartan (This will be a Scottish Bookshop mini-mystery.) (This is a Christmas themed mystery.)
Wendy Corsi Staub: Something Buried, Something Blue (This will be the 2nd in the Lily Dale Mystery Series.)
Maggie Toussaint: Doggone It (This will be the 3rd in the Dreamwalker Mystery Series.)
Joyce Tremel: Tangled Up in a Brew (This will be the 2nd in the Brewing Trouble Mystery Series.)
Diane Vallere: Masking for Trouble (This will be the 2nd in the Costume Shop Mystery Series.) (This is a Halloween themed mystery.)
Lea Wait: Dangling by a Thread (This will be the 4th in the Mainely Needlepoint Mystery Series.)
Lis Wiehl: The Candidate (This will be the 2nd in the Newsmakers Mystery Series.)
***** ***** *****
If you want to see this month’s releases, go to the September 2016 Mystery Book New Releases.
You can find these and many more Cozies scheduled for release soon on the Soon to be Released Mysteries page on my site.
(These are the mysteries by authors who are currently on the Cozy Mystery site.)
So, what Cozy Mysteries that you’ve read during August do you think stand out from the rest? 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 August 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: Book Collectors Mystery Series
Ellery Adams (aka Jennifer Stanley, J. B. Stanley, & 1/2 of Lucy Arlington): Book Retreat Mystery Series
Donna Andrews: Meg Langslow Mystery Series
Sandra Balzo: Maggy Thorsen Mystery Series
John Berendt: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Claire Booth: Sheriff Hank Worth Mystery Series (The Branson Beauty, book #1)
Rhys Bowen: Royal Spyness Mystery Series
Simon Brett: Mrs. Pargeter Mystery Series
Issy Brooke: Small Town Murder Bureau Mystery Series (The Case of the Lincoln Imp, book #1)
Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli (aka Elizabeth Lee): Little Library Mystery Series
Kate Collins: Flower Shop Mystery Series
E.J. Copperman (aka Jeffrey Cohen): Haunted Guesthouse Mystery Series
Bill Crider: Dan Rhodes Mystery Series
Waverly Curtis: Barking Detective Mystery Series
Jeanne M. Dams: Dorothy Martin Mystery Series
Leighann Dobbs: Blackmoore Sisters Mystery Series, Mystic Notch Mystery Series, Mooseamuck Island Mystery Series
Wendy Sand Eckel: Rosalie Hart Mystery Series (Murder at Barclay Meadow, book #1)
Monica Ferris (aka Mary Monica Pulver & 1/2 of Margaret Frazer): Needlecraft Mystery Series
Rosie Genova: Italian Kitchen Mystery Series
Chloe Kendrick: Food Truck Mystery Series (Murder To Go, book #1)
Catherine Lloyd: Kurland St. Mary Mystery Series
Charlotte Macleod: Grab Bag (short story collection)
Alyssa Maxwell: Gilded Newport Mystery Series
Edith Maxwell (aka Maddie Day & Tace Baker): Local Foods Mystery Series
Julie Moffett: Lexi Carmichael Mystery Series
Terrie Farley Moran: Read ‘Em and Eat Mystery Series
Carlene O’Conner: Irish Village Mystery Series
Katherine Hall Page: Faith Fairchild Mystery Series
Michael Robertson: Baker Street Letters Series (The Baker Street Letters, book #1)
Sara Rosett: Ellie Avery Mystery Series
Ann B. Ross: Miss Julia Mystery Series
Linda Wiken (aka Erika Chase): Dinner Club 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.
So school is starting, the weather is getting nicer (some places… here in San Antonio it is still very hot!), and maybe you’re not spending as much time in front of the tv this season. Still, there are plenty of great options if you’re still looking for a nice mystery movie!
I’m posting the Turner Classic Movies channel mysteries that I think are definitely worth looking at (plus some others from my favorite actors and actresses…) You’re especially in luck if you are a fan of the Falcon series, as there is a marathon scheduled for this classic George Sanders/Tom Conway mystery series that will be airing on September 2nd!
***** ***** ***** *****
***** ***** ***** *****
10:45 AM
MURDER BY AN ARISTOCRAT (1936)
A blackmailer’s murder tears apart a well-off family.
Dir: Frank McDonald Cast: Lyle Talbot, Marguerite Churchill, Claire Dodd.
BW-60 mins, CC
1:30 PM
THE LONE WOLF STRIKES (1940)
A reformed jewel thief helps an heiress retrieve a stolen necklace.
Dir: Sidney Salkow Cast: Warren William, Joan Perry, Eric Blore.
BW-67 mins
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
*****Not a mystery. Terrific comedy!*****
***** ***** ***** *****
The Falcon is back!
5:15 AM
THE GAY FALCON (1942)
A society sleuth tries to break up an insurance scam.
Dir: Irving Reis Cast: George Sanders, Wendy Barrie, Allen Jenkins.
BW-67 mins, CC
6:30 AM
A DATE WITH THE FALCON (1941)
The gentleman detective postpones his wedding to find a cache of stolen diamonds.
Dir: Irving Reis Cast: George Sanders, Wendy Barrie, James Gleason.
BW-63 mins, CC
7:45 AM
THE FALCON TAKES OVER (1942)
A society sleuth and a lady reporter try to track down a murderous thug’s lost girlfriend.
Dir: Irving Reis Cast: George Sanders, Lynn Bari, James Gleason.
BW-63 mins, CC
9:00 AM
THE FALCON’S BROTHER (1942)
A gentlemanly detective calls on his brother to help him stop the Nazis from assassinating a key diplomat.
Dir: Stanley Logan Cast: George Sanders, Tom Conway, Jane Randolph.
BW-63 mins, CC
10:15 AM
THE FALCON STRIKES BACK (1943)
A society sleuth is framed for murder by criminals running a war-bond racket.
Dir: Edward Dmytryk Cast: Tom Conway, Harriet Hilliard, Jane Randolph.
BW-66 mins, CC
11:30 AM
THE FALCON IN DANGER (1943)
A society sleuth tracks a lost plane carrying $100,000.
Dir: William Clemens Cast: Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Elaine Shepard.
BW-70 mins, CC
12:45 PM
THE FALCON AND THE CO-EDS (1944)
A society sleuth investigates murder at a girls’ school.
Dir: William Clemens Cast: Tom Conway, Jean Brooks, Rita Corday.
BW-68 mins, CC
2:00 PM
THE FALCON OUT WEST (1944)
A society sleuth turns cowboy to investigate a Texas murder.
Dir: William Clemens Cast: Tom Conway, Carole Gallagher, Barbara Hale.
BW-64 mins, CC
3:15 PM
THE FALCON IN MEXICO (1944)
A society sleuth travels South of the border to investigate an art dealer’s murder.
Dir: William Berke Cast: Tom Conway, Mona Maris, Martha MacVicar.
BW-70 mins, CC
4:30 PM
THE FALCON IN HOLLYWOOD (1944)
A society sleuth tours the movie capital, where he uncovers an actor’s murder.
Dir: Gordon Douglas Cast: Tom Conway, Barbara Hale, Veda Ann Borg.
BW-67 mins, CC
5:45 PM
THE FALCON IN SAN FRANCISCO (1945)
A society sleuth enlists a little girl’s help in nabbing a mob of silk smugglers.
Dir: Joseph H. Lewis Cast: Tom Conway, Rita Corday, Edward S. Brophy.
BW-66 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
6:45 AM
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
8:45 AM
CODE OF THE SECRET SERVICE (1939)
Secret Service agents try to solve the theft of treasury banknote plates.
Dir: Noel Smith Cast: Ronald Reagan, Rosella Towne, Eddie Foy Jr..
BW-58 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
3:00 PM
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
***** ***** ***** *****
5:00 AM
WHISTLING IN THE DARK (1941)
A radio detective is kidnapped and forced to plan the perfect murder.
Dir: S. Sylvan Simon Cast: Red Skelton, Conrad Veidt, Ann Rutherford.
BW-78 mins, CC
6:30 AM
THE CUCKOOS (1930)
Two tramps-turned-fortune-tellers try to solve a kidnapping.
Dir: Paul Sloane Cast: Bert Wheeler, Robert Woolsey, June Clyde.
BW-97 mins
8:15 AM
BEHIND THE HEADLINES (1937)
A radio station’s newsman rushes to the rescue of his peer, who has been kidnapped by bank robbers.
Dir: Richard Rosson Cast: Lee Tracy, Diana Gibson, Donald Meek.
BW-58 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
4:45 PM
BELLS ARE RINGING (1960)
An answering service operator gets mixed up in her clients’ lives.
Dir: Vincente Minnelli Cast: Judy Holliday, Dean Martin, Fred Clark.
C-126 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
*****Not a mystery. Judy Holliday is absolutely terrific in every movie she’s in!*****
7:00 PM
THE CONVERSATION (1974)
A surveillance expert uncovers a murder plot within a corrupt corporation.
Dir: Francis Ford Coppola Cast: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield.
C-114 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
8:30 AM
TORCHY BLANE IN PANAMA (1938)
An ambitious newspaper woman traces bank robbers to an ocean liner.
Dir: William Clemens Cast: Lola Lane, Paul Kelly, Tom Kennedy.
BW-59 mins
1:45 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
11:15 PM
THE PLAYER (1992)
A rising producer tries to cover up the accidental killing of a screenwriter who was stalking him.
Dir: Robert Altman Cast: Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Fred Ward.
C-124 mins, Letterbox Format
***** ***** ***** *****
3:00 AM
BLACK EYE (1974)
A private eye stumbles on a series of murders connected to a movie star’s death.
Dir: Jack Arnold Cast: Fred Williamson, Rosemary Forsyth, Teresa Graves.
C-98 mins
7:15 AM
AN IDEAL HUSBAND (1947)
An upstanding politician is haunted by his past when a blackmailer threatens to reveal a youthful indiscretion.
Dir: Alexander Korda Cast: Paulette Goddard, Michael Wilding, Hugh Williams.
C-93 mins, CC
9:00 AM
MR. LUCKY (1943)
A gambling-ship owner is out to fleece a beautiful society woman, but falls in love.
Dir: H. C. Potter Cast: Cary Grant, Laraine Day, Charles Bickford.
BW-100 mins, CC
11:00 AM
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
***** ***** ***** *****
1:00 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
9:00 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
11:00 PM
NIGHT MOVES (1975)
An L.A. private detective puts aside his own marital woes while tracing a topless nymphet to the Florida Keys.
Dir: Arthur Penn Cast: Gene Hackman, Jennifer Warren, Susan Clark.
C-100 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
1:00 AM
THE SPLIT (1968)
A gang of thieves plots to rob the Los Angeles Coliseum box office during a Rams game.
Dir: Gordon Flemyng Cast: Jim Brown, Diahann Carroll, Ernest Borgnine.
C-90 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
2:45 AM
THE KILLING (1956)
A team of specialists plots a daring racetrack robbery, but they don’t reckon with human frailty.
Dir: Stanley Kubrick Cast: Sterling Hayden, Coleen Gray, Vince Edwards.
BW-84 mins, CC
5:00 AM
THE UNFAITHFUL (1947)
While her husband is away, a woman gets mixed up in murder.
Dir: Vincent Sherman Cast: Ann Sheridan, Lew Ayres, Zachary Scott.
BW-109 mins
7:00 AM
FOOTSTEPS IN THE DARK (1941)
An aspiring mystery writer stumbles on to a real murder.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon Cast: Errol Flynn, Brenda Marshall, Ralph Bellamy.
BW-96 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
5:15 PM
MURDER, MY SWEET (1944)
Detective Philip Marlowe’s search for a two-timing woman leads him to blackmail and murder.
Dir: Edward Dmytryk Cast: Dick Powell, Claire Trevor, Anne Shirley.
BW-95 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
10:00 AM
PROBLEM GIRLS (1953)
A reform school doctor uncovers a murder plot.
Dir: E. A. Dupont Cast: Helen Walker, Ross Elliott, Susan Morrow.
BW-71 mins
10:30 PM
BACKGROUND TO DANGER (1943)
An American gets caught up in wartime action in Turkey.
Dir: Raoul Walsh Cast: George Raft, Brenda Marshall, Sydney Greenstreet.
BW-80 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
5:15 AM
JOE SMITH, AMERICAN (1942)
Nazi spies in search of government secrets kidnap a munitions worker.
Dir: Richard Thorpe Cast: Robert Young, Marsha Hunt, Harvey Stephens.
BW-63 mins, CC
11:30 AM
THE YELLOW CANARY (1943)
A socialite poses as a Nazi spy to mask her activities as a British agent.
Dir: Herbert Wilcox Cast: Anna Neagle, Richard Greene, Nova Pilbeam.
BW-84 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
2:15 AM
THE GOOD HUMOR MAN (1950)
A good-hearted ice cream man’s efforts to help a young woman turn him into a murder suspect.
Dir: Lloyd Bacon Cast: Jack Carson, Lola Albright, Jean Wallace.
BW-80 mins
5:15 AM
GIRL MISSING (1933)
A new bride disappears from her honeymoon hotel the same night a dead body pops up.
Dir: Robert Florey Cast: Glenda Farrell, Ben Lyon, Mary Brian.
BW-69 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
9:15 PM
THE SECRET SIX (1931)
A secret society funds the investigation of a bootlegging gang.
Dir: George Hill Cast: Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, John Mack Brown.
BW-84 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
7:00 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
***** ***** ***** *****
7:30 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
***** ***** ***** *****
12:00 PM
YOU CAN’T BUY LUCK (1937)
A racehorse owner tries to buy victory by performing good deeds, but gets mixed up in murder instead.
Dir: Lew Landers Cast: Onslow Stevens, Helen Mack, Vinton Haworth.
BW-60 mins
***** ***** ***** *****
10:30 PM
FOUL PLAY (1978)
An innocent woman stumbles onto a plot to murder the pope.
Dir: Colin Higgins Cast: Goldie Hawn, Chevy Chase, Burgess Meredith.
C-116 mins, CC, Letterbox Format
***** ***** ***** *****
8:45 AM
LIGHTNING STRIKES TWICE (1951)
An actress champions the cause of a man whom she believes has been falsely accused of murdering his wife.
Dir: King Vidor Cast: Ruth Roman, Richard Todd, Mercedes McCambridge.
BW-90 mins
10:30 AM
SHADOW OF DOUBT (1935)
Murder charges threaten an actress’s marriage plans.
Dir: George B. Seitz Cast: Ricardo Cortez, Virginia Bruce, Constance Collier.
BW-74 mins, CC
3:45 PM
THE VELVET TOUCH (1948)
After accidentally killing her lecherous producer, a famous actress tries to hide her guilt.
Dir: John Gage Cast: Rosalind Russell, Leo Genn, Claire Trevor.
BW-97 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
12:00 PM
ALGIERS (1938)
A thief on the run from the law risks his life for love.
Dir: John Cromwell Cast: Sigrid Gurie, Charles Boyer, Hedy Lamarr.
BW-99 mins
5:30 PM
THE RACKET (1951)
A tough cop has to fight his superiors in order to battle the mob.
Dir: John Cromwell Cast: Robert Mitchum, Lizabeth Scott, Robert Ryan.
BW-89 mins, CC
***** ***** ***** *****
If you’re really looking forward to these or other mystery-themed tv specials coming up in September, 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 August 2016 television mystery movies schedule:
Upcoming Television Mystery Movies for August 2016
And of course, here is the page on my site with plenty of entries about movies and television shows you may enjoy:
