The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Television Mystery Series… What to Start With?… (Part 2)

Last month I wrote an entry with a few suggestions that I thought would be agood place to start if you’re new to Cozy Mystery television series and TV movies. Well, I actually had a longer list, but the post started getting pretty long so I decided to hold off on some of the others until later.

As before, the  TV and Movies page on my site is a great place to start when you’re looking for Cozy TV or movie adaptations, but since it can be pretty long I’ll be discussing a few more that I’m particularly fond of.

The first show I want to highlight is Hetty Wainthropp Investigates. The title character of Hetty was played by the remarkable Dame Patricia Routledge, who also starred in another of my favorite British TV shows (not a mystery) Keeping Up Appearances. Hetty, along with her also senior citizen husband, starts a detective agency partially to remain active in her senior years. She is assisted by a young man, Geoffrey – played by Dominic Monaghan (yes, of the J.R.R. Tolkien Lord of the Rings!) who provides much of the “leg work”. I first wrote about and recommended Hetty Wainthropp Investigates way back in 2006! Yikes! (I absolutely love this show!)

Most of the suggestions so far have been British productions, which isn’t a big surprise since they’re all based off of British Cozies… which again isn’t surprising, since a lot of the “classic” Cozies were originally written by British authors. Well, my next suggestion isn’t quite as Cozy as some of these other entries, but I would say it still fits within the Cozy mold. Columbo isn’t an amateur sleuth, but a lieutenant with the Los Angeles Police Department. These mysteries are also a bit different from most in that the viewer watches the crime being committed, and as a result is already aware of “whodunit”. However, Columbo himself is so well played by Peter Falk and the murderers and support casts are all so well played that the experience of how Columbo catches the killer is absolutely riveting. I particularly recommend these to anyone who is a big fan of classic television or movies from the 1950s to 1970s, as the cast of Columbo includes some of the absolute best actors of their generation, albeit a bit after their “famous” phases. (You can currently find this show on TV if you check your local TV schedules.)

Another non-British mystery series that I really like is Ellery Queen Mysteries starring Jim Hutton as Ellery and David Wayne as his father. It was produced in 1975-1976 and consists of 22 episodes. Following the formula that the producers, Richard Levinson and William Link, had used in Columbo and would later use in Murder She Wrote, each episode includes a number of famous guest stars. Ellery, a mystery writer, goes along with his police detective father and invariably solved the mystery. I really like the relationship between Ellery and his father. Jim Hutton and David Wayne were terrific together. One unique aspect of the show is that before Ellery solves the mystery he turns to the camera talks to the audience and recaps the clues he will use to solve the mystery. (Even with this help, I don’t believe I solved a single one!) I can’t believe that it is almost five years since I first wrote about this great series.

Again, these are just some of my favorite series that I would suggest to anyone who hasn’t seen them yet, whether they are fans of Cozies or not… If you’ve got any other suggestions for great Cozy Mystery TV or movie series to start with, please be sure to leave them in the comments below!

Four New-to-the-Site Cozy Authors: Ann Charles: Deadwood, Patience Griffin: Kilts and Quilts, Leslie Langtry: Greatest Hits, Sandra Orchard: Serena Jones

It’s that time of the month again… time to add new authors to the site! Here are the four most recent additions to the site, all from recommendations by Cozy Mystery site visitors.

 Ann Charles lives in northern Arizona, and has a Bachelor’s Degree in English from the University of Washington. She is the author of the Jackrabbit Junction Mystery Series, set in Arizona, and the Deadwood Mystery Series, starring a real estate agent in the former gold rush town of Deadwood, South Dakota.

 Patience Griffin is a nuclear engineer, but her passions include sewing, quilting, and Scotland, all of which come through in her Kilts and Quilts Series. The series stars Catriona Macleod, a former investigative reporter returning to her old home town, fictional small town Gandiegow, Scotland. Catriona is a quilter at heart. This series was recommended to me as being Cozy, however it is not a mystery series.

Leslie Langtry is the author of the Greatest Hits Mystery Series, starring a single mom from a family of assassins. She also writes the Merry Wrath Mystery Series which stars a former CIA agent who is now a Girl Scout leader in Iowa. Leslie lives in the American Midwest.

A math major at university, Sandra Orchard lives in a 100+ year old farmhouse in Ontario, Canada. She is the author the Serena Jones Mystery Series which stars a member of the FBI Art Crime team. She also writes the Port Aster Secrets Mystery Series, starring a researcher and the Undercover Cops Mystery Series, starring a series of different undercover cops. Along with these three series, she is the author of a number of stand-alone love inspired suspense novels. Sandra is active in the Christian author community.

I hope you enjoy all of these newly added authors!

Two (or More) Cozy Mystery Sleuths Who Work Together

As part of my visiting some of the most recommended Cozy Mystery series from our monthly recommendations posts, I have recently examined a couple of series where the sleuth consisted of more than one person. So, I thought it might be an interesting theme to add >>>  Cozy Mysteries where the sleuths are two or more people who act as a mystery-solving team.

By this I don’t mean series where the sleuth has a sidekick or gets a little help from others. I wouldn’t consider Sherlock Holmes stories, for example, to include multiple sleuths. Watson is more of a sidekick than a co-sleuth. Watson is so iconic, in fact, that the sidekick of a sleuth is often called “the Watson”. By co-sleuth, I mean that each person provides substantial input into finding the culprit (not just information such as a boyfriend or other relative who is on the police force might provide). I think Ann George’s Southern Sisters Mystery Series is a pretty good example where there are two sleuths who are both equally involved in solving the mysteries – and where neither of the main characters is just a sidekick.

Kylie Logan’s League of Literary Ladies Mystery Series is another example where the stories include the efforts of a whole book group of women to solve the mysteries.

Can you think of any other sleuthing teams who work together equally? If you know of any series where there are two or more (more or less equal sleuths) please add a comment below.

Cozy Mystery Series With Two (or More) Sleuths

Kathy Aarons: Chocolate Covered Mystery Series

Isabella Alan (aka Amanda Flower): Amih Quilt Shop Mystery Series

Susan Wittig Albert: Darling Dahlias Mystery Series

Conrad Allen (aka Edward Marston and Keith Miles): Dillman Mystery Series

Susan Bernhardt: Kay Driscoll Mystery Series

Simon Brett: Fethering Mystery Series

Emily Brightwell: Mrs Jeffries Mystery Series

Elizabeth Lynn Casey (aka Laura Bradford): Southern Sewing Circle Mystery Series

Chris Cavender (aka Jessica Beck, Elizabeth Bright, Melissa Glazer, Tim Myers, Casey Mayes, & D.B. Morgan): Pizza Lover Mystery Series

Cassandra Chan: Phillip Bethancourt and Gibbons Mystery Series

Agatha Christie: Tommy and Tuppence Mystery Series

Jill Churchill: Jane Jeffry Mystery Series

Jill Churchill: Grace and Favor Mystery Series

Kate Collins: Flower Shop Mystery Series

Isis Crawford (aka Barbara Block): Mystery with Recipes Mystery Series – Bernie and Libby, sisters who run a bake shop/catering business, solve mysteries.

Mary Daheim: Bed & Breakfast Mystery Series

Julianna Deering (aka DeAnna Julie Dodson): Drew Farthering Mystery Series

Leighann Dobbs: The Mooseamuck Island Series

Vickie Fee: Liv and Di in Dixie Mystery Series

Anne George: Southern Sisters Mystery Series – Both of the loving but hilarious sisters work together to solve mysteries.

Jeanne Glidewell: Ripple Effect Mystery Series – Rip and Rapella Ripple are married sleuth RVers in Missouri.

Sally Goldenbaum: Seaside Knitters Mystery Series

Ann Granger: Campbell and Cartery Mystery Series AND Markby and Mitchell Village Whodunit Series

Carolyn Haines: Sarah Booth Delaney Mystery Series

David Handler: Berger & Mitry Mystery Series

Carolyn Hart: Death on Demand Mystery Series

Erin Hart: Nora Gavin / Cormac Maguire Mystery Series

D.E. Ireland (aka Sharon Farrow and Meg Macy): Eliza Doolittle & Henry Higgins Mystery Series

Miranda James (aka Honor Hartman, Jimmie Ruth Evans, & Dean James): Southern Ladies Mystery Series

Mary Kennedy: Dream Club Mystery Series

Laurie R. King: Mary Russell Mystery Series

Rita Lakin: Gladdy Gold Mystery Series

Richard & Frances Lockridge: Mr. and Mrs. North Mystery Series

Kylie Logan (aka Miranda Bliss & Casey Daniels): League of Literary Ladies Mystery Series – A whole book group works to solve mysteries.

Virginia Lowell: Cookie Cutter Shop Mystery Series

Lisa Q. Mathews: Ladies Smythe & Westin Mystery Series

Jenn McKinlay (aka Josie Belle & Lucy Lawrence): Cupcake Bakery Mystery Series

Marcia Muller & Bill Pronzini: Carpenter and Quincannon Mystery Series

Clare O’Donohue: World of Spies Mystery Series – Hollis and Finn Larsson are college professors who assist Interpol in Ireland.

Robin Paige (aka Susan Wittig Albert & Bill Albert): Victorian Mystery Series

Andrea Penrose: Wrexford & Sloan Mystery Series is set in  Regency London.

Anne Perry: Charlotte & Thomas Pitt Mystery Series and William Monk Mystery Series

Ann Purser: Ivy Beasley Mystery Series

Corrine Holt Sawyer: Benbow & Wingate Mystery Series

Jamie Lee Scott: Gotcha Detective Mystery Series

L.C.Tyler: Ethelred & Elsie Mystery Series

Livia J. Washburn: Fresh-Baked Mystery Series

P.S. Please be sure to read all of the comments below to find out more about the series listed above.

♦To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme, click on this link.♦

Kylie Logan: A League of Literary Ladies Mystery Series

Mayhem at the Orient Express (League of Literary Ladies Book 1) Kylie Logan’s League of Literary Ladies Mystery Series is the next in the series of entries that I am doing about the most recommended Cozy Mystery series on our monthly recommendations lists. Kylie Logan (aka Miranda Bliss & Casey Daniels) has written four books in this series with the last coming out this year (2016).  Mayhem at the Orient Express, begins this series on a very strong note.

“Mayhem” introduces us to Bea Cartwright who has just opened a Bed and Breakfast (the Bea & Bees) in the small town of Put-In-Bay on South Bass Island which is twelve miles from the Ohio shore of Lake Erie. As the name implies, Bea hopes to have beehives in the backyard of her six-suite huge Victorian bed and breakfast.

The story opens with Bea and her two neighbors, Kate and Chandra (who are all 30-something), arguing in Mayor’s court about their various disputes. Bea is upset that Chandra allows her cat to run free to ruin Bea’s flower bed; Kate is mad at Chandra for playing music too loudly and chanting in her backyard. Chandra, who changed her name from Sandra, is somewhat of a free spirit. Kate also is complaining about Bea’s construction vehicles clogging up the small lane that runs to all of their houses.

Alvin, the mayor, finally decides to force the three women to learn to cooperate by ordering them to meet weekly in a book group. (This is an example of one very terrific community service!) This also conveniently saves the mayor’s wife’s public library that is in danger of losing funds from a bequest that required there be an active book group for the funds to continue.

Naturally, at the group’s first meeting, the neighbors are joined by an older woman, Luella (who actually wants to be a part of a reading group), they decide to read Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express, which foreshadows what will happen soon at the island’s new restaurant, the “Orient Express”. By the following week’s meeting, a blizzard has begun that had already closed the airport and the ferry. As expected in a murder mystery story, soon there is a murder (I guess I mean “mayhem”) at the “Orient Express” restaurant. And, everyone is stuck on the island with a murderer on the loose!

The blizzard leads to a power outage that knocks almost everybody’s lights and heat out on the island. Except, Bea’s bed and breakfast has an emergency generator (that works for a remarkably long time). So, before you know it,  all the potential suspects and what will become the members of the “League of Literary Ladies” are all staying at the Bea and Bees.

This book is written in the first person from Bea’s point of view. It’s what I would call an old-fashioned page-turner. The setting (the island on the lake) is picturesque and unique, and the characters are different but not too zany. (You may know by now that I am not a fan of over-the-top zany.)

As is normal in a modern Cozy, there is a hint of romance that presumably will continue into the other books in the series. (No spoilers here!) The story is full of interesting twists, and it includes a secondary mystery about Bea’s past that is not solved fully in the first book. So, it creates a need to get going on reading book two!

If you’re interested in seeing more highlights of some of the most recommended or popular Cozy Mystery authors/series, visit the Most Popular & Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page on my site.

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