The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Cozy Mystery News – March 2016

NewsTwo months ago I wrote a Cozy Mystery News entry (Cozy Mystery News – January 2016). Well, I now have some other little Cozy Mystery tidbits to tell you about!

Avery Aames‘ very popular Cheese Shop Mystery Series will be closing its doors! Yes, the seventh Cozy in this series (For Cheddar or Worse) will have us saying goodbye to Charlotte. But don’t worry! Her Cookbook Nook Mystery Series (written as Daryl Wood Gerber) is alive and well! And also, Daryl will be releasing Girl on the Run (which is a stand alone suspense – so far!) in April.

Connie Archer, the author of the Soup Lover’s Mystery Series, will be using a new moniker, Connie di Marco, to write her new Zodiac Mystery Series. The Madness of Mercury will be the first book in the series, and it will feature Julia Bonattie, and astrologer in San Francisco.

This almost goes without saying, but I’m going to anyway: Emily Brightwell will be bringing us at least two more Mrs. Jeffries mysteries! I’m sure her legion of fans (as well as Inspector Witherspoon) will be over the moon about this news!

Rita Mae Brown (and her “co-author Sneaky Pie Brown”) will be kept super busy writing two more Mrs. Murphy mysteries as well as two more Sister Jane Foxhunting mysteries.

Here’s some great news for fans of Maia Chance‘s Discreet Retrieval Mystery Series. There will be at least two more in this series after the release of its scheduled second book. Wow, she’s already gotten the go-ahead for books 3 & 4!

Those of you who follow Maya Corrigan‘s Five-Ingredient mysteries probably already know her third book is scheduled to be released in June. Well, here’s great news: Corrigan has just green light for a fourth and fifth book in this popular Cozy Mystery series.

If you haven’t already heard, fans of the very popular White House Chef Mystery Series are in for a big disappointment. The ninth book in this series which was just released in January is Julie Hyzy‘s final adventure with Ollie. Thank goodness Hyzy’s Manor of Murder Mystery Series is still going to be able to continue!

Now, this is where it gets a little confusing! D.E. Ireland writes the (Edwardian) Eliza Doolittle & Henry Higgins Mystery Series, and Ireland is comprised of two authors (Meg Mims and Sharon Pisacreta). Both of these authors are now writing series of their own. Sharon Pisacreta is now writing the Berry Basket Mystery Series as Sharon Farrow, and Meg Mims will be writing a series as Meg Macy. Her series will star Sasha Silverman, the owner of a teddy bear shop.

If you’re a fan of Linda O. Johnston‘s Barkery & Biscuits Mystery Series, then you’ll be delighted to know that Carrie will be baking more canine treats in at least two more mysteries!

Unfortunately, also saying goodbye is Elizabeth Lee‘s Lindy Blanchard. The last Nut House mystery will be its final book. However, as Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli she will be starting the Little Library Mystery Series, which is inspired by Lewis Carrol’s Alice in Wonderland.

Molly MacRae, author of the Haunted Yarn Shop Mystery Series, will be starting a new Cozy Mystery series. The Highland Bookshop mysteries will feature Janet Marsh, co-owner of said Scottish bookshop. MacRae already has a contract for the first two books.

Radine Trees Nehring will be releasing the 8th in her Something to Die For Mystery Series. This comes as an unexpected surprise to those who have been waiting since 2012 for the return of senior citizens Carrie and Henry to solve another mystery.

Now I may be jumping the gun, but here’s some pretty welcome news: bestselling Cozy Mystery author, Karen Rose Smith, will be writing (at least!) a seventh and eighth Caprice De Luca mystery. Yep, it’s true! Even before her fifth Cozy has been released, we know we’re in store for two additional Cozies in that series!

Well, that’s it for me. If you hear some Cozy Mystery news that you think might interest the rest of us, please post a comment or drop me a note. Thanks!

Cozy Cliffhangers – Do They Make You Feel Cozy?

CliffHow do you feel about Cozy Mysteries with cliffhangers? Do they make you anticipate the next book in a series OR do they irritate you? Do you think an author is making the mystery all that more intriguing OR do you think the author is trying to insure that people will read the next book in her/his series? Are you okay with cliffhangers at the end of each chapter but not at the end of the Cozy OR do you like your chapters self-contained with a cliffhanger at the end of the book?

During the past eleven years I have heard from lots and lots of Cozy Mystery readers, some who like cliffhangers and say things like “It has such a real cliffhanger that I can’t wait for the next one!”, “… there was a bit of a cliffhanger at the end which has me anxiously awaiting the next book.“, and “I, too, can’t wait for the next.” (referring to a Cozy with a cliffhanger). But at the same time I have read comments saying “I was bothered by the ‘cliffhanger’ ending.” and “The story just seems to end without the conflict being settled. I know some writers will leave cliff hangers for future books but it just seems the writer is tired of writing and just wants to get the book finished.”

Before I decided to write this entry, I knew that I was going to have to come clean >>> and be negative. I won’t mention any authors’ names but I will say this: I like my Cozy Mysteries to be wrapped up in each book. I want my sleuth to be able to start a fresh mystery each time I join her on a mystery-solving adventure. I don’t like the idea of having to wait a year to find out what is going on with my sleuth. I don’t even like the romantic interest to not be settled within, let’s say, five books >>> although I admit that I follow series that have the romantic triangle going for book after book, after even more books!  (I wish I could commit to not reading those doggone romantic triangle Cozies, but they’re like potato chips…)

So, without naming any particular authors, please post a comment to let us know how you feel about cliffhangers in your Cozy Mysteries?  Thanks!

Sofie Kelly : Magical Cats Mystery Series

Curiosity Thrilled the Cat (A Magical Cats Mystery Book 1) As some of you know, I’ve been going back recently and revisiting some of the most popular Cozy Mystery series most frequently recommended by visitors to the site. I’ve written previous entries on authors like Donna Andrews’s Meg Langslow Mystery Series and the Southern Sisters Mystery Series by Anne George. Today I’ll be discussing another of the relatively recent “classic” types of Cozy >>> namely the paranormal cat series by Sofie Kelly, the Magical Cats Mystery Series, which starts with Curiosity Thrilled the Cat. (Although I don’t read a lot of paranormal Cozy Mysteries, this is one of that I do.)

Kathleen is a bit different from some other Cozy Mystery sleuths in small towns, namely she isn’t a local coming home to take over some type of family business. Instead she is a relative “city slicker” herself, having grown up travelling from city to city with her parents, both of whom are professional actors. (If you lived in her setting, you may know her father best as singing raisin in that one catchy cereal commercial or some similar role of questionable dignity).

When Curiosity Thrilled the Cat starts, Kathleen has been in the small town of Mayville Heights, Minnesota for a very short time, but she’s already started to learn a surprising amount about many of the town’s residents from her job, temporary head librarian. (Apparently you can learn a lot about people from the sort of books they read >>> I wonder what that says about us Cozy lovers!)

When another “city slicker” turns up dead, the unsurprisingly disagreeable celebrity director of the Mayville Music Festival, Kathleen’s two newly adopted feline friends (tabby Owen and tuxedo Hercules) seem surprisingly intent on her getting to the bottom of the case. This proves especially difficult for Kathleen to ignore, as she quickly learns that Owen and Hercules have some very paranormal abilities over which Kathleen has absolutely no control. Catnip-addicted Owen is able to make himself invisible while Barry Manilow-loving Hercules is able to walk right through walls. All of this means Kathleen is going to not only solve the mysteries, but also contend with these paranormal felines! And, of course, there’s the town’s handsome detective who will join them in their sleuthing. (Actually, the detective isn’t that crazy about getting Kathleen’s help…)

The solid writing by Sofie Kelly makes the Magical Cats Mystery Series one of the most interesting of the “paranormal” type Cozy Mystery series available. Oh, and before I forget, Sofie Kelley also writes the Second Chance Cat Mystery Series as Sofie Ryan.

P.S. As always, if you are interested in reading some of the other entries about highly recommended Cozy Mystery series, you can find them at the Most Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page on my site.

Three New Cozy Mystery Series Coming April 2016

There will be three great looking Cozy Mystery Series starting in April:

The first new series coming out will be the Magical Bookshop Mystery Series by Amanda Flower, with its first book, Crime and Poetry. In this book, Violet Waverly thinks her grandmom (Daisy) is sick, but is surprised to find her in good health. Instead, Daisy wants her to help run her bookshop >>> one where magic is in the shelves and books themselves! A dead man is found with a volume of Dickinson poetry from Daisy’s shop, and this very same dead man recently put Daisy in his will. Violet and Daisy will need to find the killer before Grandma Daisy becomes the next victim. Amanda Flower also writes the Living History Museum Mystery Series, starring the director of a living history museum, the Ohio Amish country Appleseed Creek Mystery Series, and the India Hayes Mystery Series, featuring a college librarian. She also writes the children’s Andi Boggs mysteries. As Isabella Alan she writes the Amish Quilt Shop Mystery Series.

Next up is Should Have Played Poker by (Judge) Debra H. Goldstein, the first in the Carrie Martin and the Mah Jongg Players Mystery Series. When Carrie Martin, corporate lawyer, meets her mother for the first time in over two decades since her mother abandoned her family, she gives Carrie a sealed confession that she once considered killing Carrie’s father. Carrie tries to seek out her father to learn more about the situation, but before reaching him she finds her mother dead, and the woman who raised Carrie seriously injured. Carrie will need to bring in her co-sleuths, the Sunshine Village Mah jongg players, to try to unravel the past if she wants to really learn how and why her mother died. Debra H. Goldstein also writes the Denney Silber Mystery Series, starring a university student in 1970s Michigan.

Third and final on our list is Edith Maxwell‘s Delivering the Truth, the first in her new Quaker Midwife Mystery Series. In this novel we will be introduced to 1880s Quaker midwife Rose Carroll. When the town’s famous carriage industry is threatened by a dangerous fire and the owner’s son is killed with Rose’s knitting needle, Rose will need to rise to the occasion to help discover the killer before the town’s industry and the source of many of their livelihood can be threatened once more. Edith Maxwell also writes the Local Foods Mystery Series starring an organic farmer in Massachusetts and, as Maddie Day, she writes the Country Store Mystery Series, starring the owner of the Pans ‘n’ Pancakes Country Store Restaurant in South Lick, Indiana. Also, as Tace Baker she writes the Lauren Rousseau Mystery Series.

If you’d like to take a peak at some of the other upcoming Cozy Mysteries you can find them on the New Cozy Mystery Book Series page.  Also, I have a great list of upcoming Cozy Mysteries on my Soon to Be Released Mysteries page.

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