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

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.

April 2016 Mystery Book New Releases

The following Mystery Books will be released in April 2016:

Cathy Ace: The Corpse with the Garnet Face (This will be the 7th in the Cait Morgan Mystery Series.)

Ellery Adams (aka Jennifer Stanley & J.B. Stanley): Breach of Crust (This will be the 5th in the Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery Series.)

Susan Wittig Albert (aka Robin Paige): Blood Orange (This will be the 24th in the China Bayles Herbal Mystery Series.)

Barbara Allan: Antiques Fate (This will be the 10th in the Trash ‘n’ Treasures Mystery Series.)

Mary Kay Andrews (aka Kathy Hogan Trocheck): Change of Scene (This will be a non-mystery prequel novella to Beach Town.)

Connie Archer: A Clue in the Stew (This will be the 5th in the Soup Lover’s Mystery Series.)

Donald Bain, Renée Paley-Bain, & “Jessica Fletcher”: Design for Murder (This will be the 46th in the Murder, She Wrote Mystery Series.)

David Baldacci: The Last Mile (This will be the 2nd in the Amos Decker Mystery Series.)

Christy Barritt: Rattled (This will be the 3rd in the Sierra Files Mystery Series.)

Lorraine Bartlett: A Dream Weekend (This will be the 1st in the non-mystery Blythe Cove Manor series.)

Jenna Bennett (aka Jennie Bentley & Bente Gallagher): Uncertain Terms (This will be the 12th in the Savannah Martin Mystery Series.)

Duffy Brown: Braking for Bodies (This will be the 2nd in the Cycle Path Mystery Series.)

Lucy Burdette (aka Roberta Isleib): Killer Takeout (This will be the 7th in the Key West Food Critic Mystery Series)

Susanna Calkins: A Death Along the River Fleet (This will be the 4th in the Lucy Campion Mystery Series.)

Janet Cantrell (aka Kaye George): Fat Cat Takes the Cake (This will be the 3rd in the Fat Cat Mystery Series.)

Elizabeth Lynn Casey (aka Laura Bradford): Needle and Dread (This will be the 11th in the Southern Sewing Circle Mystery Series.)

Dixie Cash: You Can Have My Heart, but Don’t Touch My Dog (This will be the 8th in the Domestic Equalizers Mystery Series.)

Mary Higgins Clark: As Time Goes By (This will be a Stand Alone mystery.)

Kate Collins: Moss Hysteria (This will be the 18th in the Flower Shop Mystery Series.)

Mary Daheim: Here Comes the Bribe (This will be the 30th in the Hillside Manor Bed & Breakfast Mystery Series.)

Kathi Daley: Barkley’s Treasure (This will be the 1st in the NEW TJ Jensen Southern Seashore Mystery Series.)

Phillip DePoy: Cold Florida (This will be the 1st in the NEW Foggy Moskowitz Mystery Series.)

Elizabeth J. Duncan: Murder on the Hour (This will be the 7th in the Penny Brannigan Mystery Series.)

Dawn Eastman: An Unhappy Medium (This will be the 4th in the Family Fortune Mystery Series.)

“Jessica Fletcher“, Donald Bain, & Renée Paley-Bain: Design for Murder (This will be the 46th in the Murder, She Wrote Mystery Series.)

Shamini Flint: A Frightfully English Execution (This will be the 7th in the Inspector Singh Investigates Mystery Series.)

Amanda Flower (aka Isabella Alan): Crime and Poetry (This will be the 1st in the NEW Magical Bookshop Mystery Series.)

Joanne Fluke: Eyes (This will be a Stand Alone mystery.)

Susan Furlong (aka Lucy Arlington): Rest in Peach (This will be the 2nd in the Georgia Peach Mystery Series.)

Eva Gates (aka Vicki Delany): Reading Up a Storm (This will be the 3rd in the Lighthouse Library Mystery Series)

Kaye George (aka Janet Cantrel): Requiem in Red (This will be the 2nd in the Cressa Carraway Musical Mystery Series)

Daryl Wood Gerber (aka Avery Aames): Girl on the Run (This will be a Stand Alone suspense.)

Debra H. Goldstein: Should Have Played Poker (This will be the 1st in the NEW Carrie Martin and the Mah Jongg Players Mystery Series.)

Karen Harper: The Covered Bridge (This will be the 4th in the Home Valley Amish Mystery Series.) (Originally, this was a novella in the 2012 Dark Crossings anthology by Patricia Davids, Karen Harper, & Marta Perry.)

Sherry Harris: All Murders Final (This will be the 3rd in the Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery Series.)

Veronica Heley: False Wall (This will be the 10th in the Abbott Agency Mystery Series.)

Suzette A. Hill: The Primrose Pursuit (This will be the 7th in the Reverand Oughterard Series.)

Iris Johansen: Hide Away (This will be the 19th in the Eve Duncan Mystery Series.)

Laurie R. King: The Murder of Mary Russell (This will be the 14th in the Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes Mystery Series.)

Edward Marston (aka Conrad Allen & Keith Miles): Steps to the Gallows (This will be the 2nd in the Bow Street Mystery Series.)

Edith Maxwell (aka Maddie Day & Tace Baker): Delivering the Truth (This will be the 1st in the NEW Quaker Midwife Mystery Series.)

Mary McHugh: Bossa Novas, Bikinis, and Bad Ends (This will be the 4th in the Happy Hoofers Mystery Series.)

Jenn McKinlay (aka Josie Belle & Lucy Lawrence): Vanilla Beaned (This will be the 8th in the Cupcake Bakery Mystery Series.)

Catriona McPherson: Quiet Neighbors (This will be a Stand Alone mystery.)

Katherine Hall Page: The Body in the Wardrobe (This will be the 23rd in the Faith Fairchild Mystery Series.)

Paula Paul (aka Paula Carter): For Dead Men Only (This will be the 5th in the Dr. Alexandra Gladstone Mystery Series.)

Marta Perry: Fallen in Plain Sight (This will be a novella in the Amish Suspense Series.) (Originally, this was a novella in the 2012 Dark Crossings anthology by Marta Perry, Karen Harper, & Patricia Davids.)

Spencer Quinn (aka Peter Abrahams): Arf (This will be the 2nd in the children’s Bowser and Birdie Mystery Series.)

Ann B. Ross: Miss Julia Inherits a Mess (This will be the 18th in the Miss Julia Mystery Series.)

Lisa Scottoline: Most Wanted (This will be a Stand Alone mystery.)

Karen Rose Smith: Silence of the Lamps (This will be the 5th in the Caprice De Luca Mystery Series.)

In case you would like to see this month’s releases: March 2016 Mystery Book New Releases.

These Cozies (and many more) that are scheduled to be released are 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.)

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