The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Favorite Valentine’s Day Cozy Mysteries

Valentine's DayAs in real life, it is a bit odd in Cozies that what I would consider the “big” holidays are all sort of scrunched together at the end of the year. Starting with Halloween, stretching through Thanksgiving, and ending with the double punch of Christmas and New Year’s Eve, the four biggest holidays for Cozy Mysteries are all within 2 months of each other!

That said, it would be a real shame to ignore the other holidays through the year, even if many of them don’t have the “big” nature of the year-end holidays.

So, considering this is February, what are some of your favorite Valentine’s Day Themed Cozies? Are there any in particular that you are reading right now?

As I’m sure most of you are aware, I of course have a Valentine’s Day Mystery Book List on the site already. If after looking through that list you are aware of another Valentine’s Day themed Cozy that hasn’t already been listed there, please be sure to post a comment. Thank you!

Avery Aames (aka Daryl Wood Gerber): As Gouda as Dead

Kate Carlise: This Old Homicide

Isis Crawford (aka Barbara Block): A Catered Valentine’s Day

Joanne Fluke: Peach Cobbler Murder

Lee Harris: The Valentine’s Day Murder

Lee Hollis: Death of a Chocoholic

Leslie Meier: Valentine Murder

Leslie Meier: Chocolate Covered Murder

Karen Rose Smith: Gilt by Association

Do You Remember All of Your New Favorite Series’ Characters’ Identities?

RememberThe other day, MJ posted a comment that caught my eye. She had attached it to the bottom of her monthly recommendations, but I thought it was such a good comment, that I wanted to be sure ALL of us would see it.

MJ:

We’ve had discussions on this blog about whether to read books in a series all at once, or space them out yearly, as they are published. I’ve noticed that when I start a new series, I lose track of the characters a whole year later when the second book is published.

So I’ve been contemplating waiting until the second book is released before starting to read the first one. Then if I read them a week or two (or even a month) apart, I’ll at least remember the characters and will be able to get into successive books much more quickly. Does anyone else have these same ‘memory’ problems when starting a new series, or is it just me?

MJ, rest assured, you are not alone! But, let’s see what other Cozy Mystery readers have to say.

How about you, do you have trouble keeping all your new Cozy characters straight? Does it help you to read the first two books in a series consecutively so that you can better remember the characters and settings? Please post a comment. Thanks!

Three New Cozy Mystery Series Coming March 2016

March will be bringing us three great-looking new Cozy Mystery series to look forward to:

First up will be Joyce and Jim Lavene‘s Those Who Walk In Darkness, the beginning of the Jacks Jackson Mystery Series. In this book, Julia “Jacks” Jackson is a young woman whose fiance was killed three years ago by a mysterious shooter. Determined to get justice (or perhaps just vengeance), Jacks is now a Pinkerton agent, pretending to be a man, to use their information network to hunt down the killer. Joyce and Jim Lavene also write as J.J. Cook & Ellie Grant, and have written multiple series, including the Missing Pieces Mystery Series starring a mayor, the Renaissance Faire Mystery Series, set at a renaissance fair, and the Retired Witches Mystery Series, starring a pair of retired witches who run a curio shop.

Next will be Paige Shelton‘s The Cracked Spine, the first in the new Scottish Bookshop Mystery Series. This book will introduce us to Delaney Nichols, who has uprooted her life to move across the world to Edinburgh, Scotland, to start a new job at Cracked Spine, a bookshop. When the sister of her new boss dies unexpectedly, Delaney will need to help solve the murder if she wants to keep the new life she’s building for herself. Paige Shelton also writes the Farmers’ Market Mystery Series, starring a farm owner, and the Country Cooking School Mystery Series, starring a pair of cooking school instructors in Missouri.

Finally will be The Ninth Life, the first in Clea Simon‘s new Blackie and Care Mystery Series. This series will star Blackie the cat (and narrator of the story) and Care, a pink-haired homeless teenager. Blackie will need to help Care bring to justice those responsible for the murder of Care’s mentor . Clea Simon also writes the Dulcie Schwartz Mystery Series, starring a grad student and the ghost of her cat, the Pru Marlowe, Pet Noir Mystery Series, starring an animal behaviorist and psychic, and the Theda Krakow Mystery Series, starring a music writer and her cat. (Clea Simon might like cats!)

These and many more upcoming series can be found on the New Cozy Mystery Book Series page, as can upcoming Cozy mysteries of new and old series on the Soon to Be Released Mysteries page on my Cozy-Mystery site.

March 2016 Mystery Book New Releases

The following Mystery Books will be released in March 2016:

Sparkle Abbey: Raiders of the Lost Bark (This will be the 8th in the Pampered Pets Mystery Series.)

Tess Arlen: Death Sits Down to Dinner (This will be the 2nd in the Lady Montfort Mystery Series.)

Maggie Barbieri: Lie in Plain Sight (This will be the 3rd in the Maeve Conlon Mystery Series.)

Maeve Binchy: A Few of the Girls (This will be a collection of some of Maeve Binchy’s writing. Not a mystery.)

Gail Bowen: What’s Left Behind (This will be the 16th in the Joanne Kilbourn Mystery Series.)

Rhys Bowen: Time of Fog and Fire (This will be the 16th in the Molly Murphy Mystery Series.)

Laura Bradford (aka Elizabeth Lynn Casey): A Churn for the Worse (This will be the 5th in the Amish Mystery Series.)

Simon Brett: The Killing in the Cafe (This will be the 17th in the Fethering Mystery Series.)

Emily Brightwell: Mrs. Jeffries Wins the Prize (This will be the 34th in the Mrs. Jeffries Mystery Series.)

Laura Childs: Devonshire Scream (This will be the 17th in the Tea Shop Mystery Series.)

Harlan Coben: Fool Me Once (This will be a Stand-Alone mystery.)

Lesley Cookman: Murder Dancing (This will be the 16th in the Libby Sarjeant Mystery Series.)

Clive Cussler & Justin Scott: The Gangster (This will be the 9th in the Isaac Bell Mystery Series.)

Kathi Daley: Murder at Dolphin Bay (This will be the 1st in the NEW Sand and Sea Hawaiian Mystery Series.)

Kathi Daley: New Beginnings – Phyllis (This will be the 2nd novella in the Zimmerman Academy spinoff of the Zoe Donovan Mystery Series.

Jeffery Deaver: The Steel Kiss (This will be the 12th in the Lincoln Rhyme Mystery Series.)

Sharon Dunn: Mistaken Target (This will be a Love Inspired Suspense Stand Alone mystery.)

Kate Dyer-Seeley (aka Ellie Alexander): Silenced in the Surf (This will be the 3rd in the Pacific Northwest Mystery Series.)

Christopher Fowler: London’s Glory (This will be a Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery Series collection of short stories.)

Susanna Gregory: The Chelsea Strangler (This will be the 11th in the Thomas Chaloner Mystery Series.)

Lee Hollis: Death of a Bacon Heiress (This will be the 7th in the Hayley Powell Food & Cocktails Mystery Series.)

J.A. Jance: Clawback (This will be the 11th in the Ali Reynolds Mystery Series.)

Laurie R. King: The Marriage of Mary Russell (This will be a Mary Russell & Sherlock Holmes story.)

Joyce and Jim Lavene (aka J.J. Cook & Ellie Grant): Those Who Walk In Darkness (This will be the 1st in the NEW Jacks Jackson Mystery Series.)

Donna Leon: The Waters of Eternal Youth (This will be the 25th in the Guido Brunetti Mystery Series.)

Kylie Logan (aka Miranda Bliss & Casey Daniels): And Then There Were Nuns (This will be the 4th in the League of Literary Ladies Mystery Series.)

Lisa Lutz: The Passenger (This will be a Stand-Alone thriller.)

Karen MacInerney: Mother Knows Best (This will be the 2nd in the Margie Peterson Mystery Series.)

G.A. McKevett: Killer Reunion (This will be the 21st in the Savannah Reid Series.)

Carlene O’Neil: Ripe for Murder (This will be the 2nd in the Cypress Cove Mystery Series.)

James Patterson & Mark Sullivan: Private Paris (This will be the 9th in the Private Mystery Series.)

Anne Perry: Treachery at Lancaster Gate (This will be the 31st in the Thomas & Charlotte Pitt Series.)

Paige Shelton: The Cracked Spine (This will be the 1st in the NEW Scottish Bookshop Mystery Series.)

Clea Simon: When Bunnies Go Bad (This will be the 6th in the Pru Marlowe Mystery Series.)

Clea Simon: The Ninth Life (This will be the 1st in the NEW Blackie and Care Mystery Series.)

Joanna Campbell Slan: All Washed Up (This will be the 3rd in the Cara Mia Delgatto Mystery Series.)

Denise Swanson: Between a Book and a Hard Place (This will be the 5th in the Devereaux’s Dime Store Mystery Series.)

Jacqueline Winspear: Journey to Munich (This will be the 12th in the Maisie Dobbs Mystery Series.)

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

I have lots and lots of  Cozies that are scheduled to be released so please click on this link to go to the Soon to be Released Mysteries page on the site.

(These are the mysteries by authors who are currently on the Cozy Mystery site.)

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