The Cozy Mystery List Blog

Cozy Mystery with Huge Piano AND Cozy Mystery with Communion Wafer-Eating Cat…

January 13, 2016

Today I decided that since you all so quickly solve the mysteries that other Cozy Mystery readers ask about, I’d go ahead and ask for help in solving two Cozy Mystery readers’ questions.

catm Kathy:

I am trying to remember which book has the cat the breaks into the communion supplies at the church and steals the communion wafers. I keep thinking it’s Pewter (one of Harry’s cats in the Mrs. Murphy series). The preacher has 2 cats and I think one of them helps but I’m just not sure. Do you know which book it is? It might not even be Mrs. Murphy books. Just can’t remember.
Thank you
Kathy

AND

piano Susan:

…I read a book which as far as I can remember was about a young woman who inherits a relative’s place that is dominated by a huge piano. [The piano reveals something important when the relative’s murder is solved].

If you think you know the book Kathy is asking for about the cat or the book series/author Susan is asking for about the piano, please post a comment. Thank you!

Charlaine Harris: Aurora Teagarden Mystery Series

January 11, 2016

Some of you may know that I have been an Aurora Teagarden fan for many years. Yep, I’ve been a fan since way before the Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel started airing the Aurora Teagarden mystery movies. (Actually even way, way, way before there was even a Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel!) And I know there are many of you who have also been Aurora Teagarden fans, from way, way back.

A lot of us were very sad when Charlaine Harris stopped writing her Aurora Teagarden Mystery Series in lieu of her paranormal endeavors: Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire series and her Harper Connolly series. Granted, both of her paranormal series did very well, they just weren’t Aurora Teagarden!

So, for those of you who follow Aurora Teagarden, there’s great news! Charlaine Harris will be penning more for us >>> Aurora Teagarden will be back! All the Little Liars (the ninth mystery in the series) will be published in October (currently scheduled for then) and I’m hoping that even more will be following right behind!

Isn’t this great news?

Historical Cozy Mysteries Set in the 1920s

January 9, 2016

Flapper Recently I went back and revisited Carola Dunn‘s Daisy Dalrymple Mystery Series, and it got me thinking about the historical/period themed mysteries that are home to many Cozy Mysteries. I’ve already got a series of posts on these as a whole >>> but I’ve also been thinking lately how different the setting can make a series seem and how it might be nice to be able to help find similar novels based in this time period.

To help make that easier I’ve decided to begin making more focused themes for the site so people can find similar novels by setting more easily. This time we’ll be starting with the 1920s!

A period often called the “Roaring Twenties” in the United States, the 1920s are often characterized by wild times, prohibition, and flappers, but it was also a time for social change>>> women’s liberation made significant progress in particular, with women getting the right to vote in both the United States and Great Britain during the 1920s.

I’ve included some examples below – but if you’ve got any other examples of Cozy Mystery authors who have a series set in the 1920s, please be sure to send in a comment so I can include them in the list!

Cozy Mysteries set in the 1920s:

Suzanne Arruda: Jade del Cameron Mystery Series – Jade is an adventurer in Africa.

S.H. Baker: the Dassas Cormier Mystery Series takes place in Louisiana during the 1920s

George Baxt: Celebrity Sleuths Mystery Series – Not all of the books in this series take place during the 1920s, however several of them do.

K.K. Beck: The Iris Cooper & Jack Clancy Mystery Series is set during the late 1920s, so of course, it features a flapper.

Simon Brett: Blotto and Twinks Mystery Series – The sleuths in this series are a British brother and sister team.

Frances Brody: Kate Shackleton Mystery Series – Kate is a WWI widow in a British small milling village during the 1920s.

Maia Chance: Discreet Retrieval Agency Mystery Series – Lola Woodby is a 1920s society matron and widow.

Jill Churchill: Grace and Favor Mystery Series – Brother/sister sleuthing duo Lily and Robert Brewster start sleuthing after they lose all of their money in upstate New York.

Ellen Collier: Jazz Age Mystery Series – Jazz Cross is a society reporter.

Jeanne M. Dams: The Hilda Johansson Mystery Series takes place in the USA, during the early 1920s. Hilda is a Swedish immigrant housemaid in South Bend, Indiana.

Alice Duncan: Daisy Gumm Majesty Mystery Series – Daisy is a séance and tarot psychic in California.

Alice Duncan: Mercy Alcutt Mystery Series – Mercy is the owner of a rooming house in Hollywood.

Carola Dunn: The Daisy Dalrymple Mystery Series is set in 1920s England. Daisy is a journalist who does more than report the stories… she solves them!

R. Austin Freeman: Dr. Thorndyke Mysteries – Freeman is the creator of inverted detective stories in which you find out the crime and possibly the culprit at the beginning, and then read about the how the detective solved the crime.

Dolores Gordon-Smith: Jack Haldean Mystery Series – Jack was a Royal Flying Corps pilot and is currently a young crime writer in England.

Kerry Greenwood: The Phryne Fisher Mystery Series takes place in the 1920s in Australia. Phryne Fisher is a very “modern woman” who enjoys solving a mystery (or two!)

Melanie Jackson: Jane Blackthorn Mystery Series – Jane is a young widow/sleuth.

Laurie R. King: Harris Stuyvesant Mystery Series

Catriona McPherson: The Dandy Gilver Mystery Series has, as its sleuth, Dandy (Dandelion Dahlia Leston), a Scottish aristocrat in the 1920.

Mary Miley writes the Roaring Twenties Mystery Series which features an ex-Vaudeville/silent films actress in Hollywood during the 1920s.

J. J. Murphy: The Algonquin Round Table Mystery Series takes place in New York during the 1920s, and features author Dorothy Parker as its sleuth.

John Reisinger – Max Hurlock Mystery Series

Agata Stanford: Dorothy Parker Mystery Series – The sleuth in this series is non other than the famous real life author, Dorothy Parker.

Charles Todd: Ian Rutledge Mystery Series – Rutledge is a WW I veteran and Scotland Yard detective in England.

Jacqueline Winspear: Maisie Dobbs Mystery Series – Maisy is a psychologist/sleuth in London.

If you’re interested in seeing lots and lots of other Cozy Mystery themes (and by “lots” I truly mean lots!), be sure to visit the Cozy Mysteries by Themes page on my site.

Carola Dunn’s Daisy Dalrymple Mystery Series

January 5, 2016

I know it’s been a while since I last did one of these, but I thought I’d take the time to discuss another of the most recommended Cozy Mystery series that people really love >>> and for good reason! (I’m amongst the people who love it.)

This time I’ll be discussing a delightful period piece mystery series set in England during the 1920s, the Daisy Dalrymple Mystery Series by Carola Dunn. Daisy Dalrymple is a young upper-class woman who could be living in her family’s estate supported by relatives. Instead she works for a living, as a journalist >>> at least partially because she doesn’t want to be taking money from said relatives.

Still, she isn’t too proud to trade on her family name to help ensure at least a moderate amount of success >>> as she does in the first book in the series, Death at Wentwater Court, where she uses her family name to arrange an opportunity to begin a series of articles on country manor houses, beginning with a Christmas visit to Wentwater.

Of course, she isn’t the only guest for the holidays – the thoroughly unpleasant Lord Stephen Astwick also makes a surprise visit, half-invited by one of the sons of the household. As with any unlikable guest in a Cozy Mystery, it quickly develops that almost everyone in the house has a reason to dislike Lord Astwick >>> so it’s no surprise when he turns up dead in a tragic early morning skating accident. Of course, not all is as it seems, and when young Chief Inspector Alec Fletching turns up, Daisy is quick to point out that this just might not have been an accident at all.

One thing I particularly like about this series (beyond the setting – I’m partial to British Cozies, regardless of their time period) is that the relationship doesn’t seem particularly forced between Daisy and Alec. Death at Wentwater Court in particular does a fairly good job of working Daisy and Alec into a somewhat believable relationship, where Daisy’s involvement in the case seems to develop almost organically, without her necessarily pushing forward. Instead, pressed by a lack of manpower due to the holiday season and presented with a fellow “outsider” who seems reliable, the pair are forced to work together in a relatively natural fashion.

Since Carola Dunn’s Daisy Dalrymple Mystery Series is one of the most recommended Cozies in our monthly recommendations, I know there are lots of other Daisy Dalrymple-readers. If you’d like to add something to this entry, please post a comment. (I know it’s difficult to not add spoilers, but since some people will be starting the series, please try to not give away any of the future books’ action.) Thanks!

P.S. If you’re interested in other entries about some highly recommended Cozy Mystery series, you can see them on the Most Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page on my site.

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