The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Four New-to-the-Site Mystery Authors: Maia Chance: Fairy Tale Fatal, Madison Johns: Agnes Barton, Loretta Ross: Auction Block, Tracy Weber: Downward Dog

Wow, I hadn’t realized how long it has been since I sat down and actually added new authors to the website! Would you believe it has been since September? Time sure does fly!

These four authors were recommended by Cozy Mystery readers >>> to be authors who belong on the Cozy Mystery site.

Maia Chance – Maia Chance is lives in Seattle, and is a Ph.D. candidate in English at the University of Washington. It shows in her writing, as both of her mystery series, the Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery Series and The Discreet Retrieval Agency Mystery Series use historical settings to strong effect.

Madison Johns – A former senior citizen care professional, Madison Johns is now a full-time Cozy author, as well as the owner of two dogs and a chameleon. Madison writes the Agnes Barton Senior Sleuths Mystery Series, the Agnes Barton Paranormal Mystery Series, the Cajun Cooking Mystery Series, and the Lake Witches Mystery Series.

Loretta Ross – Loretta Ross is a historian who live in rural Missouri. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Archaeology from the University of Missouri, Columbia. She writes the Auction Block Mystery Series.

Tracy Weber – A certified yoga therapist and the owner of a German Shepherd, it’s no surprise that Tracy Weber’s main character in her Downward Dog Mystery Series is both a yoga instructor and the owner of a German Shepherd of her own. Tracy grew up surrounded by animals on a dairy farm in Montana and has a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering and a Masters of Business Administration, and has worked as both a research engineer, an organizational consultant, and a group manager at Microsoft. Tracy lives in Seattle with her husband and her German Shepherd, Tasha.

You can find these authors, and hundreds more on my Cozy Mystery site.

Cozy Mystery with Longarm Quilting, Hidden Rooms, and Possibly the Midwest…

QuiltingI just went through my “BLOG Entries” list, which is comprised of Cozy Mystery readers’ questions and/or comments. I usually remember to delete the questions after I ask you all about them, but apparently, I don’t always remember to do that!

Getting back to the purpose of my entry…

Sher submitted a comment about a month ago asking us if we could come up with a book’s title. I wasn’t familiar with it, nor was anyone else who read her comment. Hopefully one of you will know the book she’s looking for!

I read a cozy about a lady who was involved in longarm quilting, murder mystery and the home she bought had hidden rooms. This was in 2013 that I read the book. Can anyone tell me who the writer might be and the book title. Sorry I can’t recall the lady’s name or where she was. I think it might have been mid west.

I’m sorry, Sher, but I don’t even know what “longarm quilting” is! Hopefully, another Cozy Mystery reader will know the author or the book’s title.

If you think you know the title of the book or its title, please post a comment. Thanks!

Cozy Mystery Series – Paranormal, Possibly Culinary, Not Georgia!

broomstickUpdate: Please see my “P.S.” at the bottom of this post.

I received an email from Adele quite a while back that asked for help in identifying a Cozy Mystery Series.

Adele:

… trying to find a book that I read a few years back… The book is now long gone, but I would like to read more of this author. And silly me, of course I forgot to write down the author’s name.

I think it was a cooking cozy mystery. I’m pretty sure it took place somewhere in Boston – New England in general, definitely not Georgia. There is magic involved as one of the characters kept trying to make the shop broomstick fly and eventually did and it chased the culprit down the street. The broomstick always comes back to the owner. The owner of the shop is the protagonist. I don’t remember if it was a pie shop, muffin shop or bakery shop.

Thanks for any clue or hint you can give me.

I wonder if any of you know who Adele might be thinking of. Her description sounds vaguely familiar to me, but the Cozy Mystery series that keeps coming to my mind is Bailey Cates’ Magical Bakery Mystery Series, and since it takes place in Georgia, it’s definitely not the one Adele is looking for.

If you think you may know who Adele is looking for, please post a comment. Thanks!

P.S. I can’t believe this! Ceelee Sunshine just pointed out that I actually did a question entry about this very same topic quite a while back! It turns out that the series is the Lizzy & Diesel Mystery Series by Janet Evanovich. (When I said “quite a while back” >>> I guess I really meant it! The earlier post is from 2013!)

Eight New Holiday Cozy Mysteries Coming in December 2015

As is usual for this time of the year, we can look forward to a good number of holiday-themed Cozies! Unsurprisingly (for December), most of these will be Christmas-themed holiday Cozies. But, this December we will also see an Oktoberfest Cozy and a Fourth of July Cozy. Hmmm… If you’re anything like me, you’ll be trying to make yourself wait to read those two non-Christmas Cozies until their appropriate seasons. However, lately it’s been getting harder and harder for me to hold off from reading them as they are released during the wrong holiday season!

First up is Amanda Carmack‘s Murder at Whitehall, the 4th in the Elizabethan Mystery Series. In this entry, Tudor-era Kate Haywood, personal musician to the queen, will not only need to use her professional skills to help entertain a number of visiting notable nobility in her official capacity, but also act unofficially to discover the identity of a blackmailer and also solve the murder of a visiting Spanish lord.

The next holiday Cozy up is Ornaments of Death, the 10th in Jane K. Cleland‘s Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery Series. This Christmas, Jane will be enjoying her holiday time in the coastal town of Rocky Point, New Hampshire, by hosting her annual holiday party. When a recently discovered relative (Ian) joins the party, she will need to solve the disappearance of not only Ian but also several priceless 17th century watercolor miniature portraits he had intended to give his daughter >>> and Josie’s good friend, Lavinia, is the most obvious culprit!

Next up will be The Iced Princess, the 2nd in Christine Husom‘s Snow Globe Shop Mystery Series. This book will continue the mystery solving adventures of Camryn Brooks, gift shop manager and snow globe workshop teacher. When a former high-school classmate asks for a job at least through the Christmas season, Camryn agrees to help her out despite the socialite not being exactly what she was hoping for in seasonal help. When Molly turns up dead in the shop, poisoned by a cup of coffee, Camryn feels responsible enough to help discover the culprit. Husom also writes the Winnebago County Mystery Series, a thriller series starring a deputy sheriff in Minnesota.

Another Christmas-themed Cozy coming out will be Sue Ann Jaffarian‘s The Ghost of Mistletoe Mary, a novella in the Ghost of Granny Apples Mystery Series. In this story, ghost Granny Apples and her descendant, medium Emma, will be asked by psychic private eye Jeremiah Jones to help look for a missing lady of the night – who a homeless man claims saw as a ghost recently. Is the woman dead, or merely missing? And can the trio find her before the end of the holiday season?

Joyce and Jim Lavene will be putting out Murder Fir Christmas, the 1st in the NEW Christmas Tree Valley Mystery Series. Since it is the first book in a new series, I’ve already discussed it in the New Cozy Series post (Two New Cozy Mystery Series Coming December 2015) for December. When Federal Wildlife Agent Bonnie Tuttle goes home to Christmas Tree Valley, Tennessee, to take over from agent Harvey Shelton, she’ll need to solve his mysterious death by shooting – especially surprising considering his body was also found in a fire. The Lavenes write many other series, including the Peggy Lee Garden Mystery Series, the Missing Pieces Mystery Series, and the Renaissance Faire Mystery Series, as well as other series under the pseudonyms Ellie Grant and J. J. Cook.

One of two non-Christmas themed mysteries coming out this December is Maddy Hunter‘s From Bad to Wurst, the 10th in the Passport to Peril Mystery Series,  which is an Oktoberfest themed mystery. This Oktoberfest, tour leader Emily will need to help get the group’s travels back on track when a fellow guest at a famous German beer house turns up dead. But the tour must go on, and the situation continues to worsen when the group moves on to visit the scenic castle of Mad King Ludwig.

Finally we have the other non-Christmas mystery, Lea Wait‘s Thread and Gone, a Fourth of July themed Cozy which will be the 3rd in the Mainely Needlepoint Mystery Series. This summer, Angie is asked to look over an antique piece of needlepoint and learn what she can to determine its value and history. As it appears to be quite valuable, she asks her family lawyer to put it in his safe. When the lawyer turns up dead and the safe empty, she feels responsible, and is determined to both hunt down the killer and ensure that the valuable piece of needlework is returned to its rightful owner.

These and other holiday-themed Cozy Mysteries can be found on their appropriate holiday theme pages:

Christmas Mystery Books

Halloween and Fall Themed Mystery Books

Fourth of July Mystery Books

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