The Cozy Mystery List Blog

Fashion Theme in Cozy Mystery Books

April 17, 2015

fashion I have added a few Cozy Mystery authors to the site who have fashionista sleuths. Last week, when I went to add one of them to my fashion theme, I realized I didn’t have one! I had a tentative fashion theme going, but I hadn’t finalized it for the site yet. I finally did that today. So, here goes:

Fashion theme in Cozy Mystery Books

Victoria Abbott (Mary Jane Maffini & Victoria Maffini): Book Collector Mystery Series – Jordan Kelly loves wearing vintage clothes..

Juliet Blackwell (aka Hailey Lind): Witchcraft Mystery Series – Lily Ivory owns a vintage clothing shop in San Francisco

Annette Blair: Vintage Magic Mystery Series – Madeira Cutler has renovated an old funeral home into her vintage clothing store.

Melissa Bourbon (aka Misa Ramirez): Magical Dressmaking Mystery Series – Harlow Cassidy is a fashion designer who owns her own boutique in Texas.

Sandra Bretting: Missy DuBois Mystery Series – Missy designs hats and sells them in her shop.

Duffy Brown: Consignment Shop Mystery Series – Reagan Summerside is the owner of the Prissy Fox Consignment Shop in Savannah, Georgia.

Ellen Byerrum: Crime of Fashion Mystery Series – Lacey Smithsonina is a fashion columnist.

Grace Carroll (aka Carol Culver): Accessories Mystery Series – Rita Jewel is a salesperson at a high-end San Francisco boutique.

Elizabeth Lynn Casey (aka Laura Bradford): Southern Sewing Circle Mysteries – Tori Sinclair is a librarian in South Carolina and she is also a member of a sewing circle.

Cassandra Chan: Village Affairs – A high-fashion shoot is one of the settings in this mystery.

Jane K. Cleland: Deadly Threads – Josie Prescott is teaching a class on vintage clothing at her New Hampshire antiques shop.

Barbara Jean Coast: Poppy Cove Mystery Series – Daphne and Margot own a dress shop called Poppy Cove.

Sophie Dunbar: Fashion Victims – Frank and Ava Bernstein find themselves in the middle of a murder investigation at a Hollywood fashion show.

Elizabeth J. Duncan: Shakespeare in the Catskills Mystery Series – Charlotte Fairfax is a costume designer in New York.

Kathy Lynn Emerson (aka Kaitlyn Dunnett): Murder in the Queen’s Wardrobe – Rosamund Jaffrey is a Lady in Waiting for Queen Elizabeth (not the current queen, but her 16th century namesake) and she’s also the queen’s spy.

Dorothy Gilman: Mrs. Pollifax Mystery Series – This series isn’t about fashion, rather the senior citizen and spy, Mrs. Pollifax >>> who is most comfortable when sporting a big hat!

Chloe Green: Dallas O’Connor Mystery Series – Dallas O’Connor is a fashion stylist in Texas.

Gemma Halliday: High Heels Mystery Series – Maddie Springer is a shoe designer sleuth.

Sadie Hartwell (aka Susannah Hardy): Tangled Web Mystery Series – Josie Blair is a former fashion designer.

Dorothy Howell: Haley Randolph Mystery Series – California sleuth Haley simply can’t get enough handbags!

Susan Kandel: CeCe Caruso Mystery Series – CeCe is a biographer of detective mystery writers who is really into vintage clothes.

Kylie Logan (aka Miranda Bliss & Casey Daniels): Button Box Mystery Series – Josie Giancola is a vintage & antique button expert who owns a vintage button shop in Chicago.

Meg London (aka Peg Cochran): Sweet Nothings Vintage Lingerie Mystery Series – Emma Taylor is a stylist in Paris … Tennessee.

Nancy Martin: Blackbird Sisters Mystery Series – Nora loves (and wears) her grandmother’s extensive collection of haute couture.

Rosemary Martin (aka Rosemary Stevens): Murder A-Go-Go Mystery Series – Bebe Bennett works at a modeling agency as a secretary in New York. With a series title like this one, I’ll let you guess the decade!

Judi McCoy: Fashion Faux Paw – Ellie Engleman and her Yorkie (Rudy) have to find out who supplied the peanuts at New York’s Fashion Week’s model-with-dog fashion show.

Jenn McKinlay (aka Josie Belle & Lucy Lawrence): Hat Shop Mystery Series – Floridian Scarlett Parker and her British cousin (Viv Tremont) inherit their grandmother’s hat shop in London.

Kate Parker: Milliner Mystery Series – Emily Gates is the milliner sleuth who has to resort to robbing her clients who won’t pay for their hats – during the early 1900s in London.

Rose Pressey: Haunted Vintage Mystery Series – Cookie Chanel owns It’s Vintage Y’All, a vintage clothing store in Sugar Creek, Georgia.

S.J. Rozan: Mandarin Plaid – Lydia Chin is on the search for a fashion designer’s design book with designs that are worth a lot of money.

Sofie Ryan (aka Sofie Kelly): Second Chance Cat Mystery Series – Sarah’s best friend owns the Second Chance second-hand shop that carries vintage clothes.

Angela M. Sanders: Vintage Clothing Mystery Series – Joanna Hayworth owns a vintage clothing store in Portland.

Rosemary Stevens (aka Rosemary Martin): Beau Brummell Mystery Series – Beau Brummell is a Regency era (1790 – 1820) fashion expert in London.

Fran Stewart: ScotShop Mystery Series – Peggy Winn sells Scottish kilts and describes the different plaids of the clans.

Susan Sundwall: Minnie Markwood Mystery Series – Minnie’s sidekick Rashawna is a fashonista.

Kari Lee Townsend: Mind Reader Mystery Series – Kalli Ballas has the ability to read minds. She is a fashion designing sleuth.

Diane Vallere: Material Witness Mystery Series – Poly (as in Polyester) is a dress designer at her family’s California store.

Diane Vallere: Mad for Mod Mystery Series – Madison Night is an interior decorator whose clothes are items you could have found in Doris Day’s closet during the Doris Day/Rock Hudson days.

Diane Vallere: Style & Error Mystery Series – Samantha Kidd used to be a fashion buyer.

Elaine Viets: Mystery Shopper Mystery Series – Josie Marcus is a plain clothes detective who goes to a wide range of stores, from high-end fashion boutiques to pet stores.

fashiona I hope you stop by the theme page on my site. With all of the themes I have (and I have lots!), I’m pretty certain you can find a few you’re interested in. Here’s the Cozy Mysteries by Theme page on my site. Just click on the link and it will take you to it.

If you know of any other Cozy Mystery series that have a fashion theme, please post a comment so I can include it/them on the list. Thank you!

What Attracts You to a New-to-You Cozy Mystery Author?

April 15, 2015

Searching for a Book I have often wondered what it is that makes me try out a new-to-me Cozy Mystery Series. With so many Cozy series out there, why do I end up trying some, and not others? I know there is no science involved in my selection process, but what is it that makes me try a Cozy Mystery author who I have never read before?

Hmmm…

After thinking about this, I came up with some things that help me decide whether a series looks like something I would enjoy spending a lot of time reading, or not:

1. Your Recommendations >>> I think that this is by far the most important factor for me. Some of you write monthly recommendations that make me immediately go and buy the first Cozy in a series. There are recommendations that almost “make me have to try” a series.

2. Sleuth >>> Let’s see, what do I mean by the sleuth? Well, upon looking at my favorite Cozy Mystery series, I like my sleuths to be smart women, although I have a few exceptions like Hercule Poirot and Roderick Alleyn. I tend to go for sleuths who have been around, who have living experiences from which to draw. I don’t mean that all my sleuths are senior citizens, but I do like my sleuths to be usually be the one whose friends know they can rely on.

3. Theme >>> I know it almost sounds over-redundant to mention the theme as being important, now that almost every series has a theme of some sort. This does not mean I won’t read a Cozy that has a theme I”m not interested in, but I do sort of seek out themes that match my own interests. I’m not particularly crazy about cooking, but I read several culinary Cozy Mystery themes. On the other hand, I enjoy needlework, so I usually try every needlework Cozy series that hits the shelves. I love holiday themes, so if an author has a lot of them, I will try his/her Cozies. The theme list goes on and on.

4. Book Cover >>> To some of you this might sound weird, but some Cozy book covers sort of “speak to me”. And lately, the publishers seem to have me in mind! Have any of you noticed how cozy the new Cozy book covers look? I have! When I look for the book covers to put on my site, I sometimes cannot get over how incredibly neat some of the covers are. I admit that I prefer the covers by artists over the photographs, but lately even the photos have been enticing.

So that’s how I find new Cozy Mystery authors to try, how about you? What method do you use to decide on a new-to-you Cozy Mystery author to try?

Guideposts’ Secrets of Blue Hill Library Mystery Series and Mysteries of Silver Peak Mystery Series

April 13, 2015

I just added two Cozy Mystery series to the site which both happen to come from Guideposts.

Mysteries of Silver Peak Mystery Series This series is written by Carole Jefferson. Sadie Speers is the sleuth in this series, and she owns the Antique Mine antiques shop in Silver Peak, Colorado. Silver Peak is a quaint little town that used to be a mining town. Sadie likes to provide background research with the antiques she sells in her shop. Sometimes the histories of the antique items have mysteries associated with them, which Sadie then, after switching into her sleuthing mode, solves! (A Mountain of Mystery is the first in the Mysteries of Silver Peak Mystery Series.)

Secrets of Blue Hill Library Mystery Series This series is written by Emily Thomas. The sleuth, Anne Gibson, is converting the old Victorian house her great-aunt Edie left to her. The house is destined to become the town’s library, just as her Aunt Edie had requested. Anne is a young mother of a nine-year old boy and she has been left widowed. In the first Cozy Mystery of the series Anne finds a hidden room while she is converting the Victorian into a library. (Nowhere to Be Found is the first in the Secrets of Blue Hill Library Mystery Series.)

Guideposts is a company that specializes in “Inspiration. Faith. Hope.” Over the years I have heard from Cozy Mystery readers who enjoy these series a lot. I have several Guideposts mystery series on my site: Church Choir Mysteries Series, Miracles of Marble Cove Mystery Series, Mysteries of Silver Peak Series, Mysteries of Sparrow Island Series, Mystery and the Minister’s Wife Series, Patchwork Mystery Series, Secrets of Blue Hill Library Mystery Series, and Secrets of Mary’s Bookshop Mystery Series. I also have a few of the Guideposts non mystery series on the site: Home to Heather Creek Series, Stories from Hope Haven Series, and Tales from Grace Chapel Inn. This past week I was trying to come up with a way to list all of the Guideposts series (both their mysteries as well as their non mystery series) and I decided to go ahead and make a Guideposts page that has all of the different series listed, with links to their corresponding pages on the site.

Guideposts Mystery Series (and Non Mystery Series)

Thank you, Barb E.! Barb and I have sort of become Cozy Mystery reader pen-pals, although I have to admit that Barb is much better than I am about keeping in touch! Because of Barb, I have been able to find out about new Cozy Mystery series that come from mail-order clubs. Many of which I have listed on my No Swearing/No Profanity Cozy Mystery list.

Last month, Barb sent me a list of lots of Cozy Mysteries from Guideposts. Not only did she give me the titles and authors of some of the books I was missing from these mail-order Cozy Mystery series, but she also told me about the above two Guideposts series.

Again, Barb E, thank you for all of your help!

Upstairs, Downstairs Television Series

April 10, 2015

I was thinking back about some of the best television series I have watched, and Upstairs, Downstairs immediately came to mind. I have watched this series three times, and think it’s one of the best period piece series ever made. Sure, it is from the 1970s, so the production values aren’t what they aren’t anything like today’s slick looks. However, the story line and acting are (in my opinion) much better than most television series.

Upstairs, Downstairs is yet another dazzling jewel in British period-piece television productions. The show initially ran in the USA on Masterpiece Theatre in the early 1970s. It is set in Edwardian London, and features the life of all who inhabited “165 Eaton Place.”

The “Upstairs” at this opulent residence consists of an aristocrat family. The Bellamy family hob-nobs with all of England’s wealthy. The patriarch is a member of Parliament, and as such, entertains many of the ruling class. His wife is a perfect hostess, and is the one who brings the title and money into the family.

The “Downstairs” is comprised of many house maids, a chauffeur, the cooking staff, and a very competent & efficient butler at the top of the working people’s hierarchy. Mr. Hudson (the butler) runs all of the tasks required to keep the household running smoothly. Of course, there are sometimes mishaps, but Mr. Hudson is quick to get things back on track.

Upstairs, Downstairs follows the lives of the Bellamy family and their staff. The set is realistic, opulent, with deep, rich-colored furniture and curtains. The wardrobe, hair and make-up are exactly as I would have expected of the early 1900s.

Jean Marsh, the actress who plays Rose (the head parlour maid) is one of the two creators of the series. Her co-creator, is a fellow actress, Eileen Atkins. The London Weekend Television is the production company responsible for this beautiful, interesting view of life in London during the first thirty years of the twentieth century.

For me, Upstairs, Downstairs works so well because of the head of the family, Richard Bellamy, with his extremely kind nature. Because this member of Parliament is such an honorable man, his household is a place where even the lowest on the totem pole (the scullery maid ?) is treated fairly. Perhaps the reason for Richard Bellamy’s good nature toward the household staff is because he was not born into the aristocracy, he simply married into it.

The two “Downstairs bosses” (so to speak) are the butler (excellently portrayed by Gordon Jackson) and the cook (delightfully played by Angela Baddeley). All the acting is superb. It is such a treat to see Pauline Collins (Sarah) & John Alderton (Thomas) in this production from the 1970s, who incidentally, have been married since the late 1960s.

I strongly recommend Upstairs, Downstairs – especially seasons 1, 2 & 3. In 2010, the BBC brought Upstairs, Downstairs back. Unfortunately Rose (Jean Marsh) was the only character from the “real” Upstairs, Downstairs cast. To me, this didn’t fit in with the original Upstairs, Downstairs television series I have loved for many years. However, keep in mind that this was released in the 1970s, so don’t expect the visuals of today’s pieces.

P.S. It is available on Netflix. This is not a mystery series.

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