The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Favorite Dogs in Cozy Mysteries

vallere111111111111111f;agjpajgpjRecently I posted a blog about some of our favorite cats featured in Cozy Mysteries, and I thought it would only be fair to give the same treatment to our other four-legged friends, dogs. Naturally, we’ve already got a Dog Themed Mysteries List, but here I’m hoping to be both more selective and less in a way – more selective because we’re only talking about our favorites, and less because we can talk about dogs that aren’t necessarily the stars of the show, so to speak, but instead favorite side characters.

To get the ball rolling, I’m going to say one of my current personal favorites >>> Rocky, the adorable Shih Tzu from Diane Vallere‘s Mad for Mod Mystery Series. Rocky is named after one of his owner’s favorite actors, Rock Hudson. (Some of you know that I’m mad for Doris Day/Rock Hudson movies!) Though only a minor character of the series, he helps bring a charm and life to his owner’s time away from murder and intrigue, helping give the series a much more real feeling while also amusing us with his adorable antics.

So, what are some of your favorite dogs in Cozy mysteries? Let me know in the comments below, so I can start up a list of our most favorite canine crime-solving companions!

Here’s a list of our favorite Dogs in Cozy Mystery Series:

Victoria Abbot: Book Collectors Mystery Series: Walter & Cobain

Ellery Adams: Books by the Bay mysteries: Captain Haviland

Isabella Alan (aka Amanda Flower): Amish Quilt Shop mysteries: Oliver

Barbara Allan: Trash ’n’ Treasure mysteries: Sushi

Donna Andrews: Meg Langslow mysteries: Spike

Donna Ball: Raine Stockton mysteries: Cisco

Laurien Berenson: Melanie Travis: Faith and Hope

Heather Blake (aka Heather Webber): Wishcraft mysteries: Missy

Emily Brightwell: Mrs. Jeffries mysteries: Fred

Rita Mae Brown: Mrs. Murphy Mystery Series: Tee Tucker

Rita Mae Brown: Fox Hunting mysteries: Diana

Leslie Budewitz: Seattle Spice Shop mysteries: Arf

Laura Childs: Tea Shop mysteries: Earl Grey

Laura Childs: Scrapbooking mysteries: Boo and Poobah

Margaret Coel: Wind River mysteries: Walks On Three Legs

Krista Davis: Domestic Diva mysteries: Daisy

Krista Davis: Paws and Claws mysteries: Trixie

Janet Evanovich: Stephanie Plum mysteries: Bob

Carolyn Haines: Sarah Booth Delaney mysteries: Chablis

Dashiell Hammett: Thin Man mysteries: Asta

Linda O’Johnston: Pet Rescue mysteries: Zoey

Annie Knox (aka Wendy Lyn Watson): Pet Boutique mysteries: Packer

Amanda Lee (aka Gayle Trent): Embroidery mysteries: Angus O’Ruff

Virginia Lowell: Cookie Cutter Shop mysteries: Spunky

Judi McCoy: Dog Walker mysteries: Rudy

Laura Morrigan: Call of the Wilde mysteries: Moss

Leigh Perry (aka Toni L.P. Kelner): Family Skeleton mysteries: Byron

Spencer Quinn (aka Peter Abrahams): Chet and Bernie mysteries: Chet

Maggie Sefton: Knitting mysteries: Carl

Karen Rose Smith: Caprice DeLuca mysteries: Lady

Diane Vallere: Mad for Mod mysteries: Rocky

Tracy Weber: Downward Dog mysteries: Bella

♦To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme click on this link.♦

Three New Holiday Releases Coming April 2015 – Fourth of July, Mother’s Day, and Christmas!

Three of our favorite Cozy authors will be releasing holiday-themed mysteries this April! Let’s jump right into them!

First, Nancy Coco will be releasing a Fourth of July themed mystery, Oh Say Can You Fudge, the third entry in the Candy-Coated Mystery Series. This Fourth of July, Allie McMurphy, owner of the Historic McMurphy Hotel and Fudge Shop, plans to hire an aerial skywriter for a holiday display… but he turns up murdered! Allie will need to get to the bottom of this mystery fast, before she (and the rest of the island) can enjoy their independence day! Nancy Coco also writes the Baker’s Treat Mystery Series and the Perfect Proposals Mystery Series as Nancy J. Parra.

The second holiday mystery will be Isis Crawford‘s A Catered Mother’s Day, the 11th book in her Mystery with Recipes Series. This entry in the holiday-themed series will focus on Mother’s Day, and the returning mystery-solving adventures of sisters Bernie & Libby Simmons, owners of A Little Taste of Heaven Catering and Bake Shop. When what starts out as a friends’ ill-conceived but harmless ploy for attention from her family uncovers murder, the sisters will need to work fast to get their friend out of trouble! Isis Crawford also writes the Robin Light Mystery Series as Barbara Block.

The third holiday Cozy will be about the most popular holiday for Cozies – Christmas! Margaret Grace‘s Manhattan in Miniature will be the eighth adventure for Geraldine (Gerry) Porter, miniatures enthusiast, who is taking her granddaughter Maggie to a big craft fair in New York. But will the two detectives be able to discover the truths behind the death that will no doubt coincidentally occur on their visit to the Big Apple? Margaret Grace also writes the Periodic Table Mystery Series as Camille Minichino, the Sophie Knowles Mystery Series as Ada Madison, and the Post Office Mystery Series as Jean Flowers.

Originally I thought we had four new Cozy Mystery holiday themed books that would be released in April. However, I contacted Ann B. Ross to make sure her Miss Julia Lays Down the Law is truly a Christmas themed mystery. She very kindly responded telling me that Miss Julia Lays Down the Law is set in the cold of November and the ladies are getting together to make Christmas ornaments to sell at the Christmas bazaar, but it’s not a Christmas themed mystery.

Laura DiSilverio’s Readaholics Book Club Mysteries & Vineyard Quilt Mysteries: Two New Cozy Series Coming April 2015!

Looks like we’ll be looking forward to the first releases for two NEW Cozy Mystery series coming out in April 2015!

First up will be the first entry of Laura DiSilverio‘s Readaholics Book Club Mystery Series, The Readaholics and the Falcon Fiasco. The Readaholics series will star Amy-Faye Johnson, an event planner in the scenic mountain town of Heaven, Colorado, as well as a member of the Readaholics Book Club. When one of the other Readaholics dies a sudden and suspicious death, it will be up to Amy-Faye to help crack the case and discover what happened to her friend! Laura DiSilverio also writes the Charlie Swift and Mall Cop Mystery Series, as well as the Southern Beauty Shop Mystery Series as Lila Dare and the Ballroom Dance Mystery Series as Ella Barrick.

The other new book isn’t by one author, but by two >>> Mae Fox and Jan Fields will be putting out Threads of Deceit, the first book in the Vineyard Quilt Mystery Series. (This is yet another in the Annie’s Crafts Company’s Cozy Mystery series. I have been listing the Annie’s Crafts Company series ever since a Cozy Mystery reader told me about these series which do not contain profanity. Annie’s Crafts Company also publishes the Annie’s Attic, Annie’s Quilted Mysteries, Annie’s Mysteries Unraveled, & the Creative Woman Mystery Series.) The Vineyard Quilt series will feature Mae Fox and a different co-author every book, as she works with the guest author to tell another story in the tales of Julie Ellis, former antiquities bounty hunter and current manager of quilt-themed inn, Quilt Haus Inn, situated in Missouri’s scenic Wine Country. When a corpse is found at the dig site for a famous sunken ship at a nearby farm, Julie will need to use her old expertise to help try to pin down the murderer!

April 2015 Mystery Book New Releases

Murder, She Wrote: Killer in the Kitchen by Donald Bain & "Jessica Fletcher"

The following Mystery Books will be released in April 2015:

Ellery Adams (aka J.B. Stanley & Jennifer Stanley): Lemon Pies and Little White Lies (This will be the 4th in the Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery Series.)

Susan Wittig Albert (aka 1/2 of Robin Paige): Bittersweet (This will be the 23rd in the China Bayles Mystery Series.)

Barbara Allan: Antiques Swap (This will be the 9th in the Trash ‘n’ Treasures Mystery Series.)

Nancy Atherton: Aunt Dimity and the Summer King (This will be the 15th in the Aunt Dimity Mystery Series.)

Donald Bain & “Jessica Fletcher”: Killer in the Kitchen (This will be the 43rd in the Murder, She Wrote Mystery Series.)

David Baldacci: Memory Man (This will be the 1st in the NEW Amos Decker Mystery Series.)

Christy Barritt: Gone by Dark (This will be the 2nd in the Carolina Moon Mystery Series.)

Duffy Brown: Demise in Denim (This will be the 5th in the Consignment Mystery Series.)

Mollie Cox Bryan: Scrappily Ever After (This will be a Cumberland Creek Mystery Series novella.)

Susanna Calkins: The Masque of a Murderer (This will be the 3rd in the Lucy Campion Mystery Series.)

Anne Canadeo (aka Katherine Spencer): The Postman Always Purls Twice (This will be the 7th in the Black Sheep Knitting Mystery Series.)

Elizabeth Lynn Casey (aka Laura Bradford): Wedding Duress(This will be the 10th in the Southern Sewing Circle Mystery Series.)

Kate Charles: False Tongues (This will be the 4th in the Callie Anson Mystery Series.)

Mary Higgins Clark: The Melody Lingers On (This will be a Stand Alone Mystery.)

Nancy Coco (aka Nancy J. Parra): Oh Say Can You Fudge (This will be the 3rd in the Candy-coated Mystery Series.) (This will be a Fourth of July theme mystery.)

Amanda Cooper (aka Victoria Hamilton & Donna Lea Simpson): Shadow of a Spout (This will be the 2nd in the Teapot Collector Mystery Series.)

Elizabeth Spann Craig (aka Elizabeth Craig & Riley Adams): A Body at Bunco (This will be the 8th in the Myrtle Clover Mystery Series.)

Isis Crawford (aka Barbara Block): A Catered Mother’s Day (This will be the 11th in the Mystery with Recipes Mystery Series.) (This is a Mother’s Day theme mystery.)

Jessie Crockett: A Sticky Situation (This will be the 3rd in the Sugar Grove Mystery Series.)

Ellen Crosby: Ghost Image (This will be the 2nd in the Sophie Medina Mystery Series.)

Mary Daheim: The Alpine Zen (This will be the 26th in the Emma Lord Mystery Series.)

Kathi Daley: Matrimony Meltdown (This will be the 13th in the Zoe Donovan Mystery Series.)

Christine DeSmet: Five-Alarm Fudge (This will be the 3rd in the Fudge Shop Mystery Series.)

Laura DiSilverio (aka Lila Dare & Ella Barrick): The Readaholics and the Falcon Fiasco (This will be the 1st in the NEW Readaholics Book Club Mystery Series.)

Alice Duncan: Thanksgiving Angels (This will be the 5th in the Mercy Allcutt Mystery Series.)

Elizabeth J. Duncan: Slated for Death (This will be the 6th in the Penny Brannigan Mystery Series.)

Dawn Eastman: A Fright to the Death (This will be the 3rd in the Family Fortune Mystery Series.)

“Jessica Fletcher” & Donald Bain: Killer in the Kitchen (This will be the 43rd in the Murder, She Wrote Mystery Series.)

G.M. Ford: Threshold (This will be the 1st in the NEW Mickey Dolan Mystery Series.) (not Cozy)

Margaret Grace (aka Ada Madison & Camille Minichino): Manhattan in Miniature (This will be the 8th in the Miniature Mystery Series.) (This is a Christmas themed mystery.)

Dee Henderson: Taken (This will be a Stand Alone mystery.)

Joan Hess (aka Joan Hadley): Pride v. Prejudice (This will be the 20th in the Claire Malloy Mystery Series.)

Iris Johansen: Your Next Breath (This will be the 3rd in the Catherine Ling Mystery Series.)

Joyce and Jim Lavene (aka J.J. Cook & Ellie Grant): Dead Girl Blues (This will be the 3rd in the Taxi for the Dead Mystery Series.)

Amanda Lee (aka Gayle Trent): Wicked Stitch (This will be the 8th in the Embroidery Mystery Series.)

Donna Leon: Falling in Love (This will be the 24th in the Guido Brunetti Mystery Series.)

Jenn McKinlay (aka Josie Belle & Lucy Lawrence): Dark Chocolate Demise (This will be the 7th in the Cupcake Bakery Mystery Series.)

James Patterson & Peter de Jonge: Miracle at Augusta (This will be the 2nd in the non-mystery Travis McKinley Series.)

Paula Paul (aka Paula Carter): Medium Dead (This will be the 4th in the Dr. Alexandra Gladstone Mystery Series.)

Spencer Quinn (aka Peter Abrahams) Woof (This will be a mystery for ages 8 – 12, grades 3 – 7. Looks absolutely delightful!)

Sarah Rayne: Deadlight Hall (This will be the 5th in the Nell West and Michael Flint Mystery Series.)

Ann B. Ross: Miss Julia Lays Down the Law (This will be the 17th in the Miss Julia Mystery Series.)

Barbara Ross: Musseled Out (This will be the 3rd in the Maine Clambake Mystery Series.)

Sofie Ryan (aka Sofie Kelly) Buy a Whisker (This will be the 2nd in the Second Chance Cat Mystery Series.)

Lisa Scottoline: Every Fifteen Minutes (This will be a Stand Alone mystery.)

Aimée & David Thurlo: Grave Consequences (This will be the 2nd in the Charlie Henry Series.)

Diane Vallere: With Vics You Get Eggroll (This will be the 3rd in the Mad for Mod Mystery Series.)

Mae Fox & Jan Fields: Threads of Deceit (This will be the 1st in the NEW Vineyard Quilt Mystery Series.)

The Cozy Cookbook: More than 100 Recipes from Today’s Bestselling Mystery Authors (w/ Avery Aames, Ellery Adams, Leslie Budewitz, Laura Childs, Cleo Coyle, Victoria Hamilton, B.B. Haywood, Julie Hyzy, Jenn McKinlay, & Paige Shelton)

March 2015 Mystery Book New Releases

Since I post these monthly Mystery Book New Releases a month early, I thought some of you may be interested in taking a look at the March 2015 current releases. Click here to see the March 2015 Mystery Book New Releases.

To go back to the Cozy Mystery New Book Release page, click here.

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

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