The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Amish, Quaker, Shaker, & Mennonite Cozy Mystery Series

A Cozy Mystery reader recently wrote in a request to make a new sub-category for Amish themed Cozy Mysteries. I also decided to add Quaker, Shaker, and Mennonite themed mysteries to the list as well. Most of these are Amish themed – if I don’t say that it is Quaker, Shaker, or Mennonite >>> then it’s Amish. Here’s what we have so far, mostly provided by the requester. (Thank you, Ty, for this great Cozy Mystery theme idea!)

Amish, Quaker, Shaker, & Mennonite Cozy Mysteries:

Isabella Alan (aka Amanda Flower): Amish Quilt Shop Mystery Series

Susan Wittig Albert (aka 1/2 Robin Paige): Wormwood (book #17 of China Bayles Mystery Series) (Shaker)

Irene Allen: Elizabeth Elliot Mystery Series (book #1 Quaker Silence)

Madelyn Alt: Hex Marks the Spot (book #3 Bewitching Mystery Series

Annie’s Amish Inn Mystery Series

Tace Baker (aka Edith Maxwell & Maddie Day): Speaking of Mystery Mystery Series (Quaker Linguistics professor)

Laura Bradford (aka Elizabeth Lynn Casey): Amish Mystery Series

Linda Castillo: Kate Burkholder Series (book #1 Sworn to Silence) (thriller, not Cozy)

Vannetta Chapman: Amish Village Mystery Series AND Shipshewana Amish Quilt Shop Mystery Series

Mindy Starns Clark writes Amish non-mystery books and has written at least one Lancaster County mystery.

Hearse and Buggy by Laura BradfordJacqueline Fiedler: Amish Butter (story found in Unholy Orders: Mystery Stories with a Religious Twist anthology)

Amanda Flower (aka Isabella Alan): Appleseed Creek Mystery Series

Amanda Flower (aka Isabella Alan): Amish Matchmaker Mystery Series

P.L. Gaus: Ohio Amish Mystery Series

Shelley Shepard Gray: Secrets of Crittenden County Series (book #1 Missing)

Karen Ann Harper: Maplecreek Amish Trilogy & Home Valley Amish Mystery Series

Eleanor Kuhns: Will Rees Mystery Series (book #1 A Simple Murder & book #3 Cradle to Grave) (Shaker)

Edith Maxwell (aka Maddie Day & Tace Baker): Carriagetown Mystery Series  (Quaker)

Edith Maxwell (aka Maddie Day & Tace Baker): Quaker Midwife Mystery Series

Nancy Mehl: Harmony Mystery Series Trilogy & Road to Kingdom Mystery Series (Mennonite)

Emma Miller: Amish Mystery Series

Tamar Myers: Pennsylvania Dutch Inn Mystery Series (Mennonite)

Marta Perry: Three Sisters Inn Series (Amish)

Sugar Creek Amish Mysteries (Amish)

Murder, Plain and Simple by Isabella Alan (aka Amanda Flowers)Deborah Woodworth: Shaker Mystery Series (Shaker)

Barbara Workinger: Amish Country Mystery Series (book #1 In Dutch Again)

Ron Yeakley: Death Takes a Buggy Ride

Can you think of any Amish, Quaker, or Shaker themed Cozies to add to the list? Let me know in the comments below!

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

Ellie Alexander, Sherry Harris, Christine Husom, Maggie King, Ruth Moose: Five New Cozy Authors on the Cozy Mystery Site

It’s time once again to add another set of authors, taken as usual from your suggestions… This time I’ll be adding five new authors, most of whom only have one series (though one has a non-Cozy Mystery series many of you may enjoy!)

 Ellie Alexander    Alexander writes the Bakeshop Mystery Series, a Cozy series featuring Jules Capshaw, both an employee at her family Torte Bakeshop and an amateur sleuth living in a quaint Oregon town. Recipes are included in the series. (Meet Your Baker is the first in Bakeshop Mystery Series.)

Sherry Harris    Harris is the writer of the Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery Series. A recent divorcée, Sarah’s always looking for a bargain – but sometimes she finds murder instead, and when that happens she’s quick to help get to the bottom of any mystery! (Tagged for Death is the first book in the Sarah Winston Garage Sale Mystery Series.)

Christine Husom    Husom is the author of the Snow Globe Shop Mystery Series, starring Minnesotan Cami Brooks. Cami is an instructor on snow globe construction, as well as the manager of a gift shop. She uses her unique ability to see crime scenes in snow globes to help solve crimes. Husom writes another series set in Minnesota, the Winnebago County Mystery Series, a mystery thriller series. (Snow Way Out is the first book in the Snow Globe Shop Mystery Series.)

Maggie King    King is the author of the Book Group Mystery Series, a series starring amateur sleuth and professional romance writer, Hazel Rose. (Murder at the Book Group is the first in the Book Group Mystery Series.)

Ruth Moose     A North Carolina resident, Moose writes the Beth McKenzie Mystery series. The Dixie Dew is a small bed and breakfast in Littleboro, North Carolina, run by proprietor Beth McKenzie. When tragedy strikes at her small business and home, she’s forced to help solve the crime to keep her business afloat! (Doing It at the Dixie Dew is the first book in the Beth McKenzie Mystery Series.)

Happy Valentine’s Day!

February18Just a quick Valentine’s Day greeting. My husband decided years ago that we didn’t need to celebrate Valentine’s Day, since every day is a Valentine’s Day for us. Hmmm…. We were at the grocery store yesterday (not a high-end florist shop) and I saw rose arrangements selling for $149.99 and chocolate-covered strawberries for $2.99 a piece! >>> I think I know why he doesn’t think we need to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Oh, well, I guess I can forgive my tech guy for not being a romantic!

Also, he told me a nice gift to him would be for me to make him his favorite breakfast rolls, and his gift to me would be his smile of enjoyment as he ate them!

Happy Valentine’s Day to ALL!

Wolfe Pack’s Black Orchid Novella Writing Contest

I am guessing we have a few aspiring authors out there who might want to take advantage of this terrific contest. The Wolfe Pack (as in Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe) and the Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine are hosting their 9th annual Black Orchid Novella contest. If you have visited the Awards pages on the Cozy Mystery site, then you have most likely seen the Black Orchid Novella award contest winners of the past.

The contest is intended for 15,000 to 20,000 word mystery works adhering to the spirit of the Nero Wolfe series by Rex Stout, one of the longest and most recognized Cozy Mystery series. This year, nominations are being organized by Jane K. Cleland, a popular modern Cozy author who is featured on the site!

As would be expected of any Cozy-friendly contest, the entries are expected to have no graphic violence or sex, while showcasing the talents of a detective to his/her fullest. Also, the novellas cannot have been published before. The winner will be announced at the Wolfe Pack’s Annual Black Orchid Banquet in December, and will net the winner a $1,000 prize and publication in the Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine!

You better hurry up and start writing your novellas, because the entries have to be postmarked May 31, 2015! You can find all of the details at www.nerowolfe.org.

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