The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Our Visit to Laredo to See Our Daughter

My husband and I just visited our daughter in Laredo, Texas. She has been living there for about half a year, and since she has been so busy, this is the first time we have been down to visit. (She will be working there until this summer when she will be moving to New Orleans for a year. Ever since college, her life has been pretty nomadic. We are hoping that after next year she will return to live in Texas permanently.)

My husband and I have visited Laredo twice before. Both times were while looking for an apartment for her. It just seemed easier for both of us to go down and scope things out for her, rather than for her to take time off from her (then) job in Austin.

We really enjoyed our three days in Laredo. While our daughter was at work on Friday, my husband and I spent the day walking around. We went to Casa Blanca State Park and North Central Park, as well as Laredo’s absolutely beautiful mall. The weather cooperated during our visit. It was gorgeous!

She took us to some local restaurants, which was a nice change for us. (We tend to go to chains.) She has found out about some great places from her co-workers. We had really good breakfast tacos at Pano’s Bakery Internet Café and absolutely delicious panini sandwiches and salads at Caffe Dolce. (I am not exaggerating when I say “absolutely delicious”!)

She is enjoying her job a lot, and I think she is going to miss it (and her co-workers) when she leaves. Laredo is about three hours from San Antonio, and her job last year in Austin was about 1 1/2 hours from our house. I am definitely not looking forward to next year’s day-long drive to New Orleans! I wish my husband and I were more positive about flying!

Favorite Cozy Mystery Books for 2013

We started the “Favorite Cozy Mystery Books for the Year” last year when Lynn T proposed that we list our very, very favorite-est (my words, not hers!) mysteries of the year. We already do our monthly favorite mysteries, so these Favorite of the Year should be the very best of the best we have read.

I have read many good Cozy Mystery books this year. I have also read some not-so-good Cozy Mysteries. (Haven’t we all?!?) I have mentioned several of the authors who are on my Favorite Authors list. But who wrote my very favorite mystery read of the year?

When I was talking to my husband about this entry, I asked him how I could ever pick just one mystery book and say it was my very favorite of the year. I have enjoyed so many, how would I be able to pick just one? I then told him about several of my favorite authors who I have read this year. Since this list is not comprised of just brand new authors who started being published this year, it includes ALL Cozy Mystery authors. Hmmm… That’s a whole lot of authors! He then asked me who I thought is my very favorite Cozy Mystery author, to which I responded, Agatha Christie.

Christie is one of the very few authors who I have read, re-read, and plan to re-read again. She was a formidable story-teller. Her characters always ring true to me. There’s a reason her books are still so popular; although written many years ago, they seem almost ageless. She is able to describe/depict the very nature of people and their quirks. Her writing style is flawless and flows so easily. Her mysteries are perfect.

So, I will nominate Agatha Christie’s (1957) What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw (aka 4:50 from Paddington) since it is the last Miss Marple mystery I have read by this phenomenal author.

So please tell us about your Favorite Cozy Mystery Read for 2013, and why you are picking this book or author. Thank you!

As usual with these types of entries, I will add the books/authors who you all comment about to the list:

Favorite Cozy Mystery Reads for 2013:

Ellery Adams (aka Jennifer Stanley, J.B. Stanley, & 1/2 of Lucy Arlington: Poisoned Prose

Nancy Atherton: Aunt Dimnity and the Lost Prince

Josie Belle (aka Jenn McKinlay & Lucy Lawrence): Buried in Bargains

Agatha Christie: 4:50 from Paddington (aka What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw)

Agatha Christie: By the Pricking of My Thumbs 

Sheila Connolly: Buried in a Bog

Amanda Flower (aka Isabella Alan): A Plain Scandal

Mary Lou Kirwin: Killer Librarian

Joyce and Jim Lavene (aka J.J. Cook & Ellie Grant): Harrowing Hats

Jenn McKinlay (aka Josie Belle & Lucy Lawrence): Cloche and Dagger

Louise Penny: How the Light Comes In

Dana Stabenow: Bad Blood

Heather Webber (aka Heather Blake): The Root of All Trouble

If you’re interested in seeing a whole lot more recommendations made by Cozy Mystery readers, click here: Monthly Cozy Mystery Recommendations.

February 2014 Mystery Book New Releases

The following Mystery Books will be released in February 2014:

Avery Aames (aka Daryl Wood Gerber): Days of Wine and Roquefort (This will be the 5th in the Cheese Shop Mystery Series.)

Laura Alden: Poison at the PTA (This will be the 5th in the Beth Kennedy PTA Mystery Series.)

Lucy Arlington (aka Jennifer Stanely & Sylvia May): Books, Cooks, and Crooks (This will be the 3rd in the Novel Idea Mystery Series.)

Mignon F. Ballard: Miss Dimple Picks a Peck of Trouble (This will be the 4th in the Miss Dimple Kilpatrick Mystery Series.)

M.C. Beaton (aka Marion Chesney: Death of a Policeman (This will be the 30th in the Hamish Macbeth Mystery Series.)

Jessica Beck (aka Elizabeth Bright, Casey Mayes, Melissa Glazer, Chris Cavender, & Tim Myers): A Burned Out Baker (This will be the 7th in the Classic Diner Mystery Series.)

Rhys Bowen: A Royal Threesome (This will be a Royal Spyness Omnibus. It contains the first three Royal Spyness mysteries: Her Royal Spyness, A Royal Pain, & Royal Flush.)

Simon Brett: The Strangling on the Stage (This will be the 15th in the Fethering Mystery Series.)

Mollie Cox Bryan: Death of an Irish Diva (This will be the 3rd in the Cumberland Creek Mystery Series.)

Lucy Burdette (aka Robert Isleib): Murder with Ganache (This will be the 4th in the Key West food Critic Mystery Series.)

P.F. Chisholm: An Air of Treason (This will be the 6th in the Sir Robert Carey Mystery Series.)

Ann Cleeves: Dead Water (This will be the 5th in the Shetland Island Mystery Series.)

Kate Collins: Throw in the Trowel (This will be the in the 15th Flower Shop Mystery Series.)

Sheila Connolly (aka Sarah Atwell): Scandal in Skibbereen (This will be the 2nd in the County Cork Mystery Series.)

Lindsey Davis: A Cruel Fate (This will be a Stand Alone Novella mystery.)

Janet Evanovich & Lee Goldberg: The Chase (This will be the 2nd in the Fox & O’Hare Mystery Series.)

Monica Ferris: The Drowning Spool (This will be the 17th in the Needlecraft Mystery Series.)

Joanne Fluke: Blackberry Pie Murder (This will be the 17th in the Hannah Swensen Mystery Series.)

Lee Goldberg & Janet Evanovich: The Chase (This will be the 2nd in the Fox & O’Hare Mystery Series.)

Cynthia Harrod-Eagles: Hard Going (This will be the 16th in the Bill Slider Mystery Series.)

B. B. Haywood: Town in a Strawberry Swirl (This will be the 5th in the Candy Holliday Mystery Series.)

J.A. Jance: Moving Target (This will be the 9th in the Alison Reynolds Mystery Series.)

Jonathan Kellerman: Killer (This will be the 29th in the Alex Delaware Mystery Series.)

Laura Lippman: After I’m Gone (This will be a Stand Alone mystery.)

Kylie Logan (aka Miranda Bliss & Casey Daniels): A Tale of Two Biddies (This will be the 2nd in the League of Literary Ladies Mystery Series.)

Meg London (aka Peg Cochran): A Fatal Slip (This will be the in the Sweet Nothings Lingerie Mystery Series.) (This is a Valentine’s Day theme mystery.)

Edward Marston (aka Keith Miles & Conrad Allen: Five Dead Canaries (This will be the 3rd in the Home Front Detective Mystery Series.)

Staci McLaughlin: Green Living Can Be Deadly (This will be the 3rd in theBlossom Valley Mystery Series.)

Shirley Rousseau Murphy & Pat J.J. Murphy: The Cat, the Devil, and Lee Fontana (This will be the 1st in the NEW Lee Fontana Mystery Series.)

James Patterson & Mark Sullivan: Private L.A. (This will be the 6th in the Private Mystery Series.)

Deanna Raybourn: City of Jasmine (This will be a Stand Alone.)

Hannah Reed (aka Deb Baker): Beewitched (This will be the 5th in the Queen Bee Mystery Series.)

J.D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts): Concealed in Death (This will be the 38th in the Eve Dallas Mystery Series.)

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

Happy New Year!

I hope that ALL of you have a safe and healthy New Year.
We are planning to celebrate very quietly tonight, although I am sure a lot of our neighbors will be shooting off fire works all night long. Now that our “puppy” Sprite is no longer with us, the noise will at least not make any of us shiver with fear all night. She was absolutely terrified of fire crackers (and thunder).
My husband and I are so different than my parents. I remember my mother and father going to late-night parties at the end of the year… sort of like they were cramming in one last hurrah on the 31st of each December. I’m not sure if it’s that we live in a different time or if my husband and I simply are party-poopers, but somehow we just can’t seem to get excited about the prospect of huge New Year’s Eve parties. We much prefer small get-togethers.
Anyway, I truly hope ALL of you (and yours) have a wonderful 2014 (and on!)
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