The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Allen B. Boyer, Beverly Connor, Morag Joss, & Jana Lynn Shellman : Four Author Additions to the Cozy Mystery Site

As you all know, when I started the Cozy Mystery site I only had authors on it who I had read. Since then, I have added a whole lot of authors to the site who some of you have recommended, saying they definitely belong on the site. The four newest authors who I have just added to the site are:

Allen B. Boyer  Boyer writes the Bess Bullock Retirement Home Mystery Series. Bess is a retired police officer who has moved into the Honey Hills Retirement Home. She never expected to take up detection again, but she has.

Beverly Connor  Connor Writes the Diane Fallon Forensic Investigation Mystery Series AND the Lindsay Chamberlain Archaeology Mystery Series. Connor, an archaeologist, uses her knowledge writing both of these forensic field mystery series. Connor also co-writes the Frank Hayes Mystery Series with her husband, Charles Connor.

Morag Joss Joss pens the Sara Selkirk Mystery Series. The sleuth, Sara, is a world renown cellist who lives in Bath, England. Joss has her MA in English and also has advanced training in singing. Joss has several mystery book awards – the Dilys Award, the Silver Dagger Award, and the Edgar Allan Poe Award.

Jana Lynn Shellman Shellman writes the Poppy Hannah Mystery Series. Shellmann is a paralegal, as is her main sleuth, Poppy. A main difference between Shellman and her sleuth is that Poppy is also psychic.

Happy April!

BB just asked if any of us has had an April Fool’s Day prank played on us, or if we have played one on anybody. Well, we haven’t had any pranks at our household, nor have we played any tricks on anyone, but as soon as I read that comment of BB’s I thought about this YouTube clip that Barb sent me last week. My husband, daughter, son, and I got a chuckle out of it.

New Way of Herding Cattle (This link is no longer available.)

(Thank you, Barb!)

Cozy Mystery Books Recommendations – March 2013

Can you believe it is almost April? I can’t! I have my March doo-dads up, which include everything St. Patrick’s-ish. Years when Easter falls in March sometimes get me a little confused. I just “expect” an April Easter.

And since it is the end of March, it is time for me to ask you if you would please tell us about your favorite Cozy Mystery reads of March 2013. As usual, these authors/books should be the ones you absolutely feel the need to tell us about. They should be the authors/books that you enjoyed so much during March that you want to let the rest of us know about them. Please include WHY you enjoyed these authors.

My recommendation for March 2013 is Joanne Fluke. As I have written before, I tried the first of Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swensen Cookie Jar Mystery Series because of your monthly recommendations. Fluke kept showing up on the lists during the months we have been compiling these monthly recommendations.

Fluke’s sleuth is Hannah Swensen, a baker in a cozy little town in Minnesota, who doles out cookies while solving her mysteries. I mean that quite literally! Hannah passes out cookie treats that are so delicious that the person she is “interviewing” doesn’t seem to mind sharing information that might otherwise not have come out.

Fluke has surrounded Hannah with good Cozy Mystery characters… even Hannah’s mother is likable. (Her mom seems determined to improve Hannah, even though Hannah is very content with the way she is.) Hannah’s sister is pretty much the opposite of Hannah, but that doesn’t stop them from having a very deep sisterly bond. Hannah’s brother in law is a deputy sheriff who is very willing to deputize Hannah (off the books, of course!) which makes it easy for Hannah to become privy to things an ordinary sleuth wouldn’t be privy to.

Another character who I was very happy to encounter is Moishe, Hannah’s cat. He doesn’t have any super-natural powers, isn’t able to talk, nor does he perform parlor tricks. What he is, however, is a sweet companion for Hannah. Sure, he likes his treats and he isn’t a lap-cat, but he is someone for her to look forward to seeing at the end of her day. (Can you tell I am still missing our Sprite?)

I enjoyed getting to know all of the characters in the book and also enjoyed the flow of the book. I looked forward to reading this book. Joanne Fluke is a Cozy Mystery author I want to continue reading.

Having told you why I am recommending Joanne Fluke, I now ask who you enjoyed and why. I will add the recommended authors to this entry as they come in. (Please do not tell us about the authors you did not like.) Thank you!

What Cozy Mystery book (or author) have you read during March 2013, and why did you enjoy it (or him/her)?

Here are the current authors who some of you have read this past month, and wanted to tell the rest of us about:

Avery Aames (aka Daryl Wood Gerber): Cheese Shop Mystery Series

Victoria Abbot: Book Collector’s Mystery Series

Ellery Adams (aka Jennifer Stanley, J. B. Stanley, & 1/2 of Lucy Arlington): Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery Series

Jessica Beck: Donut Shop Mystery Series

Josie Belle (aka Jenn McKinlay & Lucy Lawrence): Good Buy Girls Mystery Series

C. C. Benison: Her Majesty Investigates Mystery Series

Melissa Bourbon: Magical Dressmaking Mystery Series 

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

Simon Brett: Mrs. Pargeter Mystery Series

Alyse Carlson: The Azalea Assault (Garden Society Mystery Series)

Ally Carter: Perfect Scoundrels (young adult book)

Laura Childs: Tea Shop Mystery Series

Sheila Connolly (aka Sarah Atwell): Orchard Mystery Series AND County Cork Mystery Series

Jeanne M. Dams: Hilda Johansson Mystery Series

Carola Dunn: Cornish Mystery Series

Joanne Fluke: Hannah Swensen Mystery Series 

Elly Griffiths: The Crossing Places

Parnell Hall: Puzzle Lady Mystery Series

Carolyn Hart: Bailey Ruth Mystery Series

Erin Hart: Nora Gavin & Cormac Maguire Mystery Series

B. B. Haywood: Candy Holliday Mystery Series

Maddy Hunter: Passport to Peril Mystery Series

Julie Hyzy: Manor of Murder Mystery Series 

Miranda James (aka Dean James, Honor Hartman, & Jimmie Ruth Evans): Cat in the Stacks Mystery Series

J. A. Jance: J. P. Beaumont Mystery Series

Diane Kelly: Death, Taxes, and Peach Sangria  (Tara Holloway Mystery Series)

William X. Kienzle: Father Koesler Mystery Series

Kate Kingsbury (aka Rebecca Kent & Allison Kinsley): Manor House Mystery Series

Meg London (aka Peg Cochran): Sweet Nothings Vintage Lingerie Mystery Series

Rett MacPherson: Torie O’Shea Msytery Series

Nancy Martin: Blackbird Sisters Mystery Series

Amy Patricia Meade: Rosie the Riveter Mystery Series

J. J. Murphy: Algonquin Round Table Mystery Series 

Marta Perry: Hide in Plain Sight (Three Sisters Inn Mystery Series)

Rose Pressy: Me and My Ghoul Friends

Annelise Ryan: Mattie Winston Mystery Series

Maggie Sefton: Molly Malone Mystery Series

Josephine Tey: The Franchise Affair

Victoria Thompson: Gaslight Mystery Series

Charles Todd: Ian Rutledge Mystery Series

Judith Van Gieson: Claire Reynier Mystery Series

Ethel Lina White: The Wheel Spins (aka The Lady Vanishes)

♦To access more Cozy Mystery Books Recommendations, click on this link♦

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