The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Jeffrey Allen, Mary Lou Kirwan, Anna Loan-Wilsley, & Staci McLaughlin – 4 New Author Additions to the Cozy Mystery Site

You all have told me about a lot of authors who you think should be included on the Cozy Mystery site. Well, here are the four newest additions to the site:

Jeffrey Allen writes the Stay at Home Dad Mystery Series. This series features a Texas dad who takes care of the home, and also coaches his daughter’s soccer team. He also finds time to solve mysteries.

Mary Lou Kirwin is the author of the Librarian Mystery Series. In the series, the sleuth lives in Minnesota, where she works as a librarian and solves mysteries.

Anna Loan-Wilsey pens the Hattie Davish “Have Typewriter Will Travel” Mystery Series. This series takes place in the USA during the late 19th century. I believe that Hattie, who is a traveling secretary/typist, will travel from one locale to another in each of the mystery books. The first book takes place in Arkansas, the second in Illinois.

Staci McLaughlin writes the Blossom Valley Mystery Series. The series is set in an organic farm and spa in California. Dana Lewis, the sleuth, moves in with her recently widowed mother, and finds herself working at the spa. Unfortunately, Dana is a junk food fanatic.

Thank you to those of you who recommended these authors.

Hazel Holt’s Mrs. Malory Mystery Series

Every once in a while I read a book that makes me feel like I absolutely just have to shout about it. (I mean this in a good way!)

Hazel Holt is the British author who writes the Mrs. Malory Mystery Series. (For those of you who love E. F. Benson’s Lucia novels, perhaps you have read the two follow-up books in that series, written by her son, Tom Holt.) She has also written “My Dear Charlotte” – a Regency mystery book.

Holt’s Cozy Mystery series features Sheila Malory, a middle age literary critic who lives in the fictional Taviscombe, a very Cozy British village. (Every once in a while, however, she visits London in order to do required research.)

Sheila has a son (Michael) who is seldom at home, but who has a terrific relationship with her. As a widow, Mrs. Malory is very independent, which is perfect – since her amateur detective status requires her to be able to come and go as she pleases. Of course, Foss and Tris (Sheila’s cat and dog) think she is dependent of them!

A lot like Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, people trust and confide in Mrs. Malory. She is able to glean information from people in order to figure out the who and why of the mystery at hand.

Even though Holt is still writing the Mrs. Malory Mystery Series, it is very reminiscent of mysteries that were written before the 1960s. Holt’s series would qualify (to me) more as a classic mystery series.

Hazel Holt is one of my favorite authors not only because of her writing style which is very easy to read, but also because I like her characters and setting.  Mrs. Malory, Rosemary (her best friend), the quaint village, and all of its inhabitants are interesting to me. I would enjoy meeting the people who inhabit Holt’s mystery books, as well as visiting the town. I even enjoy Sheila’s pets! All of these are woven into well-thought-out mystery cases that I happen to enjoy a lot.

If you’re interested in reading more of these brief revisits of some of the more popular Cozy Mystery Series that I’ve written in the past, you can find them at the Most Recommended Cozy Mystery Series page on my site.

Kathy Hogan Trochek’s Fatal Fruitcake – as Mary Kay Andrews

I know I have talked about how much I like Kathy Hogan Trochek‘s Callahan Garrity Mystery Series. I really missed her mystery books when she stopped writing this series. I missed Callahan and the whole crew of her House Mouse cleaning company. The series just didn’t last long enough for me (only eight books). With many of my authors, by the time I get to their eighth book, I’m ready to retire the sleuth, not so with this series.

Yes, I know this same author went on to write as Mary Kay Andrews. And yes, I know she has the successful Weezie & Bebe series under that name. But I missed the House Mouse gang. I felt that I had gotten to know them in the 1990s, and was sorry they didn’t stick around in the 2000s. (The last book in the mystery series was published in 2000, so technically, that last sentence isn’t technically correct.)

So imagine my surprise and delight when I saw that Kathy Hogan Trochek has a new Callahan Garrity mystery out! It’s just a story, but I’m still excited. I hope that this is one of many new Callahan mysteries.

As you can see, she is writing this Callahan book as Mary Kay Andrews. She is also republishing her Callahan Garrity Mystery Series as Mary Kay Andrews. I don’t know why, but I am hoping that this means there will be a ninth full-length Callahan Garrity mystery.

I have recently been trying a lot of Christmas theme books and novellas/stories (by new-to-me authors) on my Kindle, and so far, I haven’t been happy with any of them. So, I am really hoping Fatal Fruitcake delivers what I have been craving: a good Christmas mystery yarn.

If at First You Don’t Succeed… Should Others Try & Try Again?

As the time nears when the first mystery novel by Susie is released, I thought I would post this entry asking you all for your opinions. [I should say that we know her as “Susie” but A Murder at Rosamund’s Gate (the first in her Lucy Campion Mystery Series – which is coming out in April) will be published using her more formal name – “Susanna”.

Susie (Susanna Calkins)asked:

“… I’ve heard many writers struggle with the second book, especially when their first book was well received. I’d be so curious to know if readers usually like the FIRST book in the series the best, or do they think it takes a few books for the author to hit his or her stride.

…I’d love to hear everyone’s responses!”

Please feel free to post a comment with your opinion. Thank you!

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