The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

(Cozy) Mystery Book without a Murder (?!?)

I have received a few comments and letters asking for help in coming up with mystery books that don’t focus on murders. I know, I know, the first thing I also think of when thinking of a mystery novel is… death, and that’s death – as in not natural! But when you think of it, there are all sorts of things that could be the basis of a mystery book: stealing, forging, cheating, cooking… well not really cooking as in the culinary theme sense – but definitely poisoning – but that usually ends in murder, which this theme is NOT about!

If you know of an author who prefers his/her mysteries without a requisite corpse, please tell us about him/her via a comment. Also, if you know of an author who generally deals with death, but has one or more mystery books that don’t require a mortician, please post a comment as well.

Mystery Books without Murders:

Susan Wittig Albert: The Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter Mystery Series

Susan Wittig Albert: The Darling Dahlias and the Confederate Rose.

Nancy Atherton: Aunt Dimity Mystery Series

Jane Austen: Northanger Abbey

Kathleen Bacus: Tressa (Calamity) Jayne Turner Mystery Series (books 2,3,4,& 5)

Baxter Black: Ride, Cowboy, Ride: 8 Seconds Ain’t that Long

Charlotte Bronte: Jane Eyre

Dorothy Cannell: The Thin Woman

Erskine Childers: The Riddle of the Sands

Carol Higgins Clark: Regan Reilly Mystery Series

Beverly Cochran: The Housekeeper AND The Visit

Wilkie Collins: The Moonstone AND The Woman in White

Arthur Conan Doyle: Sherlock Holmes Mystery Series

Frances Devine: Miss Aggie’s Gone Missing

Alice Duncan: Daisy Gumm Majesty Mystery Series

Janet Evanovich: Lizzy & Diesel Mystery Series

Monica Ferris: A Stitch in Time

Earlene Fowler: Mariner’s Compass & Steps to the Altar

Dick Francis: Decider (“Accidental deaths but no Murder.”)

Dorothy Gilman: Mrs. Pollifax Mystery Series

Jan Gleiter: A House by the Side of the Road

E.W. Hornung: Raffles, the Gentleman Thief Mystery Series

Laura R. King: Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes Mystery Series

Virginia Lanier: Death in Bloodhound Red

Maurice Leblanc: Arsène Lupin, Gentleman-Burglar Mystery Series

Lisa Lutz: Izzy Spellman Mystery Series

Peter Mayle: Chasing Cezanne, Anything Considered, AND The Vintage Caper

Donna McLean: The Butterfly Caper

Gladys Mitchell: Mrs. Bradley Mystery Series

Elizabeth Peters: Borrower of the Night

Ellis Peters: An Excellent Mystery

Ellery Queen: only some

Spencer Quinn (aka Peter Abrahams): Chet and Bernie Mystery Series

Ellen Raskin: The Westing Game (“Technically a Children’s/YA novel, but suitable for adults.)

Patricia Rockwell: Bingoed

Ann B. Ross: Miss Julia Mystery Series

Ian Sansom: Mobile Library Mystery Series

Dorothy L. Sayers: Gaudy Night

Maria E. Schneider: Sedona Mystery Series AND Haven Mystery Series

Alexander McCall Smith: No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Mystery Series

Josephine Tey: The Franchise Affair

Edgar Wallace: The Black

Donald E. Westlake: John Dortmunder Mystery Series

Mildred A. Wirt: Penny Parker Mystery Series

(When I have the names of the authors without a specific book listed, this means that generally, their books don’t include murder. This is not to say that they absolutely never include a body, or two.)

Cozy Mystery Books Recommendations – September 2012

I am back from beautiful Yellowstone, just in time to ask you all if you have any really good Cozy Mystery recommendations this month. These authors should be authors who you read this month, and found them to be so good, that you just can’t keep them to yourself. They are authors who you would like the rest of us to find out about, authors who weave such wonderful Cozy Mystery books, that you simply have got to give them great, big shout outs. But, please don’t just list their names, let us know WHY you enjoyed these authors. Your reasons are what make these author recommendations so appealing to the rest of us.

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.) As I have stated before, I have found several of the Cozy Mystery (and some not so Cozy) authors I now follow, from reading your comments.  Thank you!

What Cozy Mystery book (or author) have you read during September 2012, 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:

Susan Wittig Albert: Darling Dahlias Mystery Series

Tasha Alexander: Lady Emily Mystery Series

Connie Archer: Soup Lover’s Mystery Series

Lorna Barrett (aka Lorraine Bartlett & L. L. Bartlett): Booktown Mystery Series

M. C. Beaton: Agatha Raisin Mystery Series

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

Kate Borden (aka Kate Grilley: Peggy Jean Turner Mystery Series

Lucy Burdette (aka Roberta Isleib): Key West Food Critic Mystery Series

Elizabeth Lynn Casey (aka Laura Bradford): Southern Sewing Circle Mystery Series

C. S. Challinor: Rex Graves Mystery Series

Hampton Charles: Miss Emily Seeton Mystery Series

Laura Childs: Cackleberry Club Mystery Series & Tea Shop Mystery Series

Barbara Cleverly: Joe Sandilands Mystery Series

Isis Crawford (aka Barbara Block): Mystery with Recipes Mystery Series

Janet Evanovich: Stephanie Plum Mystery Series

Monica Ferris: Needlecraft Mystery Series

Shelley Freydont: Celebration Bay Mystery Series

Anne George: Southern Sisters Mystery Series

Dashiell Hammett: Continental Op Mystery Series

Carolyn Hart: Death on Demand Mystery Series

Michael Innes: Inspector Appleby Mystery Series

Melanie Jackson: Chloe Boston Mystery Series

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

J. A. Jance: Joanna Brady Mystery Series & J. P. Beaumont Mystery Series

Tracy Kiely: Elizabeth Parker Mystery Series

Josi S. Kilpack: Culinary Mystery Series

Allison Kingsley (aka Kate Kingsbury & Rebecca Kent): Raven’s Nest Bookstore Mystery Series

Rita Lakin: Gladdy Gold Mystery Series

Nancy Martin: Blackbird Sisters Mystery Series

Gladys Mitchell: Mrs. Bradley Mystery Series

Katherine Hall Page: Faith Fairchild Mystery Series

Louise Penny: Chief Inspector Gamache Mystery Series

Deanna Raybourn: Lady Julia Grey Mystery Series

Hank Phillippi Ryan: Jane Ryland & Jake Brogan Mystery Series

Alexander McCall Smith: No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Msytery Series

Kari Lee Townsend: Fortune Teller Mystery Series

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

Wyoming to Montana to Wyoming…

Here I am in Yellowstone Park, loving it, but not so crazy about not having internet access – or cell phone capability. I would never have guessed how important those two things have become to me. Good grief! Shame on me! Complaining about the lack of those two things – with this phenomenal beauty all around us.

Here’s a tip: If you don’t have children in school, this time in September is a wonderful time to visit. We have not encountered any large crowd problems… even while watching Old Faithful – twice!

It looks like the Park Rangers have done a great job convincing people not to feed the animals. All of those old documentaries that show bears coming right up to the cars looking for food – well, that’s not happening anymore, at least as far as we can see. (Or am I remembering Yogi Bear and Boo Boo stealing picnic baskets from unsuspecting visitors at Jellystone Park?)

While on route, we went through beautiful Shoshone National Forest. It just kept getting more beautiful as we went through Bridges-Teton National Forest, then through Grand Teton National Forest, only to arrive at spectacular Yellowstone National Park. After living for so many years in San Antonio, it was a truly inspring thing to see all of the clusters of Aspen trees amongst the pine trees, as their golden leaves shimmered.

I am going to post this entry on our last day at Yellowstone, as we head out to see Little Big Horn, and then south, back to our home. As nice as this vacation has been, it will be nice not to have to deal with luggage, arranging and then rearranging our car, and, lastly our everyday “necessities” like cell phone and internet connections.

Josephine Tey: Daughter of Time

I mentioned that my husband and I were listening to Josephine Tey’s Daughter of Time while on the road to visit my mother, brother, and Yellowstone. When I became aware of both the British list and USA list of the top 100 mystery books of all time, I decided that I wanted to broaden my mystery reading scope. What better mystery book to start with than the number one pick on the British list, and number four on the USA list!

We finished listening to this 1951 mystery book, and I was left with sort of a question – Is this a mystery or is this book a history-mystery? I’m not sure I would have picked it for either if those lists, but, of course, my opinion is just that, my opinion.

While I found the novel interesting, I wouldn’t necessarily call it a mystery. The book takes place in a hospital room. This book, not being the first in Josephine Tey‘s Inspector Alan Grant Mystery Series, has the characters already knowing each other, and the action already known. Apparently, Alan Grant has been injured, and is stuck in the hospital with more time on his hands than he knows what to do with. His well-meaning friends have supplied him with books, but Grant simply isn’t in the mood to lay there and read.

This is what then starts the “mystery” part of the book. He begins to wonder if King Richard III did indeed kill his two young nephews in order to continue reigning Britain, or if the story that has been commonly told by authors (including Shakespeare) is simply a made-up piece of history.

I think that perhaps, years ago, before the time of the internet, the historical references that Grant and his cohort uncover could be made to look like some type of “mystery” solving. However, having access to all sorts of facts now that we can simply Google a topic made this book seem like less of a “mystery” and more of a “possibility” – which is why I’m not sure if I’d think of this book as the number one (or four) best mystery book of all time.

I think that I am going to have to read more of Josephine Tey’s books and then perhaps compare the two books to see if she does, indeed, write true mysteries – at least what I would conside true mysteries.

Daughter of Time was certainly interesting to listen to, and, since both my husband and I (he, more than me) are interested in history, we both enjoyed it. But, I would not categorize it as a classic mystery book – but then, that’s just my opinion.

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