The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

David Handler’s The Snow White Christmas Cookie

OK, I have to admit it. >>> I’m a sucker for holiday themed mystery books. (No surprise to a lot of you!) And, here’s another admission: I won’t be able to catch up to David Handler’s The Snow White Christmas Cookie this year, but hopefully, I will by next December.

When I was getting the October 2012 Mystery Book New Releases list together this month, there were a few mysteries that really caught my attention. This mystery by David Handler was one of these books.

David Handler is one of the authors who I have had my eye on for a while. I have so many mystery authors who I already follow, so every time I try a new one, I put a lot of thought into it. I look at the reviews other people have written, as well as try to check out “what the author is all about.”In the case of David Handler, I liked what I found out. The fact that he has won an Edgar Award, was a finalist for an Anthony Award, a finalist of the Dilys Award,that his Berger & Mitry Mystery Series takes place in an historic village in Connecticut, and the fact that he was part of the writing team that created the Kate and Allie Show convinced me to give his books a try.

So, having just finished my latest Monica Ferris Needlecraft mystery, I am now embarking on a new-to-me author, and am really looking forward to reading The Cold Blue Blood.

Colorado Springs, or Bust!

We are in Colorado Springs, which I may add, is beautiful. I have mentioned before that I grew up in an Air Force family, so I moved a lot. (I always considered my grandmother’s home in Northwood, Iowa to be my “home base”.) My parents moved out here to Colorado Springs after my father retired, and I liked it so much – that I moved out here years later. Once here, I didn’t envisioned moving out of Colorado, but life has a way of branching us into different paths.

Traveling from New Mexico to Colorado is almost magical. You have to go through an area called Raton Pass. For someone who lives in the flat plains of Texas, Raton Pass is an invitation to all things wonderful. You no longer see the yellow diamond-shaped road signs with jumping deer on the side of the road. Instead, you see yellow diamond-shaped road signs with bucks (either elk or deer) that have at least eight point antlers. The road curves, ascends, descends, and even does the ascending and descending on curves! The terrain brings to mind the wonderful lines from the 1939 Wizard of Oz movie: “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore. We must be over the rainbow!”

This isn’t to say the scenery getting to this point on our journey wasn’t memorable. Driving through long stretches of plains wasn’t all that great, but once you leave the plain plains, you go through what seems to be an old Hollywood movie set with nearby plateaus giving way to mountain ranges that were painted to look like they were miles and miles away. I almost expected to see Jimmy Stewart riding out on his trusty mare. (Can you tell I’m a fan of the Turner Classic Movie channel?)

Oh, and I am loving the weather! Such a nice change from humidly hot or hotly humid!

Month of September

My husband and I are getting ready for a short trip up to Colorado Springs to visit my mother and brother. I’m looking forward to it. We won’t be staying very long, but at least I will be able to see how things are going for her, now that she is on her own.

After Colorado Springs, we are heading up to Yellowstone Park. I have never been there. My husband has been there once, years ago. It is one of the places we have wanted to go for a while. We always had hoped to take our son and daughter with us, but once they got into high school, we found out that ship had sailed. We had never relished the idea of going while school was in session, so it was one of those plans that was never realized.

My son will be staying here, holding the fort down for us. It’s not much of a job now that Sprite isn’t here. She required a lot of attention – with all sorts of special needs and medications. (I still miss that little dog, and it’s been well over a year!)

I’m taking my laptop with me, so will be checking your comments, as well as responding to them >>> when I have the time! (The place where we are staying supposedly has very slow internet connections.)

Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe’s The Wolfe Pack

Do you have “the author” in you?

Last month, I received an e-mail from The Wolfe Pack with the following message, and thought I would pass it on to you all. (And, yes, the Awards Chair is Jane K. Cleland, author of the Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery Series!)
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May 31 is the
Submission Deadline
for the 2013
Black Orchid Novella Award

[Please pass this on to anyone who might be interested.]

Call for novellas! Please submit your novella for the seventh annual Black Orchid Novella Award (BONA). We are looking for original works of fiction in the tradition of the ratiocinative detective, as exemplified by Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe. Your entry must:

  • Emphasize the deductive skills of the sleuth
  • Contain no overt sex or violence
  • Not include characters from the original series

First prize: $1,000 plus publication in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine.

Entries must be 15,000 to 20,000 words in length, and must be postmarked by May 31, 2013. The winner will be announced at The Wolfe Pack’s Annual Black Orchid Banquet in New York City, December 7, 2013.*

Please visit www.nerowolfe.org for official rules and procedures to submit your novella. For questions, contact the Awards Chair, Jane K. Cleland, jane@janecleland.net.

* If no acceptable candidates are received, AHMM and The Wolfe Pack reserve the right to declare no winner in any given year.
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So, if you think you have an author hiding deep inside of yourself, then stop reading this entry, and go grab yourself a pen and paper >>> Somehow grabbing a computer keyboard  doesn’t sound as “author-y” to me.

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