The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Three Cozy Mystery Authors, and No More – Part 2

As a lot of you know, Alfred posed a question, and a lot of us responded. Who would you pick to read if you could have Three Cozy Mystery Authors, and No More?

As soon as I started making up the list (from your comments) I found myself thinking “This is my third author!” But I would then go on typing up your answers, and find yet another author who I thought would make a perfect third pick for me, and then another, and yet another. In short, I am still pondering over who might possibly be my third pick!

I went through all of our comments to post this list, putting your first three authors in bold. While I was doing this, I “encountered” authors who I haven’t thought of for a long while, who I am going to try to go back and revisit. I haven’t read a Robert Van Gulik in years, and had quite forgotten how much I enjoyed his Judge Dee. Mary Higgins Clark is another author I remember enjoying a lot, but haven’t read in years.

Thank you ALL for participating in this quest for three authors!

Alfred
Laura Childs: Tea Shop Mysteries
Emily Brightwell: Mrs. Jeffries Mystery Series
Lorna Barrett: Booktown Mystery Series
Tales of Grace Chapel Inn

Danna
Agatha Christie: Miss Marple Mystery Series &Hercule Poirot Mystery Series
Ngaio Marsh: Inspector Roderick Alleyn Mystery Series
I haven’t quite decided.

Regina
Ngaio Marsh: Inspector Roderick Alleyn Mystery Series

Linda
Joan Hess: Maggody Mystery Series AND Claire Malloy Mystery Series
Earlene Fowler: Benni Harper Mystery Series
Veronica Heley: Ellie Quick Mystery Series
M.C. Beaton: Agatha Raisin Mystery Series AND Hamish Macbeth Mystery Series

Margaret
Krista Davis :Domestic Diva Mystery Series
Laura Childs: Tea Shoppe Mystery Series AND Cackleberry Club Mystery Series
Carol Higgins Clark: Regan Reiley Mystery Series

Elaine
Janet Evanovich
Anne George: Southern Sisters Mystery Series
Blaize Clement: Dixie Hemingway Pet Sitter Mystery Series

Judith
Ellis Peters: Brother Cadfael Mystery Series AND Felse Family Mystery Series AND Stand Alones
Elizabeth Peters: Amelia Peabody Mystery Series AND Vicky Bliss Mystery Series AND Stand Alones
Ngaio Marsh: Roderick Alleyn Mystery Series
Charlotte MacLeod (Alisa Craig), Carolyn Hart , OR Rhys Bowen

Susie
Anne Perry
Jacqueline Winspear
Charles Todd
Agatha Christie

Jetty
Madelyn Alt: Bewitching Mystery Series
Jana DeLeon: Ghost-in-Law Mystery Series
Krista Davis :Domestic Diva Mystery Series

Lexie
Agatha Christie
Lorna Barrett: Booktown Series Mystery Series
Sheila Connolly: Orchard Series Mystery Series

*Susan
Agatha Christie OR Robert Van Gulik: Judge Dee Mystery Series
Clayton Rawson
Donna Andrews: Meg Langslow Mystery Series AND Turing Hopper Mystery Series

Tammy
Martha Grimes
Louise Penny
Agatha Christie

Laurel
Laura Childs: Tea Shoppe Mystery Series
Sofie Kelly: Magical Cat Mystery Series
Patricia Harwin: Far Wychwood Mystery Series

Carrie
Ngaio Marsh: Inspector Alleyn Mystery Series
Margery Allingham: Campion Mystery Series
Dorothy L. Sayers: Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery Series
P. D. James: Adam Dalgliesh Mystery Series

Petie
Fran Stewart:  Biscuit McKee & Marmalade Mystery Series
Diane Mott Davidson: Goldy Bear Mystery Series
Denise Swanson: Scumble River Mystery Series

Barbara T
Anne Perry: Charlotte and Thomas Pitt Mystery Series
Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
J. A. Jance

Cindy M
Jenn McKinlay: Cupcake Bakery Mystery Series AND Library Lover’s Mystery Series AND Good Buy Girls Mystery Series (writing as Josie Bell)
Leann Sweeney: Cats in Trouble Mystery Series
Sofie Kelly: Magical Cat Mystery Series

Ruth
Susan Wittig Albert
Earlene Fowler
Laura Childs

Sheila
Victoria Thompson
Diane Mott Davidson
Casey Daniels

Jackie G
Mary Daheim
Janet Evanovich
Cleo Coyle

Teressa
Susan Wittig Albert
J. A. Jance
Julie Hyzy

Nita R
M.C. Beaton: Agatha Raisin Mystery Series AND Hamish Macbeth Mystery Series
Laura Childs
Rita Mae Brown: Mrs. Murphy Mystery Series
Lilian Jackson Braun

Sue
Charlotte MacLeod/Alisa Craig
Anne George
Joan Hess
Mary Daheim

MJ
Earlene Fowler: Benni Harper Mystery Series
Margaret Maron: Deborah Knott Mystery Series
Kathryn Hall Page: Faith Fairchild Mystery Series
Susan Wittig Albert: China Bayles Mystery Series

Sandy
Gail Bowen
Margaret Maron
Jane Haddam

Sharon
Jacqueline Winspear
Rhys Bowen: Molly Murphy Mystery Series
Suzanne Arruda OR Susan Wittig Albert: Darling Dahlias Mystery Series
Rex Stout, Erle Stanley Gardner, Agatha Christie

Sandy
Agatha Christie
Kate Flora: Thea Kozak Mystery Series
Karin Slaughter

Kathryn
Agatha Christie
Rhys Bowen: Evan Evans Mystery Series AND Molly Murphy Mystery Series AND Lady Georgiana Royal Spyness Mystery Series
M. C. Beaton/Marion Chesney with Agatha Raisin Mystery Series AND Hamish Macbeth Mystery Series AND Edwardian Murder Mystery Series (writing as Marion Chesney)
Jacqueline Winspear: Maisie Dobbs Mystery Series
Carolyn Hart, Laura Childs, Jeanne M. Dams, Simon Brett, Victoria Thompson, Anna Dean, Carola Dunn, & Lorna Barrett

Julia
Donna Andrews: Meg Langslow Mystery Series
Ellis Peters: Brother Cadfael Mystery Series AND Felse Family Mystery Series
Phoebe Atwood Taylor
Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Michaels, Phyllis A. Whitney, and Mary Higgins Clark

Annette
Laura Childs
Jessica Fletcher (Donald Bain)
Kate Kingsbury
Victoria Brightwell
Kathryn Hall Page: Faith Fairchild Mystery Series

Pat
Patricia Moyes
Lilian Jackson Braun
Rhys Bowen
Carolyn Hart  & Cleo Coyle

Merry
Joyce and Jim Lavene
Cleo Coyle: Coffee Shop Mystery Series  AND Alice Kimberly: Haunted Bookshop Mystery Series
Janet Evanovich
Chris Cavender aka Elizabeth Bright aka Melissa Glazer aka  Casey Mayes aka Tim Myers
Alice Kimberly AND Casey Daniels: Pepper Martin series in third.

Donna
Agatha Christie
Lillian Jackson Braun
Charlotte Armstrong: A Dram of Poison

Anne
Carolyn Hart
Donna Andrews
Anne George AND Patricia Sprinkle AND Susan Wittig Albert
Lillian Jackson Braun

Sally E
Elizabeth George
James Lee Burke
Anne George AND Ariana Franklin
Victoria Thompson AND Rhys Bowen
Cleo Coyle
Tana French

Nancy
Anne Perry
Martha Grimes
Cleo Coyle

Lynn T
Agatha Christie
M. C. Beaton: Agatha Raisin Mystery Series AND Hamish Macbeth
Charlotte MacLeod: Sarah Kelling Mystery Series AND Peter Shandy Mystery Series
Ann Granger: Markby & Mitchell Village Whodunit Mystery Series
Mary Daheim: Emma Lord Mystery Series AND Bed and Breakfast Mystery Series
Carolyn Hart : Henrie-O Mystery Series

Marla
Hazel Holt: Mrs. Mallory Mystery Series
Leslie Meier: Lucy Stone Mystery Series
Mark Schweizer: Hayden Konig Liturgical Mystery Series

Marianne
Louise Penny
Sue Grafton
Sue Henry

Edie
Susan Wittig Albert: China Bayles Mystery Series
Sue Grafton: Alphabet Mystery Series
Tony Hillerman

Judith
Agatha Christie
Dorothy L Sayers 

Ricky
Linda Fairstein
Elizabeth George
Ngaio Marsh
Josephine Tey

Isabelle
Lorna Barrett:  Booktown Mystery Series
Sue Grafton
Lilian Jackson Braun

Mary Joy
Lorna Barrett: Booktown Mystery Series
Katherine Hall Page: Faith Fairchild Mystery Series
Leslie Meier: Lucy Stone Mystery Series

Nikki
Agatha Christie
M. C. Beaton
Susan Wittig Albert

Marie
Martha Grimes
Margery Allingham
Dorothy L. Sayers
Agatha Christie
Ngaio Marsh

Karen
M. C. Beaton: Agatha Raisin Mystery Series
Christopher Fowler: Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery Series
Kerry Greenwood: Corinna Chapman Mystery Series AND Phryne Fisher Mystery Series

John
Margaret Maron: Deborah Knott series
Dana Stabenow: Kate Shugak series
J.A. Jance: Joanna Brady Mystery Series AND J. P. Beaumont Mystery Series

Linda
Mary Higgins Clark
Joanne Fluke
Brandilynn Collins
Linda Hall
Lorna Barrett: Booktown Mystery Series
Miranda James:  Cat in the Stacks Mystery Series

Carol
Sara Paretsky: V. I. Warshawshi Mystery Series
Janet Evanovich: Stephanie Plum Mystery Series
Faye Kellerman: Decker & Lazarus Mystery Series
Philip R. Craig: Martha’s Vineyard Mystery Series
Alexander McCall Smith: No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Mystery Series
J. A. Jance

Suzi
Veronica Heley: Ellie Quicke Mystery Series
Emily Brightwell: Mrs. Jeffries Mystery Series
Monica Ferris: Needlecraft Mystery Series
GM Malliet: Max Tudor Mystery Series

Donna
Laura Childs: Tea Shop Mystery Series AND Scrapbooking Mystery Series
Joanne Fluke: Hannah Swensen Cookie Jar Mystery Series
Victoria Holt
Lorna Barrett: Booktown Mystery Series

Diane
Joanne Fluke: Hannah Swensen Cookie Jar Mystery Series
Ann B. Ross: Miss Julia Mystery Series
Lillian Jackson Braun: The Cat Who ***** Mystery Series

Of course, if you would enjoy seeing why each of us picked the authors we did, you can read the comments on the first part of Alfred’s question.

Thanks, again!

Mystery Writers of America – Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time

Not to be outdone by the British Crime Writers’ Association – Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time, the Mystery Writers of America came up with their list five years later. If you compare the lists, you will see that there are quite a few authors who appear on both. I am happy to see a few of the authors I follow on the list. There are also a few authors (like Thomas Harris and Joseph Wambaugh) who I read on occasion.

In 1995, the Mystery Writers of America comprised a list of:

The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time

  1. Arthur Conan Doyle: The Complete Sherlock Holmes (1887-1927)
  2. Dashiell Hammett: The Maltese Falcon (1930)
  3. Edgar Allan Poe: Tales of Mystery & Imagination (1852)
  4. Josephine Tey: The Daughter of Time (1951)
  5. Scott Turow: Presumed Innocent (1987)
  6. John le Carré: The Spy Who Came In From the Cold (1963)
  7. Wilkie Collins: The Moonstone (1868)
  8. Raymond Chandler: The Big Sleep (1939)
  9. Daphne du Maurier: Rebecca (1938)
  10. Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None (1939)
  11. Robert Traver: Anatomy of a Murder (1958)
  12. Agatha Christie: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926)
  13. Raymond Chandler: The Long Goodbye (1953)
  14. James M. Cain: The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934)
  15. Mario Puzo: The Godfather (1969)
  16. Thomas Harris: The Silence of the Lambs (1988)
  17. Eric Ambler: A Coffin for Dimitrios (1939)
  18. Dorothy L. Sayers: Gaudy Night (1935)
  19. Agatha Christie: Witness for the Prosecution (1948)
  20. Frederick Forsyth: The Day of the Jackal (1971)
  21. Raymond Chandler: Farewell, My Lovely (1940)
  22. John Buchan: The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915)
  23. Umberto Eco: The Name of the Rose (1980)
  24. Fyodor Dostoyevsky: Crime and Punishment (1866)
  25. Ken Follett: Eye of the Needle (1978)
  26. John Mortimer: Rumpole of the Bailey (1978)
  27. Thomas Harris: Red Dragon (1981)
  28. Dorothy L. Sayers: The Nine Tailors (1934)
  29. Gregory Mcdonald: Fletch (1974)
  30. John le Carré: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1974)
  31. Dashiell Hammett: The Thin Man (1934)
  32. Wilkie Collins: The Woman in White (1860)
  33. E. C. Bentley: Trent’s Last Case (1913)
  34. James M. Cain: Double Indemnity (1943)
  35. Martin Cruz Smith: Gorky Park (1981)
  36. Dorothy L. Sayers: Strong Poison (1930)
  37. Tony Hillerman: Dance Hall of the Dead (1973)
  38. Donald E. Westlake: The Hot Rock (1970)
  39. Dashiell Hammett: Red Harvest (1929)
  40. Mary Roberts Rinehart: The Circular Staircase (1908)
  41. Agatha Christie: Murder on the Orient Express (1934)
  42. John Grisham: The Firm (1991)
  43. Len Deighton: The Ipcress File (1962)
  44. Vera Caspary: Laura (1942)
  45. Mickey Spillane: I, the Jury (1947)
  46. Maj Sjöwall & Per Wahlöö: The Laughing Policeman (1968)
  47. Donald E. Westlake: Bank Shot (1972)
  48. Graham Greene: The Third Man (1950)
  49. Jim Thompson: The Killer Inside Me (1952)
  50. Mary Higgins Clark: Where Are the Children? (1975)
  51. Sue Grafton: “A” is for Alibi (1982)
  52. Lawrence Sanders: The First Deadly Sin (1973)
  53. Tony Hillerman: A Thief of Time (1989)
  54. Truman Capote: In Cold Blood (1966)
  55. Geoffrey Household: Rogue Male (1939)
  56. Dorothy L. Sayers: Murder Must Advertise (1933)
  57. G. K. Chesterton: The Innocence of Father Brown (1911)
  58. John le Carré: Smiley’s People (1979)
  59. Raymond Chandler: The Lady in the Lake (1943)
  60. Harper Lee: To Kill a Mockingbird (1960)
  61. Graham Greene: Our Man in Havana (1958)
  62. Charles Dickens: The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870)
  63. Peter Lovesey: Wobble to Death (1970)
  64. W. Somerset Maugham: Ashenden (1928)
  65. Nicholas Meyer: The Seven-Per-Cent Solution: Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson (1974)
  66. Rex Stout: The Doorbell Rang (1965)
  67. Elmore Leonard: Stick (1983)
  68. John le Carré: The Little Drummer Girl (1983)
  69. Graham Greene: Brighton Rock (1938)
  70. Bram Stoker: Dracula (1897)
  71. Patricia Highsmith: The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955)
  72. Edmund Crispin: The Moving Toyshop (1946)
  73. John Grisham: A Time to Kill (1989)
  74. Hillary Waugh: Last Seen Wearing … (1952)
  75. W. R. Burnett: Little Caesar (1929)
  76. George V. Higgins: The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1972)
  77. Dorothy L. Sayers: Clouds of Witness (1927)
  78. Ian Fleming: From Russia, with Love (1957)
  79. Margaret Millar: Beast in View (1955)
  80. Michael Gilbert: Smallbone Deceased (1950)
  81. Josephine Tey: The Franchise Affair (1948)
  82. Elizabeth Peters: Crocodile on the Sandbank (1975)
  83. P. D. James: Shroud for a Nightingale (1971)
  84. Tom Clancy: The Hunt for Red October (1984)
  85. Ross Thomas: Chinaman’s Chance (1978)
  86. Joseph Conrad: The Secret Agent (1907)
  87. John D. MacDonald: The Dreadful Lemon Sky (1975)
  88. Dashiell Hammett: The Glass Key (1931)
  89. Ruth Rendell: A Judgement in Stone (1977)
  90. Josephine Tey: Brat Farrar (1950)
  91. Ross Macdonald: The Chill (1963)
  92. Walter Mosley: Devil in a Blue Dress (1990)
  93. Joseph Wambaugh: The Choirboys (1975)
  94. Donald E. Westlake: God Save the Mark (1967)
  95. Craig Rice: Home Sweet Homicide (1944)
  96. John Dickson Carr: The Three Coffins (1935)
  97. Richard Condon: Prizzi’s Honor (1982)
  98. James McClure: The Steam Pig (1974)
  99. Jack Finney: Time and Again (1970)
  100. Ellis Peters: A Morbid Taste for Bones (1977) Tied with Ira Levin: Rosemary’s Baby (1967)

If you take a look at both the 1990 British list and this 1995 USA list, you will no doubt notice that a lot of the authors are duplicated. I guess it just doesn’t matter on which side of the pond you live, good crime fiction is simply good crime fiction!

(I highlighted the authors who can be found on the Cozy Mystery site.)

Crime Writers’ Association – Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time

Here’s a list you might enjoy looking at. It may just inspire you to go read one of these books. I know it has inspired me! (Yes, I’ve added a few to my TBR queue.)

In 1990, the Crime Writers’ Association (British) comprised a list of:

The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time

  1. Josephine Tey: The Daughter of Time (1951)
  2. Raymond Chandler: The Big Sleep (1939)
  3. John le Carré: The Spy Who Came In From the Cold (1963)
  4. Dorothy L. Sayers: Gaudy Night (1935)
  5. Agatha Christie: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926)
  6. Daphne du Maurier: Rebecca (1938)
  7. Raymond Chandler: Farewell, My Lovely (1940)
  8. Wilkie Collins: The Moonstone (1868)
  9. Len Deighton: The Ipcress File (1962)
  10. Dashiell Hammett: The Maltese Falcon (1930)
  11. Josephine Tey: The Franchise Affair (1948)
  12. Hillary Waugh: Last Seen Wearing … (1952)
  13. Umberto Eco: The Name of the Rose (1980)
  14. Geoffrey Household: Rogue Male (1939)
  15. Raymond Chandler: The Long Goodbye (1953)
  16. Francis Iles: Malice Aforethought (1931)
  17. Frederick Forsyth: The Day of the Jackal (1971)
  18. Dorothy L. Sayers: The Nine Tailors (1934)
  19. Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None (1939)
  20. John Buchan: The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915)
  21. Arthur Conan Doyle: The Collected Sherlock Holmes Short Stories (1892-1927)
  22. Dorothy L. Sayers: Murder Must Advertise (1933)
  23. Edgar Allan Poe: Tales of Mystery & Imagination (1852)
  24. Eric Ambler: The Mask of Dimitrios (1939) (aka A Coffin for Dimitrios)
  25. Edmund Crispin: The Moving Toyshop (1946)
  26. Margery Allingham: The Tiger in the Smoke (1952)
  27. Peter Lovesey: The False Inspector Dew (1982)
  28. Wilkie Collins: The Woman in White (1860)
  29. Barbara Vine: A Dark-Adapted Eye (1986)
  30. James M. Cain: The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934)
  31. Dashiell Hammett: The Glass Key (1931)
  32. Arthur Conan Doyle: The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902)
  33. John le Carré: Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1974)
  34. E. C. Bentley: Trent’s Last Case (1913)
  35. Ian Fleming: From Russia, with Love (1957)
  36. Ed McBain: Cop Hater (1956)
  37. Colin Dexter: The Dead of Jericho (1981)
  38. Patricia Highsmith: Strangers on a Train (1950)
  39. Ruth Rendell: A Judgement in Stone (1977)
  40. John Dickson Carr: The Hollow Man (1935) (aka The Three Coffins)
  41. Anthony Berkeley: The Poisoned Chocolates Case (1929)
  42. Ellis Peters: A Morbid Taste for Bones (1977)
  43. Ellis Peters: The Leper of Saint Giles (1981)
  44. Ira Levin: A Kiss Before Dying (1953)
  45. Patricia Highsmith: The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955)
  46. Graham Greene: Brighton Rock (1938)
  47. Raymond Chandler: The Lady in the Lake (1943)
  48. Scott Turow: Presumed Innocent (1987)
  49. Ruth Rendell: A Demon in My View (1976)
  50. John Dickson Carr: The Devil in Velvet (1951)
  51. Barbara Vine: A Fatal Inversion (1987)
  52. Michael Innes: The Journeying Boy (1949)
  53. P. D. James: A Taste for Death (1986)
  54. Jack Higgins: The Eagle Has Landed (1975)
  55. Mary Stewart: My Brother Michael (1960)
  56. Peter Lovesey: Bertie and the Tin Man (1987)
  57. Susan Moody: Penny Black (1984)
  58. Len Deighton: Game, Set & Match (1984-1986)
  59. Dick Francis: The Danger (1983)
  60. P. D. James: Devices and Desires (1989)
  61. Reginald Hill: Under World (1988)
  62. Mary Stewart: Nine Coaches Waiting (1958)
  63. Paula Gosling: A Running Duck (1978)
  64. Michael Gilbert: Smallbone Deceased (1950)
  65. Lionel Davidson: The Rose of Tibet (1962)
  66. P. D. James: Innocent Blood (1980)
  67. Dorothy L. Sayers: Strong Poison (1930)
  68. Michael Innes: Hamlet, Revenge! (1937)
  69. Tony Hillerman: A Thief of Time (1989)
  70. Caryl Brahms & S. J. Simon: A Bullet in the Ballet (1937)
  71. Reginald Hill: Deadheads (1983)
  72. Graham Greene: The Third Man (1950)
  73. Anthony Price: The Labyrinth Makers (1974)
  74. Adam Hall: The Quiller Memorandum (1965)
  75. Margaret Millar: Beast in View (1955)
  76. Sarah Caudwell: The Shortest Way to Hades (1984)
  77. Desmond Bagley: Running Blind (1970)
  78. Dick Francis: Twice Shy (1981)
  79. Richard Condon: The Manchurian Candidate (1959)
  80. Caroline Graham: The Killings at Badger’s Drift (1987)
  81. Nicholas Blake: The Beast Must Die (1938)
  82. Martin Cruz Smith: Gorky Park (1981)
  83. Agatha Christie: Death Comes as the End (1945)
  84. Christianna Brand: Green for Danger (1945)
  85. Cyril Hare: Tragedy at Law (1942)
  86. John Fowles: The Collector (1963)
  87. J. J. Marric: Gideon’s Day (1955)
  88. Lionel Davidson: The Sun Chemist (1976)
  89. Alistair MacLean: The Guns of Navarone (1957)
  90. Julian Symons: The Colour of Murder (1957)
  91. John Buchan: Greenmantle (1916)
  92. Erskine Childers: The Riddle of the Sands (1903)
  93. Peter Lovesey: Wobble to Death (1970)
  94. Dashiell Hammett: Red Harvest (1929)
  95. Ken Follett: The Key to Rebecca (1980)
  96. Ed McBain: Sadie When She Died (1972)
  97. H. R. F. Keating: The Murder of the Maharajah (1980)
  98. Simon Brett: What Bloody Man Is That? (1987)
  99. Gavin Lyall: Shooting Script (1966)
  100. Edgar Wallace: The Four Just Men (1906)

Do you recognize any of these mysteries? I must admit, I haven’t read a lot of them! I now feel like I should expand my repertoire of mystery authors.

Five years later:

Mystery Writers of America – 1995 List of Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time

(I highlighted the authors who can be found on the Cozy Mystery site.)

 

Three Cozy Mystery Authors, and No More…

I got a letter this week from Alfred suggesting a topic that sounds really interesting for a lot of us Cozy Mystery readers. Thank you, Alfred, for this great entry idea!

“The reason I am writing is that I had a column idea for you and thought it might be a good one to do. What if you asked the readers if they could only choose 3 or 4 authors to read, who would they choose and why? I gave this some thought and my three would be Laura Childs’ Tea Shop Mysteries and Emily Brightwell, of course I really like her. For my third one I would have to say Lorna Barrett’s Bookshop series. But what really takes center place on my bookshelf is my entire run of Tales of Grace Chapel Inn – this is an excellent series and you can’t wait to read each book to see what happens next.”

I’m going to start by telling you who my three Cozy Mystery authors would be:

Agatha Christie – She’s simply one of the best story tellers, her sleuths are great characters, she writes classic stories/plots with phenomenal settings, the mysteries are difficult to guess – yet make sense in the end because they are character-driven mysteries.

Ngaio Marsh – Her mysteries are really good classic stories that make sense, yet they are complicated. They (again) are character-driven. The characters are three dimensional, not caricatures. Marsh is a another truly good story teller. The sleuth and his team are a comfort to read about, there are no wild changes in the characters’ personalities. Her stories usually open with very long exposition of the crime setting and the characters, but the pay-off is well worth the wait – once the sleuth and his team arrive, the unfolding investigation of the crime makes interesting reading.

As for my third Cozy Mystery author, I’ll have to continue to think about this. There are so many other authors who I enjoy reading. I cannot imagine having to limit myself to only one out of all my favorite authors.

So, if you only had three Cozy Mystery authors who you could read, who would they be AND why?

(Here are all of your answers in list form: Three Cozy Mystery Authors, and No More – Part 2

MENU