The Cozy Mystery List Blog

Regarding my entry from June 18, 2012, called New to Me Cozy Mystery Author’s Characters (and Even Their Homes!):

First off, thank you all for your comments. In the past, I have always gone with my “50 page rule”, but not having the Kindle’s pages numbered makes this a little more complicated for me. (I can remember how to convert 50 pages into a percent, knowing the length of a book, but that just seems too complicated to want to do every time I read a book.)

Here’s a quick update of what I did about this particular mystery book:

I took your suggestions, and decided to pass on this author. I think you all are right: Too Many Books/So Little Time! However, I also did what some of you suggested, I tried to read for a little while longer, to see if I could get used to characters who were obsessed by people’s appearances and status. I thought that if the mystery was good, and the writing was pretty good, that I might be able to overlook some flaws with the book. >>> That did not happen.

So, once I decided not to continue reading the book, I went ahead and took the suggestion that some of you offered: I went to the back of the book to see what happened. Of course, I was right in predicting the sleuth would end up with the “handsome” police detective. This will come in very handy, no doubt, in future books when she is sleuthing … and can benefit from his unofficial help.

Boy, am I glad I skimmed the end of the book! I discovered that the mystery’s solution was idiotic, the handling of the case was insulting, and the sleuth did what I hate having done in a mystery: She withheld information from the primary detective, which by then was her boyfriend. Yow!!! This is something I absolutely cannot tolerate in my Cozy Mysteries! (It takes me back to Ebert & Siskel talking about “The Idiot Plot”!!!)

I totally agree, you should only spend time with books you know you will miss when they end. You should have characters, writing styles, and plots you want to read. Why spend time with a Cozy Mystery you (pretty much) know you will not want to revisit in the future?

With the “Too Many Books/So Little Time” phrase in my mind, I decided to start reading a mystery book by one of my favorite authors, Ruth Rendell. As soon as I started reading about Inspector Wexford’s current case, I knew your comments had steared me the right way. I found myself getting absorbed in the plot and three dimensional characters from the very beginning of the book. I wasn’t making myself overlook things that irritated me.

So, thank you all of your comments. As this author is a very popular author, I am very sure she will continue to thrive in the Cozy Mystery market and will not miss my monetary support…

OK, I need some help! I just started a new-to-me author’s series, which a lot of you have recommended. Between the comments posted here and the reviews online, I thought this author looks perfect for me!

Hmmm…

Granted, I only started my book two days ago, and have only read 20%, but I’m getting the opinion I just wouldn’t like any of the characters enough to want to stick around for following books, let alone another percent of this book! We have talked about how the characters in the Cozy Mystery series we follow sort of become our friends. We want to read about them in the following books because we like them, we appreciate them, we’re curious about what they are up to, ETC.

Don’t get me wrong, I like the author’s writing style… it’s very easy to read, and flows pretty well. What I don’t like are the characters’ obsession with people’s shapes. Look, I worry enough about my own shape! (Yes, I have several pounds to lose, and I’m talking closer to thirty than ten!) Am I really ready to start reading a series that has such an obsession with people’s perfect bodies? Don’t I worry enough about mine? Don’t I read for enjoyment, not to subconsciously worry about an extra pound (or five!) I’ve put on in the last month?

And, it’s not just the perfect physiques all these characters seem to have, but come on, what’s with thinking slacks like Dockers are for slackers! The characters in the first 20% of this particular Cozy Mystery would definitely not want to associate with me! I am most comfortable in jeans… black or blue… love ’em!

The characters in this book belong to the Country Club Crowd, which there is nothing wrong with… But they are exclusively the Country Club set. So much so, that I wonder how the police detective is going to fit into this crowd>>> and there is no question in my mind, after having read only the first 20% of the book, that he will definitely become our sleuth’s boyfriend… even though, of course, they have a hate/hate relationship now. (Any time a prominent police detective is good looking, let’s just say, “same dance/same song”.)

So, today I have been thinking about whether or not I should continue reading this book. I truly can’t get over all of the characters coming right out of a high-end clothing store’s catalog, but at the same time, since so many people think this author is a really good author, what’s a girl to do?!?

(PS>>> It’s at times like this that I am really sorry I have the “no bad comments about any author” policy. I’m chomping at the bit to tell you who I am talking about!)