The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

2012 Nero (Wolfe) Award Nominees!

I finally posted the nominees for the 2012 Nero Awards. Most of you, I am sure, know exactly what the Nero Awards stand for:

The “Nero” is an annual award presented to an author for literary excellence in the mystery genre. The award is presented at the Black Orchid Banquet, which is traditionally held on the first Saturday in December in New York City. Past winners of the award include Fred Harris, Martha Grimes, Dennis Lehane, and Sharyn McCrumb.

(I copied the above statement from the Wolfe Pack site.)

Congratulations to all of the nominees!

2012: Guilt by Association by Marcia Clark 
The Silent Girl by Tess Gerritsen
The House of Silk by Anthony Horowitz
Spiral by Paul McEuen
Though Not Dead by Dana Stabenow
Black Orchid Blues by Persia Walker

(And, here’s a fun tidbit: Jane K. Cleland, author of the popular Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery Series,  is the Wolfe Pack’s literary awards chair!)

July 2012 Mystery Book New Releases

The following Mystery Books will be released in July 2012:

Ellery Adams (aka Jennifer Stanely, J. B. Standley, ½ of Lucy Arlington): Pies and Prejudice (This will be the first in the NEW Charmed Pie Shoppe Mystery Series.)

Laura Alden: Plotting at the PTA (This will be the 3rd in the Beth Kennedy PTA Mystery Series.)

Robin Allen: Stick a Fork In It (This will be the 2nd in the Culinary Cop Mystery Series.)

Donna Andrews: Some Like It Hawk (This will be the 14th in the Meg Langslow Mystery Series.)

Lorna Barrett (aka Lorraine Bartlett & L. L. Bartlett): Murder on the Half Shelf (This will be the 6th in the Booktown Mystery Series.)

Juliet Blackwell (aka Hailey Lind): In a Witch’s Wardrobe (This will be the 4th in the Witchcraft Mystery Series.)

Annette Blair: Cloaked in Malice (This will be the 5th in the Vintage Magic Mystery Series.)

Fiona Buckley: Queen’s Bounty (This will be the 9th in the Ursula Blanchard Mystery Series) (Actually, August 1)

James Lee Burke: Creole Belle (This will be the 19th in the Dave Robicheaux Series.)

Joelle Charbonneau: Murder for Choir (This will be the 1st in the NEW Glee Club Mystery Series.)

Mary Daheim: The Wurst Is Yet To Come (This will be the 27th in the Hillside Manor Bed-and-Breakfast Mystery Series.) (This is an Oktoberfest theme mystery.)

Kaitlyn Dunnett (aka Kathy Lynn Emerson): Bagpipes, Brides, and Homicides (This will be the 6th in the Liss MacCrimoon Scottish Mystery Series.)

Linda Fairstein: Night Watch (This will be the 14th in the Alex Cooper Mystery Series.)

Amanda Flower: A Plain Death (This will be the 1st in the NEW Appleseed Creek Mystery Series.)

Janice Hamrick: Death Makes the Cut (This will be the 2nd in the Jocelyn Shore Mystery Series.)

Kay Hooper: Haven (This will be the in the Bishop Special Crime Unit Series.)

J. A. Jance: Judgment Call (This will be the 15th in the Joanna Brady Mystery Series.)

Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen: Close Your Eyes (This will be a Stand Alone.)

Allison Kingsley (aka Kate Kingsbury & Rebecca Kent): A Sinister Sense (This will be the 2nd in the Raven’s Nest Bookstore Mystery Series.)

Victoria Laurie: Lethal Outlook (This will be the 10th in the Psychic Eye Mystery Series.)

Liz Lipperman (aka Liz Roth): Beef Stolen-Off (This will be the 2nd in the Clueless Cook Mystery Series.)

Francine Mathews (aka Stephanie Barron): Jack 1939 (This will be a Stand Alone.) (This is a fictional mystery featuring the young John Kennedy.)

Jenn McKinlay (aka Lucy Lawrence): Red Velvet Revenge (This will be the 4th in the Cupcake Bakery Mystery.)

Catriona McPherson: Dandy Gilver and a Bothersome Number of Corpses (This will be teh 7th in the Dandy Gilver Mystery Series.) (I don’t know when the USA version will be published, this is the UK version’s publication date.)

David Rosenfelt: Leader of the Pack (This will be the 10th in the Andy Carpenter Mystery Series.)

Kate Sedley: The Tintern Treasure (This will be the 21st in the Roger the Chapman Mystery Series.)

Peter Treymayne: Behold a Pale Horse (This will be the 22 in the Sister Fidelma Mystery of Ancient Ireland Mystery Series.)

Minette Walters: Innocent Victims: Two Novellas (This will be a Stand Alone.)

Penny Warner: How to Dine on Killer Wine (This will be the 5th in the Party Planning Mystery Series.)

To go back to the Cozy Mystery New Book Release page, click here.

Not a Mystery, Just Delicious!

You know how when you have a new recipe you really, really like, you want to keep serving it all of the time? Or, at least you want to tell people about it?

Well, I recently discovered a perfect summer side dish that is so good, and so easy to make, that I thought I would share it. Also, I want to ask you all if you have any “keeper” recipes you wouldn’t mind sharing with us… preferable easy to make, without a whole grocery list of ingredients.

Last summer, I bought this Weight Watchers Five Ingredient 15 Minute Recipes magazine, and found a few “keeper” recipes. This recipe has become a favorite of our’s. (It’s on page 7 of the magazine, which says “Display until 8/12/11” on the front. – While searching for information about this magazine, I found that there are many different editions, so I went ahead and posted the picture of the specific magazine I am talking about. It is published by Oxmoor House.)

Grilled Corn, Red Peppers, and Onions
PointsPlus value per serving: 3
Prep: 6 minutes    Cook: 15 minutes

2 large ears shucked corn
1 large red bell pepper, cut in half and seeded
1 medium-size sweet onion, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
Butter-flavored cooking spray
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (*I use coarse pepper)

1. Prepare grill. Coat first 3 ingredients heavily with cooking spray. Place vegetables on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Grill 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender. (*Obviously, the cooking spray on the grill has to be sprayed on before starting up the grill.)

2  Cut kernels from corn to yield 3 cups; place in medium bowl. Cut pepper and onion into 1-inch pieces; add to corn. Add oil and remaining ingredients; toss well.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 1/4 cups).

Per Serving: Calories 117, Fat 4.6 g (sat 0.7, mono 2.9g, poly 0.6g); Protein 2.8 g; Carb 18.3 g; Fiber 2.6g; Chol 0mg; Iron 0.7mg; Sodium 164 mg; Calc 21mg

 *I actually double the recipe so that I can serve it again – cold. Also, I haven’t figured out a way to cut the kernels off the corn in a “comfortable” way. That cob is hot!

If any of you have a recipe (preferable easy!) that is a “keeper” in your household you wouldn’t mind telling us about, feel free to post it in a comment. Thanks!

Bon appétit!

Cozy Mystery Books Recommendations – May 2012

I can’t believe that May is almost over! What a month!!! School terms are over,  neighborhood pools are opening, barbecues are being heated up, and birds are VERY abundant. (I wish we got more Cardinals here, and less of those drab-colored Doves and House Finches!)

Since it is the end of May, how about if we share the Cozy Mystery books we have enjoyed this month? Let’s tell each other why we are “nominating” these authors as writers we think other Cozy Mystery readers should try reading >>> it they aren’t already.

Once you tell us about the author you really enjoyed, and of course, why you enjoyed him/her, I will start accumulating the authors names on a list below. Please tell us a little about why you are recommending this author/book, >>> we’d especially like to know why the author is good.  (I hate to keep droning on about this next thing, but please don’t tell us about the authors you tried reading and disliked.)

What Cozy Mystery book (or author) have you read during May 2012, and why did you enjoy it (or him/her)?

The Cozy Mystery author who I read this month, who I think others might really enjoy is Margaret Grace. She’s also known as Camille Minichino and Ada Madison.

Perhaps the reason I enjoy Grace so much, is that her main sleuth has a lot of the same thoughts as I do. I find her main sleuth, Gerry Porter, thinking a lot of the same things I would have thought if I had encountered the exact event. Does that make sense? I hope so. I am sure I would not be able to identify with some of Gerry’s thoughts if she weren’t such a three-dimensional character. Grace’s characters are three-dimensional characters, much like those you would encounter in “real life”.

The main characters of the Miniature Mystery Series are Gerry and her granddaughter, Maddie, who is an elementary school age girl. Their relationship is a joy to read about. Gerry simply dotes on Maddie, and the feelings are mutual. Gerry’s nephew, Skip, is a police officer in this Cozy almost-everybody-knows-everybody town. Skip is (quite often!) aggravated by his Aunt Gerry, but he loves her all the same. The relationships between all of the  characters ring true to me, and very life-like. These are “people” who I would love to know!

I really enjoy the writing style of Grace. It isn’t super flowery, with big words sprinkled in to show us just how intelligent the author is, and it also doesn’t rely on profanity to get the different moods across. We “get it” when a character is mad, even without “*!#^*” being used as adjectives and adverbs. Her writing style is effortless and smooth, a very conversational tone, without being simplistic.

I strongly recommend the Miniature Mystery Series by Margaret Grace.

April 2012 Author and Series Recommendations:

Ellery Adams (aka J. B. Stanley, Jennifer Stanley, & 1/2 of Lucy Arlington): Books by the Bay Mystery Series

Charlotte Armstrong: The Turret Room & A Dram of Poison

Nancy Atherton: Aunt Dimity Mystery Series

Melissa Bourbon: Magical Dressmaking Mystery Series

Barbara Bretton: Chloe Hobbs’ Paranormal Mystery Series

Emily Brightwell: Mrs. Jeffries Mystery Series

Frances Brody: Kate Shackleton Mystery Series

Dorothy Cannell: Ellie Haskell Mystery Series

Sheila Connolly (aka Sarah Atwell): Orchard Mystery Series

Deborah Coonts: Lucky O’Toole Mystery Series

Ellen Crosby: Wine Country Mystery Series

Diane Mott Davidson: Goldy Bear Catering Mystery Series

Anna Dean: Dido Kent Mystery Series

Laura DiSilverio (aka Lila Dare & Ella Barrick): Mall Cop Mystery Series

Carola Dunn: Daisy Dalrymple Mystery Series

Anne George: Southern Sisters Mystery Series

Margaret Grace (aka Camille Minichino and Ada Madison): Miniature Mystery Series

Victoria Hamilton: Vintage Kitchen Mystery Series

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

P. D. James: Adam Dalgliesh Mystery Series

Diane Kelly: Tara Holloway Mystery Series

Sofie Kelly: Magical Cats Mystery Series

Liz Lipperman: Clueless Cook Mystery Series

Nancy Martin: Blackbird Sisters Mystery Series

Amy Patricia Meade: Rosie the Riveter Mystery Series

Katherine Hall Page: Faith Fairchild Mystery Series

Mark Schweizer: Liturgical Mystery Series 

Paige Shelton: Farmers’ Market Mystery Series

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

Leann Sweeney: Cats in Trouble Mystery Series

Marcia Talley: Hannah Ives Mystery Series

Elaine Viets: Dead End Job Mystery Series

Dornford Yates: Jonathan Mansell Mystery Series

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

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