The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Rocky Raccoon and the Sugar Water…

I know I have written (many times!) about our hummingbird feeders, bird feeders, and bird bath. Ever since Sprite “left us” (a year ago) I have been feeding the birds, and we have all enjoyed watching them. (Watching birds is NO substitute for Sprite, but it does provide us some fun happenings outside our kitchen windows.)

I have to admit that since we don’t get a very bright-colored group of birds, I prefer the little hummingbirds. They visit our area between March and October. I know I went overboard, but I actually had four hummingbird feeders placed around the yard. I knew that hummingbirds tend to be territorial, so was hoping we would be able to accommodate a few of them at any given time.

Well, we no longer have four hummingbird feeders!

Last week, I was quite surprised to find all four of the feeders totally dry, and one of them actually sitting in the middle of the yard, flipped over. I looked at our neighbors’ hummingbird feeder, and sure enough, it was also pulled down off its hook.

We have lived in this area for twenty years, and none of us have ever seen a raccoon…. ever! Those little critters are mighty handy… I cannot believe they were able to climb up the poles and get the nectar out of those little holes in the hummingbird feeders by tipping them just right, but they were. I had no idea raccoons are that stealthy, but rather doubt the little squirrels could pull off this feat.

Live and learn! One visit to our local Wild Birds Unlimited store took care of this little “problem”>>> I am down to only two hummingbird feeders on one pole, complete with a squirrel baffle. While I enjoy our birds and some of the squirrels, nightly raccoons are simply not on our agenda!

Classic British Cozy Mystery with Classic British Cozy Mystery Dialogue

A little while ago, I was driving somewhere, listening to Death in Ecstasy by Ngaio Marsh. (And, incidentally, loving it!) The only problem I have with audio books is that you can’t simply mark the spot with a bookmark so you can refer to it later. In this case, I thought some of the dialogue was so clever, I simply HAD to go find a place to park, in order to transcribe the words>>> which meant having to reverse and play my audio book several times. (So, these might not be the exact words, but if they aren’t, they are really close.)

For those of you who haven’t yet read any of the Ngaio Marsh Inspector Alleyn mysteries, shame on you! They are British Cozy Mystery classics, some of the best!

What I found endearing about the following conversation that occurs between Inspector Roderick Alleyn and Nigel Bathgate (a journalist cohort), is the way Marsh takes the reader along for a ride with these two fictional characters, discussing mystery books written by contemporary authors of Marsh’s. She is able to make the reader (just about!) forget he/she is reading about fictional characters.

Question regarding who the murderer could be:

“…  “let’s pretend it’s a detective novel. Where would we be by this time? About halfway through, I should think. Well, who’s your pick?”

Answer:

“It depends on the author. If it’s Agatha Christie, Miss Wades … guilt drips from every page. Dorothy Sayer’s Lord Peter would plump for … Inspector French would go for…”  (Inspector French was the fictional character in Freeman Wills Crofts’ mystery books, written at the same time.)

I found it to be quite clever that Marsh would have her fictional characters refer to current mystery authors, as if her fictional characters weren’t exactly that: fictional characters!

When I told my husband about this, he quickly responded that he thinks Agatha Christie had her fictional characters – Tommy and Tuppence – also name current mystery authors in their dialogue.

Can you think of any other Cozy Mystery authors’ fictional characters who refer to real Cozy Mystery authors?

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.

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