The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Authors Who Are Similar to Simon Brett

I have been asked to come up with a list of authors who are similar to Simon Brett, particularly his Fethering Mystery series. I first discovered Simon Brett by reading a few of his Mrs. Pargeter Mystery Series books, which led me to his Fethering Mystery Series.

Authors Who Are Similar to Simon Brett:

Jo Bannister: Brodie Farrell Mystery Series

M. C. Beaton: Agatha Raisin Mystery Series

Deborah Crombie: Kincaid & James Mystery Series

Carolyn Hart: Henrie O Mystery Series

Joan Hess: Claire Malloy Mystery Series

Hazel Holt: Mrs. Malory Mystery Series

Brian Kavanagh: Belinda Lawrence Mystery Series

Please post your recommendations of authors who are similar to Simon Brett, and I will add them to the list.

♦To access more Cozy Mysteries by theme click on this link.♦

Cozy Mystery Books Recommendations – April 2012

It’s the end of April and, as some of you know, it is time for me to ask you all to tell us about the mystery books you all have been enjoying this month. And, of course, since this is for the Cozy Mystery site, I am hoping that you will tell us about those Cozy Mysteries you have enjoyed. (Please do not tell us about the authors you have disliked!)

I will make up a list of all of the Cozy Mystery Books Recommendations for the month of April, but will leave your comments up so that people can see the reasons you enjoyed the mystery.

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

I’m going to start this thread by telling you about a book I just finished. It’s called Never Buried, and is by Edie Claire. About a month ago, Claire contacted me to let me know that all of her Leigh Koslow “Never” mystery books are now on Kindle and Nook format. My daughter tried Claire’s first mystery in the series and wrote to tell me how much she enjoyed it. (I’m surprised she told me, since she is currently studying for her last semester finals!) I knew I had to try the book when she told me that it reminded her of Anne George’s books.

I read the book, and totally agree with her. The relationships between all of the major (and minor) characters really have a ring of authenticity. These are three dimensional “people”. There was no overtly saccharine “everybody loves everybody” relationship that I could see, these characters (like people) have their foibles and different motivations.

I also really enjoyed the “mystery part” of the book. A lot of times, I am willing to overlook a weak mystery because the characters (my most important interest) are so good. In this case, both the mystery and the characters are strong.

I strongly recommend Never Buried by Edie Claire.

April 2012 Author and Series Recommendations:

Avery Aames (aka Daryl Wood Gerber): Cheese Shop Mystery Series

Tasha Alexander: Lady Emily Mystery Series

Marian Babson:  Trixie Dolan & Evangeline Sinclair Mystery Series

Donald Bain & “Jessica Fletcher“: Murder, She Wrote Mystery Series

Ella Barrick (aka Lila Dare & Laura DiSilverio): Ballroom Dance Mystery Series

M. C. Beaton: Hamish Macbeth Mystery Series

Simon Brett: Fethering Mystery Series

Emily Brightwell: Mrs. Jeffries Mystery Series

Rita Mae Brown: Mrs. Murphy Mystery Series

Lucy Burdette (aka Roberta Isleib): Key West Food Critic Mystery Series

Dorothy Cannell: Ellie Haskell Mystery Series

JoAnna Carl (aka Eve K. Sandstrom): Chocoholic Mystery Series

Elizabeth Lynn Casey (aka Laura Bradford): Southern Sewing Circle Mystery Series

Edie Claire: Leigh Koslow “Never” Mystery Series

Jane K. Cleland: Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery Series

Harlan Coben: Stand Alones

Kate Collins: Flower Shop Mystery Series

Susan Conant: Dog Lover’s Mystery Series

Cleo Coyle (aka Alice Kimberly): Coffee House Mystery Series

Carola Dunn: Daisy Dalrymple Mystery Series

Anne Emery: Father Brennan Burke & Monty Collins, Esq. Mystery Series

Vivienne Fagan: Hilda Hopkins Mystery Series

Monica Ferris: Needlecraft Mystery Series

Amanda Flower: India Hayes Mystery Series

Carolyn Hart: Henrie O Mystery Series

B. B. Haywood: Candy Holliday Mystery Series

Marianna Heusler: St Polycarp Mystery Series

Anthony Horowitz: The House of Silk

Sofie Kelly: Magical Cats Mystery Series

Amanda Lee (aka Gayle Trent): Embroidery Mystery Series

Virginia Lowell: Cookie Cutter Shop Mystery Series

G. A. McKevett: Savannah Reid Mystery Series

Jenn McKinlay (aka Lucy Lawrence & Josie Belle): Cupcake Bakery Mystery Series

Donna Huston Murray: Ginger Barnes Main Line Mystery Series

Mark Schweizer: Liturgical Mystery Series

Paige Shelton: Farmer’s Market Mystery Series

Charles Todd: Bess Crawford Mystery Series

Nicola Upson: Josephine Tey Mystery Series

Jacqueline Winspear: Maisie Dobbs Mystery Series

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

Pip Granger, Terris McMahan Grimes, Erin Hart, Sasscer Hill, C. J. Sansom, Cynthia Smith – Four New Authors on the Cozy Mystery Site

I am so happy to have six new authors’ pages posted on the Cozy Mystery site. These are authors who have come recommended as belonging on the site:

Pip Granger: Rosie Featherby Mystery Series
The first mystery in this series was nominated for the Barry Award and the Agatha Award for Best First Novel. Rosie is a girl who is being raised by her uncle and aunt in post WW II London.

Terris McMahan Grimes: Theresa Galloway Mystery Series
Grimes has her degree in English and writes this series, which features a working wife and mother sleuth and, her mother. The first mystery in the series was nominated for the Agatha Award and won the Anthony Award.

Erin Hart: Nora Gavin/Cormac Maguire Mystery Series
Nora is an American anthropologist and Cormac is an Irish archaeologist who sleuth together in Ireland. The first mystery in the series was nominated for the Anthony and Agatha Awards.

Sasscer Hill: Nikki Latrelle Racing Mystery Series
Hill writes this series which features a young horse jockey in Maryland. The first mystery in the series was nominated for both the Agatha Award and the Macavity Award for Best First Novel.

C. J. Sansom: Matthew Shardlake Mystery Series
Sansom is a lawyer with both his BA and PhD in history. He writes this historical mystery series which is set in 16th century England.

Cynthia Smith: Emma Rhodes Mystery Series
Emma is a British private investigator for the very wealthy. Her clients are so rich, they pay her $20,000  to take their cases. Emma likes to refer to herself as a “private resolver” – and guarantees a solution in two weeks time.

Women’s Fruit of the Loom Has a “Flawless” TV Ad!

OK, I know this entry has absolutely NOTHING to do with Cozy Mystery books. BUT, I went into WalMart the other day, and as I browsed through the magazines targeted for women to buy, I was left wondering when we became a nation where the covers of women’s magazines look like… magazines featuring center-folds of women! I mean, who decided that women prefer buying women’s magazines with air-brushed young, voluptuous (yet skinny) women, with either low cut tops – or no tops at all. Hmmm…

But, not all companies are sending us these crazy messages about what we should be interested in. If you have a minute, here is an advertisement (On You Tube) that I absolutely LOVE. It’s message is terrific! Its the “Flawless” commercial for women’s Fruit of the Loom undergarments:

Sorry, I posted a video in 2012, and it no longer works. I hope you were able to see the ad when it was on. It was different than all the other adds that feature models who are unworldly thin.

And, if you would rather not watch this You Tube clip, then here are the words to the “jingle””

For all the places I want to see
These legs are a vehicle carrying me.
What more could I ask them to be?
They’re Flawless.

Flawless

Beauty magazines offer their tricks
Tell me: What are they trying to fix?
I can’t imagine how your embrace
would be any warmer on a twenty inch waist.
I’m Flawless.

Don’t you know you’re flawless.

Love it!

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