The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

December 2011 Mystery Book New Releases

The following Mystery Books will be released in December 2011:

Ellery Adams (aka Jennifer Stanley, J. B. Stanley, 1/2 of Lucy Arlington): The Last Word (This will be the 3rd in the Books by the Bay Mystery Series…)

Sandra Balzo: Triple Shot (This will be the 7th in the Maggy Thorsen Mystery Series…)

Juliet Blackwell (aka Hailey Lind): Dead Bolt (This will be the 2nd in the Haunted Home Renovation Mystery Series…)

Barbara Bretton: Spells & Stitches (This will be the in the 4th in the Chloe Hobbs’ Paranormal Mystery Series…)

Stephen J. Cannell: Vigilante (This will be the 11th in the Shane Scully Mystery Series…)

Patricia Cornwell: Red Mist (This will be the 19th in the Kay Scarpetta Mystery Series…)

Monica Ferris: Threadbare (This will be the 15th in the Needlecraft Mystery Series…)

Christopher Fowler: Hell Train (This will be a Stand Alone…)

Gar Anthony Haywood: Assume Nothing (This will be a Stand Alone…)

Tami Hoag: Down the Darkest Road (This will be the 3rd in the Oak Knoll Mystery Series…)

Deryn Lake: Death at the Wedding Feast (This will be the 14th in the John Rawlings, Apothecary Mystery Series…)

Victoria Laurie: Ghoul Interrupted (This will be the 6th in the Ghost Hunter Mystery Series…)

Joyce & Jim Lavene: A Spirited Gift (This will be the 3rd in the Missing Pieces Mystery Series…)

Virginia Lowell: A Cookie Before Dying (This will be the 2nd in the Cookie Cutter Shop Mystery Series…)

Edward Marston (aka Keith Miles & Conrad Allen): A Bespoke Murder (This will be the 1st in the NEW Home Front Detective Mystery Series…)

Ralph McInerny (aka Monica Quill): The Compassion of Father Dowling (This will be a collection of Father Dowling short stories…)

Leslie Meier: Chocolate Covered Murder (This will be the 18th in the Lucy Stone Mystery Series…) (This is a Valentine theme mystery…)

J. J. Murphy: You Might As Well Die (This will be the 2nd in the Algonquin Round Table Mystery Series…)

Amy Myers: Murder in Abbot’s Folly (This will be the 8th in the Marsh and Daughter Mystery Series…)

Ann Purser: Foul Play at Four (This will be the 11th in the Lois Meade Mystery Series…)

Al Roker & Dick Lochte: The Talk Show Murders (This will be the 3rd in the Billy Blessing Mystery Series…)

Mark Schweizer: The Christmas Cantata (This will be the 10th in the Liturgical Mystery Series…) (This will be a Christmas theme mystery…)

Paige Shelton: Crops and Robbers (This will be the 3rd in the Farmers’ Market Mystery Series…)

Alexander McCall Smith: The Forgotten Affairs of Youth (This will be the 8th in the Isabel Dalhousie Sunday Philosophy Club Series…)

Ann Summerville: The Berton Hotel (This will be a Stand Alone…)

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

Murdoch Mysteries Television Show

There are actually two Murdoch Mysteries series – both are Canadian productions and both are based on author Maureen Jennings’ Murdoch Mystery Series. Both series are set in the late 1890s and feature a police detective (William Murdoch) – who is an avid reader of scientific findings and inventions. This entry will be about the Murdoch Mysteries television series, not the Canadian made-for-TV movies.

Murdoch’s interest in modern (for the times) theories enables him to make gadgets that help him solve cases. He is years before his time… in some cases,  over one hundred years before his time. Murdoch makes gadgets that are quite similar to today’s – a “circumscope” (periscope) using opera glasses, a lie detector using who knows what types of tubes with blue liquid, etc. There are many sly references to today, as well. Sergeant George introduces Murdoch to a very new beverage -coffee. Murdoch states he doesn’t see coffee as something that will catch on, when they already have tea.

Not only is Murdoch ahead of his times. Apparently the entire police force is made up of very modern thinking men. They totally accept the beautiful female forensic pathologist. And, the female doctor is also way ahead of her time: She speaks easily about finding sperm in a corpse, and uses a substance very close to today’s Luminal.

The first Murdoch Mysteries series was a movie series… sort of like the old movies-of-the-week. The second Murdoch Mysteries is a Canadian CityTV television series. This television series stars Yannick Bisson as Inspector Murdoch, Hélène Joy as Dr. Julia Ogden, Jonny Harris as Constable George Crabtree, and Thomas Craig as Murdoch’s boss. (Thomas Craig is a stand-out for me.)

I first started watching this Murdoch Mysteries series after I watched the original series. The first “movie” series was grittier and less obsessed with what I will call “the forensic gross-out” details. Since the first series was from 2004 and this one is more current (four years later) I will blame this on shows like CSI Miami, CSI Anchorage, CSI Topeka, in short, CSI!

I guess you might call these Murdoch episodes sci-fi mysteries. You have to “go with it” >>> These are not for everyone. And, of course, what Victorian, sci-fi mystery would be complete without real historical characters? Enter Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Prince Alfred, Buffalo Bill Cody, Nicola Tesla, etc..

I have to admit that I found the previous Murdoch Mysteries series of movies more believable. This series stars Peter Outerbridge as Murdoch, Colm Meaney as his boss, and Keeley Hawes as the doctor. However, as I stated above, they are grittier.

PS>>> I have not read any of Maureen Jennings’ Murdoch Mysteries. This television series does show certain biases, which for me, is not a problem. I am able to just “go with it” and totally disregard the “politically correct” views the series clearly endorses. I do not know if Jennings’ mystery novels do the same. Also, the show is named The Artful Detective in some areas, rather than the Murdoch Mysteries.

If you would like to see more TV and Movies suggestions, click here.

You Have GOT to Be Kidding!

I know I just told you all about how I find some of the authors I decide to follow. If I read a mystery anthology, and there is someone who I like, I simply add him/her to my list of authors to read. Nothing complicated about that.

I also know that I just told you about two Christmas mystery anthologies that I was going to read. Well… I’m pretty sure of which author I will not be adding to my list of authors to read in the future!

I just started the second anthology last night. Sometimes, when I have a book of short stories, I read the authors out of order. I sort of pick and choose which author to read based on whether or not I’m familiar with the authors, if the titles catch my interest, etc. There’s nothing complicated about that, either. In this case, I decided to read the books in their correct order.

Last night, as I started the second anthology, I was a little “put off” by the reference of a special type of “inflatable” doll – on the second page of the first author’s novella. Hmmm…. Don’t get me wrong >>> I AM an adult! But, I do wonder why an author has to throw this type of “hook and bait” adult situation into his/her story so early. Is it to let me know that: “Wink, wink, we are all adults here.” I know I sound like a prude to a lot of people. I am using my “Would Ricky and Lucy do that ?” type of measurement, only substituting Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh for the “Ricardos.” Would you be more apt to finish an Agatha Christie mystery if she had spiced it up at the very beginning of her book, or thrown in a few expletives?

I continued to read the Christmas mystery novella, and actually finished it… just barely… And, “bare”ly is a good word to use in this particular situation… This novella features a young woman who gets up her nerve to ask a young man in her apartment complex out on a first date… I’m not going to write any spoilers here, but I will tell you one thing… Their “first date” is… I’ll leave it at “explicitly graphic”… That’s when I realized the reason for the “Wink, wink, we are all adults here.” on the second page of the novella — a warning of sorts.

Good grief!!! Wouldn’t you expect a publisher to lump the same type of authors together in an anthology? If I wasn’t familiar with two of the other authors in the anthology, I would have simply tossed the book, and not bothered to read the other novellas. I sure hope the editor didn’t make “my two authors” spice things up!

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