The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Mike Befeler, Janet Bolin, Joyce Oroz, & Dorothy St. James … Four of the Newest Mystery Authors Added to the Cozy Mystery Site…

I am (again!) trying to post a few of the many mystery authors you all have recommended as belonging on the site. The four newest mystery author additions to the site are:

Mike Befeler   Befeler, with his Stanford Bachelor’s and his UCLA Master’s, writes the Paul Jacobson Geezer-Lit Mystery Series. This series has a unique sleuth, as he is an octogenarian. 

Janet Bolin   Bolin writes the Threadville Mystery Series. This series will be of special interest to those of us who enjoy needleworking of all types: embroidery, crocheting, knitting, quilting, all sorts of arts, and/or crafts. The series takes place in a village which attracts many people with these interests. The sleuth is the owner of a high-tech embroidery shop.

Joyce Oroz   Oroz is a painter/author who writes the Josephine Stuart Mystery Series. Josephine, the sleuth, is a middle aged painter who is recently widowed.

Dorothy St. James  St. James pens the White House Gardener Mystery Series which, of course, takes place in Washington D C. The sleuth is an assistant gardener who has been hand-picked by the first lady.

Authors Who Are Similar to Jacqueline Winspear

Here is the second author who Diana would like to find authors who are similar:

I’m hoping you’ll be willing to give me a suggestion or two – I especially love Jacqueline Winspear (Maisie Dobbs) and Carola Dunn (Daisy Dalrymple).  Based on loving those, do you have any specific author suggestions?

Authors Who Are Similar to Jacqueline Winspear:

Rhys Bowen: Molly Murphy Mystery Series

Alan Bradley: Flavia de Luce Mystery Series

Frances Brody: Kate Shakleton Mystery Series

Dianne Day: Fremont Jones Mystery Series

Carola Dunn: Daisy Dalrymple Mystery Series

Dorothy Gilman: Mrs. Pollifax Mystery Series

Kerry Greenwood: Phryne Fisher Mystery Series

Laurie R. King: Mary Russell Mystery Series

Susan Elia MacNeal: Maggy Hope Mystery Series

Louise Penny: Chief Inspector Armand Gamache Mystery Series

Anne Perry: Thomas & Charlotte Pitt Mystery Series AND William Monk Mystery Sereis

Elizabeth Peters: Amelia Peabody Mystery Series

Deanna Raybourn: Lady Julia Grey Mystery Series

Victoria Thompson: Gaslight Mystery Series

Charles Todd: Ian Rudlege Mystery Series

Charles Todd: Bess Crawford Mystery Series

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

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

Authors Similar to…

I have been receiving quite a few letters recently about recommending “Authors Similar to” other authors. I know how frustrating it is when you get to the end of a favorite author’s series, and wonder – what next?

Unfortunately, a lot of the time I get requests for authors who I don’t read. This of course, makes it impossible for me to recommend “Authors Similar to” that author.

Even if I am familiar with the author in question, I obviously am not familiar with all other Cozy Mystery authors. It is for this reason that I appreciate it when Cozy Mystery site readers, who are familiar with an author, recommend authors they think write in the same fashion. It’s great to hear from you ALL – whether I know the author in question, or not. The more similar authors, the better…

PS>>> I will be posting several new “Authors Similar to” pages very soon. Thank you – in advance – for your recommendations.

What Cozy Mystery (or Not So Cozy) Are You Reading?

Every once in a while I simply have to talk about the Cozy Mystery books I am reading/listening to AND find out what books you all are reading. Call me nosy…

I am listening to one of Patricia Wentworth’s Miss Maud Silvers Cozy Mystery Series and, let me tell you, there is no question that this is a Cozy Mystery! No graphic language, violence, or “adult” situations. The sleuth, Miss Silvers, is an older, retired school teacher/governess who has taken up private investigating in her later years. Her services are found by word of mouth. People who have used her to solve a mystery in their own lives tell people who sound like they need a competent investigator. In turn, those people tell more people, etc. Yes, she is that good!

Patricia Wentworth is an author who I found out about after several Cozy Mystery site readers recommended her to be included on the site. She definitely qualifies as Cozy… and she even knits!

The “real book” (as the other is the audiobook in my car) is the first in the Orchard Mystery Series by Sheila Connolly (aka Sarah Atwell). I just passed the fiftieth page, so, as some of you know about my “decide by page 50 rule” >>> I must be enjoying her One Bad Apple. I have recently been reading comments and/or letters about the Orchard Mystery Series, so decided it was time to try it. So far, so good.

I have to admit that I was interested in pursuing the Orchard Mystery Series because, for some reason I had a craving for a Kate Borden (aka Kate Grilley) mystery. But, unfortunately there are only three Cozy Mysteries in her Peggy  Jean Turner Mystery Series, and I have read each of them already. I was in the mood for a New England setting, and also wanted to add a new author to my reading repertoire.

Now that I have told you about the two books I am listening to/reading, would you mind telling us what you are currently enjoying?

MENU