The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Some of the Cozy (and Not So Cozy) Mystery Series I Read:

I have been asked to write about some of the authors who I read. I think that I will begin by telling you about the mystery authors I follow – who have been around for many years, and whose works have withstood the test of time. I know that most of you are familiar with these authors, but if you aren’t, then do yourself a favor and check them out. (I’ll write another time about “more current” authors who I follow…)

Agatha Christie: I enjoy both her Miss Marple and her Poirot mystery series, although I am a bit more partial to Miss Marple. (since 1922)

Dorothy Gilman: I love sleuthing and traveling with Mrs. Pollifax. (since 1966)

Martha Grimes: I truly enjoy the Jury & Plant mystery series. (since 1981) (I know that 1981 doesn’t seem like “around for many years” but I went ahead and added her since I have MacLeod on the list, and she was only three years before Grimes…)

Cyril Hare: Hare’s style of writing seems effortless. I know I have mentioned (many times!) how much I enjoy his Christmas mystery called An English Murder.  I also enjoy following his Inspector Mallet series, as well as his (very short) Francis Pettigrew series. (since 1937)

Reginald Hill: There’s nothing Cozy about Dalziel & Pascoe, but what a treat this mystery series is to read! (since 1970)

Charlotte MacLeod/Alisa Craig: I love her Peter Shandy mystery series, followed by her Sarah Kelling series. (I guess I prefer her MacLeod mystery series over her Craig mysteries.) (since 1978)

Ngaio Marsh: Inspector Roderick Alleyn is one of my very favorite inspectors. (since 1931)

Patricia Moyes: Here’s yet another inspector I enjoy. I also love Inspector Henry Tibbett! (since 1958)

Stuart Palmer: His Hildegard Withers Mystery series is another series I follow. (since 1931)

Ellis Peters: Her Brother Cadfael mystery series is one of the best historical mystery series that I know of. (since 1951)

Ruth Rendell: Inspector Wexford is yet another inspector I love to follow. (since 1964)

I know that I have talked about “pacing” myself before. Since most of these series are limited to a number of mysteries, I try not to read the books too often. For example, last year I read one Dorothy Gilman, two Cyril Hare, three Reginald Hill, two Ngaio Marsh, one Stuart Palmer, two Ellis Peters, and five Agatha Christie mysteries. I just don’t want to read through the series so fast that I finally run out of these authors’ books! That’s how good I think they are!

How about you? Do you have a “been-around-for-a-while” mystery author (or two, or three…) who you love to read?

April 2011 Mystery Book New Releases

The following Mystery Books will be released in April 2011:

Susan Wittig Albert: Mourning Gloria (This will be the in the 19th in the China Bayles Mystery Series…)

Donald Bain & “Jessica Fletcher”: Skating on Thin Ice (This will be the 35th in the Murder, She Wrote Mystery Series…)

David Baldacci: The Sixth Man (This will be the 5th in the Maxwell & King Mystery Series…)

Sandra Balzo: Running on Empty (This will be the 1st in the NEW Main Street Mysteries Series…)

Jessica Beck: Evil Éclairs (This will be the 4th in the Donut Shop Mystery Series…)

Rita Mae Brown: Hiss of Death (This will be the 19th in the Mrs. Murphy Mystery Series…)

Elizabeth Lynn Casey (aka Laura Bradford): Deadly Notions (This will be the 4th in the Southern Sewing Circle Mystery Series…)

Dixie Cash: I Can’t Make You Love Me, But I Can Make You Leave (This will be the 7th in the Domestic Equalizers Mystery Series…)

Chris Cavender (aka Elizabeth Bright, Melissa Glazer, Tim Myers, & Casey Mayes): A Pizza to Die For (This will be the 3rd in the Pizza Lover’s Mystery Series…)

Carol Higgins Clark: Mobbed (This will be the 14th in the Regan Reilly Mystery Series…)

Mary Higgins Clark: I’ll Walk Alone (This will be a Stand Alone…)

Jane K. Cleland: Deadly Threads (This will be the 6th in the Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery Series…)

Kate Collins: Night of the Living Dandelion (This will be the 11th in the Flower Shop Mystery Series…)

Michael Connelly: The Fifth Witness (This will be the 4th in the Mickey Haller Mystery Series…)

Lesley Cookman: Murder to Music (This will be the 8th in the Libby Sarjeant Mystery Series…)

E. J. Copperman (aka Jeffrey Cohen): An Uninvited Ghost (This will be the 2nd in the Haunted Guesthouse Mystery Series…)

Jeanne M. Dams: A Dark and Stormy Night (This will be the 10th in the Dorothy Martin Mystery Series…)

Casey Daniels: A Hard Day’s Fright (This will be the 7th in the Pepper Martin Mystery Series…)

Diane Mott Davidson: Crunch Time (This will be the 16th in the Goldy Bear Mystery Series…)

Vicki Doudera: Killer Listing (This will be the 2nd in the Darby Farr Mystery Series…)

“Jessica Fletcher” & Donald Bain: Skating on Thin Ice (This will be the 35th in the Murder, She Wrote Mystery Series…)

Sarah Graves: Knockdown (This will be the 14th in the Home Repair Is Homicide Mystery Series…)

Rosemary Harris: Slugfest (This will be the 4th in the Dirty Business Mystery Series…)

Iris Johansen: Eve (This will be the 11th in the Eve Duncan Mystery Series…)

Virginia Lowell: Cookie Dough or Die (This will be the 1st in the NEW Cookie Cutter Shop Mystery Series…)

Lisa Lutz & David Hayard: Heads You Lose (This will be a Stand Alone…)

Mary Jane Maffini: The Busy Woman’s Guide to Murder (This will be the 5th in the Charlotte Adams Mystery Series…)

Katherine Hall Page: The Body in the Gazebo (This will be 19th the in the Faith Fairchild Mystery Series…)

Anne Perry: Treason at Lisson Grove (This will be the 26th in the Charlotte & Thomas Pitt Mystery Series…)

R. T. Raichev: Murder at the Villa Constantine (This will be the 6th in the Antonia Darcy & Major Payne Country House Mystery Series…)

T. Dawn Richard: Par for the Corpse (This will be the in the May List Mystery Series…)

Cynthia Riggs: The Bee Balm Murders (This will be the 10th in the Martha’s Vineyard Mystery Series…)

Ann B. Ross: Miss Julia Rocks the Cradle (This will be the 12th in the Miss Julia Mystery Series…)

Betty Rowlands: Miss Minchin Dies (This will be the 11th in the Sukey Reynolds Mystery Series…)

Lisa Scottoline: Save Me (This will be a Stand Alone…)

Clea Simon: Dogs Don’t Lie (This will be the 1st in the NEW Pru Marlowe, Pet Noir Mystery Series…)

Clea Simon: Grey Zone (This will be the 3rd in the Dulcie Schwartz Mystery Series…)

Julia Spencer-Fleming: One Was a Soldier (This will be the 7th in the Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne Mysteries Series…)

Leann Sweeney: The Cat, the Lady and the Liar (This will be the 3rd in the Cats in Trouble Mystery Series…)

Maggie Toussaint: On the Nickel (This will be the 2nd in the Cleopatra Jones Mystery Series…)

Lea Wait: Shadows of a Down East Summer (This will be the 5th in the Antique Print Mystery Series…)

Kathryn R. Wall: Jericho Cay (This will be the 11th in the Bay Tanner Mystery Series…)

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

An Unexpected Trip to Colorado…

I have been out of town for close to two weeks due to a family medical crisis. Thanks to my husband, your comments have continued to be posted. I am slowly making my way through them, and adding my comments, as well as taking off some of your last names which “got past” my husband.

I had already post-dated the entries that appeared while I was away, but have a few more things that I want to get done soon. I have four authors who I had just added to the site before I left, but have not yet “presented” them to you all, so I will be doing that as soon as I get the April 2011 New Mystery Book Releases page up.

I should be getting everything back to normal soon.

Mom from Musical Family – Motherhood Isn’t a Breeze…

I am always hesitant about posting questions from Cozy Mystery site readers. I’ll tell you why: I’m afraid that I should definitely know the answers, as if they are right there in my brain, but I simply can’t connect with them. I take a while to think the questions through, and try to remember if I have read any mysteries that could possibly fill the bill. It isn’t until I absolutely cannot connect with the answer (in my brain) that I post an entry asking for help. So here goes!

Paula would like to know the following:

Paula:

“… All I can tell you is that the central female figure is from a musical family; has a brother who sings like an angel and becomes an international rock star; and, if I remember rightly, the heroine of the series has some trouble adjusting to motherhood; and her husband is a policeman of upper rank.  Can you help?”

If you think you might have an idea of who this sleuth is (or this sleuth’s  author) then please post a comment. Thank you in advance!

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