The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Playing Catch-Up with Camille Minichino… aka Gearing Up for My Holiday Cozy Mystery Reading…

“I am currently reading Joanne Fluke’s Apple Turnover Murder (re-reading it to get my gear up for her next Christmas themed murder book.)”

Anita posted this comment on September 26, 2010. Well, Anita, I am doing the very same thing. I am gearing up for my holiday theme mysteries, and in doing so, I am finally reading some of the books that I have been “saving” for just this time of year. And by this I don’t mean that I am actually reading holiday-theme Cozies, but rather, I am reading the books that come before them… in preparation for the actual holiday Cozies.

As some of you may know, I am a huge fan of Camille Minichino‘s Periodic Table Mystery Series. The thing that first piqued my interest for this series is that it has a really strong, VERY smart woman as the main sleuth.

Gloria Lamerino (the sleuth) is a physicist who returns to her home town near Boston. Gloria, a consultant, works closely (yes, by this I mean she is employed… and also develops a romantic relationship) with one of the police detectives. Gloria’s main purpose is to explain the scientific data that the police need to know when some of their cases involve >>> scientific data. Of course, since Gloria is wonderful example of a Cozy Mystery sleuth… she doesn’t stop at just helping the police with the scientific details!

The Helium Murder (the second book in the series) is set during the Christmas season, as is The Oxygen Murder (the last book in the series.) But, since I only read Christmas themed books during the holiday season, I knew that I wouldn’t be reading this particular Cozy Mystery until December. And, since I was just about “caught-up” with Gloria’s exploits, and didn’t want that much time to lapse between the books in the series, I decided I wouldn’t read the preceding book in the series (The Nitrogen Murder) until now.

Long story, made even longer than I could have imagined: I am currently beginning The Nitrogen Murder so that I will “be ready” for The Oxygen Murder‘s Christmas themed setting. And, I am truly looking forward to both Cozies!

Anita, I know exactly what you mean!

Hardcover Mysteries : New Discovery Channel Show Featuring Some of the "Biggest- Name" Mystery Authors…

Good news for ALL of us!!! Investigation Discovery channel is beginning a new show that I think ALL of us will find interesting: Hardcover Mysteries will start airing this Monday, Oct. 11 (at 9:00 ET)… and personally, I can’t wait!

This is a new show that will feature some of the very biggest names in mystery authors.

Hardcover Mysteries is going to let us watch as eight New York Times’ best-selling mystery authors take us on a journey… Each of these (best-selling) mystery authors is going to take us along with him/her as they show us how he/she was influenced by a particular true-life crime. Perhaps the author used it as a basis for one of his/her novels, or perhaps the crime was so abhorrent that it lingered with the author as he/she wrote the best-selling mystery books that we associate with him/her.

The authors who we will have the pleasure of accompanying on these journeys are:

David Baldacci,   Sandra Brown,   Harlan Coben,   Linda Fairstein,   Sara Paretsky,   Kathy Reichs,   Lisa Scottoline,   and   Joseph Wambaugh

You can see by that line-up that I wasn’t joking when I told you they were some of the biggest names in the mystery book arena!

David Baldacci is going to be featured in this Monday’s Hardcover Mysteries premiere. He will be talking about a 1964 Washington D. C. murder case which influenced Baldacci’s first best-selling  mystery novel – Absolute Power.

November 2010 Mystery Book New Releases

The following mystery books will be released in November 2010:

Jeffrey Ashford (aka Roderic Jeffries & Peter Alding): Criminal Innocence (This will be a Stand Alone…)

David Baldacci: Hell’s Corner (This will be the 5th in the Camel Club Mystery Series…)

Mignon F. Ballard: Miss Dimple Disappears (This will be the 1st in the NEW Miss Dimple Mystery Series…)

Maggie Barbieri: Third Degree (This will be the 5th in the Murder 101 Mystery Series…)

Jessica Beck: Sinister Sprinkles (This will be the 3rd in the Donut Shop Mystery Series…)

Kate Carlisle: The Lies that Bind (This will be the 3rd in the Bibliophile Mystery Series…)

Patricia Cornwell: Port Mortuary (This will be the 18th in the Kay Scarpetta Mystery Series…)

Clive Cussler & Dirk Cussler: Crescent Dawn (This will be the 21st in the Dirk Pitt Mystery Series…)

Jeffery Deaver: The Edge (This will be a Stand Alone…)

James D. Doss: A Dead Man’s Tale (This will be the 15th in the Charlie Moon Mystery Series…)

Carole Nelson Douglas: Silver Zombie (This will be the 4th in the Delilah Street Mystery Series…)

Jeanne Glidewell: The Extinguished Guest (This will be the 2nd in the Lexie Starr Mystery Series…)

Sally Goldenbaum: A Holiday Yarn (This will be the 4th in the Seaside Knitters Mystery Series…)

Kerry Greenwood: Dead Man’s Chest (This will be the 19th in the Phryne Fisher Mystery Series…)

Betty Hechtman: You Better Knot Die (This will be the 5th in the Crochet Mystery Series…)

Victoria Houston: Dead Renegade (This will be the 10th in the Loon Lake Fishing Mystery Series…)

Kate Kingsbury (aka Rebecca Kent): Mistletoe and Mayhem (This will be the 6th in the Special Pennyfoot Hotel Mystery Series…)

Karen MacInerney: Berried to the Hilt (This will be the 4th in the Gray Whale Inn Mystery Series…)

Debbie Macomber: Christmas in Cedar Cove (This will be the 11th in the Cedar Cove Series…  not a mystery…) (This is a Christmas theme novel…)

Margaret Maron: Christmas Mourning (This will be the 17th in the Deborah Knott Mystery Series…) (This will be a Christmas Theme Mystery…)

James Patterson: Cross Fire (This will be the 17th in the Alex Cross Mystery Series…)

J. D. Robb (aka Nora Roberts): Indulgence in Death (This will be the 32nd in the Eve Dallas Mystery Series…)

Al Roker & Dick Lochte: The Midnight Show Murders (This will be the 2nd in the Billy Blessing Mystery Series…)

Maria Schneider: Under Witch Moon (This will be an Urban Fantasy…)

Maggie Sefton: Double Knit Murders (This will contain the first two mysteries in the Knitting Mystery Series…)

J. B. Stanley (aka Jennifer Stanley & Ellery Adams): Black Beans and Vice (This will be the 6th in the Supper Club Mystery Series…)

Rebecca Tope: A Grave in the Cotswolds (This will be the 8th in the Cotswolds Mystery Series…)

Elaine Viets: An Uplifting Murder (This will be the 6th in the Josie Marcus, Mystery Shopper Mystery Series…)

Joseph Wambaugh: Hollywood Hills (This will be the 4th in the Hollywood Station Mystery Series…)

Livia J. Washburn: Killer on a Hot Tin Roof (This will be the 3rd in the Literary Tour Mystery Series…)

Livia J. Washburn: The Pumpkin Muffin Murder (This will be the 5th in the Fresh Baked Mystery Series…) (This will be a Thanksgiving theme mystery…)

Leslie Wheeler: Murder at Spouter’s Point (This will be the 3rd in the Miranda Lewis Living History Mystery Series…)

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

Historical Mystery Books with Old Churches and Abbeys as Their Settings…

At the end of September 2010, Eveline posted a comment asking for help:

“Can anybody please recommend a period mystery book where the settings are abbeys or old churches – much like in the vein of “The Name of the Rose”?

I am not a religious person, but I love those types of settings.

I have seen that movie three times, and I never seem to get tired of watching it. They haven’t done anything like that again, not that I know of.

I love all the Cadfael mysteries…”

So, we know that Eveline is already aware of all of the Cadfael mystery books… But, do you all know about any other historical/period mysteries with old churches and abbeys as their setting?

Nancy Bilyeau writes the Joanna Stafford Mystery Series : 1) The Crown, 2) The Chalice, & 3) The Tapestry. This series is set in Tudor England.

Kate Charles writes both the Book of Psalms Mystery Series and the Callie Anson Mystery Series. Both of them feature old churches.

G. K. Chesterton writes the Father Brown Mystery Series. They aren’t always set in a church, but they always star Father Brown.

John Meade Falkner, the son of an Anglican priest, has written two books in which old English churches are featured: Moonfleet and The Nebuly Coat.

Margaret Frazer (aka Gail Frazer & Monica Ferris) writes the Sister Frevisse Medieval Mystery Series which takes place in England, during the reign of Henry VI (1422-1461 & 1470-1471) While I am a big fan of the Monica Ferris Needlecraft Mystery Series, I have to admit that I haven’t read her Sister Frevisse mysteries… yet.

G. M. Malliet writes the Max Tudor Mystery Series. Max is the vicar of the Cozy millage of Nether Monkslip

Donna McLean has A Distant Murder, which is the first book in her Sparrow Falls Mystery Series. Although it is a contemporary mystery, it features an old church with its old Scottish burying ground.

C. J. Sansom: Dissolution is a Matthew Sharlake Mystery Series book which takes place during the time of Henry VIII. The book features the tearing down of the Catholic churches.

Please post a comment if you think you might know of just the right author for Eveline…
Additionally, Kate Charles writes wonderful mysteries in a series which exceptional characters.
Also, Wicked Autumn: A Max Tudor Novel by G.M. Malliet

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