The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Mystery Books that Take Place in Alabama …

Here are some fun Alabama facts:
The capital is Montgomery.
The largest city is Birmingham.
State motto is “We Dare Defend OurRights” (“Audemus jura nostra defendere”)
State nicknames are Heart of Dixie, and also Yellowhammer State.
State flower is the Camellia.
State bird is the Yellowhammer.

Mystery authors who are found on the Cozy Mystery Site who feature Alabama locations/settings in their books:

Susan Wittig Albert: Darling Dahlias Mystery Series

Heather Blake (aka Heather Webber): Magic Potion Mysteries

Erika Chase: Ashton Corners Book Club Mystery Series

J.J. Cook (aka Joyce and Jim Lavene & Ellie Grant): Biscuit Bowl Food Truck Mystery Series

Anne George: Southern Sisters Mystery Series

Carolyn Haines: Pluto’s Snitch Mystery Series

Kelly Lane: Olive Grove Mystery Series

Gilbert Morris: Jacques & Cleo, Cat Detectives Mystery Series

Mary Saums: Thistle & Twigg Mystery Series

Please feel free to comment if you see an author from the Cozy Mystery Site who belongs on this list, or if you have any corrections.

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

Inspector Morse? No… It's Inspector Lewis: Dark Matter – PBS NEW Masterpiece Mystery! (Season 3)

Here’s a quick reminder for all of you who love mystery shows… make that British mystery showws! Tonight, on your local PBS stations, they will be airing Dark Matter, the third episode – of the third season – of the Inspector Lewis shows.

Remember that the Inspector Lewis episodes are inspired by Colin Dexter‘s Inspector Morse mysteries. Unfortunately, Inspector Morse is no longer here, but Inspector Lewis is doing his mighty best to fill the void.

Dark Matter has Inspector Lewis (played by Kevin Whately) and Detective Sergeant  Hathaway (played by Laurence Fox) back at Oxford. What a beautiful setting. And, yes, for all of Reginald Hill‘s Dalziel and Pascoe fans…  Warren Clarke will be guest starring as … let’s just say he isn’t affiliated with policing!

And, remember when Inspector Morse used to sing in the chamber choir? Well, how wonderful is it that Dr. Laura Hobson, the police forensic pathologist (played by Clare Holman) is a clarinet player in the very same orchestra that needs investigating?

PS>>> When are Dr. Hobson and Inspector Lewis finally going to see that they are absolutely perfect for each other? I mean, I can remember when Inspector Morse “dated” every woman around… even the major suspects!

October 2010 Mystery Book New Releases

The following mystery books will be released in October 2010:

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

Donald Bain & “Jessica Fletcher”: The Queen’s Jewels (This will be the 34th in the Murder, She Wrote Mystery Series…)

Sandra Balzo: A Cup of Jo (This will be the 6th in the Maggy Thorsen Mystery Series…)

M. C. Beaton (aka Marion Chesney): Busy Body (This will be the 21st in the Agatha Raisin Mystery Series…) (This is a Christmas theme mystery…)

Stephen J. Cannell: The Prostitute’s Ball (This will be the 10th in the Shane Scully Mystery Series…)

JoAnna Carl (aka Eve K. Sandstrom): The Chocolate Pirate Plot (This will be the 10th in the Chocoholic Mystery Series…)

Elizabeth Lynn Casey (aka Laura Bradford): Pinned for Murder (This will be the 3rd in the Southern Sewing Circle Mystery Series…)

Laura Childs: Fiber and Brimstone (This will be the 8th in the Scrapbooking Mystery Series…)

Kate Collins: Dirty Rotten Tendrils (This will be the 10th in the Flower Shop Mystery Series…)

Michael Connelly: The Reversal (This will be the 15th in the Harry Bosch Mystery Series…)

Sheila Connolly (aka Sarah Atwell): Fundraising the Dead (This will be the 1st in the NEW Museum Mystery Series…)

Isis Crawford (aka Barbara Block ): A Catered Thanksgiving (This will be the 7th in the Mysteries with Recipes Mystery Series…) (This is a Thanksgiving theme mystery…)

Kaitlyn Dunnett (aka Kathy Lynn Emerson): The Corpse Wore Tartan (This will be the 4th in the Liss MacCrimmon Mystery Series…)

“Jessica Fletcher” & Donald Bain: The Queen’s Jewels (This will be the 34th in the Murder, She Wrote Mystery Series…)

Joanne Fluke, Laura Levine, & Leslie Meier: Gingerbread Cookie Murder (This will be the 2nd Christmas theme collaboration for these three Cozy Mystery authors…) (Actually, Sept. 28…)

J. G. Goodhind: Murder by Mudpack (This will be the 6th in the Honey Driver Mystery Series…)

Ed Gorman & Martin H. Greenberg, Editors: By Hook or By Crook and 30 More of the Best Crime and Mystery Stories of the Year (Anthology…)

John Grisham: The Confession (This will be a Stand Alone…)

David Handler: The Shimmering Blond Sister (This will be the 7th in the Berger & Mitry Mystery Series…)

Carolyn Hart: Ghost in Trouble (This will be the 3rd in the Bailey Ruth Raeburn Mystery Series…)

Judith K. Ivie: Drowning in Christmas (This will be the 4th in the Kate Lawrence Mystery Series…) (This is a Christmas theme mystery…)

Iris Johansen: Chasing the Night (This will be the 10th in the Eve Duncan Mystery Series…)

Kate Kingsbury (aka Rebecca Kent): Mistletoe and Mayhem (This will be the 7th in the Special Pennyfoot Hotel Mystery Series…) (This is a Christmas theme mystery…) (Actually, Nov. 2)

John le Carré: Our Kind of Traitor (This will be a Stand Alone…)

Debbie Macomber: Call Me Mrs. Miracle (This will be a Holiday Novel – not a mystery…)

Evan Marshall: City in Shadow (This will be the 4th in the Hidden Manhattan Mystery Series…) (Actually, Nov. 1)

Marcia Muller: Coming Back (This will be the 28th in the Sharon McCone Mystery Series…)

Shirley Rousseau Murphy: Cat Coming Home (This will be the 16th in the Joe Grey Cat Mysteries…) (This will be a Christmas theme mystery…)

Robert B. Parker: Painted Ladies (This will be the 38th in the Spenser -for Hire- Mystery Series…)

Anne Perry: A Christmas Odyssey (This will be one of Anne Perry’s Christmas theme novels…)

Deanna Raybourn: Dark Road to Darjeeling (This will be the 4th in the Lady Julia Grey Mystery Series…)

Emilie Richards: A Truth for a Truth (This will be the 5th in the Ministry is Murder Mystery Series…)

Maggie Sefton: Double Knit Murders (This will include the first two Knitting Mystery Series books: Knit One, Kill Two and Needled to Death…) (Actually, Nov. 2)

Alexander McCall Smith: The Charming Quirks of Others (This will be the 7th in the Isabel Dalhousie Series…)

Marcia Talley: All Things Undying (This will be the 9th in the Hannah Ives Mystery Series…)

Peter Tremayne: The Dove of Death (This will be the 29th in the Sister Fidelma Mystery Series…)

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

Hmmm… Rizzoli & Isles… What Do You Think?

OK, let me preface this entry by saying two things: I like Angie Harmon a lot AND If you are a fan of the show, please don’t continue reading this entry…

OK >>> If they are making a movie about Helen of Troy… a woman who could cause a war, a woman so exquisitely beautiful that ANY man would have to do a double-take… (or, any woman, either!) >>> the producer need not use his casting agent, simply call Angie Harmon. Yes, that is how beautiful this woman is!

So, since I don’t read the Tess Gerritsen mystery books that are the basis for this TNT show, I am not familiar with the facts of the books’ plots. Here are some questions I have for readers of these mystery books:

Is Rizzoli (Harmon) supposed to be as beautiful as she is, or is she supposed to be more “normal” looking? I mean, she spends a lot of time talking to her best friend (Isles) about the problems with dating…

Which brings me to my next question: Is Rizzoli supposed to have problems dating when it seems like there are a whole lot of men interested in dating her? (i.e. her Catechism childhood acquaintance/ex-boss, the FBI agent, a man in the bar she flashes her badge at…)

Is Isles supposed to be a female Monk who actually is so smart that she can’t talk normally with people… and always has to interject latin/medical terms when talking to non-medical professionals (or latin teachers!)?

Is Isles supposed to be a funny character, or simply tiresome?

Why are Isles and Rizzoli such good friends? They seem to have absolutely NOTHING in common… other than they both have jobs that enable them to chat at scenes of the crimes?

When Rizzoli “dresses up” for functions, is she supposed to be ill-at-ease… sort of like a tomboy in stiletto heels, or is she supposed to be the most gorgeous woman in the room?

Is Rizzoli supposed to look bad in the “normal” clothing they have her wearing? Let’s face it, Angie Harmon would look great in a dirty pair of two-sizes too large high-water jeans.

Are Rizzoli and Isles crime victims a lot of the time?

Is Isles the forensic pathologist… and if so, why does she go undercover as a cocktail waitress?

¿¿¿”Frog Face”???!!!???

Is Rizzoli’s new partner a computer specialist/whiz AND a detective?

Does Isles really meet her biological (big-time criminal) father through doing an autopsy on her unbeknownst-to-her half brother?

And, my last question is not only directed to people who read the Rizzoli and Isles books… It is about hiring such wonderful, accomplished actors to play Rizzoli’s parents (Lorraine Bracco and Chazz Palminteri) >>> Why are their screen times so limited?

Hmmmm… Just wonderin’…

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