The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Listening to Mystery Books on Tape… Pt. 1

I know I have touched on this subject before >>>I’m hoping it wasn’t too recently! The previous entry has me thinking about how much enjoyment I have gotten from listening to books on tape.

Every time I drive somewhere in my car (alone!), I listen to a mystery book. Both of my children went to the University of Texas in Austin, which is about an hour and a half from our home, but I never balked at having to deliver a book they had left at home (or clean clothes!)… this just meant that not only would I be able to treat them to lunch, but I would also have at least three hours in the car to enjoy my current Cozy Mystery.

I have a few narrators who I absolutely love to hear. These are people who are able to take some of my favorite 3-D characters, and flesh them out even more. (Let’s face it, one of the wonderful things about being addicted to Cozy Mysteries is that MOST of the mystery books have 3-D characters!)

In this entry, as well as the next two entries, I am going to name some of my favorite narrators. I know I have named several of them before – but they’re so good they deserve another mention! (I also know that not all of the authors I mention are Cozy Mystery book authors…)

Barbara Rosenblat
There is a reason that Barbara Rosenblat has won more Audie Awards than any other audio book narrator: She is terrific! Rosenblat is a narrator, as well as an actress. If you have ever had the privilege of hearing Rosenblat’s work, you would probably be hard-pressed to decipher where she lives (New York!) Her characterizations are so believable that it truly is difficult to pin her native accent down. She has narrated for such distinguished authors as: Elizabeth Peters, Linda Fairstein, Lisa Scottoline, Kathy Reichs, Diane Mott Davidson, Nevada Barr, and Dorothy Gilman.

Derek Jacobi
Sir Derek Jacobi is not only a very accomplished actor; he is also a very talented audio book narrator. He has narrated a vast amount of books – from Homer’s Odyssey to Peter Graves’ I Claudius, to Ellis Peters‘ Brother Cadfael Mysteries. It is no wonder that he has won so many awards for his work in audio book narrations.

Part 2 of Audiobook Narrators

Part 3 of Audiobook Narrators

Cozy Mystery (Audio) Books on Tape…

A site reader (Linda) wrote the other day with a question that I have actually gotten from other Cozy Mystery site readers. Since it involves audible.com and audio books, I decided to see what I could come up with for her, and thought that I would ask you all if you have any suggestions for Linda.

“I have a question for you and possibly an area to add to your site – cozy mysteries on audiobooks.  There just aren’t very many of them that are recorded.  My mother is legally blind and a lover of cozy mysteries.  I subscribed her to Audible.com and use your site to look up possible cozy mysteries that she would like.  It’s getting harder and harder to find any though – I look them up one by one, dozens and dozens and dozens before I find ONE that is available on audiobook.  

I’m sure there are others who follow your website that have vision problems – any suggestion on where I might be able to find a better selection of cozy mystery audiobooks?”

Linda, my husband and I are members of audible.com, and have enjoyed listening to many different authors: Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ellis Peters, Ruth Rendell, Alexander McCall Smith, and I just discovered that they have Simon Brett and Sister Carol Anne O’Marie in their library. The good news is that they have  just started adding Carola Dunn, Monica Ferris, and Dorothy Gilman.

My daughter came to my aid and sent me the following:

“Here’s that info on books for the blind:
http://www.loc.gov/nls/
To qualify, she has to show that she’s got vision that makes it so she can’t read.”

I went to the site, and under the “Search the Catalog” area they actually use Mary Higgins Clark for the example of an author. It looks like you’ll have to spend some time going through the site, but it does look promising.

It’s not enough that they make audio books of Cozy Mysteries, locating them is the difficult part of the equation. Do any of you have ideas for locating audio books of Cozy Mystery authors? Please post a comment…

Four New Additions to the Cozy Mystery Site Authors: Sarah Addison Allen, Olive Etchells, Jim Lacey, and Donna Lynd

I get many recommendation each month to add authors who you all think belong on the site. I know that I don’t get them posted as fast as the recommending people would like, but I do eventually get them posted! Here are the four latest additions to the Cozy Mystery site:

Sarah Addison Allen: Allen’s novels have paranormal/magical events laced throughout them. She is a New York Times bestselling author. Her novels are not necessarily mysteries…

Olive Etchells: Etchells writes the DCI Channon Mystery Series which takes place in a Cornish seaside village. DCI (detective chief inspector) Channon and his Sergeant (Bowles) have different approaches to solving mysteries… 

Jim Lacey: Lacey has his Ph.D. in American Civilization and uses his expertise in the academic world to write the Ryan/Lehrer Mystery Series…

Donna Lynd: Lynd writes the Gran and Bass Olson Mystery Series which features a grandmother and her adult grandson who become private investigators in Arkansas so that they can solve crimes…

Definition of a Cozy Mystery Book… an Addendum to My Previous Definition

The other day I received a letter from a site reader who said she was quite happy about finding my site. She knew she had the right place when she read my description of what a Cozy Mystery is.

Unfortunately, when I wrote that description, I should have added “most of the time” as a clause. My description says that Cozy Mystery books are ” ‘gentle’ books… no graphic violence, no profanity, and no explicit sex.”

I still stand behind my description; unfortunately, a lot of authors of Cozy Mystery books want it both ways… They want the growing market of Cozy Mystery fans, but at the same time, they want to be considered >>> modern, 21st century, “with it,” hip (whatever the term is)… They bend the rules as set by such great Cozy Mystery authors as Agatha Christie, Ngaio Marsh, etc.

This particular site reader checked out her first book by a “Cozy” author who I have on the site, and was quite upset about  profanity being used throughout the book. She felt like I had added an author who did not qualify as a Cozy Mystery author under my description of what a Cozy Mystery is.

Although there was no graphic violence, there was plenty of profanity and explicit adult situations. Unfortunately, she had taken for granted that all of the books on the Cozy Mystery site would contain “no graphic violence, no profanity, and no explicit sex.”

So, I am now qualifying this description of what a Cozy Mystery should be… It seems like many authors (or their editors) feel like there is a need for certain situations/language/details. As you watch a current television show today… ask yourself: Would Ricky and Lucy Ricardo or Andy and Barney be in this situation or say those things? I bet the answer is “Probably not!” more times than not… but that’s the way a lot of writers (and that includes Cozy Mystery authors) write today…

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