The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

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…

The Five of Us Are Together Again…

Yep, the five of us are together again… My husband and I always enjoy having both our son and daughter home, and of course, our “puppy” Sprite is right here with us. She sleeps most of the day away, but seems pretty satisfied that we are all available to make sure all of her wishes are met. (The “she” in the last sentence referred to Sprite, not my daughter!)

My daughter is back home for a very short vacation. She spent the summer interning at the FAA in Washington, D.C. – and really enjoyed it. She was so lucky >>> She had an exceptional time. And, because of this internship, she is getting closer to finding what she wants to do once she graduates.

But, as I said, she will not be home for very long. She will be heading back to the Boston area in less than two weeks… It seems like she is home just long enough to get her dry cleaning done, so she can pack it up and send it back east. (She is packing up her UPS boxes to send as I type this entry!)  

Good grief! Where does the time go?!?

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