The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Looking for Mystery Book Authors Who Write a la Anne George, Patricia Wentworth, or Very Funny…

Here are a few request for help from  Cozy Mystery site readers. If you have any ideas for them, please post a comment.

Kayanna writes (regarding the Texas list of authors):

“I love these books from Texas, and I notice that books from the South (which may not include all of Texas, I’m not entirely clear on the concept!) seem to have a similar flavor and pride of place.
Do you already have a Southern list? I know it’s a state of mind! I’d love to find more books written from that perspective. They often write about small town values; respect, honoring parents, but they don’t take themselves too seriously. I’m thinking of Anne George and Patricia Sprinkle’s Southern series here, and some of the Texan authors exude that same charm. I’m rereading Anne George for the millionth time, but I’m looking for more like her!”

G’ann writes:

“I am reading my last Miss Silver mystery (I’ve collected them from local bookstores and Amazon and a British site). I have loved them! I need another good author. I am really interested in wholesome reading. Does not have to be a mystery, but well written. (I loved Green Dolphin Street.) I will check out your “cozy mystery” authors at the library. Any other suggestions? Thank you.”

Micky writes:

“Could you recommend some cozies that really tickle the funnybone?  I know most cozies have some humor but I really would love to read a series that gives me belly laughs.  Please provide a list for me.” 

If you have any ideas for books that you think fall into one of the above categories, please post a comment. And, thank you!

Here are some recommendations by site readers:

I just posted a page for the Miss Read books which Barbara suggests in a comment below… (re: “Miss Silver”)

AND for Micky’s “tickle the funnybone”

Petie recommends Nancy Bell…

Sheila recommends Janet Evanovich

Sue T. recommends the following authors:
Jeffrey Cohen (Double Feature Mystery Series)
David Handler (Stewart Hoag & Lulu Mystery Series)
Elaine Viets (Dead End Job Mystery Series)

Oh My Gosh, I Forgot!!!

The other day, I updated my “**ur**   **oir” page (substitute the “**“with “Ch” and you will know the page I’m talking about) and I am now being inundated with so much “!orn   s!am” (substitute the “!” with a “p” and you will know what  I am talking about). I absolutely cannot believe my eyes!!! Luckily, most of it is in an alphabet system that I cannot understand, so I don’t have to catch any of the messages while trying to delete it.

I know what type of messages they are, though, since the first word in the majority of this s!am is the word !orn (same substitution trick as above), so I can guess the gist (or should that be gistS?)

When I say “inundated” I mean just that. This morning I “got to” open up this page to be greeted by over thirty of these messages. Luckily, they are in my the s!am catcher!!! What fun! (NOT!!!) I have tried to figure out why this particular post is the most prone to get program-generated “comments” from machines that want to simply post their links… LOTS of links!!!

This is the very same reason I don’t allow comments to post on my site without first sifting through them. Thank goodness I have the best fire-wall program which is able to go through the comments, and pull the unwanted jerk-y comments from the legitimate  messages. (Anyway, my husband thinks its the best fire-wall program. I just rely on him to know these things… and to install and update my fire-wall as I need it. It’s great to have a “web master” in the family!!!)

I try to make sure that none of your comments are mistakenly caught by our fire-wall, but on days when I have so many s!am in my s!am-catcher, I don’t even look through them. I just hit the delete button and hope I haven’t missed any of your legitimate comments, and also hope that if I do, you will realize that I don’t mean anything personal…

Why is it that people (or machines that are programmed by people) are able to ruin other people’s experiences on the internet?!?!

It makes me quite sad that these programs exist, and that there are so many jerks out there who feel the necessity to program these programs. All I can say about this is:  #&&(* %^^^> **!!!

PS>>> I know that I have written about this before… probably every time I update the “**ur**  **oir” page! And, the reason I am using the code is that if I actually have the entire word posted, the “creep trolls” find the site and send even more!

April 2010 Mystery Book New Releases

The following mystery books will be released in April 2010:

Susan Wittig Albert: Holly Blues (This will be the 18th in the China Bayles Mystery Series…) (This is a Christmas theme mystery…)

Madelyn Alt: A Witch in Time (This will be the 6th in the Bewitching Mystery Series…)

Donald Bain (& “Jessica Fletcher”): Nashville Noir (This will be the 33rd in the Murder, She Wrote Mystery Series…)

Rita Mae Brown: Cat of the Century (This will be the 18th in the Mrs. Murphy Mystery Series…)

Jennifer Chiaverini: The Aloha Quilt (This will be the 16th in the Elm Creek Quilts Series… Not a Mystery…)

Mary Higgins Clark: Shadow of Your Smile (This will be a Stand Alone…)

Jane K. Cleland: Silent Auction (This will be the  5th in the Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery Series…)

Barbara Cleverly: Strange Images of Death (This will be the 8th in the Joe Sandilands Mystery Series…)

Laura Crum: Going, Gone (This will be the 11th in the Gail McCarthy Mystery Series…)

Claire Curzon (aka Marie Buchanan & Rhona Petrie): Devil in the Detail (This will be the 24th in the Superintendent Mike Yeadings Mystery Series…)

Christy Evans: Lead-Pipe Cinch (This will be the 2nd in the Georgiana Neverall Mystery Series…)

“Jessica Fletcher” & Donald Bain: Nashville Noir (This will be the 33rd in the Murder, She Wrote Mystery Series…)

Chris Forman: Chalk Dust and Chalk Outlines (This will be the 4th in the Maria Hart Mystery Series…)

Elizabeth George: This Body of Death (This will be the 16th in the Inspector Lynley Mystery Series…)

Sally Goldenbaum: Moon Spinners (This will be the 3rd in the Seaside Knitters Mystery Series…)

Margaret Grace: Monster in Miniature (This will be the 5th in the Miniature Mystery Series…)

Martha Grimes: The Black Cat (This will be the 22nd in the Richard Jury Mystery Series…)

Linda Hall: On Thin Ice (This will be the 2nd in the Whisper Lake Mystery Series…)

Charlaine Harris: Crimes by Moonlight: Mysteries from the Dark Side (This will be an Anthology with such authors as Dana Cameron, Barbara D’Amato, Parnell Hall, Carolyn Hart, Toni L. P. Kelner, Harley Jane Kozak, Margaret Maron, & Elaine Viets…)

Rosemary Harris: Dead Head (This will be the 3rd in the Dirty Business Mystery Series…)

Carolyn Hart: Laughed ’Til He Died (This will be the 20th in the Death on Demand Mystery Series…)

Iris Johansen: Eight Days to Live (This will be the 9th in the Eve Duncan Thriller/Mystery Series…)

Diana Killian: Murder on the Eightfold Path (This will be the 3rd in the Mantra for Murder Mystery Series…)

Laurie R. King: The God of the Hive (This will be the 10th in the Mary Russell Mystery Series…)

Lucy Lawrence (aka Jenn McKinlay): Cut to the Corpse (This will be the 2nd in the Decoupage Mystery Series…)

Laura Levine: Death of a Trophy Wife (This will be the 9th in the Jaine Austen Mystery Series…)

Ralph McInery: Sham Rock (This will be the 13th in the Notre Dame/ Roger & Philip Knight Mystery Series…)

Gail Oust: ‘Til Dice Do Us Part (This will be the 2nd in the Bunco Babes Mystery Series…)

James Patterson & Maxine Paetro: The 9th Judgment (This will be the 9th in the Women’s Murder Club Mystery Series…)

Elizabeth Peters (aka Barbara Michaels & Barbara Mertz): A River in the Sky (This will be the 19th in the Amelia Peabody Mystery Series…)

R. T. Raichev: The Curious Incident at Claridge’s (This will be the 5th in the Antonia Darcy & Major Payne Country House Mystery Series…)

Ann B. Ross: Miss Julia Renews Her Vows (This will be the 11th in the Miss Julia Mystery Series…)

Michele Scott: A Toast to Murder (This will be the 6th in the Wine Lover’s Mystery Series…)

Alexander McCall Smith: The Double Comfort Safari Club (This will be the 11th in the Number 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series…)

Jennifer Stanley (aka J. B. Stanley): Path of the Wicked (This will be the 2nd in the Hope Street Church Mystery Series…)

Denise Swanson: Murder of a Wedding Belle (This will be the 12th in the Scumble River Mystery Series…)

Kathryn R. Wall: Canaan’s Gate (This will be the 10th in the Bay Tanner Mystery Series…)

♦ To go back to the Cozy Mystery Book New Releases page click here♦

Mystery Book Series with a Home Repair Theme, Interior Design Theme, & Professional Organizer Theme…

Laura asked me to do a Home Repair Theme. Since I don’t know a lot of authors from the Cozy Mystery Site who feature this them, I decided to include a few other themes to this entry.

Here is a list of the mystery authors from the Cozy Mystery Site who write Mysteries with a Home Repair Theme, an Interior Design Theme, and a Professional Organizer Theme:

Jennie Bentley: Do It Yourself Mystery Series… Avery Baker used to be a textile designer, but now is a home renovator/sleuth….

Juliet Blackwell: Sophie Tanner Historic Home Renovation Mystery Series… Sophie, after not becoming successful in her chosen career (anthropology), returns home to take over management of her dad’s construction company.

Dorothy Cannell: Ellie Haskell Mystery Series…Ellie is an interior decorator who sleuths with the help of a few others (Ben, Primrose, and Hyacinth).

Kate Carlisle: Fixer-Upper Mystery Series… Shannon Hammer is a home renovation and repair contractor in a seaside town in northern California.

Paula Carter (aka Paula Paul): Murder by Design Mystery Series… Hillary and Jane do a lot of interior decorating, while solving mysteries.

Christy Evans: Georgiana Neverall Mystery Series… Georgiana is an executive who moves back home and becomes an apprentice plumber.

Vickie Fee: Liv and Di in Dixie Mystery Series… Liv McCay is a party planner.

Mary Feliz: Maggie McDonald Mystery Series… Maggie is a professional organizer.

Sarah Graves: Home Repair Is Homicide Mystery Series… Jacobia Triptree is a financial advisor who starts the new career of sleuthing, along with home repairs.

Sally Gunning: Peter Bartholomew Mystery Series… Pete and Connie Bartholomew own a business that specializes in odd jobs.

Ellen Elizabeth Hunter: Magnolia Mystery Series… Ashley Wilkes is a preserver of historic houses.

Elise Hyatt: Daring Finds Mystery Series… Dicey Dare is the owner of a furniture refinishing business.

Diane Kelly writes the House-Flipper Mystery Series which stars Whitney Whitaker, a house flipper. Oh, and also, it stars Sawdust, her cat.

Mary Jane Maffini: Charlotte Adams Mystery Series… Charlotte is a professional organizer of other people’s messes, and solver of mysteries.

Peg Marberg: Interior Design Mystery Series… Jean Hastings and her daughter (Jean Jr.) own a company that specializes in interior design.

Sara Rosett: Mom Zone Mystery Series… Ellie Avery is a professional organizer who also happens to be an Air Force wife.

Karen Rose Smith: Caprice De Luca Mystery Series… Caprice was an interior decorator but has changed her profession to home stager.

Valerie Wolzien: Josie Pigeon Mystery Series… Josie is the owner of a construction company.

Also, here is a Cozy Mystery book that feature home repair in it:

Remodeled to Death by Valerie Wolzien

Please remember that I have only included the authors who are currently on the Cozy Mystery Site. Feel free to post a comment if you know of any other mystery authors from the site who write home repair themed mystery books, interior decorator themed mystery books, and/or professional organizer themed mystery books. Thanks!

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

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