The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

It's At the Movies Again!

I have been watching At the Movies for years. (Yep… Years ago, when it aired on PBS!) I started watching it when Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert reviewed the current movies. Their discussions never ceased to entertain my husband and me. We were saddened by Gene Siskel’s death. I always got the feeling that Siskel and Ebert respected and liked one another, even though they rarely agreed on a movie.

Enter Richard Roeper…

My husband and I continued watching At the Movies throughout Roeper’s tenure. The show used the same format to review the current movies. We were very sorry when Ebert left the show (due to illness) but continued to watch (and enjoy!) as Roeper had guest hosts fill Roger’s seat on the aisle.

Enter Lyons and Mankiewicz…

My husband watched the first two shows of this duo’s At the Movies, but refused to watch after that. Not only did the show have these two men reviewing the current movies, but they also had three more reviewers rating the movies and then “tabulating” their scores. (What a waste of time!!!) I had enjoyed Ben Mankiewicz on the Turner Classic Movies channel, but found that the rapport between him and Lyons just didn’t cut it.

Enter A. O. Scott and Michael Phillips…

YAHOO!!! These two critics were by far our favorite guest hosts who appeared with Roeper during Ebert’s illness. So while I’m sorry that Ebert decided not to come back to the show that he and Siskel started, and while I’m sorry that Roeper is no longer on At the Movies, I am not sorry that the show is back up to the standards I enjoyed oh-so-many years ago!

More Mystery Books & Series, Fewer Authors…

I know the title of this entry might not make a lot of sense, but I have been e-mailed by some of you about mystery book authors who are being dropped by their publishers. Some of these authors have several books in their series and are not being given the opportunity to wrap up their existing series.

At the same time >>>

It also seems like some authors are being given the opportunities to start second and even third series. This, of course, is great for those select authors and their fans, but not so wonderful for the discontinued authors and their fans.

Another trend that seems to be VERY BIG is the omnibus craze. Again, there’s a positive for some: You can buy two or three of an author’s books in one book, but if you’re already the author’s fan, you have probably read all of those books. So, it’s not such a great deal for the author’s fans.

I guess I wish that rather than being treated to the omnibus selections of “select” authors, publishers would keep publishing the mystery books of the not so “select” authors. It seems like new and original mysteries should be given the opportunities that the reprints/reissues are given. Is it that much more profitable for a publishing company to rehash three books by an author in one tome VS putting out a new mystery by a lesser known author?

I guess the “buck” (as in “$”) stops here…

Five New Mystery Authors to the Site: A. K. Arenz, Libi Astaire, Kristin Callender, Yvonne Montgomery, & L. R. Wright

Here is my latest batch of mystery book authors who you all have recommended for the site:

A.K. Arenz: Bouncing Grandma Mystery Series… Arenz is a member of the American Christian Fiction Writers and writes this series which features Glory Harper…

Libi Astaire: Ezra Melamed Mystery Series… Astaire is a journalist who writes this mystery series which features a rich widower who is a benefactor of the Jewish community in Regency London…

Kristin Callender: Callender, a substitute teacher, had her first mystery novel published in 2008, and it revolves around a woman who finds out that her whole life has been based on a lie…

Yvonne Montgomery: Finny Aletter Mystery Series… Montgomery’s series features a stockbroker/sleuth…

L.R. Wright (aka Laurali R. Wright): The Karl Alberg Mystery Series features a Royal Canadian mounted policeman and then evolves into the Eddie (Edwina) Henderson Mystery Series which also features a Canadian mounted police…

Castle, Stephen J. Cannell and Michael Connelly, but Where's James Patterson?

OK… You had to have guessed that I would be posting an entry about the new television season. No doubt, I will be posting several entries as the weeks go by…

Last night was the season premier of Castle… the show about a mystery book author who is allowed to shadow the local police department — because of his ties to the mayor’s office (among many other important acquaintances!), and the show did not disappoint me!

I was so very pleased to see that Stephen J. Cannell made it back to the poker table. And, this year, Michael Connelly was also there, talking about “mystery-book-authors” types of things. (Last year James Patterson was the other guest author.) But, since I’m not a mystery book author, I can only assume that’s what they would be talking about while dealing, shuffling, bidding, and then winning (or losing!) (Sorry, but I’m not sure if this is the same beautiful brunette who was playing poker with them last year, or not!)

Anyway, the new television season is upon us (finally!!!) and for those of you who aren’t fans of “Dancing with the Stars,” (which I believe they are showing every night of the week!!!) you’ll be glad to see that there are actually some other shows on the major networks!

MENU