The Cozy Mystery List Blog

I thought that I would take a few minutes and write this entry for those of you who take the time to post comments. It’s always nice to get comments, and I thank you for posting them. Unfortunately though, I cannot let the comments automatically be posted on the site. I manually click on “approve” in order for your comments to post on the site.

The reason I don’t allow comments to be automatically posted is that I receive a lot of unsolicited (and very “specialized”!!!) types of comments from automated computer systems with the sole intent of  advertising their “wares.” The word for these types of “comments” rhymes with HAM >>>The last time I typed in the actual word (that rhymes with HAM) I was bombarded with more HAM!

I know there are sites that use a type of protection against this type of HAMMING, and I like the system they use: They ask you to type in a sequence of letters or numbers that arbitrarily change each time someone wants to post a comment. The only reason I haven’t asked my technical support guy (aka as my husband) to look into installing this method for me is that I would then worry about someone who would post inappropriate comments (unbeknown-st to me!) by using that system…

So, for now >>> Bear with me! And please don’t feel like your comment goes “unnoticed” >>> If only there weren’t those few bad apples who spoil the broth…

Thank you all for commenting on the Lilian Jackson Braun entry. David, I followed your link and found it a really interesting link to follow… Lots of information about Lilian Jackson Braun. 

But, the news doesn’t look good: It doesn’t look like we’ll be seeing The Cat Who Smelled Smoke any time soon! (If at all!)

I got a very informative e-mail from a Cozy Mystery site reader who tracked down a popular author of a Crafting Cozy Mystery book series. The author told Denise that she wouldn’t be publishing any more books in her series because her publisher decided not to continue with her series. Unfortunately, because the publisher is dropping her series, she wasn’t able to write a “wrapping-it-up” book for her loyal fans.

Hmmm… So what’s going on?!?

It seems like lately, a lot of publishers are deciding to drop some of their authors simply because they aren’t popular enough to have their books in the grocery store “buy-it-on-impulse” area (right before you get to the conveyor belt… You know the area… where you are stuck between two sale’s racks that hold “Don’t-I-look-delicious” chocolate bars and the “latest, must-have” paperbacks.

I guess that when it gets right down to it, publishers (obviously!) have the right to discontinue authors’ series >>> But wouldn’t it be nice for those of us who follow their mystery book series to be able to read a last Cozy that lets us feel like our favorite characters “lived happily ever after” >>> and be assured that they didn’t fall victims to all of the sinister happenings they had been able to solve for the police?!?

I have a real problem! I can usually tell if an author is going to make my “Favorite Authors” list after I have read the first book in his/her Cozy Mystery book series. Yep! that’s usually all it takes. If the author can keep my interest, provides well-rounded characters, slips in enough red herrings, doesn’t keep important facts from me, and, in short, writes a really good Cozy Mystery >>> I’m hooked!

My “problem” then begins! I immediately feel this sense of urgency: I NEED to acquire all of the books in the series. I can’t “take my time” and get one book at a time. What if I can’t find the next book in the series when I want to start reading it?!? That’s when the “panic” sets in… Of course, I have to admit to being “somewhat” of an OCD (Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder) type of person, but if you’ve visited the Cozy Mystery Site you can probably already tell that!

I think that the reason I had to buy a new bookshelf recently is that my obsession doesn’t stop there! Once I have acquired all of the mystery books in my new favorite author’s series, I read the first few books, and then I stop! When I am really enjoying an author I don’t like the idea of not having any more books to read by him/her, so I simply stop reading the books, and keep the rest of the series’ books in my bookshelf so that I can read them later.

Do any of you do this? Do you try to prolong your enjoyment of an author by simply shelving the last few books in his/her series so that you can read them “later?” I’m not sure this is normal, and I guess that’s why I’m writing this entry. I either want to “come clean” about this particular peculiarity, or find out that it’s not as strange as it seems to some of the members in my family. (I should probably say “all” of the members of my family… or at least the ones who are aware of this behavior.)

When you discover a new “favorite author” do you read right through the series or do you “take breaks” so that you can look forward to some really good Cozy Mystery reading?