The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Dorothy Gilman and Other Mystery Books…

I got a letter on Sunday asking for some help finding mystery book authors who write in the same vein as Dorothy Gilman.

“…I came across your Cozy Mystery website and was hoping you could suggest authors you have read with a similar style to Dorothy Gilman’s Mrs. Pollifax series.”

I loved the Mrs. Pollifax character and found the mystery series to have a light comedic flare and would love to read more mystery books with this type of style.

Any suggestions you can give me you have read would be greatly appreciated.

First of all, I love the Emily Pollifax books by Dorothy Gilman. I spent MANY hours enjoying Mrs. Pollifax as she traveled from one exotic location to another… always wearing one of her exotic hats! My local library carried a lot of Gilman’s books in audio form… back when the audio books were cassettes, not CDs!

Back to the question at hand: Does anyone have any suggestions of authors who are similar to Dorothy Gilman? Some authors who come to my mind are:

Heron Carvic… Miss Seeton

Mignon F. Ballard… Augusta Goodnight

Jane Langton… Homer Kelly

P.S. >>> If you haven’t tried one of the Mrs. Pollifax books, do yourself a favor and try one. The series is without a doubt VERY Cozy!

Two New Mystery Book Authors: Dick Francis and Andrew M. Greeley

Several of you have asked me to add two mystery book authors to the site who don’t write Cozy Mysteries. (Actually, I get quite a few requests for me to add non-Cozy mystery authors to the site!) I have had both of these mystery book authors on my list of “authors to do” for a while now, and thought that this would be a great time to add them. They are both hugely popular authors:

Dick Francis   Francis was a champion jockey in Great Britain. His career even included riding for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. After suffering an injury, he retired from being a jockey and he now has a very successful career writing mysteries which take place in the world of horse racing. (Not Cozy)

Andrew M. Greeley    Greeley, an alumni of University of Chicago (both M. A. and Ph.D.) is a Chicago priest who has two best selling mystery book series. One mystery series features Blackie Ryan, a Chicago priest/sleuth.  His other best selling mystery book series features an immigrant/psychic/sleuth.  (Not Cozy)

Classic Mystery Books … Authors of Classic Mysteries …

My last entry got me thinking about mystery books that can be considered “Classics.” Over the years, I have jotted down names of authors who might just be considered the great classic mystery book authors. Of course, as with all lists, I am sure there are many other authors out there who should be on it >>> So, please send a comment if you think that I have missed a few Classic Mystery Book Authors.

If you’re anything like I am, you might consider authors of yesteryear to be more “classic” than our modern-day authors. But again, if you’re anything like I am, you will be able to readjust your thinking to include some pretty great authors who are writing today, who will definitely be classic mystery book authors of “yesteryear” to future mystery book readers!

Margery Allingham… Albert Campion Mystery Series

Robert Barnard… Charlie Peace Mystery Series AND Perry Trethowan Mystery Series AND Amadeus Mozart Series

Lawrence Block… Bernie Rhodenbarr Mystery Series AND Evan Tanner Mystery Series AND Chip Harrison Series AND Matthew Scudder Series AND John Keller Mystery Series

Simon Brett… Fethering Mystery Series AND Mrs. Pargeter Series AND Charles Paris Mystery Series

Leo Bruce… Sergeant Beef Series AND Carolus Deene Series

John Dickson Carr… Gideon Fell Mystery Series AND Henri Bencolin Series

Raymond Chandler… Philip Marlowe Series

Leslie Charteris…The Saint (Simon Templar) Series

Agatha Christie… Miss Marple Series AND Hercule Poirot Series

John Creasy

Edmund Crispin… Gervase  Fen Mystery Series

Elizabeth Daly….. Henry Gamadge Mystery Series

Charles Dickens

Arthur Conan Doyle… Sherlock Holmes Series

Daphne du Maurier

Erle Stanley Gardner… Perry Mason Series

Anna Katharine Green

Dashiel Hammett

Cyril Hare… Inspector Mallett Mystery Series AND Francis Pettigrew Series

Tony Hillerman… Joe Leaphorn & Jim Chee Mystery Series

Michael Innes…Inspector Sir John Appleby Series AND Charles Honeybath Mystery Series

P. D. James… Inspector Adam Dalgliesh Mystery Series AND Cordelia Gray Series

Elizabeth Lemarchand… Pollard and Toye Mystery Series

John D. MacDonald… Travis McGee Mystery Series

Ngaio Marsh… Roderick Alleyn Mystery Series

Ed McBain… Matthew Hope Mystery Series AND 87th Precinct Series

Sharyn McCrumb… Elizabeth MacPherson Series AND Jay Omega Mystery Series AND the Ballad Series

Gladys Mitchell… Mrs. Bradley Mystery Series

Anne Morice… Tessa Crichton Series

Patricia Moyes… Henry Tibbett Mystery Series

E. Phillips Oppenheim

Stuart Palmer: Hildegarde Withers Mystery Series AND Howard Rook Series

Edgar Allan Poe

Ellery Queen… Ellery Queen Mysteries

Ruth Rendell… Inspector Wexford Mystery Series

Craig Rice… John J. Malone Mystery Series AND Bingo Riggs and Handsome Kusak Mystery Series

Mary Roberts Rineheart… Hilda Adams Mystery Series

Peter Robinson… Inspector Alan Banks Mystery Series

Dorothy L. Sayers… Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery Series

Mary Stewart

Rex Stout… Nero Wolfe Mystery Series

Edward Stratemeyer creator of: Nancy Drew (as Carolyn Keene), Hardy Boys (as Franklin W. Dixon) AND Bobbsey Twins (as Laura Lee Hope)

Josephine Tey… Alan Grant Mystery Series

Edgar Wallace

Patricia Wentworth… Miss Maud Silver Mystery Series

Sara Woods… Anthony Maitland Mystery Series AND Richard Trenton Series AND Stephen Marryat Mystery Series AND Jeremy Locke Series

Cornell Woolrich

♦ I included the series names which the authors are more commonly associated with… but, of course, many of the authors wrote Stand Alones.♦

♦ To access more Cozy Mystery themes, please click here. ♦

A Very Favorite Mystery Book that You Know Won't Disappoint You…

I recently got a letter from a Cozy Mystery site reader who asked the following:

“I’ve been re-reading some of my old favorites (Ngaio Marsh currently) and would like to read other books of like quality.  I wondered whether you’d consider a top 50 (or 100) list created by votes from your website visitors?  I’ve no idea what the logistics of that would be but thought I’d mention it in case you thought it was a good idea.”

I love the idea of making a list of the VERY BEST individual mystery books. I am guessing that a lot of us enjoy series, but we also probably have an all time VERY FAVORITE mystery book out there that we just cannot part with… You know the book >>> every so many years you just feel like you have to read it in order to savor it once again.

Rather than taking votes, I thought that people could just drop us a comment and we could make a list of the mystery books that you all think deserve to be acknowledged as your very favorite. (If you have more than one individual book, then feel free to tell us about those favorite few you think qualify to be on this list.)

Now, I know that this isn’t fair, but I just went through my lists of authors and mystery books that I read, and I haven’t been able to cut my favorites down to just one or two books. So, I can’t go first. However, I will eventually find a very favorite mystery book…

Right now I think that it will undoubtedly be the first mystery book that I read of an author… since I feel like that first book is what led me to want to stay with the author. I hate to sound unoriginal… but I will probably be choosing a Ngaio Marsh, Ellis Peters, Patricia Moyes, Ruth Rendell, or … Agatha Christie. These seem to be the authors who I listen to (or read) over and over, collecting their books in either audio or “real” book format.  (And, when I’m in the mood for a “harder type” of mystery book, I usually end up with R. D. Wingfield, Colin Dexter, or Reginald Hill.)

So, I have my “favorites” list laying where I can’t forget it… I will be posting my fave soon, just have to whittle my list down a little.

P.S. I know that we already made a list of authors who we were currently enjoying, but this list should include our all time favorite mystery book (or books.)

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