The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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?

Yesterday was my dad’s birthday… Actually, I should say that it would have been his birthday.  My father passed away ten years ago, and I still occasionally have “pangs of a deep loss.” I miss him a lot, but most of all, I miss the grandfather he was to my children.

I was lucky to have my grandmother until a month before I graduated from college. I was able to take advantage of the proximity of her home to my college. Since my parents lived in “two states over,” I visited my grandmother very often. I loved my time with her.

But, my children lost their grandfather (my father) when they were quite young. They have only distant memories of him, and stories that I have passed on to them.

When I miss my father, I think of the importance of making each day count. I try to remind myself not to take loved ones for granted. Every once in a while, when I find myself getting upset with one of my loved ones, I think to myself… Why am I not treating him/her as well as I would treat a stranger? It seems like we treat the ones we love with “less respect” than we do people we bump into while waiting in the grocery store line. “Excuse me.” or “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bump into you.” for complete strangers and “Move.” or “Watch out.” for our loved ones. (These are silly examples, but you probably can get my drift.)

I guess that if there is a moral to this entry it would be : Enjoy your loved ones and don’t take them for granted. When you look back with the “pangs of a deep loss” you might wonder why you didn’t/couldn’t find the time…