The Cozy Mystery List Blog

One of the last comments the site received was a note that told us about a Cozy Mystery author who a site reader is enjoying. I thought that was a great thing to find out about…. and decided to ask you all if you would tell us about a Cozy Mystery author you are currently reading, and why you enjoy him/her. What a great way to get some new ideas for authors to try reading.

So, if you wouldn’t mind >>>

Which Cozy Mystery Author are you currently reading and why are you enjoying him/her? If,on the other hand, you are reading a Cozy Mystery author who you aren’t enjoying… remember what Vickie (“V”) says about life being too short to waste time on authors you don’t enjoy!

On another note: Please don’t forget to enter Camille Minichino‘s Miniature Reading / Crime Scene Drawing. Good luck!

Do you ever wonder what all the hubbub is about a particular best-selling Cozy Mystery author? I DO!

There are several authors whom I have tried… popular authors… VERY popular authors… who I simply think “try too hard” to be funny, amusing, clever, entertaining… These are authors who I have actually gone on to read more than just the first mystery in their series, since I know that sometimes there are kinks that need to be worked out when first starting a new series. And, let’s face it, if they are best selling authors, when a lot of authors are being discontinued by their publishers, these funny, amusing, clever, and entertaining authors must be good!

But, try as I might, I can’t find their books enjoyable… The humor seems “forced”… I just can’t continue reading them.

I am thinking of one such author, who people clamor to read. They await her next novel and cannot wait to find out what kooky, hilarious antics her main characters will get into next. She leaves me wondering if I have an awful sense of humor. 

I know that I am in a tiny (as in itty-bitty, miniscule) minority when it comes to this particular author. She has such a huge fan base. But try as a might, I just cannot read her cozies… Each time one of her reoccuring characters pulls another “funny.” or mumbles a wise-alecky crack, I just roll my eyes >>> away from the book’s page! I just can’t seem to enjoy the “hilarious” antics which are tossed liberally with snarky, sassy dialog. The author just seems to try too hard to make it all sound naturally funny.

I once stumbled upon one reviewer who admitted to not liking this author. And, I stress the “once”>>> I totally agree with that reviewer’s assessment, but apparently a whole lot of people don’t.

Maybe it’s just a case of the emperor… Anyway, that’s what I like to think.

Some of you may wonder why I get so doggone excited when I find a new Cozy Mystery author to follow. Well, there’s a very simple answer…

From time to time, I go through a “try new authors” phase… I read cozies by authors with whom I’m not familiar. I check out what other people have to say about the author, but ultimately, I decide for myself if the author might be someone I would enjoy reading.

I am not swayed by people who never write a negative review about a book or author. I mean, when 4 stars is the very lowest Amazon rating you ever see by a reviewer, it sort of cheapens the person’s reviews. I don’t even read those comments. (And, unfortunately, I don’t like seeing those 4-star-or-over reviewers on the back of a paperback mystery or on an author’s site… I get the same “avoidance” feeling, which I am sometimes able to overcome.)

I actually saw a person post an entry once who admitted to “having to find positive things about a book” he/she was reading to review. What?!?!

I don’t post negative comments, but I do post positive, only when I truly feel positive about a book or author. Because of this, the authors/books that I truly do not like, I simply don’t mention. I don’t know if that’s fair, but that is what I choose to do. I won’t go out of my way “to find positive things about a book” just for that purpose.

Better to be positive than to have to find something positive…