The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Cozy Mystery Authors with Coffeehouse and Tea Shop Settings, and Ice Cream Parlors, Too!

Here is a theme for all of you Cozy Mystery readers who like coffeehouse and tea house settings. I have only included authors who are found on this site. If you know of any other Cozy Mystery authors who use these settings, please post a comment.

Sandra Balzo: Maggy Thorsen Mystery Series… Maggy, and ex-PR executive, owns and runs the Uncommon Grounds coffeehouse in Wisconsin.

Lynn Cahoon: Tourist Trap Mystery Series… Jill Gardner owns the Coffee, Books, and More store in the California.

Laura Childs: Tea Shop Mystery Series… Theodosia Browning owns a Tea Room in Charleston.

Laura Childs: Cackleberry Club Mystery Series… The café is owned by single women (good friends) who not only sleuth, but also provide a nice little book corner and a knitting shop for their patrons.

Amanda Cooper (aka Victoria Hamilton & Donna Lea Simpson): Teapot Collector Mystery Series… Sophie Taylor works at her family-owned Victorian Tearoom in New York.

Cleo Coyle (aka Alice Kimberley): Coffeehouse Mystery Series… Clare Cosi manages the Village Blend Coffeehouse in Greenwich Village.

Yasemin Galehorn (aka India Ink): Chintz ‘n China Mystery Series… Emerald O’ Brien owns the Chintz ‘n China Tea Shop and she happens to be a psychic.

Terrie Farley Moran: Read ‘Em and Eat Mystery Series… Sassy Cabot and Bridgy Mayfield own this combination bookstore/café.

Wendy Lyn Watson writes the Mystery à la Mode Mystery Series which has an icecream parlor owner who is also a sleuth.

♦To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme click on this link.♦

June 2009 Mystery Book New Releases

The following mystery books will be released in June 2009:

Sandra Balzo: Brewed, Crude and Tattooed (This will be the 4th in the Maggy Thorsen Mystery Series…)

Sammi Carter: Sucker Punch (This will be the 5th in the Candy Shop Mystery Series…)

Clive Cussler & Paul Kemprecos: Medusa (This will be the 8th in the Numa Files Series…)

Mary Daheim: The Alpine Uproar (This will be the 21st in the Emma Lord Alpine Mystery Series…)

Eileen Davidson: Dial Emmy for Murder (This will be the 2nd in Soap Opera Mystery Series…)

Krista Davis: The Diva Takes the Cake  (This will be the 2nd in the Domestic Diva Mystery Series…)

Jeffery Deaver: Roadside Crosses (This will be the 2nd in the Kathryn Dance Mystery Series…)

Janet Evanovich: Finger Lickin’ Fifteen (This will be the 15th novel in the Stephanie Plum Mystery Series…)

Betty Hechtman: By Hook or By Crook (This will be the 3rd in the Crochet Mystery Series…)

James Patterson & Maxine Paetro: Swimsuit (This will be a Stand Alone…)

R. T. Raichev: The Little Victim (This will be the 4th in the Antonia Darcy & Hugh Payne Mystery Series…)

Maggie Sefton: Dropped Dead Stitch (This will be the 7th in the Knitting Mystery Series…)

Joanna Campbell Slan: Cut, Crop, & Die (This will be the 2nd in the Kiki Lowenstein Scrap-n-Craft Mystery Series…)

Robert K. Tanenbaum: Capture (This will be the 21st in the Butch Karp & Marlene Ciampi  Mystery Series…)

Victoria Thompson: Murder on Waverly Place (This will be the 11th in the Gaslight Mystery Series…)

♦To go back to the Cozy Mystery Book New Releases page click here♦

Would You Mind Sharing Your Latest & Greatest Cozy Mystery Author?

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!

Is It Me, OR Is That Author Trying TOOOOO Hard?

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.

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