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

Reading: Any Genre!

April 20, 2009

A friend of mine was recently divorced. Her husband of close to twenty five years just came down to their living room on Christmas Eve and announced that he wanted out of the marriage. (It turns out he had another woman ready to marry VERY shortly after their divorce was final.)

As if the divorce itself wasn’t bad enough (losing the man she had loved and shared her life with) she had to go out and start her working life all over again, in her early fifties.

During the early stage of this awful shock, she would call any time things got unbearable for her. It would break my heart to hear her anguishing despair.

Things have improved for her recently. She has since then gotten a job which she seems to enjoy AND has a boyfriend whom she absolutely loves/adores.

BUT (And you know there is always a “BUT”!!!)…

I get calls from her every once in a while… and can hear the new despair in her voice when she talks about her loneliness every time her boyfriend is off on another international vacation, or when her boyfriend refuses to visit her at her home… preferring that she make the hour commute to see him at his home. She describes how she has nothing to do (other than clean her house) while her boyfriend is unavailable.

I have suggested (several times!) that she take up READING… any genre… There must be one she would enjoy. (Aha! So there is a point to this blog… finally!!!)

But, she continues to drag her feet on the reading. I just cannot imagine that! But, there I go… projecting my likes and dislikes on others and expecting to find solutions to their problems.

I just cannot imagine a world without reading!

PS… Because she doesn’t read, she doesn’t visit the Cozy Mystery Site. As a matter of fact, one time when I finally asked her how I could improve the site, she said she didn’t know since she had never looked at it.  So, I know I won’t offend her, although, there I go again… projecting that it is something to be (almost) ashamed of if you don’t read!

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Seasonal Thoughts: Nostalgic, Bittersweet Melancholia (?)

April 18, 2009

Do you have times during the year when you feel “different”… almost melancholy? Actually, I’m not sure what word best describes my mood right now.

I looked up three words on dictionary.com >>> melancholy, bittersweet, and nostalgia. Hmmmm…. It turns out that I have bits and pieces of each of these words.

I have parts of “melancholy,” although I certainly don’t have black bile or depression. (Who would have guessed about the previous?!?) But, I do have a feeling of “sober thoughtfulness” right now.

How about nostalgia? Yep! I definitely have a “bittersweet longing for things, persons, or situations of the past.”

Bittersweet? Yes, some of that! I definitely have a “pleasure mingled with pain or regret” every year when spring arrives. However, I do not feel like a “climbing or trailing plant.” (Another “Who would have guessed?” moment.)

So what is it that elicits these feelings in me?

In this case, I think it’s a longing for a time years ago when we first moved to San Antonio. My children were both in elementary school, and their lives were uncomplicated and carefree.

My father, mother, and my father’s Cocker Spaniel would visit us each spring during the Texas Blue Bonnet seasons. Our children and I looked forward to these early springtime visits. These visits were a real treat >>> two weeks of extended family time, in which we would be able to enjoy not only Gramps, Maija, and Aspen, but San Antonio, as well.

Time marches on… My father is no longer with us, nor is his dog. I miss those days of Blue Bonnets and our family visits. But, I am pretty sure that fifteen years from now I will look back at today with the same nostalgic, bittersweet melancholia… to a time long ago when our children lived near us. And, even though their lives have gotten a lot more complicated than they were fifteen years ago, I’ll probably look back at them and think about how carefree their lives were way back in 2009.

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May 2009 Mystery Book New Releases

April 16, 2009

The following mystery books will be released in May 2009:

Robert Barnard: The Killings on Jubilee Terrace (This will be the 10th in the Charlie Peace Mystery Series…)

C. S. Challinor: Murder in the Raw (This will be the 2nd in the Rex Graves Mystery Series…)

Michael Connelly: The Scarecrow (This will be a Stand Alone…)

Lindsey Davis: Alexandria (This will be the 19th in the Marcus Didius Falco Mystery Series…)

Denise Dietz: Strangle a Loaf of Italian Bread (This will be the 4th in the Ellie Bernstein/Lt. Peter Miller Diet Club Mystery Series…)

Sally Goldenbaum: Patterns in the Sand (This will be the 2nd in the Seaside Knitters Mystery Series…) (Actually April 28…)

Beth Groundwater: To Hell in a Handbasket (This will be the 2nd in the Claire Hanover Mystery Series…)

Charlaine Harris: Dead and Gone (This will be the 9th in the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mystery Series…)

Laurie R. King: The Language of Bees (This will be the 9th in the Mary Russell Mystery Series…) (Actually April 28…)

Victoria Laurie: Oracles of Delphi Keep (This will be Laurie’s 1st Children’s Book…)

Joyce & Jim Lavene: A Corpse for Yew (This will be the 5th in the Peggy Lee Garden Mystery Series…)

Mary Jane Maffini: Death Loves a Messy Desk (This will be the 3rd in the Charlotte Adams Mystery Series…)

Tamar Myers: Poison Ivory (This will be the 15th in the Den of Antiquity Mystery Series…)

Robert B. Parker: Brimstone (This will be the 3rd in Parker’s Western Series…)

Robert B. Parker: Chasing the Bear: A Young Spenser Novel (This will be a prequel to the Spenser Mystery Series written for young adults…)

Iain Pears: Stone’s Fall (This will be a Stand Alone…)

Cynthia Riggs: Death and Honesty (This will be the 8th in the Martha’s Vineyard Mystery Series…) (Actually April 28…)

Kate Sedley: The Dance of Death (This will be the 18th in the Roger the Chapman Mystery Series…)

Leann Sweeney: The Cat, the Quilt, and the Corpse  (This will be the 1st in the NEW Cats in Trouble Mystery Series…)

Elaine Viets: Killer Cuts (This will be the 8th in the Dead-End Job Mystery Series…)

Kathryn R. Wall: Covenant Hall (This will be the 9th in the Bay Tanner Mystery Series…) (Actually April 28…)

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

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Bill Crider, Gail Fraser, Josi S. Kilpack, Lynda S. Robinson : What Do These Authors Have In Common?!?

April 14, 2009

Hmmm…. The title of this blog asks what the four following authors have in common >>> Well, the easiest answer for me to post is that all four of them have been recommended by several Cozy Mystery Site Readers for me to add to the site. Other than that… let’s see… They are all authors! But, they are not all mystery authors.

Bill Crider is a best-selling author who wrote his PhD dissertation about the hardboiled detective novel. He recently retired from being an English professor so that he could spend more of his time writing novels. He has several mystery series, including the Dan Rhodes Mystery Series. He co-authored the Stanley Waters Mystery Series with Willard Scott, the weatherman from the Today Show. And, Crider even authored a Wishbone book… a favorite for children.

Gail Fraser has her MBA and worked in corporate America before writing her Lumby Series. If you like Jan Karon’s Mitford Series, you might enjoy Fraser’s Lumby Series… which is not a mystery series.

Josi S. Kilpack  just started her Sadie Hoffmiller Culinary Mystery Series, which includes recipes. (She writes inspirational books.)

Lynda S. Robinson (aka Suzanne Robinson) has her PhD in Anthropology and writes the Lord Meren Series, which is set during ancient Egypt’s reign of Pharaoh Tutankhamun. Lord Meren is the main investigator in the kingdom. (She also writes ancient Egyptian, Elizabethan, Victorian, and Civil War historical romance novels as Suzanne Robinson.) Because of her studies and field work, her historical novels (both her mysteries and her romances) are said to be very accurate portrayals of their given eras.

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