The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

The Men of Cozy Mysteries, Part One…

Bill wrote a comment to the site that started me thinking, so I thought I would post it here:

“I have a question about cozy mysteries: Why are they seen as largely geared to female readers? I enjoy many elements of cozy mysteries — their plots, their wit, their avoidance of relying overly much on gratuitous graphic details, etc. I wonder why there are not a greater number with male protagonists, etc.? Do you have a list of those that might be more appealing to male readers? Thanks! (I don’t suppose writers such as William Tapply and Bill Crider would quite fit into the cozy genre, would they? I like those two authors, among MANY others.”

Bill, you are right! Cozy Mysteries really do seem to be marketed for women. It seems like even male authors of Cozy Mysteries prefer to have women as their protagonists. But there are many men who enjoy the subgenre. (My husband listens to Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh… two of the four Queens of the Golden Age of Mysteries, and he would not listen to them if he didn’t like them>>> Believe me! He has access to many different books.) 

As for your Bill Crider and William Tapply question… I don’t read either of those authors, so I don’t know… but I do read Reginald Hill (Dalziel and Pascoe Series), Colin Dexter (Inspector Morse), and R. D. Wingfield (A Touch of Frost) and I know that they don’t qualify as Cozy. (They are police procedurals.) To me, they don’t seem to bog themselves down with minute, gratuitious details. (This is not to say that they aren’t grittier than Cozy Mysteries… In some cases, they are quite a bit grittier!)

Right now, I am drawing a blank, except for J. A. Jance‘s J. P. Beaumont series, but I’m not sure if her books really qualify as Cozies… they are a little grittier than, let’s say, Agatha Christie. (I happen to be a fan of both her J. P. Beaumont and Joanna Brady series.)

So, readers, do you have any suggestions for Bill? If you do, I’ll post them, and then make a theme for the male protagonists in Cozy Mysteries.

Follow-Up of Feb. 15 Blog…

As I previously stated, “I’m all for authors who decide that they should finish up a series if it is no longer fresh. If an author feels like he/she is simply ‘calling it in’ while writing their series, I say: Quit churning them out, start something new. ”

Boy! Do I believe that!

Sometimes I wonder about why I continue reading an author who I have gotten tired of… an author who just seems to be writing in his/her sleep, an author who  seems to be going through the motions. But, I stay with my favorite authors until they finally stop writing their series… even though some of the authors I decide I am going to stop reading, but soon find myself getting the next book in their series… sort of like potato chips… very addictive! (And I like potato chips!)

I wonder if all readers are loyal to their favorite authors. Since I update authors’ pages on the site, I can see just how many books the individual authors are writing. Based on what seems to be an overall ‘cleaning house’ attitude of some of the publishers, I doubt that an author could continue to get published if he/she didn’t bring in the $ale$.

OK… Here’s an example of an author who just writes, writes, and then writes some more!

The author I am thinking about has one series that has more than 20 books in it… Sometimes this particular author writes two mysteries in just one year for this series. In addition to this best selling series, the author has another series with over 15 books in the series, sometimes two books have been published in one year, and this series is being written at the same time as the other series. That’s a prolific author!

But, wait, there’s more! This author has two more series which are being written at the same time as the other two series, and both of these have close to half a dozen books in them. WOW!!!! That’s a lot of books!

So, I ask myself about authors who are that productive… Are their last books published as good as their third books in the series? Are they as fresh?

Well, if the readers of that author are anything like me… Those questions don’t matter…. I just wonder if everyone is as loyal a reader as I am?!?

March 2009 Mystery Book New Releases

The following mystery books will be released in March 2009:

Jeffrey Archer: Paths of Glory (This will be a Stand Alone…)

Maureen Ash: A Plague of Poison  (This will be the 3rd in the Templar Knights Mystery Series…)

Cynthia Baxter: Too Rich and Too Dead (This will be the 2nd in the Murder Packs a Suitcase Mystery Series…)

Rhys Bowen:  In a Gilded Cage  (This will be the 8th in the Molly Murphy Mystery Series…)

Emily Brightwell:  Mrs. Jeffries in the Nick of Time (This will be the 25th in the Mrs. Jeffries Mystery Series…)

Dorothy Cannell: She Shoots to Conquer (This will be the 14th in the Ellie Haskell Mystery Series…)

Kate Charles: Deep Waters (This will be the 3rd in the Callie Anson Mystery Series…)

Laura Childs: Oolong Dead  (This will be the 10th in the Theodosia Browning Mystery Series…)

Harlan Coben: Long Lost (This will be the 9th in the Myron Bolitar Mystery Series…)

Hannah Dennison: Scoop! (This will be the 2nd in the Vicki Hill Mystery Series…)

Carola Dunn: Manna from Hades (This will be the 1st in the NEW Cornish Mystery Series OR will be a Stand Alone…)

Nadia Gordon: Lethal Vintage (This will be the 4th in the Sunny McCoskey Napa Valley Mystery Series…)

John Grisham: The Associate (This will be a Stand Alone…)

Carolyn Hart: Dare to Die (This will be the 19th in the Death on Demand Mystery Series…)

Harley Jane Kozak: A Date You Can’t Refuse (This will be the 4th in the Wollie Shelley Mystery Series…)

Victoria Laurie: Ghouls Just Want to Have Fun (This will be the 3rd in the Ghost Hunter Mystery Series…)

Laura Lippman: Life Sentences (This will be a Stand Alone…)

Lisa Lutz: Revenge of the Spellmans (This will be the 3rd in the Izzy Spellman Mystery Series…)

Peg Marberg: Fatal Flip  (This will be the 3rd in the Interior Design Mystery Series…)

Cricket McRae: Spin a Wicked Web (This will be the 3rd in the Home Crafting Mystery Series…)

James Patterson: Max (This will be the 5th in the Maximum Ride Series…)

Anne Perry: Execution Dock (This will be the 16th in the William Monk Mystery Series…)

Deanna Raybourn: Silent on the Moor (This will be the 3rd in the Lady Julia Grey Mystery Series…)

J. B. Stanley: The Battered Body (This will be the 5th in the Supper Club Mystery Series…)

Barbara Vine (aka Ruth Rendell): The Birthday Present (This will be a Stand Alone…)

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

Is it Me, or Are Cozy Mystery Authors Leaving Their Established Series?

I was doing some research yesterday to update some of the authors on the site, when I came across this news:

Hailey Lind is leaving her established Art Lover’s Mystery Series behind, and will be writing a new series that features a “paranormal theme.” Apparently, the fact that the first novel (Feint of Art) in the Art Lover’s Mystery Series was a finalist for the Best First Novel of the prestigious Malice Domestic Agatha Award in 2006 was not enough to “maintain” (my word!) the series. And, this does NOT appear to be her (as in “their” since Hailey Lind is a pseudonym for a sisters writing duo) choice. She (as in “they”) had the fourth novel almost ready to go…. But, thanks to the publisher$, that will not be “a go”…..

In doing this Cozy Mystery Site, I have noticed that I have been changing more and more authors’ main mystery series. I wonder if that is because the authors make the choice of starting a fresh series, or if publishers force them to change to a new series. Are there themes that seem to be more popular these days?

Two of my very favorite authors seem to have dropped their established mystery series recently…

Charlaine Harris: Lily Bard Shakespeare Mystery Series (last mystery dated 2001) and Aurora Teagarden Mystery Series (last mystery dated 2003)… New Series: Southern Vampire Mystery Series (started 2001) and Harper Connelly (started 2005)

Kathy Hogan Trochek: Julia Callahan Garrity Mystery Series (last mystery dated 2000)… new series (written as Mary Kay Andrews): Weezie and Bebe Mystery Series (started 2003)

And, now we can add Hailey Lind!

There is some good news for Hailey Lind fans out there. Half of the Hailey Lind duo will be writing under a new pseudonym: Juliet Blackwell. She will be writing two new series: Secondhand Spirits and If Walls Could Talk.

Secondhand Spirits will be a paranormal mystery series which features a witch who lives in San Francisco and manages a vintage clothing shop. If Walls Could Talk features a woman who used to be an anthropologist, but who switches her career field to general contractor of historic houses in the San Francisco area.

Don’t get me wrong… I’m all for authors who decide that they should finish up a series if it is no longer fresh. If an author feels like he/she is simply “calling it in” while writing their series, I say: Quit churning them out, start something new. (More on that in my next blog…)

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