The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

First Cardinal Couple…

Oh my goodness! I just saw my first cardinal “couple” of the year flying from a tree to one of our red-tip bushes, and I am just so excited! Our weather down here in San Antonio is currently 72°, and we are expecting to get as high as 76° today. Winter is finally here!

Yes, that’s exactly what I mean… Today’s weather is exactly what we get during our winters, interspersed with “really cold” days. By this I mean that we range from days like today all the way down to a few days out of each year when we get below freezing temperatures. Last year we actually had an ice “storm”… which was particularly bad for some of us. (We lost power for a few days, but, the good news was that not everyone lost power… The houses across our street continued to get electricity throughout the entire time while the houses on our side of the street had to make quick trips to hardware stores in able to stock up on fire logs.)

Back to my cardinals! I think that they are probably my favorite birds. The deep red of the males is absolutely a phenomenal sight to me, and I also appreciate the very soft browns of the females. We have tall red-tip bushes all around the perimeter of our back yard, so we get quite a few different birds that nest out there. One year, just by chance, my husband and I were able to catch a glimpse of a Bluejay parent teaching three little Bluejays how to fly between the bushes… landing and taking off, back and forth, back and forth for several minutes. That was fun!

Isn’t it something when small things (like the sight of a pair of cardinals) can trigger such positive emotions in us? Isn’t nature grand!?!

Ellery Queen, John Creasy, & Leslie Charteris: Three "Old" Authors for the New Year…

I thought that I would start the New Year by adding (to the Cozy Mystery Site) three mystery authors who have been recommended by site readers. All three wrote their mysteries many years ago. The three authors of whom I am speaking are (as the title says) Ellery Queen, John Creasy, and Leslie Charteris.

While many people recognize the name Ellery Queen, many people are also familiar with John Creasy and Leslie Charteris, possibly without knowing it. The reason for this is that Leslie Charteris writes (“wrote”>>> but I try to do all of my postings in present tense!) The Saint Mystery Series. Some of you may remember The Saint television series from many years ago. The Saint (aka Simon Templar) is a rather dashing/debonair millionaire, who not only is a sleuth, but also a thief!

As for John Creasy, he has many pseudonyms and even more mystery (and spy) series. The pseudonyms that I am posting on the site include: J. J. Marric, M. E. Cooke, Robert Caine Frazer, Anthony Morton, Gordon Ashe, Rodney Mattheson, Patrick Gill, Brian Hope, Colin Hughes, Anthony Morton, Charles Hogarth, Richard Martin, Kyle Hunt, & Abel Mann.

As I said, a lot of people are familiar with Ellery Queen. Something I wasn’t aware of though is that Ellery Queen is a pseudonym for two cousins who write (actually “wrote”) the books and stories together. Years ago, I would get confused wondering if Ellery Queen was the author or the character of the particular series. And then there is the magazine by that same name! (Ellery Queen is the name of the main character of the mystery series written by the cousins using the pseudonym Ellery Queen… which a lot of times appears in the Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine!)

Judy Holliday Movies…

OK, OK… I know that this is the Cozy Mystery Site… BUT>>> I just have to share one of my favorite Hollywood Star’s Movies with all of you: Judy Holliday!

I am writing this entry to let people know about Judy Holliday’s movies. I started introducing Holliday’s movies to my husband about a year ago, not sure if he would like them. They herald back to a simpler time… A time when close-ups of two lovers kissing didn’t involve camera”men” looking for the angle that showed the most open-mouthed gymnastics. A time when a man and a woman were called “a boy and girl” and “first base” involved holding hands, “second base” involved the “boy” yawning in his theater seat so that his arm could go around the “girl’s” shoulder. (It turned out that my husband liked Holliday’s movies so much, that I then introduced my daughter to them! She also likes them a lot.)

It really is difficult for me to decide which of her (few) movies is my favorite. My husband’s favorite is Born Yesterday, in which she plays a ditsy blond against William Holden’s portrayal of an up-right journalist who is tutoring her so that she won’t embarrass her gruff criminal boyfriend (Broderick Crawford). The times were much more discreet back then… Holliday’s character had her own wing on the hotel floor that accommodated the boyfriend’s entourage.

My daughter’s favorite Holliday movie is Adam’s Rib. For all of you Katherine Hepburn/Spencer Tracy fans, this is the movie which pits them against each other as prosecuting and defense lawyers in a case involving a two-timing husband (Tom Ewell) who is shot by his long-suffering wife (Holliday). This comedy was directed by George Cukor and also includes David Wayne as the Hepburn’s/Tracy’s next door neighbor, a playboy who has his sights on Hepburn.

As for me, I really can’t decide. I think that I simply like everything that Judy Holliday was in… I love the two above-movies, but also rank It Should Happen to You, The Solid Gold Cadillac,  Bells Are Ringing, and The Marrying Kind right up there with them. (The Marrying Kind is a little more “adult”>>> but nothing like what “adult” means today!) It Should Happen to You debuts Jack Lemmon as Gladys Glover’s (Judy Holliday’s) rooming house’s neighbor who has to compete with the dashing good looks of a very tan, rich Peter Lawford. Bells Are Ringing shows just how truly talented Holliday was, pitting her against Dean Martin in this musical movie…

Judy Holliday is the girl-next-door type with a very versatile voice, a comic genius with whom a lot of people are not familiar. She died at a very young age, but left us several movies which I consider some of the best to be seen.

♦If you would like to see more TV & Movies suggestions, click here.♦

A New Year is Here: A Time to Reflect on What is Really Important…

It’s this time of year when a lot of us reflect on what is truly important in our lives, and try to figure out how we can bring happiness to others. When you get right down to it… I think that family and friends are “what’s important” and happiness revolves around them. This doesn’t mean that the people in our lives have to be close to us… If we don’t have family members, we can make an effort to befriend people. And, if that doesn’t work, then we can simply be kind to others… even if they are strangers.

Are we really in a society that is moving so fast that we can’t take the time to be polite and treat others with the dignity that everyone deserves? Are we in such a hurry that we don’t have the time to be kind to others, so much so that we appear to be ill-tempered and impatient with the people around us? NO!

After reflecting on my previous year’s actions I usually come up with a plan… to be kinder to others and to empathize more with the people around me. Of course, as the year rolls on, I sometimes find myself falling back into some of the patterns that I try to change… Perhaps I get a little impatient to someone who is supposed to be a knowledgeable employee somewhere, who happens to know even less than I do about his/her field of expertise. Or, perhaps I “testily” tell a telephone solicitor to take me off of his/her calling list (since I am on the federal do-not-call list!) and after saying a very fast “thanks” I hang up on him/her. Or, perhaps I get impatient with our fifteen year old very loyal dog.

Anyway, at least for the next week (or even month!) I plan to be on my best behavior and will definitely try to be a better person for (and to) the people who I encounter every day…

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