The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

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…)

Maggie Barbieri, Georgette Heyer, M. M. Kaye, & Margaret Yorke : Four Newly Recommended Authors to the Cozy Site…

I’ll bet that the people who recommended the following four mystery authors wondered what was taking me so long to get them posted! They are actually the four last authors who I have prepared, but I have a long list of other authors to do. I try to post the authors as I get them. (I also try to get several done so that I have a fountain to draw from, but this is it!)

Maggie Barbieri: Murder 101 Mystery Series… Stars Alison Bergeron, a  divorced professor who sleuths around with a New York City homicide detective.

Georgette Heyer: Superintendent Hannasyde Mystery Series… These books from Great Britain were written by Heyer in the 1930s through 1950s.

M. M. Kaye  (Mary Margaret Kaye): Death in ***** Mystery Series… The books in this series take place in far away places. (She also wrote The Far Pavilions.)

Margaret Yorke: Dr. Patrick Grant Mystery Series… This doctor is a professor at Oxford.

Twist, Turns, Red Herrings, and… New Clues?!?

So, you say you’re a cozy mystery reader. As someone who enjoys cozy mysteries, then I take it for granted that you enjoy the twist and turns that most cozy mystery authors provide in their mysteries. And, I also assume that you enjoy making your way through all of the red herrings, discarding those you don’t need and keeping only the important facts. Let’s face it, that’s part of the fun!

BUT>>> Do you enjoy getting important facts that help solve the mystery at the very end of the novel, when the culprit is being announced?!? I don’t! And, when that happens while I am reading a mystery, I quickly discard that particular author from my personal list of favorites. I simply find that a cheap shot, and I don’t care for it!

I hate it when I am reading a cozy mystery and two or more of the characters go off to discuss something that is really important to them, without letting me know about the facts. This is usually accomplished with such dialogue as:

“Miffy told Biffy about what she had seen, and they decided they couldn’t tell anyone about ‘IT’ since they would be in grave danger.”

OR>>> “Ziffy and Jiffy went into the kitchen and could not believe it when they compared notes and found that the murderer had left the glasses (with fingerprints) by the victim.”

OR>>> “Diffy could simply not believe her ears when she accidentally picked up the phone to hear the speaker acknowledge being at the dock.”

I don’t know why this irritates me so much. I guess it’s because I like to solve the mystery along with the sleuth, and don’t like to have important clues (that the sleuth is aware of) kept from me.

Unfortunately, I have found that this happens a lot more often than I would have guessed. I don’t mind if two characters go off and discuss all of the details that have been presented to the readers. I truly don’t need for the author to have to itemize all of the facts. Just don’t spring any new ones on me at the very end of the novel!

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