The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Mystery Books that Take Place in Colorado:

Here are some Fun Colorado Facts:
“The Centennial State”
Denver is the capital and the largest city.
State Motto: “Nothing without the Deity”
State Flower: Rocky Mountain Columbine
Colorado was named for the red/ruddy color of the mountains.

Authors who are found on the Cozy Mystery Site and who feature Colorado locations in their books:

Leslie Caine (Leslie O’Kane): Domestic Bliss Mystery Series

Sammi Carter: Candy Shop Mystery Series

Diane Mott Davidson: Goldy Bear Mystery Series

Denise Dietz: Diet Club Mystery Series

Laura DiSilverio (aka Lila Dare & Ella Barrick): Charlie Swift Mystery Series

James D. Doss: Charlie Moon Mystery Series

John Dunning: Cliff Janeway Mystery Series

Christine Goff: Birdwatcher’s Mystery Series

Beth Groundwater: Claire Hanover Mystery Series

Heather Horrocks: Bad Mothers Club Mystery Series

Richard Houston: Books to Die For Mystery Series

Dolores Johnson: Mandy Dyer Mystery Series

Cynthia Kuhn: Lila MacLean Academic Mystery Series – Lila is an English professor in colorado.

Sherry Lewis: Senior Sleuth Fred Vickery Mystery Series

Liesa Malik: Daisy Arthur Mystery Series

Mysteries of Silver Peak Mystery Series: a Guideposts Cozy series written by Carole Jefferson

Leslie O’Kane (Leslie Caine): Allie Babcock Mystery Series

Maggie Sefton: Knitting Mystery Series AND Kate Doyle Mystery Series

Robert Spiller: Bonnie Pinkwater Mystery Series

Teresa Trent: Henry Park Mystery Series – Gabby Wolfe has a Sixth Sense in Henry Park, Colorado.

Please feel free to contact me if you see an author from the Cozy Mystery Site who belongs on this list, or if you have any comments.

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

Why Are Some Cozies Not So Cozy?

Sometimes, when I go through all of the authors on the Cozy Mystery Site to try to come up with the themes that each series belongs to, I am often left wondering if an author is truly COZY or not. A week ago I had a site reader ask me about a particular character… Lily Bard (from the Charlaine Harris Shakespeare Mystery Series) and I responded (somewhat) in this manner:

I happen to have loved Lily Bard… I was never quite sure if she was cozy, though. I just talked to a very good cozy-reading friend of mine last night (Yes, Cora, that would be you!  You might be wondering if it was indeed last night… which it wasn’t… but I am post-dating this particular blog.) and we talked about just that>>> I asked her what she thought about Lily’s series being cozy. For those of you who have read the Shakespeare mysteries (I have read all of them and truly wish that Harris would write more. It does, however look like Lily might be a thing of the past, with Harris now focusing on her very popular Southern Vampire Mystery Series.)  The Lily Bard series is grittier than most, but it comes from a woman’s perspective, and seems realistic. Does that make sense? I wonder if that is the reason that most of us cozy mystery lovers love characters like Lily.

Mystery Books that Take Place in Florida:

Here are some Fun Florida Facts:
“The Sunshine State”
Tallahassee is the capital, but Jacksonville is the largest city.
State Motto: “In God We Trust”
State Flower: Orange Blossom
Claimed by Ponce de León as “Pascua de Florida” (“Feast of Flowers”)
State Song: Old Folks at Home

Authors who are found on the Cozy Mystery Site and who feature Florida locations in their books:

Edna Buchanan: Britt Montero Mystery Series AND the Cold Case Squad Mystery Series

Lucy Burdette (aka Roberta Isleib): Key West Food Critic Mystery Series

Nora Charles (aka Noreen Wald): Kate Kennedy Mystery Series

Blaize Clement: Dixie Hemingway Mystery Series

Nancy J. Cohen: Bad Hair Day Mystery Series

Lesley A. Diehl: Big Lake Mystery Series

Lesley A. Diehl: Eve Appel Mystery Series

Tim Dorsey: Serge & Coleman Mystery Series

Mary Anna Evans: Faye Longchamp Mystery Series

Christy Fifield (aka Christy Evans) Haunted Souvenir Shop Mystery Series

Lena Gregory: All-Day Breakfast Café Mystery Series

Carl Hiaasen: Writes Florida mysteries which are described as “hilarious”

Tami Hoag: Elena Estes Mystery Series

Cheryl Hollon: Webb’s Glass Shop Mystery Series

Mary Kennedy: Talk Show Radio Mystery Series

Rita Lakin: Gladdy Gold Mystery Series

Vincent Lardo: Arch McNally Mystery Series (took over Lawrence Sanders’ series)

Lisa Q. Mathews: Ladies Smythe & Westin Mystery Series

Dawn Lee McKenna: Forgotten Coast Mystery Series (first book Low Tide)

Terrie Farley Moran: Read ‘Em and Eat Mystery Series

Laura Morrigan: Call of the Wilde Mystery Series

Barbara Parker: Suspicion Mystery Series

Rose Pressey: Maggie, P.I. Mystery Series

Lawrence Sanders: Arch McNally Mystery Series (the original author of the series)

Deborah Sharp: Mace Bauer Mystery Series

Joanna Campbell Slan: Cara Mia Delgatto Mystery Series

Diane A. S. Stuckart (aka Ali Brandon): Tarot Cats Mystery Series

Kathy Hogan Trochek (aka Mary Kay Andrews): Truman Kicklighter Mystery Series

Elaine Viets: Dead-End Job Mystery Series

Karen Ann Wilson: Samantha Holt Mystery Series

Please feel free to contact me if you see an author from the Cozy Mystery Site who belongs on this list, or if you have any comments.

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

The Return of the Old— Man from U.N.C.L.E.

Wow!! Is this ever going to date me!?! Man from U.N.C.L.E. is finally out!

Can you remember  Napoleon Solo (Robert Vaughn) and Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum)? And if so, do you remember what the U.N.C.L.E. stood for? (United Network Command for Law and Enforcement…I had to look this one up>>> my memory isn’t that good!!!) And, what how about T.H.R.U.S.H.? (What a great acronym for an evil organization!) Man from U.N.C.L.E. was one of the first spy shows, taking place during the height of the Cold War days. (Remember air raid drills in school where you had to scamper under your desk?… And how flimsy those little desks were!?!)

The show aired in the mid 1960s and was one of the top TV hits of that time. Since this was before DVDs (and even VHS tapes!) the show aired each week in households that had all of the members patiently sitting in front of the television. If you had a “Spot” or “Puff”>>> you had already made sure that he/she had gone outside for his/her run of the neighborhood (this was before the days of six-foot privacy fences and mandatory leash laws!) and that all bathroom breaks had been taken by all family members… thus insuring no unwanted distractions. If you were hungry, you had already pan-popped your popcorn (or had Jiffy Pop already made an appearance by this time?) and that all of the family members were sitting patiently on the living room couch for the show (before the time of the family/television room!). If you had Boy Scouts on Tuesday nights (as my husband did) then you made sure that you got home early enough to see how Solo and Kuryakin were going to save the world this week. It was, in short, a big event in the days of the three-network television line-ups.

And, how about this for another “Back in the Days”… Remember when turtle necks were all the rage… After watching David McCallum sporting the Kuryakin turtle necks, you’ll wonder if the show had any thing to do with the turtle neck’s popularity!

Just ask someone in their fifties (or older) if the remember Solo and Kuryakin. I bet you will see them smile at the memories!

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