The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Looking for a Great Cozy Mystery…

I received this comment from “Jack” a few days ago and thought that I would write a blog about it rather than let it possibly get lost as a comment:

“I’m new ’round these parts but I enjoy a good cozy mystery and have been starting to get back into them. I have a question I’d like to pose to you and your readers, if I may. What do you like better, traditional cozies or contemporary cozies? And what’s your favorite thing in a cozy? I mean, what do you look for when you’re looking for your next one in the bookstore?

It’s been so long since I’ve read one that I need recommendations as to what aspects of cozies people love best. I’m seeing so many different kinds. I didn’t realize there was still a large readership of cozies anymore! Glad to find otherwise!”

Does anyone out there want to help Jack with his quest for the very best type of cozy to read? (I guess I should say “to read FIRST”!)

Vacation Theme Mysteries : Authors A – B

A little while ago I received a letter asking if I could make up a theme that included cozy mystery novels that take place during vacation times. Most of us think of beaches and fun in the sun when we think of vacations… but of course, vacations take place during all times of the year.

Here is a list of authors who have written either one book, two books, or even a whole series of books that take place during vacations, holidays, or simply at exotic locations.

Vacation Mystery Novels by authors whose last names begin with A – B

Cathy Ace: Cait Morgan Mystery Series – each book takes place in a different country, so allows for armchair travel.

Lydia Adamson: Alice Nestleton Mystery Series: A Cat on a Beach Blanket… Alice house-sits for three months in the Hamptons…

Conrad Allen: Dillman Mystery Series: George Porter Dillman becomes a detective for a cruise line during the early 1900s…

Steve Allen: Steve Allen Mystery Series: Murder on the Atlantic… Steve and Jayne take a cruise on a beautiful ocean liner… AND Murder in Hawaii… Steve and Jayne are at it again. Seems like they can never just relax and enjoy a vacation!

Donna Andrews: Meg Lanslow Mystery Series: Murder with Puffins… Visiting her aunt’s cottage on Maine’s coast isn’t as relaxing as Meg plans for it to be.

Mary Kay Andrews: Weezie & Bebe Mystery Series: Savannah Breeze… Bebe is the new owner of a dilapidated beach town’s hotel…

Margot Arnold: Penny Spring & Sir Toby Glendower Mystery Series: Seeing that Sir Glendower is an archaeologist and Penny is an anthropologist, you can browse through the series books and decide where you want to “vacation”…

Nancy Atherton: Aunt Dimity Mystery Series: Aunt Dimity and the Deep Blue Sea… finds the family rushing off to a Scottish island in hopes of some much needed relaxation.

Marian Babson: The Cruise of a Death Time: A wonderful vacation setting… fun on a cruise ship turns deadly…

Donald Bain (aka Jessica Fletcher): Murder She Wrote Mystery Series: Murder on the QE2… Cabot Cove has some time to recuperate while Jessica sails the seas
Murder on Parade takes place in Cabot Cover over the July 4th holiday
Dying to Retire takes place in Florida
Trouble at High Tide takes place in Bermuda

Nevada Barr: Anna Pigeon Mystery Series: As a park ranger, Anna Pigeon works in the exact locations the rest of us would like to visit on our vacations!

M. C. Beaton: Hamish Macbeth Mystery Series: Death of a Nag… Hamish leaves Lochdub (his village) and in Death of a Snob, Hamish takes a vacation on the coast…

K. K. Beck: Iris Cooper & Jack Clancy Mystery Series: Iris is a flapper who flaps her way to several distant locations…

Susan Bernhardt: Kay Driscoll Mystery Series: Paradise Can be Murder

Nero Blanc: Crossword Mystery Series: Two Down… The duo take off to Nantucket, to do a little crossword sleuthing… AND A Crossworder’s Holiday is a collection of several Christmas stories that have our two sleuths “holiday-ing” away from home…

J. S. Borthwick: Deane & McKenzie Mystery Series: This sleuthing duo do their share of travelling…

Rhys Bowen: Naughty in Nice: This is the 5th in Her Royal Spyness Mystery Series…

Simon Brett: Fethering Mystery Series: The Body on the Beach which is the very first book in this series takes place in a beautiful coastal village in England…

If you know of any other authors whose last names begin with A – B and who have written at least one mystery that falls under the Vacation Mystery Theme, please write a comment to the blog or a letter to the site. Thanks!

VACATION MYSTERIES or MYSTERIES THAT TAKE PLACE IN EXOTIC LOCATIONS:

Authors beginning with C – D

Authors beginning with F – H

Authors beginning with K – R

Authors beginning with S – W

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

Cozy Mystery with Cats, Authors, & a Planned Community…

OK… Here’s another stumper. I just received a letter from a site reader (Sharon) who asks that we come up with this author. Again, I am at a loss! I told my husband that I was hesitant to post these “looking-for-an-author” letters because it shows a lack of knowledge on my part. But he assured me that since I am posting authors who site readers have recommended, authors who I have not yet read, then the site readers would not expect me to know every author who has written a cozy (or a book that someone else thinks is cozy.)

So, here goes!!!

“The reason I started looking at your list was to find an author I had read several months ago about writers living in a planned commune, with the planner and builder living up on a high hill. Most of the characters have cats, one with a very overweight one that keeps getting in the neighbor’s kitty door, and some with dogs. If anyone knows this author and the books I am asking about, I would greatly appreciate a reply.”

Does anyone out there have any ideas?

Guilty Pleasures: Buying a Box of Good and Plentys…

I was at the grocery store this morning, with everything going fine until I put a 99¢ box of Good and Plentys (should that be “Plenties”?) on the conveyor belt. The “bag-girl” (I’m not sure what the politically correct term is these days… but by this I mean the teenage girl who bags the groceries) started a conversation with me which meant she had to talk rather loudly… since I was still getting the groceries out of my cart and she was at the end of the conveyor belt section.

Anyway…. her conversation was loud enough to elicit the attention of the people in the line next to mine, including the people exiting the store, as well as the people in the customer service section of the store. I am not sure if I have mentioned this before, but I am VERY self conscious about my weight. I am not concerned enough to exercise on a regular basis (or if I am truthful… exercise at all!) but I do carry at least thirty pounds more than I should on my frame… and that doesn’t mean thirty pounds more than I would if I were anorexic… but thirty pounds more than if I weighed what a “normal” person weighs.

So, much to my chagrin, my “bag-girl” started a conversation AT me, telling me how she doesn’t like junk food like Good and Plentys… they are bad for your teeth, they are bad for your health, they are just sugar, she eats healthy snacks like apples, etc. I nodded to her, said she was brought up the right way, and tried to go back to my business… Unfortunately, once I made eye contact… she got even louder… not in a rude way, just a matter-of-fact manner… I was somewhat taken aback, and more than embarrassed… But that’s what you get when you try to buy a guilty pleasure like Good and Plentys…

After I paid for my groceries, my cashier (another teenage girl) quietly told me to go enjoy my Good and Plentys… a very sweet gesture, very much appreciated by this “slightly overweight” woman. I have to admit, those Good and Plentys don’t look quite so good right now… perhaps the BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION / PAVLOVIAN CONDITIONING that I experienced was enough to  curtail my licorice cravings!

Nope! I think not! Next time I have a licorice craving I’m going to just have to cut out the middle man (in this case the “bag-girl) and go to my local drug store to make my illicit purchases! No “bag-girls” there, and hopefully I won’t get a chatty cashier!

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