The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Clarissa Watson Anyone?

I received both an email and a blog comment a few days ago from Carolyn asking about Clarissa Watson.  The gist of the letters is as follows:

“I haven’t noticed any mention of an excellent mystery author, CLARISSA WATSON. She wrote a series of books featuring painter and art expert Persis Willum. The books are intelligent and fun, so much so that I re-read them about every 5 years! Please give them a try if you like international intrigue and a heroine who loves art. I only wish she had written more of them.” AND “Do you have any suggestions on finding another author like Clarissa Watson? She wrote a series of sophisticated, witty mysteries featuring portrait painter and art expert Persis Willum in the 80’s. They are great books…”

Unfortunately, I haven’t read any novels written by Clarissa Watson, so I really can’t begin to suggest authors who are similar to her. I will be adding a page dedicated to her on the site, though.

The reason for this blog::: Are any of you familiar with Clarissa Watson, and if so, do you know of any authors who are similar to her? I would love to hear from you… via comment or letter.

Thanks a lot… I know that we can make this a cozier world if we want…

Reading a Mystery Series All the Way Through…

You know, every once in a while I get the feeling that I want to start reading one particular author’s works all the way through, from the first to the last novel. The most recent time I thought that I would do this was Agatha Christie… the time before that was Ruth Rendell, and even before that was Patricia Moyes. All some of my favorite authors, but I’m not sure why I just can’t stick to that plan… of reading all of the series’ novels at one sitting. (I use that term – “sitting” – loosely, since it would take me a rather long time to achieve that feat>>> All of those particular authors have a lot of books in their series.)

Getting back to the point… I truly had thought that I could do that… stick with one author>>> even though the authors in my bookshelves beckon me with their brightly-colored book spines. BUT!!!:::>>> The last time I stuck to the read-the-entire-series-all-the-way-through plan, I became somewhat disappointed/disgruntled with the author.

The last author I succeded reading all the way through was E. V. Cunningham. I had read a few of his Masao Masuto books in the past, before the chronological order of a series was that important to me, and had enjoyed his books immensely. But, maybe it was the fact that I was re-reading some of the novels, or maybe it was the fact that the same day I finished one novel in the series I started reading the next… I really don’t know what it was, but I started getting mildly annoyed at Masuto! Yes, I actually started feeling annoyance toward a fictitious character!

So, it is with that knowledge that I am now going to say this: The next time I say I am going to read a cozy mystery series from the beginning to the end, with no other reading interruptions… It’s not that I am brazenly lying, because I truly am thinking that I will do just that, it is that I won’t be able to carry through with that plan. So, right after I blog about that intention, just think of it as a lapse in my judgement, a foolish mistake on my part… It just ain’t going to happen!

Going to the Chapel and They're Going to Get Married…

I am going to my niece’s wedding in August and I cannot wait! Unfortunately, I am going to be going alone. My husband was planning on going but I decided that since it will be sort of a family reunion for me, I would rather not have to worry about keeping him entertained.

Of course, I have a few things that I must do before I go…

I need to buy three new outfits that will be fitting of this wonderful occasion…
I need to decide whether to go with a gift from her gift registry or a gift of money…
I need to reteach my family how to give Sprite (our 13 1/2 year old puppy) her (five different)medications…
I need to teach someone how to get Sprite’s two injections ready for my husband to give her the shots…
I need to (perhaps) write a few blogs about new cozy themes…
I need to clean the house so that it isn’t a total mess when I get home…
I need to be extra nice to my family so that they miss me a whole lot…

And, of course, there are a lot of other things I have to do before going.

But, I did want to say that at the very end of all the preparations, as my husband is driving me to the airport, I will need to do one more thing…

I need to get $15 cash so that I can pay the airline to take my one piece of luggage!!! (Which has to weigh less than 49 pounds…)

Yep!!! You read it right!!! That’s what it now takes to fly the friendly skies!

A British, Historical, Herbalist Mystery Novel…

I received an e-mail from a site reader yesterday that was an e-mail hoping for some help in locating an author. I could only come up with Kathy Lynn Emerson… but don’t think that this would be the author for whom she is looking.

“I have been looking for years for a book I once read in a hospital but never got to finish. I think the author was pretty famous and had written several mysteries, but I can’t remember her name. I think the book was called “The White Witch”, yet I’ve found nothing with that title that was the same book. It was a mystery about a woman in England who had an herb garden and people would come to her for healing herbs. The herbs had something to do with the mystery – similar to the Cadfael Chronicles. Does anyone know of this book?”

Do any of you out there have any ideas as to this author’s identity?  If so, please comment on the board or send me an e-mail. Thanks!

PS>>> I just found out that this book is at least forty years old… Definitely not Kathy Lynn Emerson!!! Hopefully someone will have a clue as to who the author could be!

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