The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Five New Mystery Authors Recommended by You!

Do you ever get the déjà vu feeling? Kind of like… this feels like two days ago… but I know it’s today? I guess that’s how I could explain this blog… Other than the difference in number, the idea is the same: I want to introduce… sort of put the spotlight on… new authors who came to my attention because of site readers.  So, without any further distracting “blogging,” here goes!

Amy Patricia Meade: Meade writes the Marjorie McClelland Mystery Series which is set during the 1930s in Connecticut and features a mystery author. (This series is included on its corresponding Historical Theme page.)

Deanna Raybourn: Raybourn writes the Lady Julia Grey Mystery Series which is a historical mystery series that is set in Victorian England. (I have included this series on its corresponding Historical Theme page.)

T. Dawn Richard: Richard writes the May List Mystery Series which features a woman who leaves her philandering husband after 35 years of marriage and moves to a retirement community… to begin a new life as a sleuth. (I have included this series on its corresponding Senior Sleuth Theme page.)

June Thomson (aka June Valerie Thomson): Thomson writes the Inspector Jack Finch (in Great Britain)/Inspector Jack Rudd (in USA) Mystery Series. (Different names, same series.) She has also written several Sherlock Holmes books which are collections of short stories. (I have listed these Sherlock Holmes books in the Mysteries with (Previously) Famous Fictional Characters Theme.)

Anne White White writes the Lake George Mystery Series which is set in a beautiful resort town on Lake George… (I actually came by Anne White in a rather round-about way… Her daughter, Kate White, was recommended for the site, and while I was compiling my information for Kate’s page, I clicked on her mom’s page, and once there, I thought that Anne White should definitely be included on the site!)

Thirteen New Recommended Authors…

Last weekend, I heard from someone who gave me the names of thirteen new authors for the site. I know that thirteen is an unlucky  number in the mystery book business, but, since I don’t write the cozies that I tell you about… then I consider thirteen to be a very lucky number… AND am hoping that of the thirteen new authors she recommended, a few of them fall right into the cozy mystery book style for which you are searching.

But, since I haven’t started working on these particular authors, let me take the time to tell you about a few new authors who I just posted. All of them were recommended by readers of the site… I haven’t been able to try out their books, but they sure do look interesting!

Sharon Dunn: Dunn (who describes herself as a Christian author) writes two series, both of which are set in Montana. The Ruby Taylor Mystery Series features a feed-store employee/sleuth, and the Bargain Hunters Mystery Series features a garage sale junkie. (I have included Dunn’s series in the Antiquing Theme, although, technically…)

Kaitlyn Dunnett: A lot of you are familiar with Kaitlyn Dunnett, but just might not be aware of the fact that Dunnett and Kathy Lynn Emerson happen to be the same author… with different series “between them.” As Dunnett, she is starting a new series which is quite different from the “Emerson series.” It is the Liss MacCrimmon Mystery Series, which features a member of a Scottish Dance Troupe in Maine. As Emerson, she has the very popular Lady Susanna Appleton Mystery Series, which features a 1600s herbalist.  (That series is found in both the Historical Theme page and the Gardening Theme page.) She also writes the Diana Spaulding Mystery Series, which features a descendant of Lady Appleton as an1800s reporter. (Also found on the Historical Theme page.)

Lisa Lutz: Lutz writes the Izzy Spellman Mystery Series, which features a P.I. in San Francisco.  Her first novel was nominated for three prestigious mystery awards: the Anthony, the Barry, and the Macavity Awards.

Hope McIntyre (aka Caroline Upcher):   McIntyre (the pseudonym for her crime fiction) writes about something she knows first-hand… ghostwriting. Having been a ghostwriter (as well as several other professions—including editor) she now writes the Lee Bartholomew Mystery Series featuring a ghostwriter…

Scented Soy Candles…

I am always on the lookout for scented soy candles. I don’t actually light them, though. I scoop the soy wax out of the candle jars and put the wax in tin containers which I buy at Michael’s. I then put the tin container on one of those little coffee cup warmers, and let it “simmer” throughout the day. (It never actually simmers, my coffee cup warmer is just hot enough to melt the wax, letting the aroma fill the air.) I just love the soft scent that permeates through the house. I know, I know… and yes, I am VERY CAREFUL! My coffee cup warmer has a bright red light on it so that I am very aware of when it is on… I never leave it on while I am gone or at night. But, I do enjoy it during the day. (Obviously, I don’t have a cat that can jump up on the kitchen counter and I didn’t do any of this when our children were young. Also, I have never put anything on my coffee warmer that has a sticker on it… like a price tag, etc.)

It is a bit of a drag to have to scoop out the wax from the original candle container, and then to have to continue to change the wax out of the tin when it loses its scent. But, it just one of those things that I am so used to doing that I don’t think anything about it.

I have different candle scents for the different times of year… cinnamon and spice for the autumn, pine and a soft mulberry for the winter months, and I alternate between hazelnut coffee, lemon, and lime during the rest of the year. (I may not be diligent about dusting and polishing, but my house sure smells lemony clean!) Of course, I have tried some scents which none of us like, but I think that I now have our selections down to scents that all of us like… or at least that none of us dislike!

We moved here over fifteen years ago, and I think that the lack of four definite seasons has made me look for ways to create some types of environmental differences which can mimic the seasons… adding the scents of the seasons into our home is just one of those ways.

Hot in San Antonio and Christmas in July…

Man!!! It is hot right now in San Antonio! I am already thinking about the coming autumn and winter months. Of course, our autumn months are not at all cold… but at least they don’t feel clammy, humid, and HOT! So, having said that…

I do not watch television channels devoted to selling products during the year. I simply don’t enjoy shopping, and I am not a collector of anything other than (mostly cozy) mystery books. But I have to confess that as the fall approaches, I start “peeking in” on a few QVC shows to get ideas for gifts that I can give as “gift fillers”… the types of things that can be included amongst the “main gifts” that I send out>>> little things that can be added in to make a nicer presentation>>> sort of like stocking stuffers. Things that aren’t too big or expensive. Things that can round out the big boxes that I send out.

Anyway, let me get to my blog idea for the day… Tomorrow night (Thursday, 24) QVC is starting their “Christmas in July” sale… and, since I never watch television live, I have already set up my Replay machine to tape all of the shows that look interesting to me.  I’m hoping that I am able to get some ideas (and purchases) of doo-dads for all of the people on my list. And, perhaps just seeing QVC’s fake snow might make it feel a little cooler outside!

PS>>>> A Replay machine is like a TIVO. I prefer the Replay since (I think) that it’s easier to navigate. Unfortunately I think it went the way of the Betas, 8-Tracks, and laser discs!

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