The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

English / British Theme Mysteries… A & B

Here is the beginning of the British (Cozy) Mysteries that I have on the site… Not all of the authors are actually British, but the novels take place in Great Britain.

Cathy Ace: WISE Enquiries Agency Mystery Series – set in Wales

Catherine Aird: Her Inspector Sloan is the head of his local CID.

Susan Wittig Albert: She writes a cozy series featuring Beatrix Potterl

Bruce Alexander: Writes the Sir John Fielding series… an 18th century blind magistrate in London.

Tasha Alexander: Writes the Lady Emily Mystery Series which is set in Victorian England…

Margery Allingham: The Albert Campion series is set in London, and features a very upper-crust sleuth…

Tess Arlen: Lady Montfort Mystery Series is set in Edwardian England…

Margot Arnold: Series features an anthropologist and archaeologist team…

Nancy Atherton: Set in the Cotswold, Aunt Dimity helps solve mysteries… even though she is dead…

Marion Babson: Two British series to pick from…

Jo Bannister: Several series to pick from… including the Brodie Farrell Mystery Series, which is full of suspense…

Jo Bannister: Gabriel Ash & Hazel Best Mystery Series

Robert Barnard: Another author with several series and stand alone novels to choose from… including the Charlie Peace police procedural…

Stephanie Barron: She writes a series with Jane Austen as the heroine/sleuth…

M. C. Beaton: Her Agatha Raisin Cozy is set in the Cotswolds and her Hamish Macbeth is set in Scotland…

Carrie Bebris: Her Mr. & Mrs. Darcy series involves the two main characters from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice…

C.A. Belmond: Penny Nichols Mystery Series… Penny is a rich American heiress in England.

C. C. Benison: Her Jane Bee series features a housemaid who solves mysteries… with the queen’s help. AND Benison’s Father Christmas features a village vicar…

Ron and Janet Benrey: The Benreys write two series… the Royal Tunbridge Wells Tea Museum is the setting for the series set in England…

Veronica Black: Sister Joan is a nun who investigates mysteries in Cornwall…

Nicholas Blake: Blake is a professor at Oxford who writes a series with an Oxford grad/sleuth…

Alice Boatwright: Boatwright is an American who has lived in England for several years, who writes a series about a vicar’s wife in the English Cotswalds…

Janie Bolitho: The Cornish countryside is the location of Bolitho’s Rose Trevelyan series, which features an artist/sleuth…

Rhys Bowen: Bowen writes the Evan Evans series which is set in Wales, and is starting a new London-based series…

Alan Bradley: Bradley’s Flavia de Luce Mystery Series features an eleven year old girl/sleuth. Bradley has won many mystery writing awards, including the prestigious Agatha Award.

Christianna Brand: Inspector Cockrill series as well as children’s books and stand-alones…

Simon Brett: Several series (based in England) to pick from >>>Fethering Mystery Series, Melita Pargeter Mystery Series, Charles Paris Mystery Series, and several Stand Alones to pick from…

Emily Brightwell: Mrs. Jeffries is the housekeeper (and sleuth) to Inspector Witherspoon…

Frances Brody: Kate Shackleton Mystery Series – Kate is a WWI widow in a British small milling village in the 1920s.

Barry S. Brown: Mrs. Hudson of Baker Street Mystery Series… Housekeeper for Sherlock Holmes…

Fiona Buckley: A Lady in Waiting in Queen Elizabeth’s court (QE I…)

Other British lists:

Authors beginning with C & D

Authors beginning with E, F, G, & H

Authors beginning with I, J, K, L, M, & N

Authors beginning with P, R, & S

Authors beginning with T , U, & W

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

Starting to Compile the British Cozy Mystery List….

I know I have been lax (again) about blogging… I am trying to compile a list of the site’s British authors. Or, in the case of Elizabeth George, the authors on the site who write "all things British." I know that George’s novels aren’t cozy, and I also know that she is from the USA… but she sure does write "ve-dy British" books.

I thought that the list would be really easy to compile… that I would just whip through all of the authors from the site’s alphabetical pages, and that would be it. No such luck! Some of the "blurbs" I write for each author don’t include that information. (They probably will after I get this list done, though.)

I have had several Cozy Mystery site readers ask me for British Cozies, and I know how much I love them, so>>> that’s what I’m busy doing. I will try to start posting the list tomorrow.

Colleges… Are Now in Progress….

I don’t know how to begin this blog… "Boo, hoo, hoo" or "I am sad" are how I feel, but, let’s face it, those two entry phrases are pretty negative, and they don’t really begin to cover the great sadness I feel every time my children leave our home.

My daughter packed her car and left this morning… She’s off to another semester of Aerospace Engineering, which translates for me as "another semester away from home." I am sure I am not alone in these parental feelings. And, I am guessing that there are a lot of people who are experiencing this same sadness right now, since most of the universities are back in session tomorrow.

My daughter and I share a very special relationship….. She truly is a best friend to me. I absolutely cannot imagine my life without her. I really do not know how parents managed to deal with these types of frequent college separations years ago… before cell phones. I cannot imagine not being able to talk to my children any time they want to talk to me… (Note that I say any time they want to talk to me… not anytime I want to talk to them!)

I remember (years ago) when I was in college. I talked to my parents probably once a month… maybe twice if it was a birthday month. During these "tender moment" phone calls… I could hear my father in the background saying "We need to hang up." or "She can write us a letter." or, if he was in a particularly good mood "We can write her a letter." Some of you may be able to remember those "Ma Bell" precious moments… when the minutes truly were preciou$$$$$!

But, I digress….

Let me just say, I am experiencing a "withdrawal of sorts." I am not at all sure I care for this phenomenon… children growing up and going out on their own. Thank goodness we belong to the "family plan" of our chosen cell phone company!

To Serve Them All My Days… BBC Miniseries

The To Serve Them All My Days miniseries is based on the novel (of the same name) by R. F. Delderfield. I admit to not having read the novel, but I have seen the miniseries… and I love it! It is not a mystery, but it does stand up to its BBC counterparts in that it is an extremely good production. The thirteen segment series was produced in 1980 and is set during the time between World War I and WW II.

The miniseries follows “David,” a soldier who survived WW I physically (albeit with a limp) but who was left with a somewhat shaky mental outlook… commonly known as shell-shock. Although not a teacher by trade, he is given a job as a teacher at an exclusive, upper-crust boys boarding school. (A “public” school… which to us in the USA translates to “private.”) David, the teacher, is beautifully played by John Duttine— who— if you are a lover of BBC/ITV productions, you will surely recognize.

David does not come from the privileged background that his students come from, and is not entirely sure he wants to teach at this posh school. But, with time, you see how David is able to identify with these boys who are expected to be “brave, little men:” while being taken from their families and placed into boarding schools at very young ages… 

The cast is superb, the wardrobe is authentic-looking, and the setting is wonderful. I think that the only negative thing I have to say is that the series is simply too short. I would have loved watching more segments>>> actually, many more segments!

I missed seeing this series when it was broadcast on Masterpiece Theatre in the early 1980s so I was delighted to find it recently. I strongly recommend this wonderful production… even though it isn’t a mystery!

If you would like to see more TV and Movies suggestions, click here.

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