The Cozy Mystery List Blog

Melissa Glazer, Cricket McRae, Kathryn R. Wall…. New Mystery Authors on the Site

January 3, 2008

I am trying to get something done that I thought for sure that I would have done by the end of 2007. Several readers of the site have told me about authors I didn’t know about, who look like authors we (cozy mystery readers) might enjoy. Unfortunately, I still have fourteen authors on my "To Do Next" list, nine authors on my "To Do After To Do Next" list, and thirty eight "Other Authors" to do after I finish the previous two categories! Lots of authors!!!

Of course, the above lists don’t take into account the new authors who you all might recommend for the site at a later time… But, I today I was able to look up the following three authors who look like a lot of fun:

Melissa Glazer‘s Fire at Will pottery shop is the setting for her Clay & Crime Mystery Series.

Cricket McRae‘s Homecrafting Mystery Series‘ main character is Sophie Mae Reynolds, who happens to be a soap-maker/sleuth.

Kathryn R. Wall writes the Bay Tanner Mystery Series which is set in the Hilton Head Island area. Bay is a financial planner…

Isaac Asimov…. Author of Mystery Books (!?!?)

January 2, 2008

A reader of the Cozy Mystery site just wrote to me with a suggested author who I really hadn’t thought about adding to the site. Isaac Asimov is so well known for his science fiction books that whenever I see his name on a mystery book list of any sort, I am surprised.

I remember seeing many of the Asimov’s science fiction novels lying around the house throughout the years. My son has a particular interest in science fiction, and Asimov is one of the great SciFi authors of all time. Because I am used to seeing his science fiction novels, I am always surprised when reminded that he also wrote mysteries (among other book genres!)

When I was researching Asimov for the little blurp that I try to add on the alphabetized authors pages, I was not surprised to see that Asimov was a member of the Mensa International, along with being a biochemistry professor. I already knew that he was an exceptionally gifted man. But, while reading Charlotte MacLeod’s Misteltoe Mysteries this season, I was surprised to see Asimov’s "Ho! Ho! Ho!" listed as one of the stories included in the book… even though I have seen his name on the table of contents of several mystery anthologies. It’s funny how we are conditioned to expect (and accept) certain things…

Happy New Year (of Cozy Mystery Reading!)

January 1, 2008

I’m going to keep this blog super short… Happy New Year!

I know that a lot of us will be battling with our old-fashioned check books… but it’s the time of year that we need to start double-checking our checks before we send them out! (I think that I actually remember writing the wrong year on a check as late as April!)

Of course, all of this could be remedied by "writing" our checks on line. I still haven’t mastered that particular computer skill. It’s not that I haven’t tried… I have actually started the "easy" process a few times only to get frustrated at how many questions my local utility company wanted answered before they would allow me the privilege of sending them my money!

Maybe that should be one of my New Year’s resolutions… to get all of my monthly bills catalogued online so that I don’t have to hassle with envelopes, stamps, writing checks, and correcting the previous year’s date!

January 2008 Cozy Mystery Book Releases…

December 28, 2007

It looks like January is going to be a good month for cozy mystery fans, as well as other-genre mystery fans. There are several new books that will be available for us to enjoy. Here are some of the books that have caught my eye:

Suzanne Arruda… The Serpent’s Daughter

Michael Bond… Monsieur Pamplemousse and the French Solution

Rita Mae Brown… The Purrfect Murder

Stephen J. Cannell… Three Shirt Deal

Lee Child, editor… Killer Year: Stories to Die for… From the Hottest New Crime Writers

Blaize Clement… Even Cat Sitters Get the Blues

Barbara Colley… Wash and Die

Janet Evanovich… Plum Lucky

Margaret Frazer… The Apostate’s Tale

Kerry Greenwood… Death Before Wicket

Toni L. P. Kelner… Without Mercy

Joyce & Jim Lavene… Hooked Up