The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Christmas Theme BBC Types of Mysteries…

Walter Wrote:
I love BBC mysteries and I am trying to find shows with a Christmas Theme. I already watched Hercule Poirot’s Christmas and loved it. I am looking for more, any BBC mystery with a Christmas theme would be welcome this season. Any suggestions would be great. Thank you Walter

I Responded:
Let me think about this a little longer, Walter. Right off the top of my head…. Sherlock Holmes had the Blue Carbuncle…
Also, I have a vague recollection of one of the Frost shows as being Christmas-themed…. I just can’t remember which one. I know that the first novel in the series takes place during Christmas (R. D. Wingfield‘s wonderful Frost at Christmas… I think that it might by Line of Fire, which is a two part episode.)

I sort of remember Gladys Mitchell‘s Mrs. Bradley show as having a Christmas special, but I can’t remember which one (or even if I am right about that.)

I will keep thinking about it… and will probably write a blog asking for other people to help.

Do any of you have possible suggestions?

Winter Break (aka Christmas Break for Those of You in Your Late 30s and Up…)

Good grief! I wonder how many times I have started a blog with those two words…I am also wondering about where the time is going>>> Both of my adult children are on their "winter breaks" (which seems to be the term the universities now use to describe what used to be called "Christmas break") and I have been enjoying the time immensely.

My son has converted to a "night-owl species" which means that he is awake while the rest of us are asleep. Some of our time overlaps… which is when we try to catch up with all of his goings-on. My daughter, however, is still on a normal schedule, so I am enjoying seeing her during the day.

I am getting barely any cozy mystery audio book time, as I am rarely alone in my car. So far, the only time I have had to listen to my "Barbara Rosenbladt/Davina Porter" melodious readings is when I am driving to the grocery store or going to gas up the car. And, of course I don’t listen to my audios while others are in the car… so most of my car listening has been Christmas music (or should I say "winter break music"?) playing in the background.

Cagney & Lacey … ONLY one of the best television shows!

I was just trying to think of some shows that I really enjoyed watching. Some of the shows stand out more than others. I remember that a cable channel (in the U.S.) showed one of my all-time favorite police shows a few years ago. The channel aired the shows every weekday, at the same time, and I had my VCR programmed to get every last one of those shows… Now I’m sorry that I didn’t keep the VHS tapes. (Of course, I would have had to keep our VCR hooked up!)

“Cagney & Lacey” is one of the shows that I remember most fondly. I absolutely loved the comradeship of the two women… and I also loved how different they were. Sharon Gless (Christine Cagney) and Tyne Daly (Mary Beth Lacey) could not have been better cast as these two diverse women. (Sharon Gless replaced Meg Foster… and even Loretta Switt in the role!) Cagney was the wise-cracking, brutally frank police officer…. single, with a private life that could not have been messier. Lacey, on the other hand, was the police woman who had to use tact to gloss over Cagney’s (almost) bull-headed ways…. She was married, with a very loving husband and children.

By the time the show aired I had already graduated from college, and had held jobs in the work force… But, my jobs didn’t have anything in common with the jobs that these two police officers had… They were tough women who always caught their man (or woman… whoever the culprit happened to be!) And, back in the early 1980s, I don’t remember a whole lot of shows where the two lead characters were women…. and tough and smart at that!

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

Cozy Authors to Add to the Cozy Mystery Site…

I just added four new authors to the Cozy Mystery Site’s pages. They are all authors who I just found out about…. Barbara Allan, Candy Calvert, Sally Goldenbaum, and Natalie M. Roberts. (Thanks to you, the Cozy Mystery Site’s Readers!)

Barbara Allan is a husband and wife writing team who write the Trash n’ Treasure Mystery Series.

Candy Calvert, along with being the author of the Darcy Cavanaugh Cruise Mystery Series, is also an RN. Is it any wonder that she writes a mystery series that takes place on a cruise ship…. while her sleuth is an RN?

And, for you cozy quilters…. Sally Goldenbaum writes the Queen Bees Quilt Mystery Series.

Also, if you are the proud parent of a child who enjoys/takes dance classes…. Natalie M. Roberts writes the Jenny T. Partridge Dance Mystery Series.

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