The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Holiday Theme Mystery Authors …

As I have mentioned a few times, I just went through every author on my cozy mystery authors lists, and tried to categorize them by their professions and/or interests. (The reason I say “tried” is that I have been corresponding with a very knowledgeable librarian… I’ll call her “Janet”… since that is indeed her name… and I sent her my crafting mystery list yesterday, only to have her come up with several authors I had missed, who I actually have on my site… Shame on me!!!)

I know I have blogged about this many times, but I truly enjoy reading cozy mysteries with holiday settings during those particular seasons. You should be able to find a lot of mystery books that take place during the different holiday times of the year if you search my Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, and Easter pages… But, the following are cozy authors who write (almost exclusively) holiday-themed novels:

Susan Bernhardt writes the Kay Driscoll Mystery Series, which stars a retired nurse who volunteers at the local free clinic.

Kate Borden (aka Kate Grilley) writes the Peggy Jean Turner Mystery Series which takes place in a cozy, little village in New England. Peggy Jean is a widow who is raising her son while performing her duties as mayor of the town. As if that isn’t enough, she owns the local hardware store… which she keeps decorated for the holiday seasons.

Allison Brook (aka Marilyn Levinson) writes the Haunted Library Mystery Series. Her first book takes place during Halloween and her second takes place during the Christmas holidays.

Mary Higgins Clark  has written several holiday-themed mysteries, some of which she wrote jointly with her daughter, Carol Higgins Clark.

Isis Crawford (aka Barbara Block): Many of Crawford’s Mystery with Recipe Cozies are set during different holidays.

Kathi Daley: Zoe Donovan Mystery Series AND TJ Jensen Paradise Lake Mystery Series

Krista Davis has several holiday themed mysteries in her Domestic Diva Mystery Series.

Vickie Fee writes the Liv and Di in Dixie Mystery Series which features a party planner and her best friend in Dixie, Tennessee

Shelley Freydont writes the Celebration Bay Mystery Series. This series features a sleuth who is an event planner in New York. (Her Lindy Haggerty Mystery Series also had several mysteries set during holidays.)

Jane Haddam (aka Orania Papazoglou) writes the Gregor Demarkian Mystery Series. Demarkian is a retired FBI agent who pairs up with author Bennis Hannaford, and most of the times, these pairings are during some type of holiday season.  Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Valentine’s Day, New Year’s… it’s all work and no vacation/holiday time for these two sleuths!

Lee Harris just started writing her second series recently, but she has been writing the Christine Bennett Mystery Series since the early 1990s. Christine is an ex-nun who has a penchant for solving crimes… and again, these usually take place during a holiday of some sort. Harris has made it very easy for us to be able to identify the exact holiday the book is going to take place during… since most of the titles include the actual holiday…. The Christmas Night Murder, The Valentine’s Day Murder, The Thanksgiving Day Murder, The Mother’s Day Murder… even The Cinco de Mayo Murder!

Melanie Jackson‘s Chloe Boston Mystery Series  features a meter maid and her dog, Blue. Chloe, try as she might, can’t make the required weight to qualify for a police department job, but that doesn’t stop her from detecting the culprits.

Leslie Meier writes the Lucy Stone Mystery Series, in which her main character/sleuth is a housewife with several children she has to juggle while solving crimes. The very first novel in the series is now called Mistletoe Murder, but when I read it, it was called Mail Order Murder. Meier just collaborated with Joanne Fluke and Laura Levine on a new Christmas book called Candy Cane Murder, in which Lucy Stone is featured.

Ann Myers writes the Santa Fe Café Mystery Series, which stars the chef at a café in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Teresa Trent: Pecan Bayou Mystery Series – Betsy Livingston is the “Helpful Hinter” for the Pecan Bayou Gazette, in Texas.

Kathy Hogan Trocheck (aka Mary Kay Andrews): Three of her Callahan Garrity mysteries are set during different holiday seasons: Halloween, Christmas, and St. Patrick’s Day.

Debbie Viguié writes the Psalms 23 Mystery Series. This series has two sleuths from different backgrounds: a church secretary and a Rabbi.

Livia J. Washburn writes the Fresh Baked Mystery Series which features Phyllis Newsom, a retired teacher who becomes a baker in Texas. Phyllis manages to solve mysteries – while baking her peach cobblers.

Valerie Wolzien writes two series: the Josie Pigeon and the Susan Henshaw series. The Susan Henshaw Mystery Series is set during different holiday times of the year. Susan Henshaw (like Lucy Stone from Meier’s series) is also a housewife who solves crimes between running errands and taking care of her family.

If you have any other cozy mystery authors who you think should be included on this list… please let me know by posting a comment…

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

Making a List and Checking it Twice…

So, it’s that time of year, again…. The large retail stores seem to be absolutely biting at the bit to put their Christmas items out… Yesterday, I saw my first Christmas items out in a store at the mall… and I was absolutely floored! The store in question actually had their Halloween items sitting alongside their Christmas decorations. It appears that each year, the stores are putting things out earlier and earlier with us…. the friendly consumers…. in mind.

I do most of my holiday and birthday shopping on the internet, but my mother likes to have things sent to her house that are wrapped up and ready to put under her Christmas tree. So, even though I may get most of my gifts through Amazon, I have them sent to my home and then I send them out again… once I have color-coordinated the wrapping paper and bows. Yes, the postal service is getting a double duty from me. (While I get a double whammy from the postal service!)

Today, however, I had to make a few stops around town to buy gift certificates. When did they get so popular?!? Aren’t they the absolute best gift for someone who happens to have everything?

My son, daughter, and husband are terribly easy to shop for… They keep up-to-date Amazon wish lists, so that helps me immensely. Although, my daughter has started keeping all of the books that she receives and buys on her Amazon wish list as a sort of catalog of her library. And, since most of her requested books have to do with mathematics, mathematicians, science, and scientists… I am not able to distinguish between them. She now uses the "priority" number so that I am able to determine whether it’s a cataloged book she owns, or one that she wants. (Don’t ask me why she likes this method, but it seems to work very well for her.)

 

Jeanne M. Dams… and then Agatha Christie!

I know that I said I was going to read Hallowe’en Party (by Agatha Christie) as soon as I finished my last novel… But, I absolutely could not resist reading this book first. The following paragraph caught my eye while I was skimming through some of my TBR books.  (TBR=> To Be Read)

"It was a wet, blustery Monday afternoon in early November, the gray sky full of scudding clouds, leaves rushing through the air and sticking to the windows as the chill wind flung them there. I sat snugly in front of my fire, drinking tea in the cozy comfort of central heating and close-fitting windows and doors."*****

Now, how could I resist this first paragraph of the cozy "Malice in Miniature" (by Jeanne M. Dams)??? Especially since it takes place in Sherebury… a cozy village in England… and it features a retired school teacher!!! How much more delicious can it get!?!

It is a balmy 89* outside, and I simply refuse to take this beautiful weather anymore! Where are the changing colors of the leaves? Where is the frost on the pumpkin? Certainly not in San Antonio! I have decided that I will now read Death in Miniature and try to pretend that I am experiencing all the fall weather and atmosphere (except for the dead bodies, mind you!) that Jeanne M. Dams is able to incorporate in this (fourth in the series) Dorothy Martin Mystery novel. I have read (and enjoyed) the first three novels of the series, so I am looking forward to this one.

A cozy mystery friend of mine introduced me to Jeanne M. Dams’ books, and I am grateful for that. Actually, she is the same person who introduced me to Ann Granger’s books…. and many others! You know the saying:  With friends like her… you need a bigger shelf unit!

***** from Malice in Miniature by Jeanne M. Dams… 1998 HarperCollins Publishers Inc.  (I sure hope I did this notation thing right… It has been many years since I last needed a footnote of sorts!)

Ann Granger… Markby & Mitchell Village Whodunit Series

I just finished the twelfth novel in the (Chief Inspector) Markby and (Meredith) Mitchell Village Whodunit Mystery Series (by Ann Granger) and as usual, I have been left with a feeling of great satisfaction. As I was reading the novel, I kept asking myself… Why do I like this series?

I have to admit that by the twelfth book in a series, a lot of the time I find myself wondering… will this book be able to "hold me?" That sounds rather high-and-mighty, no doubt, but some of you will have to admit to knowing when an author should simply wrap up the series rather than continue. It is always difficult to drop a series that was once a favorite…

I am glad I don’t have that problem with Granger’s Markby and Mitchell series. I still find the characters interesting, and I also find the plot lines enjoyable (and plausible.) As I read this last novel, I found myself falling for the red herrings, and was pleasantly surprised by the ending. And, speaking of the ending… I liked that the book took +/- fifty pages for the mystery to be solved. I absolutely hate it when I have devoted the time to read 300 pages, and then the author wraps up the mystery in the last two pages… almost as if the editor said, "Wrap it up… we go to print tomorrow." I want the solution to the mystery to be woven into the plot line, not simply attached at the end of the novel. I want something interesting… something with twists and turns… and that is what Granger delivers.

A good friend of mine told me about Ann Granger, and I think about my friend every time I pick a Granger novel to read. I am so glad that she recommended Granger’s Markby and Mitchell series to me. (Thank you!)

So, for you blog readers who aren’t yet familiar with this Ann Granger series…  If you haven’t yet read a Markby and Mitchell novel, why don’t you try one? You might become a Granger fan, also!

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