The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

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!

2007 Anthony Awards (aka 2007 Bouchercon Awards)

I have listed the 2007 Anthony Award nominees and winners from the 2007 Bouchercon that just took place in Anchorage, Alaska. There were very many familiar names to cozy mystery readers, but of course, some new names that we "have to watch" in the Best First Novel category.  I know I have said this many times before…. What an honor to be nominated for one of these very special awards!

The winner in the Best Novel category is Laura Lippman for her novel No Good Deeds.  Louise Penny won the Best First Novel Anthony Award for her novel Still Life. The Best Paperback Original Novel category was won by Dana Cameron  for Ashes and Bones. My Father’s Secret by Simon Wood was the winner in the Short Story category and Jim Huang & Austin Lugar edited Mystery Muses in the Best Critical and Non Fiction category.

On another note… I am almost finished with my current Ann Granger novel. I am really enjoying it, but for some reason I don’t seem to be finding a lot of reading time. As usual, Meredith (one of the two main characters) finds herself in the middle of her boyfriend’s murder investigation. I love this Mitchell and Markby series!

The reason it is taking me so long to finish the novel is because I’m in the middle of trying to do a type of spring cleaning… We all suffer from seasonal allergies… even our dog is on allergy medication! (But to be perfectly honest… we are also allergic to dust… which I must admit to seeing IF I put my reading glasses on!)

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