The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Veterinary Theme Mysteries & Veterinarian Theme Mysteries

I want to go ahead and finish up the cozy mystery series with animal themes I started a while back with the Cat Cozy Mysteries, Dog Cozy Mysteries, Bird and Bird Watching Cozy Mysteries, and Pet Store and Pet Sitting Cozy Mysteries. This blog will feature the (cozy) mystery authors on the site who happen to have veterinarian sleuths.

Lydia Adamson writes three series. The Lucy Wayles series involves a librarian, the Alice Nestleton series features an actress and sometimes cat-sitter, and the third series revolves around Dr. Dierdre Quinn Nightingale, veterinarian. This veterinarian mystery sets place in New York.

The Reigning Cats and Dogs Cozy Mystery Series is written by Cynthia Baxter, and features (former) Dr. Jessica Popper, veterinarian. This series also takes place in New York.

Claudia Bishop is better known for her Hemlock Falls Cozy Mystery Series, but she recently began writing a series that involves a veterinarian  in the cozy mystery series entitled The Casebooks of Dr. McKenzie.

Edie Claire writes the Leigh Koslow Mystery Series. While Leigh is not a veterinarian, her father is. Every once in a while Leigh works as a tech at her dad’s office. Also, the second book features a zoo vet and setting.

Laura Crum writes the Gail McCarthy Mystery Series which features an equine veterinarian…

Abigail Deuel: Mandy Bell DVM Mystery Series

Linda O. Johnston writes the Pet Rescue Mystery Series which features an animal advocate who runs a pet rescue agency…

Georgette Livingston‘s veterinarian series features Dr. Jennifer Gray. This series is set in Nebraska, and involves many capers!

Allana Martin writes the Death of a ***** Mystery Series which features a sleuth and her veterinarian husband.

Betty Webb pens the Gunn Zoo Mystery Series, which features a zookeeper…

The last author in this category is Karen Ann Wilson. Technically, her sleuth isn’t a veterinarian… Samantha Holt is a veterinary technician who resides in Florida. Even though she isn’t a full-fledged veterinarian, she can still sleuth with the best of them!

(Obviously there are other veterinarian-theme mysteries by other authors… I have only included the authors who I have on the site. If you know of any other cozy mystery authors who write veterinarian-themed novels… please write me a comment so that I can include them.)

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

Decorating My Computer Desk for the Holidays…

Now that I have my holiday books pretty much in order, I am going to tell you about something I have been doing for the last few years…

Since I have my own computer desk space… which no one else has to share with me… I decorate my computer area for the different holidays. It isn’t anything elaborate like putting up a Christmas tree, coloring Easter eggs, or placing dry ice in a cauldron… It’s something a lot easier than all of that.

Now that both of our children are adults, I don’t get out all of our different holiday decorations anymore. I would, if I thought that they might enjoy them… let alone notice them! Actually, when my daughter is home, she notices (and seems to enjoy) the things I put out around the house. But now that she is at college pretty much all of the time, I decorate a lot less. (As for my son, I don’t think that he notices what or when I put things out around the house!) When they are both home I do actually “holidize” our house, but, the rest of the time, I simply decorate my computer desk and put up a few magnets on the refrigerator. (I have cross stitched many seasonal magnets using Mill Hill beads…)

Anyway… my computer desk has the above-the-desk-top tier of compartmentalized shelves. The shelf areas are where I put my reusable 3-D holiday stickers. They aren’t like the flimsy stickers that are made to go on a piece of paper, they are made out of some type of poster board which is thick and more stable, with some lamination-type of substance and they have small sticky pads on the back. I use several packages of the stickers so that my desk area is truly a holiday area for me…

Right now I have my Jolee’s Boutique Halloween  stickers up. I will leave them up until the first of November… at which time I will put up my Thanksgiving stickers… (not this particular Jolee’s Boutique set, but I couldn’t highlight the sets that I have…) At the beginning of December I get out all of my Christmas stickers, which are from a lot of different sources. I especially like my Holly Wreath, Poinsettias, and Christmas Lights.  

Maybe all of these 3-D stickers on my computer desk are simply a return to the bulletin boards that I used to enjoy putting up when I taught school. (And then as a volunteer in my children’s’ classes.) Or maybe they are just a way to add more clutter to my already cluttered desk! Either way….. I enjoy looking up from my key board and seeing something other than the innumerable reminder lists that I write to myself!

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.)

 

MENU