The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

Good Grief! Almost a month later………

I had to actually go back in my blogs to find out when I started reading the first book in the Madoc Rhys series (by Alisa Craig.) I posted the blog entry on March 31, and finally finished the book a few days ago. I simply cannot believe that it took me almost a month to finish that book!

A site-user asked me if there are more than the five novels in the Madoc Rhys series…. No, unfortunately, there are not. I mentioned in my comment back (Yes, I have enabled the comment button, and am going to see how it goes…. the button can be found at the bottom of the blog entry.) Anyway, I told her that my "verdict" on the Craig/MacLeod issue is that Alisa Craig can stand up to Charlotte MacLeod. (The same person, but different series.) Well, I have been thinking about the Craig/MacLeod issue, and after pondering the idea for a few days, I think that I still prefer MacLeod’s two series over her Craig series.

I like Madoc Rhys, but not as much as I like Sarah Kelling or Peter Shandy. I don’t know if my preference stems from the fact that since I have read so many of those books, I have gotten to really know the characters, or if I simply like those books more. Perhaps if I had started with the Craig books and then only read the first two in the Peter Shandy series, I would have preferred the Craig books. (Does this make sense…. I’m not sure I even understand what I am saying?!)

I have all of the Craig books, so I am going to try another one before I firmly decide. And, since I like the Madoc Rhys books that I have read (I read the second one first, and then the first one second…. which is always a mistake!!!— If you have read some of the comments on the site, you will know that I am a firm believer in reading a series in the correct order!…. But, since the second book of the series is a Christmas book, I jumped ahead one holiday season.)

So, I guess that my verdict isn’t firmly in…. I will have to wait and read another Craig book, and then see if I can "firmly" decide. I hope it doesn’t take close to a month! I don’t care how hectic life gets, we should always have time for reading a cozy!

I'll pass on that….book, that is….

Things have been hectic around my house, but I think that we are finally getting back to normal. I am hoping to get more reading done in the near future. I can’t even imagine how I used to be able to read at least one book a week!

When I first joined my online mystery reading groups, I had a lot of books that I "had to read." I remember that when I started participating in the reading groups, I would always buy the books and then proceed to highlight passages and mark them with my comments. I did that for about a year, but then got tired of not being able to pass the book on. At the time, my mother in law enjoyed reading mysteries, so I wanted to send my books on to her. I knew that she would then pass them on to my sister in law, and so on and so on.

So, I stopped writing in/highlighting my books and I started taking detailed notes about my reading groups’ books…….. If I was lucky, I was able to get the audible book so that I could listen to it in the car. But that meant that I would have to find a place to park in order to write down the things I wanted to remember for our group discussions.

I am no longer an active member of any mystery reading groups, which might be why I have become so relaxed about my reading. As much as I love to read a good mystery (preferably cozy, but not limited to that genre) I find that I am going through a phase where I just am not reading as much as I would like. I wonder if this "computer-thing" has anything to do with this lull in my reading. Let’s see, it’s after 10:00 pm, and I am still sitting in front of this "computer-thing"……. Hmmm….. I will have to think about this…………………

 

Rosemary & Thyme…. Thrice is Way Enough!!!!

You may wonder what exactly I mean by the title of this blog. Of course, that is probably not the case if you have watched any of Rosemary & Thyme’s season three shows.

Since my husband and I started watching the Rosemary & Thyme show two years ago, we have invested a reasonable amount of time and money in the series. So, I went ahead and procured the latest season of the show thinking that we were making a wise investment of both time and money…. I have to admit that we have only watched the first five episodes of season three, but I am sure that my husband considers that five shows too many!

One of the things that I most enjoyed about seasons one and two was the beautiful colors that the producers seemed to be able to capture……. not only the flowers in the gardens, but also the clothes of the actresses. It seemed (to me) that the actresses wardrobes would reflect the palette of the flowers they were currently planting. I don’t think that they are at all interested in that aspect of the show anymore. It seems to me that the location of the gardens is now of tantamount importance, rather than the splendour of the flowers.

The last episode that we watched was The Gooseberry Bush. Why the two amateur detectives were not jailed for child abuse/neglect was never dealt with….. Perhaps, since they are such busy gardeners, they have the luxury of leaving a newborn baby in their car all day while they attend to their busy gardening chores, but as a mother of two, I found that part of the plot to be absolutely appalling.  Also, another part of the plot that I found disgusting was the fact that the natural mother of the newborn had left her baby out in the woods so that the father could pick up the baby some time that morning. Unbelievable! Good thing that there were no wild animals…. or even hungry pets rummaging through the underbrush of the “Gooseberry Bush”!!! Was anyone on the set even paying a little attention to these plot developments!?!?

Another question that I have: Why wasn’t one of the amateur detectives jailed for breaking and entering the home of a murder victim? And, here’s yet another question I have: Why weren’t the amateur detectives jailed for deliberately moving a murder weapon because the person who owned it (and who was trying to bury it) said she hadn’t used it to commit the murder… and since they had just met her, they knew she was telling the truth! Need I say more!!!?!!!?!!!?

I was not sure whether I should write this blog or not, but decided to go ahead and write it since I had previously recommended the Rosemary & Thyme series. I still think that the first two seasons are worth  watching, but three times might still mean you’re out….

Favorite (Read) Authors & Highly Recommended (Unread) Authors….

Someone brought up the fact that I have Reginald Hill  posted in my list of authors on this site. Reginald Hill is one of my favorite authors, but he writes police procedurals… not cozies. (If you look on Reginald Hill’s page, you will see that I have that annotated.)

So, the question is: If this is a cozy mystery site, why do I have authors listed who don’t necessarily write cozies? The answer is this: As I have stated several times on the site, I have listed my favorite authors. I try to tell you when one of them isn’t a cozy author, but I still include the author as a favorite of mine.

Also, I have several authors who I have never read. These authors come highly recommended, and in most cases, I have tried to add a line about not having read them yet. I know that eventually I will get around to reading them.

I have started adding authors who are known to write cozies and who readers of the site recommend. Of course, that means that I don’t personally know who is recommending some of the (new to me) authors, and that their editors or P.R. reps could actually be the people writing to tell me how wonderful the (new to me) authors are. I try to make it clear that I haven’t read the author, but I post him/her if I like what I find out in my research.

There are a few authors who I have posted who I actually do not like, but who my friends adore, and who (based on their bestseller status) seem to be wonderful cozy authors. I go ahead and list the authors with their lists of books but I choose not to put a negative comment about those authors.

Anyway, I thought that I had better write this blog after getting word that Reginald Hill is not a cozy author……… Yes, I know that, but he is still one of my favorite authors.

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