My goodness, your comments are terrific! Thank you! Also, thank you, Pam B, for coming up with such an interesting entry idea!
I was going to try to answer all of them, but then thought I would write a short entry instead. I have gone through your comments for yesterday’s entry (Does the Age of Your Amateur Sleuth Make a Difference to You?) several times, and came up with the following:
It looks like most of us agree that the age of our sleuths doesn’t really matter. We’re looking for well-written, intriguing mysteries with both interesting sleuths and locations. We like our sleuths to be normal, not always fretting about their clothes, make-up, shoes, nor boyfriends. Some of us think the younger the sleuth, the more drama we may have to wade through while trying to pay attention to the author’s clues about the mystery.
Those of us who prefer our sleuths to be 50 years old (and older) don’t want our sleuths to be gray-haired, doddering grannies, rather we would like them to be young-at- heart, vibrant, with strong, likeable personalities. Several of us started with Miss Marple, which in turn has made us partial to older sleuths. (I guess it’s sort of like riding a bike…)
However, several of us prefer our sleuths to be in their 30s, 40s, and 50s. The age doesn’t seem to be as important as the author’s ability to write well and give us believable sleuths.
MJ then brought up a really good point about multi generational Cozy Mysteries. Among the authors who use this type of sleuth age spans are Sally Goldenbaum (Seaside Knitters), Kylie Logan (Literary Ladies), Maddy Hunter (Passport to Peril), Nancy J. Parra (Gluten Free series), and Elizabeth Lynn Casey (Sewing Circle series). These types of Cozy Mystery sleuths are sort of like a smorgasbord of ages, where everyone can relate to at least one of the sleuthing partners.
Again, thank you, ALL, for your comments. They are terrific!
TXRed says
I’m older and seem to prefer older, wiser sleuths with a long history of life experiences to back-up their wisdom. And I’ve found some delightful younger sleuths. What I don’t seem to like are young sleuths (female, they’ve happened to be) who seem to be shallow and this may be because their creator hasn’t fully developed their character well. They seem to solve mysteries, often with their girlfriends, but they seem to have no back-up life experiences upon which to draw their conclusions (Miss Marple, the opposite, as a lifetime of observations of people and their behavior). A good cozy for me has a sleuth that has some substance and a working brain. Usually the author has revealed that their brain has some substance by giving them an education or special training or work experiences that have molded their judgment. No air head young sleuths for me, please, that are mainly just a cutesy imitation of a cozy mystery sleuth with no substance.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
TXRed, I agree with your comment 100% except for the instances when there’s a middle aged or older air-head sleuth!
Denise says
true Danna, any age has those;) I like the younger gal in the Angela M. Sanders series called “A Joanna Hayworth Mysteries”. She owns a vintage clothing shop in Portland Oregon, where I just happened to live for 20 years of my life;) Very, fun to hear all the street names, and places mentioned;) Denise
PS Recommends of similar always more than welcome!
Denise says
Hello Tex,
Do you enjoy Sue Henry’s Maxie and Stretch, or Ivy Malone from Lorena McCourtney? If so, I was wondering if you would recommend some “reads” for me. I so liked what you said and I feel the same about the sleuths:) I love a bit of humor, but not over-doing it. I still love a good murder mystery.
Murder She Wrote is probably my fave as I watched all the tv shows before I became a voracious reader, lol, Denise:)
TXRed says
I read all the Maxie and Stretch books and was so inspired by them (as I am a lot like Maxie — single, late 60s, I have 2 little doggies – a rat terrier Scooter and a half-dachshund named Shorty, plus two cats) that I, like Maxie, bought a Minnie Winnie and have traveled to Texas State Parks in it with my menagerie. I would surmise that the Sue Henry series == both Maxie and Stretch series and the Alaska series – haven’t had any new material in a while that perhaps the author is ill. And I felt a slight decline in the writing/style/story in the most recent book. You’ve asked for some recommendations on series that I’ve really enjoyed. Based on comments at cozy-mystery.com I have discovered other authors of the type of mysteries I like. Margaret Coel is one, with her Arapaho Indian Wind River mysteries. I bought the whole series in a couple used batches from ebay or amazon.com and read them in order. I’m about 4 books from reading the most recent addition to the series. Years ago I discovered the author Lea Wait, who now has two series set in Maine: the Antique Print series and the newest series Mainely Needlepoint, which has TWO new additons coming out, one in September and the other is, I think, December. The sleuth in each is a smart, independent woman who has an interesting occupation (selling antique prints — and telling about one at the beginning of each chapter — and the other, a younger sleuth moving home to her grandmother’s home in Maine (after being a process server/private detective in Arizona) as the grandmother aged and helping her run a needlepoint shop that sold the works of the members of the shop’s needlepoint artisans who created the works to sell to tourists. I enjoyed the series by Jeanne M. Dams featuring elderly sleuth Dorothy Martin — the earlier books I found to be better (she also has a another series featuring a sleuth who creates miniatures, but I haven’t read that). And I also got hooked on Lee Harris’ Christine Bennett series of holiday-titled mysteries; the sleuth is an older, former nun who gets insight in solving mysteries from her former Mother Superior — a woman with vast wisdom beyond the confines of the convent. Those got a bit irritating in the repeat in every volume, as many series do, of the quirks/likes/habits (no pun intended) of the sleuth, such as Christine, the former nun, always makes a peanut butter sandwich to take with her on her sleuthing trips. One of my favorite ever series is for those who like intelligent, older female sleuths with a twist of science/math: the author Camille Minichino herself is a PhD physicist who worked at Lawrence Livermore Labratories in California and she writes several series under different pen names (look her up here in cozy-mystery.com), but my favorite series (now seems to be hard to find and the author apparently has moved on to putting her efforts into several good series) is the Periodic Table Mysteries, with sleuth Gloria Lamerino, in her fifties or early 60s, a professor of chemistry and very likeable sleuth. Ms. Minichino revealed in the last couple years that she was a former nun while she worked in physics research. Her latest series had an older nun sleuth in the debut volume Killer in the Cloister. Under other pen names Ms. Minichino writes cozy mystery series about a mathematician/professor sleuth and about a sleuth who makes miniatures. Try some of these sleuths if you enjoy intelligent mysteries with smart, likable female sleuths in which you learn something about different places, professions, fields of knowledge.
Denise says
Oh thanks Red!!
After reading this, I know I will find some I like from your mentions. Yes, I love to read mysteries (Sue Henry’s were so like this) that educate you about places, and things like the weaving she got into in Taos (The Tooth in Time), or like the trip to Hilo (The Refuge) where she went to all the interesting places “like” The Refuge.
Just can’t thank you enough, and can’t wait to research all of your suggestions, Denise;)
PS I love math, and went back to school at 58 and received all A’s and B’s, never knowing before, how neat math is;)
Denise says
Hi again Red;)
I wanted to let you know I found a book to start on:) It’s one of Lea Wait’s and it’s called “Twisted Thread” “A Mainely Needlepoint Mystery”. I’m so happy to have it will try and make it last a little longer, lol;) It is the “first” in the series so yep, real happy about getting it;)
Denise
Janelle says
Well, I’ve read a bunch of cozy mysteries and am pretty much content with any age as long as it is well written, well thought out, and intriguing. Case in point, Dorothy Gilman (Mrs. Pollifax) and Alan Bradley (Flavia de Luce). I absolutely love your website and updates. Keep up the good work.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Janelle, thank you! And, will do!
Sonya says
Such cool stuff to think about! @ TRXed, good points! Smarts more than age, perhaps!
Georgette says
The characters and the main protagonists age are immaterial to me and do not factor into my enjoyment of a cozy…after all..Nancy Drew will always be the same age forever.
Chris U. says
Dear Danna,
I overlooked the word “amateur” with sleuth, in commenting earlier about chief inspectors. Before I leave red-faced, I apologize for mixing up Colin Watson’S PURBRIGHT, Flaxborough C.I.D., with his right-hand man, Sgt. LOVE in “Hopjoy Was Here.” Sorry about that! Naturally Purbright is the older of the pair, but shorter. More accurate would be the appraisal of LARCH, the local constable in “A Bump in the Night, as he coldly appraises the interloper: “He was nearly as tall as himself, of slightly diffident manner . . .a quick, apologetic smile. The fresh-complexioned face had…a… foolish amiability about the mouth. . . . . gray eyes, steadily interested. . . the high forehead was crowned with short but unruly hair of preposterous kingcup yellow.” Keep your eyes on the ruffled yellow hair. It may or may not go with the no-nonsense approach from Scotland Yard.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Chris U., there’s certainly nothing to apologize for. I think of Hercule Poirot as totally Cozy, even though he is a professional private detective…
Billie says
Thank you for you article.
Marja says
Left a lengthy comment in Part One. Brains, humor, savvy, often a female sleuth, can be an amateur or a pro, with friends or a significant other, lived long enough to be wise.
Oh, and likes cats 🙂
Btw, Danna, did you list Blaize Clement’s Dixie Hemingway cat sitter mysteries in the feline themed mysteries section? She’s a lovely character. Well written. Sadly Blaize died recently but her son is writing more, I think.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Marja, thank you for mentioning Blaize and John clement’s Dixie Hemingway Mystery Series. I truly appreciate it when Cozy Mystery readers tell me about corrections and/or additions that I need to make on the site.
Thanks, again!
Susan* says
I like TXRed’s comment “No air head young sleuths for me, please.” and can only say ‘Ditto, here!’
I’ve read a couple of books like that – and usually dropped the series straight away! (Sometimes never even finishing the book.)
There was a discussion on this a while back (I’ve just looked it up: It was in Pt 2 of ‘Knox’s Commandments’) and most people agreed, then, as now, that if the heroine is TSTL – or Too Stupid To Live – then she’s Too Stupid To Read, as well! Lol!
Cozy readers (On this site, anyway) generally seem to be intelligent people, who prefer intelligence – or at least a bit of common sense – in their books, and their characters, rather than stupid bimbos who just coincidentally *happen* to stumble across crucial clues, while they’re trying to prove to other people that they’re not the airheads they so obviously are. (If that makes sense.)
It doesn’t have to be nuclear physics, but I, for one, prefer it to be at least *somewhat* believable.
Older sleuths, with a bit of life-experience? Fine. Middle-aged persons, ditto? No problem. Sharp kids / young people, who can use their brains and work things out? Cool.
As long as they come across as ‘real’ people, who you can believe in, and believe in their world, then – to get back to the original topic – age isn’t really a factor. Not for me, anyway, and seemingly not for a lot of others, here, either.
Sorry to ramble on. Who wants the soapbox next? 🙂
TXRed says
You said exactly what I was trying to get across. I want intelligent sleuths no matter what age, sex, location, employment/training/job. I don’t read cozy mysteries for “fluff” and silliness. I want an intelligent sleuth in plausible situations; I also like the setting (location) of the mystery to be an interesting place to read about and I enjoy learning about new things, such as hobbies or professions of the main character(s). Another thing I like is having the sleuth be like me — older, retired, female but adventurous. I was so influenced by Sue Henry’s Maxie and Stretch mysteries that I bought a Minnie Winnie motor home to take myself and my menagerie (2 small dogs – one is half wiener dog like Stretch the little wiener dog; and 2 cats) on adventures in Texas state parks (in woods with large population of wild turkeys, on Gulf islands and beaches, along cool clear Texas rivers for swimming, in migratory bird sites, along side a lake for boating, kayaking, swimming and fishing). I like to be inspired by the clever sleuths and where they live and what interests they have. And the mysteries themselves must be well crafted and not have a fantasy, impossible solution/ending that irritates me after reading the entire book.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
TXRed, what a life! Your adventured in your Minnie Winnie RV sound like fun!
Donna Mc says
What they said! I agree, the most important qualities in a sleuth are intelligence and a realistic depiction of the character’s age. No silly sleuths for me, either. If I want to talk about makeup, clothes and boys I will save it for a girl’s night out with my friends who don’t read cozies! Sadly, I do have a few, but I’m trying to convert them to readers of cozy mysteries. 🙂
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Donna Mc, and with you being a Cozy Mystery author!
Donna Mc says
LOL! I have convinced a few to try cozies. Your website comes in handy in finding the themes they like.
Denise says
I am kind of lost, don’t know where to post my question. It looks like you just ask any question here, I hope, so here goes:)
I love the Maxie and Stretch series by Sue Henry, and I love the Ivy Malone series by Lorena McCourtney. I also fell in love with a series about a gal that ran a vintage clothing shop in Portland Oregon, and can’t think of the author so I’ll go look in my Nook, brb;)
Ok, Angela M. Sanders, The Joanna Hayworth Mysteries such as Dior or Die;)
I have not, in months, been able to find more books/series like any of these. They are so good, and fun to read that I read one in about 3 days sometimes.
Can anyone that has actually read some of these help me find other books similar? I think it is so hard to find a good series, and then end up having withdrawals when I can’t find others even close to being as good.
Thank you all, Denise in Eureka CA:)
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Denise, it looks like you enjoy some of the senior amateur sleuths. You may enjoy going through the Senior Sleuth lists to see if one of them strikes your Cozy Mystery fancy.
SENIOR SLEUTHS:
Authors beginning with A – F
Authors beginning with G – P
Authors beginning with Q – W
Have you tried Dorothy Gilman‘s Mrs. Pollifax Mystery Series, or Rita Lakin‘s Gladdy Gold Mystery Series?
denise says
thank you Danna, although I have read a bit of Mrs. Pollifax, but not Gladdy Gold, I will try both again since it’s been awhile for Pollifax. I have gone over your senior sleuths and I do favor the seniors;), but it is difficult as you know, to buy and read, then not like them. Some have samples, I know most do in fact, but even that task is daunting.
I hope I can narrow the search by getting more feedback here. I’d like to see this be more of a “forum” with regular “new” posts, but I haven’t been here myself much so maybe it is picking up;)
Thank you again, it’s such a great site, I try to get the word out but not many folks I know through facebook etc., are into reading that much, or, maybe just not my type of books, cozies;) Love them, Denise
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Denise, you might want to take a look at the monthly recommendations. Cozy Mystery readers recommend the Cozies they think are better than the rest of the Cozies they have read that month. I read all of the comments and have found some new-to-me authors who I now follow.
Cozy Mystery Books Recommendations (Go to this page, and then click on each individual month. I’m sure you’ll find some recommended books that look like you’re type of Cozy.)
Kathy says
Don’t be afraid to try your local library… Excellent for ordering books to read that you are checking out to see if they are to your liking before purchasing them. The library will search their network to find them for you even if their particular doesn’t have them! I do this weekly, it works!!!!