The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

My Current Reading Picks: Phoebe Atwood Taylor and Ellery Queen

I just finished one of my Christmas mystery books, but have decided that since frosted windows and swirling snowflakes are really what I was missing, I’m going to go ahead and make my way through some Snowed-In/Snow Bound mystery books in my TBR bookshelf. There will be plenty of time for my Christmas theme mysteries a little later.

I am currently reading my first of Phoebe Atwood Taylor‘s Asey Mayo mysteries. I know I never read mystery series books out of order… but never say never. As I have never read any of Taylor’s mysteries, you might be surprised to see that  Death Lights a Candle is the second in this particular mystery series. Yes, that’s right! I am breaking one of my own “Rules to Read By” >>> and so far, I am enjoying it. The gathering takes place in a huge estate in Cape Cod, during a blizzard in March. Lots of snow, snow, and more snow.

As for the audible book in my car, I am reading Ellery Queen‘s The Siamese Twin Mystery. The gathering in this book is at a large house, but so far there is no sign of snow, icicles, or one cup of  hot chocolate. But, that’s OK with me>>> I didn’t expect it to be a Snowed-In/Snow Bound mystery.

I would love to know what mysteries (Cozy and not so Cozy) you all are currently reading. Please post a comment if you don’t mind telling us…

Comments

  1. I just finished DEATH BY THE DOZEN, by Jenn McKinlay, which was a cupcake mystery book and it was so delicious!!!

    Our first snow arrived two days ago and so I’m going to check out that Snowed-In list now. I’m in the mood for some snowy books!

    Reply

  2. Hi Danna and all, Right now not reading any mysteries. We have had company for 2 weeks so had to give up my room till Sunday. Been working my word search puzzles in the meantime but will probably read a Tales of Grace Chapel Inn book and also working my way through Emily Brightwell’s Mrs. Jeffries and Inspector Witherspoon mysteries as well. Take care All
    Alfred

    Reply

    • Alfred, moving from one’s room can be a drag, but think of all the reading time you will have to make up!

      Reply

  3. Just finished a Mystery and the Minister’s Wlfe A Token of Truth. Nice series. I have never read any of the Pennyfoot Hotel Mysteries but have heard good things about them so I decided to try Decked with Holly and Shrouds of Holly. I am ready for some cold weather. Not sure which one I will read first so I am stepping away from the TBR pile and the box from Amazon that came today. So many books and never enough time. Need Thanksgiving Break to be longer and Christmas Break to be sooner rather than later.

    Reply

    • Denise, I will be reading my next Special Pennyfoot Christmas mystery after I finish one or (hopefully) two of my Snowed-In/Snow Bound mysteries.

      Why don’t they just extend Thanksgiving break into the Christmas break?!?

      Reply

  4. Still not ready to read any winter/christmas books yet. I just finished Krista Davis’ “Diva Runs Out of Thyme”. I love this series. I hope she continues with it. I have a few more Thanks Giving Day books to get through. My next is Murder She Wrote “Fatal Feast”. I was reluctant to read this series. I love the show so much I was afraid they would not be as good, but they are. But I have to say THANK YOU!!! If I had not found your site a couple of months ago I would not have found some of the new Authors I am planning to read. I just found Lorna Barrett through your site. I just ordered her first two in the Booktown Mystery series. I also found Laura Childs and only read one but I will continue. And of course I never would have found out the short lived Ellery Queen Series was on DVD without your site. I love having it on DVD. So again thank you for all your hard work.

    Reply

    • Margaret, I felt the same way you did – about reading Donald Bain’s Murder, She Wrote mystery books. It’s amazing how close he was able to get to the Murder, She Wrote television series. I especially like it when he (and Jessica Fletcher, of course!) uses a holiday in his books…

      The Ellery Queen television show is the reason I finally decided to read his (their!) books. My husband and I find that show a delight to watch.

      (PS>>> You’re welcome!)

      Reply

  5. I am finishing my first of Joan Hess’s Maggody series, and yes the first in the series cause I have that same rule to read by that Danna has, lol. Next up is an Aaron Elkins Gideon Oliver book and then “Death by the Dozen” (glad to hear it was good Bella!). After that I will begin getting into some of the holiday books I have chosen for this year, starting with Kristen Davis’s “The Diva runs out of Thyme”. 🙂

    Reply

    • Angela, I enjoyed the Maggody series a lot, but I actually enjoyed her Claire Malloy series even more… Sometimes the Maggody group was just a bit too “zany”…

      Reply

      • Well I finished the first one. I liked it but can definitely see the “zany-ness” getting to be a bit much. It actually reminded me a lot of a Carl Hiassen book. He’s someone I can read but only with breaks in between. I generally like to choose a few new to me series that I will read throughout the year until I am caught up. I was reading the Maggody 1 to see if it would be a good candidate for 2012; I’m not sure yet so I ordered book 2 for a second opinion, lol. I’ll have to try the other series as well…someday, lol.

        Reply

  7. I just finished “Straight to Hell” (which is actually a paranormal cozy despite the somewhat risque implications of the description) and Hollowlands, an urban fantasy by Amanda Hocking (review to come on that one!)

    I might have to look for something more seasonal now that you mention it!!!

    Reply

    • Maria, you’re right about that title… sounds like there is no way it would be Cozy. Let us know when your new book needs cover-pickin’ help!

      Reply

      • Thanks Danna! Right now the cover poll is scheduled for Dec 10! I hope everyone stops over!

        Right now I have a picture of Sedona up at the blog (done by artist Lonny Harper.) It’s a caricature for people that have been asking for more of a “look.”

        Reply

  8. I have started to read “Death in the Parsonage” by Susan Spencer-Smith. I have only gotten to pg. 73 but this seems like a “can’t put down!” book. I can’t remember reading this author before. Now if my hubby and two little dogs would just leave me alone for awhile!! The weather has really been very nice here in my part of Ohio, but that is supposed to change here in a few days! Good days to sit back with a good book and a pot of coffee laced with some “Pumpkin Spice” coffee creamer, maybe some chocolate chip cookies as well. This is one of my favorite “reading seasons.”

    Reply

    • Why don’t our husband cooperate with our reading time, Linda!
      Thanks for reminding me about the coffee flavors. I haven’t used my little pill drop thingies in a while. This is a good time of year to get those going…

      Reply

  9. No snow here – supposedly coming into summer – so I’m revisiting a couple of favourite authors, and finding some new ones in the discount bins! Lol!
    I’m currently reading the ‘Judge Dee’ mysteries by Robert Van Gulik. Set in Ancient China, they’re an old favourite of mine, that have recently been re-printed. (And I just managed to snatch my brand new pb out of the way when I spilled a full mug of milky tea this morning! Phew!! Lol!)
    Highly recommended to any cozy reader! (The books, not spilling the tea! Lol!)
    Cheers All!

    Reply

    • Oh, Susan, I love Robert Van Gulik‘s Judge Dee mystery series. Years ago, before there even was an audible.com, I was fortunate to have a library system that had the books on cassettes. Yes, that was so long ago, that the library had cassettes, not CDs. I don’t remember who the narrator was, but he did a phenomenal job with those Judge Dee tapes.

      Reply

  10. Lonnie Cruses’s Fifty-seven Traveling, which is mildly amusing. I have never read her before, but I only read books I find in “my” travels.

    Reply

    • Ricky, it sounds like you are enjoying Fifty-seven Traveling.

      I like amusing books… however, I don’t always go for really funny mystery books>>> A lot of times I find that authors who are supposedly really funny try too hard, and for some reason, that really irritates me.

      Amusing is good with me!

      Reply

  12. I just finished my first Asey Mayo, The Cape Cod Mystery – the first in Taylor’s series. I’ll be reading more so will soon be enjoying that snowstorm…That was followed by a Miss Silver mystery by Patricia Wentworth – The Grey Mask.

    I haven’t read EQ for a while, but I’m always up for one of his – he’s a favourite of mine.

    Reply

    • Debbie, what a small world! I know I should have started the series with The Cape Cod Mystery, but I simply could not wait for those flurries.

      There’s nothing like the classics!

      Reply

  13. I’m reading Nevada Barr’s “13 1/2” and it is chilling my bones. It is quite different than the usual Barr but I guess a good exercise for a writer to leave the tried-and-true for a while.

    Reply

    • Bettie, it sounds like you won’t be needing any snowed-in mysteries – if 13 1/2 is chilling your bones!

      Reply

  14. I have just finished reading a bunch of series…need to head to the library to start some new ones. You all have given me some good ideas.

    No snow yet here in Minnesota and I am not missing it one bit. The longer it holds off the better! 🙂

    Reply

    • Judy, I love reading what everybody else is reading. It always inspires me to try new-to-me authors.

      I bet you aren’t missing the Minnesota snow. I remember when I lived in Nebraska and Iowa>>> The snow could never begin late enough in the year for me.

      Reply

  15. I just finished M. C. Beaton’s “Busy Body,” one of the Agatha Raisin mysteries. It begins at Christmastime and there is snow, but no one gets snowed in. I enjoyed it as I have the rest of the series.

    Reply

    • Deborah, when I read your comment about Busy Body, for some reason I just had to check and see how many Christmas mysteries M. C. Beaton has written… quite a few of them.

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  16. I just finished reading Denise Swanson’s newest book. I enjoy how she handles the timing in her books. On my Nook I have been reading Laurie King’s series about San Francisco. I too like to read books in order, but sometimes I start a book and find it is part of a series. Thus happened to me with Susan Hill. I appreciate your new book monthly listings as I can keep track of some of my favorite authors.

    Reply

  17. I have to admit that I’m also one of those people who prefer to read a series of books in the correct order.

    I’ve just finished reading Aunt Dimity and the Next of Kin by Nancy Atherton (the 10th book in the Aunt Dimity series) and Black Ship by Carola Dunn (the 17th book in the Daisy Dalrymple series).

    I’m currently reading The Mapping of Love and Death by Jacqueline Winspear (7th in the Maisie Dobbs series).

    The next book in my pile of books to be read is Inspector and Mrs Jeffries by Emily Brightwell. It is the first in the Mrs Jeffries series and as I’ve never tried this author before I’m looking forward to discovering whether it will turn out to be a new series to be cherished or one for the reject pile. As Alfred is recommending the series I really hope that it turns out to be the first option!

    Reply

  18. It definitely is that time of year for Kate Kingsbury. I’m reading “Decked with Folly” with “Mistletoe and Mayhem” waiting in the wings.

    Reply

  19. I am reading the new Kaitlyn Dunnett “Scotched” at home and the Abigail Adms The Ninth Daughter on the bus to and from work. I have just finished 2 new fantasy series – Mercedes Lackle & Michelle West.

    No Snow here in Chicago but it’s been raining for 2 days.

    Nina

    Reply

    • Nina, my sister lives in Oak Park, so I follow the Chicago weather. You all have had a late start for you snow!

      Reply

  20. Yesterday I finished Jane Haddam’s newest Gregor Demarkian mystery, Flowering Judas.
    I have been reading this series since the beginning. (and I was so intrigued by the Armenian foods mentioned in the earlier stories that I got in touch with an Armenian church ladies group to find a cookbook!)
    I won’t say that this is the best story so far, as I have several favorites among those published earlier, but it is right up there with the best of them.
    I have re-read the entire series every couple of years or so as they don’t grow stale and I can suspend disbelief while reading them.
    I like Gregor, I would like to think we would be friends if we ever met and the same is true for the other recurring characters. By now they have become like old friends and I follow their lives with great interest.

    At the moment I am reading Dixie Divas by Virginia Brown. So far I have laughed a great deal and have already ordered the second in what looks to be a fun series.

    Reply

    • Andie, you are much more adventurous in the kitchen that I am! Armenian food sounds rather complicated. what a great idea you had Re: contacting an Armenian church group of ladies to get the name of a good cookbook>>> Very resourceful!

      (PS>>> I can re-read E. F. Benson’s Mapp and Lucia series over and over, and over again! Of course, having been written in the early 1920s to late 1930s, they are a bit “dated” in some areas.)

      Reply

      • I love books from that era – I read a lot of them when I was young as my grandparents belonged to every book club as well as having books sent from favorite booksellers, mostly in Chicago.
        One of my all time favorite books is not a mystery but a lovely story by Booth Tarkington, Rumbin Galleries. Set in the depression, it is the perfect book to read when one is feeling discouraged or a bit blue.
        I first read it when I was nine and laid up with both legs broken. In 1948 it wasn’t that far in the past!

        Reply

        • I think that overall, I prefer the Classic Cozy Mysteries. I have to admit, though, that every once in a while I come by something that is dated and bothers me, but I know enough about the times that I am able to accept that “that’s just the way things were” back then…

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  21. We have just recovered from our unusually early October snow storm which left 800,000 people without power for a week. Try reading mysteries by candlelight or flashlight. It “ain’t” fun. I just read Mark Schweizer’s “The Christmas Cantata”, a mystery without a murder,very cute. Talking about Asey Mayo in my younger days, I would go to Cape Cod or as we Bostonians would say “The Cape” and I would read and reread those books.

    Reply

    • Terrible storm, Regina. Sounds like you really had to work to read your mysteries (by candlelight or flashlight)>>> very determined!

      My daughter currently lives in Cambridge, but has yet to visit “The Cape.”

      Reply

    • Regina I recently ordered booklights from Amazon.com the item number is GE17228 there are 3 in a pack red, blue, and green that do a really good job and can travel with you. They run on triple A batteries. They cost under $20.00 but well worth it. I work word search puzzles sometimes at night can’t sleep so use a clipboard to hold my book and clip the light on the hole and it covers the entire page. Also it is natural daylight which is easier on the eyes. You might want to check them out.

      Reply

      • Alfred, since you sent me the link for these book lights, I went ahead and posted it for Regina two comments down… (I hope that’s OK…)

        Reply

  22. I commented the other day that I was reading a book titled “Death in the Parsonage” by Susan Spencer-Smith. This was such a good book! I loved this book so much that at times while I was reading it I would wake up during the night and have to read! I had a hard time putting this book down but my hubby and 2 little dogs kept wanting my attention! How inconsiderate of them! (just teasing here, I think!)
    This was such a good book, but have you, Danna, ever read a book that was hard to read but just couldn’t stop reading it? This book for me had so many hateful things happening to this poor kid and her siblings in the story that I had a hard time continuing on with it. But something in me just forced me to continue! Have any of you ever read a book like this?
    The book is about child abuse but to the utmost extreme. I know this was a story that someone invented but oh my!!!, so real. I had to finish. I just could not stop reading this book. The story in this book will remain with me for a long time.
    It is so sad to think what some kids have to live through—and the fact that other adults knew and did nothing to help the children, just astonishes me!! So many people ask what is wrong with kids today. Just maybe these people need to look at the adults around these kids!

    Reply

    • Linda, it sounds like you were absolutely hooked on Susan Spencer-Smith’s Death in the Parsonage. Yow!

      I used to be able to read books like that, but I have become terribly Cozy-fied. I have to admit that there are some authors (Reginald Hill for one) who have darker NON Cozy topics, but child abuse is something I don’t enjoy having as the center of my books. (Also, I don’t enjoy animal abuse.)

      I’ve read books that “make me continue” – but lately, these are simply Cozy books by some of my favorite authors.

      Reply

  23. Alfred, Are you certain that you had the correct number and price for those book lights? I can’t find them on line and would like to buy them. Were there 3 in a packet or 3 individual ones. I found individual ones that were similar. I am leaving on a cruise on 11/30 and they would be most helpful. My “itty book” light just does not do it. Regina

    Reply

  24. Danna and Alfred, Thank you so much for all your help. I just ordered them from Amazon. I will have them by 11/17. I can hardly wait to use them on my cruise.

    Reply

    • Thank you, Linda, for telling us about your enjoyment of Pushing Up Daisies – by Rosemary Harris.

      Reply

  26. I am now reading “Them Bones” by Carolyn Haines. I tried reading a book by this author before but I just couldn’t get into that one. But this one has grabbed me from the first page. I almost didn’t begin this one because of the “ghost nanny” but then I thought how I do like Aunt Diminity so why couldn’t I like this one! Sometimes I think it all depends on the reading mood that I am in. I love these Southern belle mysteries. These Southern belles have a way of getting themselves into mischief. These Southern ladies are great! Love them all!

    Reply

    • Linda, I have done that several times with authors who I like a lot. Sometimes I just am not in the “right mood” for a particular author, but when I go back to him/her, I enjoy the book…

      Reply

  27. Cozy mystery readers would probably like Ellery Queen’s novel, Calamity Town. Ellery goes incognito to a small New England town where he thinks he can work on his latest novel without interruption. Not so! The town is filled with eccentric characters who know each other’s secrets and crimes – and a cute redhead who steals Ellery’s heart! It’s a great mystery with an unexpected ending, and it has a small town, cozy mystery feel. The story takes place over a few months, so the holidays and changing seasons create a strong sense of time and place that I found to be very enjoyable, too.

    Reply

    • Thanks, Donna, for telling us about Ellery Queen’s Calamity Town. I didn’t remember that it takes place over the holidays.

      I just started reading Ellery Queen, and I am liking “his” mysteries. (My husband has a few on his Kindle, and since Santa “might” bring me a Kindle for Christmas, I will already have some mysteries to load on to it…)

      Reply

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