The Cozy Mystery List Blog

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

San Antonio to Colorado, and Back Again

As I mentioned in one of my recent comments, my husband and I just returned from visiting my mother in Colorado Springs. I have to say, that the trips up there have changed so much that whenever I go there, it’s as if I’m visiting for the first time.

While our son and daughter were growing up, we made yearly trips out to Colorado to visit our children’s grandfather, grandmother, uncle, and Aspen. [We actually visited through two Aspens! Aspen was – or in this case I should say “were” – my father’s beloved Cocker Spaniel(s).] We are now visiting just my mother, my brother, her Spaniel, and all three of the rotating 24/7 health care providers who are assigned to my mother.

Yes, our visits are quite different from those times when we would sit out on my parent’s patio, gazing up at Pike’s Peak, eating some of the best Chicago Dogs (ever!) from a little hotdog stand in Manitou Springs. Gone are the days of cog railway rides up Pike’s Peak and all of us going to Cripple Creek to ride the narrow gauge railroad and watch the melodrama. You know what they say about time passing >>> and it certainly has!

Now that my mother goes to bed so doggone early, and since our bedroom there doesn’t have a TV (the health care providers sleep in the guest bedroom with a TV), my husband and I have found that our Kindles have come in mighty handy! I had been reading seasonal/holiday mysteries, most by authors I had never read before, but decided that I would stop reading those in lieu of reading one of my favorite authors: Monica Ferris.

I knew that at the end of the days, I would be in need of a book that would hold my attention and I also knew that I would find comfort in visiting the “friends” I have made who inhabit the Crewel World needlecraft shop. I knew I would want to sort of be transported to a fictional town, where Betsy would be sleuthing and my favorite character of the series, Godwin, would be teaching new-to-needlecraft people the ins and outs of the how to knit/crochet or needlepoint.

Now that we are back in San Antonio, I just bought my next Monica Ferris Kindle Cozy Mystery book (my mom doesn’t have WiFi) for another time when I am in need of immersing myself with Betsy and Godwin – fictional friends with whom I enjoy passing time.

Is there an author who you always want to take on a vacation with you? If so, could you tell us why you absolutely need this author’s characters, setting, and/or mysteries to accompany you?

Comments

  1. Danna, I have so many favorite authors that I would be hard pressed to name one I would save for a trip. However, I found out recently how dependent I have become on my Nook because it is light weight and larger print than most books, I read it all the time. Recently a new large (700 page ) book was published about Queen Victoria. AS the Nook price was more than I am usually willing to pay, I obtained it from my library. It was too heavy to hold as I have trouble with my shoulders and the print was a shade too small to read. I gave in and bought it for my Nook. My husband has been in CO this week to cheer up my daughter. She has taken up horseback riding and fell off the horse when it reared up. She fell to the ground with the horse on top of her. Thank God no bones were broken, but one leg has a massive hematoma and her whole body is badly shaken up.

    Reply

    • Oh, Regina! What awful news about your daughter. I’ve been bucked off horses before (when I was young) but never had a horse on top of me! It sounds like she was extremely lucky not to have broken any bones, however, her injuries sound pretty bad. I’m not sure I would follow the old adage “Get back on the horse” if I were her!

      Reply

      • Danna: I love Maggie Sefton’s knitting series with Kelly and the gang from Lambspun! I save her for my travels (which I don’t do anymore, actually). I actually save her for my tub baths which I use for my arthritic knee and sinus congestion. I have mastered the art of reading in the tub with no book casualties!

        Rob J

        Reply

    • Regina,
      Check with your library to see if you can “borrow” books electronically. I use either my iPad or Kindle to read books I borrow from the Hennepin and Ramsey county libraries in Minnesota (using my library card), even when I’m out of the country. I can also reserve a book that isn’t currently available, for whatever reason, and get an email when it’s ready for me to download.

      Reply

    • Best wishes to your daughter, Regina! She sounds lucky to have gotten away with just some severe bruising and shaking!
      (Hopefully the horse was ok, too?)

      Reply

    • Danna: There are so many my daughter and I love enough to watch when a new one of theirs comes out I can’t list them all but high up on the list is Mary Daheim’s B&B series; Cleo Coyle’s coffee house series; Hart’s Max & Annie series; and who can resist the outlandish adventures of Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum, Bounty Hunter? LOL.
      BTW, I guess you can tell, I love this blog too? 😎
      Jackie

      Reply

  2. Over 10 years ago when traveling between home and my mom’s, I found a Denise Swanson Book. I’m pretty sure it was Murder of a Small Town Honey. I found it in a grocery store and took it to the motel with me. The story, the characters and the humor helped me get away for just a bit. Now, I tend to turn to the Scumble River mysteries when I need a personal get away. And some other times too.

    Reply

    • Danna, I love hearing about your trips. Your family sounds wonderful.
      I’m with SandyT on Denise Swanson. I keep copies of her books everywhere so I’m not ever left without her.

      I also love Laura Levine. Jaine Austen is fabulous and fun.

      My last go to isn’t really cozy but i love her – Barbara Michaels (Elizabeth Peters). She has a three book series centered around a Wash DC family complete with ghosts, mystery and a vintage clothes store (starting with the second book Shattered Silk.)

      Reply

      • Anne………..

        Wow! Great minds think alike………………..

        I think ‘Shattered Silk’ is one of the best mysteries ever (at least to my liking). I do realize that’s a very BROAD statement and we all have very different tastes. It’s definitely not a cozy. I’ve recommended it often to the true mystery fan and no one has ever been disappointed. I’ve not seen it mentioned on this blog – so glad that you did!!!

        It’s the Georgetown series. I couldn’t finish ‘Ammie, Come Home’ – too ‘ghostly’ for me (I believe it was made into a ‘horror’ TV movie entitled, “The House That Would Not Die”). But ‘Shattered Silk’, followed by ‘Stitch in Time’ are top notch.

        Reply

  3. Hi Danna,

    I didn’t even have to give this question a lot of thought. There are three authors/series I frequently revisit and would definitely enjoy having with me on vacation–each for a different reason. (Our Kindles and Nooks make this so easy now, don’t you think?)

    **Heather Webber’s Nina Quinn series—This is one of my favorite series. These characters are like old friends, and I love visiting with them. I’d love to live in their neighborhood and share their adventures.

    **Jenna Bennett’s Cutthroat Business Mysteries—When I need to read about a ‘sigh-worthy’ relationship, I reread Ms. Bennett’s books in this series. Savannah and Rafe are my favorite romantic couple in a mystery series. Ms. Bennett is a wonderful author, and her mysteries are always interesting, but I read them mainly for this sweet, lovely couple (and Rafe is smoking hot–LOL).

    **Jana DeLeon’s Miss Fortune Mysteries—When I need to laugh out loud, I pick up one of the books in this series. Fortune, Gertie, and Ida Belle are so much fun. I would love to spend time in Sinful hanging out with these three!

    The weekend just flew by! Hope yours was a good one.

    Reply

    • I love reading the comments here, I always find new series I must read! I’d never heard of Jenna Bennett’s Cutthroat Business Mysteries & now when I look them up on the Cozy Mystery site, I discover she’s the same author as Jennie Bentley’s Do It Yourself series, which I have read. Will have to try the other! And while I’ve not tried Jana DeLeon’s Miss Fortune series, I do have the first one on my Kindle purchased free, so I’m planning to try that out too — glad to hear you like them — they sound like fun!

      Reply

  4. To be honest — I haven’t had a vacation in over 10 years — so I don’t have any authors that I “always take on vacation”. But I do have quite a number of favorite authors — some are more favorite than others of course. 😉 When I know I’m going to be someplace stressful where I’ll need to unwind, I do treat myself to the newest release of one of my favorites (assuming I haven’t already got it from the library!) — btw, I’m a “belt & suspenders” kind of gal — so I’d be sure to have a couple great ones on my Kindle — AND a couple more great ones in paperback — just in case anything happens to my Kindle or it runs out of juice someplace I can’t charge it!

    Oh — and I did just purchase Dorothy Cannell’s “The Thin Woman” because it was 99 cents (Kindle) & its one of my REAL OLD FAVORITES — the literary equivalent of “comfort food”!

    Reply

    • Your statement made me laugh!! I, too, ALWAYS bring both my iPad (with Kindle and Nook apps) and actual paperbacks, just in case! My husband just rolls his eyes. I can’t imagine getting stuck somewhere without a book. It gives me a headache just thinking about that happening. LOL

      I laughed all the way through Louisiana Longshot by Jana DeLeon. I hope you find it enjoyable.

      Reply

  5. Not sure if this counts as I am not sure if this would be considered a cozy mystery… but it has traveled with and gotten me through many bad times and reading blocks. The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart. Not a book that will ever win any awards, except from me. But I guess it depends on what you consider the definition of cozy is… To me it is comfort so….
    I actually have the original paperback I first came across ages ago, though I also have grabbed up different editions I have come across including one I found in an amazing little book store that wound around under a street in a market on London. Anyway, I love this little book whatever the reason…. and I am sorry to say Mary Stewart passed away just a few months ago….

    Reply

    • Dz, I feel like I “cut my teeth” on Mary Stewart’s books. Whenever I visited my grandmother we would go to the library, and I would either get a Mary Stewart or a Victoria Holt.

      How neat that you have been able to collect different editions of The Ivy Tree.

      Reply

  6. For me, it would probably be Kerry Greenwood’s Corrina Chapman mysteries.
    They’re good stories and easy to, as you put it, ‘immerse yourself’ in.
    Ever since I happened to be in the middle of one when I came down with food poisoning a few years ago, they’ve become a favourite comfort read.
    Possibly also P.N. Elrod’s earlier* Jack Fleming novels. Again, a wonderful, easy, read, that you can just slip into, and join some good friends in their adventures.
    *Post about Bk 8 or so, I found them changing too much for my taste. The early ones are still wonderful, though.

    Reply

      • Danna, Jack Fleming is a 1930’s Chicago PI – but he’s also a vampire! Lol! The earlier books are brilliant. ‘Very’ well researched – I thought at first that they had actually been written in the 1930’s.
        The first seven make up a complete story arc, though they can be read separately. I would classify them as borderline cozy / hardboiled.
        After about Bk 8 / 9, they start crossing over into horror novel territory, but the first 7, at least are definitely mystery fic. Just with a twist. 🙂
        Not graphic, and Highly Recommended!!

        Jack mostly gets his blood from animals – usually the local stockyards – as people are for pleasure not food. Or as Jack puts it “I keep my sex life separate from my food.” Lol!

        Reply

        • Susan*, I remember my children having a book about a little vampire boy who would bring road-kill home for his family. Sounds a bit like Jack Fleming’s views on being a vampire. A few months ago I tried to remember the name of the book since I thought it was such a cute book for elementary school children. (I know it might not sounds like it is, but it is.)

          Anyway, getting back to Jack Fleming >>> sounds like P.N. Elrod‘s first seven mysteries might really fun for paranormal fans.

          Reply

          • Danna, I’m ‘not’ really a paranormal fan (I’m just omnivorous! Lol!) but I still love these books.
            They’re really more PI than paranormal. If you get the chance, do give them a try.

            Reply

  7. When you’re retired, you don’t get many vacations, but when I’m in need of a “comfort” read, it’s either Anne George or Margaret Maron. I get caught up in an alternate world with wonderful characters that take me away from whatever is bothering me.

    Reply

    • Janet, I have all of Anne George‘s Southern Sisters mysteries waiting for me on my Kindle, but since I’m not one to re-read a lot of books, I’m going to wait on them for a little while. (The fact that I bought all of the Kindle copies of the series speaks volumes about how much I love those mystery books! I very rarely re-read!)

      Reply

  8. Hmmm………………..all cozies aren’t created equal. So when looking for that comforting, warm and fuzzy cozy my mind conjures up different cozies than perhaps from my ‘favorite author’ list.

    I agree with Sandy T. because Swanson writes both series with a lot of humor, however I prefer the Dime Store series.

    Like, Danna, I enjoy Monica Ferris but for an added reason. The setting is in Excelsior, with many scenes in nearby Minnetonka. These are real (not fictional) picturesque communities on the western side of the Twin Cities to which I can relate. I like Fluke for the same reasons, although her town is fictional. Actually we can all now shiver (b-r-r-r-r) because today that massive snow storm is bearing down on them with predictions of a foot of snow!! WOW! Some friends of mine are visiting relatives in St. Paul and planned to leave today………..not sure that will happen. Hopefully they’ll be able to bring back a couple packages of wild rice for me.

    I like so-o-o-o many of this type cozy, it’s difficult to decide. I never re-read books, so if I were going on vacation, I most likely would pick up something new. Perhaps a new book in a current series where I enjoy the characters and find humor with strong character relationships. The list could be long.

    BUT, if I were asked to recommend a series with the above qualifications I would go back to the author that started my run of cozy reading. It would be Anne George. Good mysteries, warm and fuzzy plots, with huge, HUGE dashes of humor!! I always suggest this series to friends, and it’s often recommended on this blog.

    Reply

    • MJ, I also very rarely re-read books. (I think I have mentioned that E.F. Benson’s Lucia series is one I will re-read, but other than that one, there are very few exceptions.) I should have made it clear in this entry that I actually had not read the Ferris mysteries I took with me. I am so behind with most of my favorite Cozy Mystery authors that I still have a few more Ferris mysteries to read before I am all caught up! (I try to intersperse a few new-to-me authors between my favorite authors’ books so I can find new favorites.)

      I just wrote a comment to Janet about my love of Anne George, and how I do actually plan on visiting the Southern Sisters again. That series is one of the very, very best!

      Reply

      • Danna and readers! Has anyone tried the Mrs. Jeffries series by Emily Brightwell? Fun, entertaining and a great Victorian Cozy read! All her books are great and the first 12 are in Anthology form now. Another great Cozy read is Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth’s series by M.C. Beaton. Also if you like period cozies centered in England’s Victorian and Edwardian cozies, Robin Paige’s (Bill and Susan Albert) mystery cozies featuring Charles and Kate Sheridan are an enjoyable trek through England’s history with famous people included. A fun romp!

        Reply

  9. Regina,

    Did you know that many public libraries make ebooks available for patrons? The books often available in both Nook and Kindle-friendly formats, and librarian selectors are often open to suggestions.

    Reply

  10. Dz, I know what you mean. I love Anne George’s sister series because they are older, funny women. When she died I was so disappointed! I enjoyed Rita Lakin’s series but I think she got tired of writing it. Need to find some more funny old ladies!

    Reply

    • Cyn, Rita Lakin’s Gladdy Gold is one of my favorite series. I hadn’t noticed until I read your comment that she hasn’t released a mystery since 2011. You’re probably right about this, but I sure hope you’re not! What a shame…

      Reply

      • I LOVE Gladdy Gold — I wish there would be more!!!!! Another “comfy cozy” is the Aunt Dimity series — where nobody ever gets murdered & everyone lives happily ever after (at the end, anyway) — usually while clutching a stuffed animal of some sort…. 😉

        Reply

    • Cyn,

      Have you read Nora Charles’s Senior Sleuth series, Barbara Colley’s Charlotte LaRue series, or Patricia Sprinkle’s Thoroughly Southern Mysteries? All feature ‘older’ sleuths with a lot of humorous elements to their stories..

      Although, not necessarily ‘funny/humorous’, Jeanne Dams’ Dorothy Martin series and Hazel Holt’s Sheila Malory series are certainly enjoyable and ‘cozy’ (again, with senior sleuths). Both are set in England.

      Reply

        • Cyn, I’ve read Nora Charles’s Kate Kennedy Senior Sleuth series, Jeanne Dams’ Dorothy Martin series, Patricia Sprinkle’s Thoroughly Southern Mysteries, and consider Hazel Holt’s Mrs. Mallory series one of my favorites. I am now looking forward to trying Barbara Colley’s Charlotte LaRue series.

          (I’m so glad you brought this up!)

          Reply

  12. Diane Mott Davidson’s “Goldy” series has been my first choice for vacation reading for many years. She always had a new book out in October just in time for my beach reading. I’m so sad to hear that there are no Goldy books planned for the future.

    Reply

      • This was on Diane Mott Davidson facebook page.

        Happy Halloween, everyone! I used to make cookies for the neighborhood kids, but now everything has to be packaged (sigh). For those of you asking if there will be more Goldy books, thank you for your support. I don’t plan any more at the moment, but time will tell. The cookbook is in production, being copy-edited. Thank you, Morrow/HarperCollins!

        Reply

  13. Thank all of you for recommending the public library for Nook or kindle books. I know my home town library will lend them, but i have not yet mastered the knack of obtaining them. My daughter is slowly recovering. My husband spent last week with her. Cooking for him took her mind off her troubles.

    Reply

    • Regina, I know our San Antonio library loans them out, I just haven’t gone through the process of registering with them…

      I’m glad to hear your daughter is doing better. Does she think she will return to horse-back riding?

      Reply

  14. I have to agree about the “Miss Fortune” series – just recently read the first one. I have never laughed so hard. Waiting for the second one to come in from our library.

    I also love Donna Andrews “Meg Langslow” series. Her family is so wonderfuly crazy – it makes me enjoy mine even more, but they are always there for each other no matter what, which is great.

    Monica Ferris is always good

    Both Monica Ferris and Donna Andrews are like old friends, who know what you want and offer you that.

    Recently just finished Barbara Graham’s series “Quilting Mysteries” great series, lots of fun wonderful eccentric characters that you want to keep following to see what they do next.

    Reply

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