I have decided that I want to tackle a few more questions some of you have sent in. I haven’t been very good about “getting right on them” so have a few on my list.
Linda asked:
“… Way back in the 60s probably, maybe early 70s, I read a book, a mystery, I seem to remember that it was set in Maine, and the recipe for that book was Blueberry Buckle, I think. I wonder if anyone has a clue who the author was/is. I couldn’t find any more of her books in the local library, and have thought of it many times, but can’t remember the name of the book, or the author.
Thanks!”
I don’t think anyone was able to tell Linda who the author of this mystery series is. If you think you might have an idea, please post a comment below. Thank you!
alfred says
This wouldn’t be Phoebe Atwood Taylor would it – Asey Mayo detective or Alice Tilton (same author)???
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thanks, Alfred!
Marianne says
Virginia Rich? She also wrote the Baked Bean Supper Mystery, with a recipe at the end.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thank you, Marianne. It sounds like the author could be either Virginia Rich or Phoebe Atwood Taylor?
alfred says
Forgot to mention it might be Banbury Bog???
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Alfred, I always enjoy seeing the different authors Cozy Mystery site readers can think of when someone is looking for a particular author.
Regina says
Alfred I thought that Asey Mayo was strictly Cape Cod and her other series was set in Boston. I think Virginia Rich wrote cooking books /mysteries that dealt with Maine. She is the only one I can think of.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Regina, good point…
Rachel says
There is another mystery series that takes place in Maine written by B. B. Haywood. I recently read Town in a Lobster Stew and there were recipes in the back of the book. Another book in the series features blueberries.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Rachel, thank you for mentioning B. B. Haywood’s Blueberry Acres Farm in Maine. The recipe for Blueberry Buckle might just be in one of Haywood’s Candy Holiday mysteries.
susie calkins says
This query is making me hungry! I came up with Joanna Fluke’s Hannah Swensen Mysteries (they sound delicious, but are more recent than what Linda was looking for). If the great readers of this blog can’t figure it out, she could try http://forums.abebooks.com/abesleuthcom or http://bookclubs.barnesandnoble.com/t5/Lost-Books/bd-p/lostbooks. If Linda could offer ANY more details, we might be able to find it through google. I hope so!
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Susie, I remember a while back when I submitted a question about a mystery book I was looking for. Unfortunately, I was VERY sketchy about my facts, and the Cozy Mystery readers weren’t able to identify my author.
(I read the book a while ago, before I became so obsessive/compulsive about my lists. And, of course, I just assumed I would remember my author. Clearly, that really was a while ago!)
Edna says
For Linda–I don’t know about the 1970s, but there is a mystery series that takes place in Maine which includes recipes. The author is Karen MacInerney and it is the Gray Whale Inn Mysteries. You might like these. I have tried the recipes and they are wonderful
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thank you, Edna, for the Karen MacInerney suggestion. As many culinary mysteries as there are now, with recipes, I have never actually tried one of the recipes. Most of them look too complicated. As a matter of fact, I finally started skipping through the recipes. Maybe I should actually start looking at them again.
linda c says
Edna, I too have an author that I can’t remember and I liked the stories so much that I thought I would remember easily, but guess what? I can’t remember. The mains sleuth was hit in the head some how and woke up thinking he was a “gumshoe”. He kept talking like he was a character in a mickey Spillane murder mystery. Anyone got any ideas. This series would have come out, I would say, in the last 3 to 5 years. The guy was funny. He couldn’t remember any other parts of his life. He didn’t even know his own mother.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Linda C, I wish I could remember who you are talking about. I think someone talked about this very same series, but it was quite a bit ago. I could be wrong, but this sounds very déjà vu -y to me.
Marla says
I’m pretty sure it was Virginia Rich’s books – there’s recipes from Maine in each of them. One is for blueberry pie, another for blueberry muffins. Nancy Pickard took over the series and continued it with 3 more books, but all of the books were written in the 1980’s, not the 60’s or 70’s, so I hope this is correct.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Marla, it looks like Linda will have three (or four) authors to take a look at. I hope one of them turns out to be who she is looking for!
Rabia says
Hi, I was looking through the L authors and I’ve noticed that Alice Loweecey isn’t mentioned anywhere. She is the author of Force of Habit and the main character Giulia Falcone is an ex-nun turned private investigator. Good read! I’d just like to recommend her to others
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Thanks, Rabia, for telling us about Alice Loweecey’s Giulia Falcone series!
linda c says
Danna, I asked this question one other time. So, If you think this is a repeat question, it is but one that I had asked. I have tried and tried to think of this series, but just can not. One of these days, maybe a rainy, summer day I can set down at this computer and go through all listings for mysteries. It was a good story, sort of quirky, but funny.
Ann S. says
It is probably Edna Birdson’s Blueberry Buckle. The Baked Bean Supper Mystery by Virginia Rich. I wrote the recipe down many years ago. I just made one last night. Always a favorite, and very simple. Enjoy!