It takes place at night… OR… on a bright, sunny morning.
It occurs in New York City, bustling with activity… OR… a quaint English village.
The main character is a hip, young man with a beautiful young wife and one child… OR… a nice "older" teacher, getting ready to retire.
It involves a sleek Corvette… OR… an umbrella/cane.
Hmmm… If you’re a reader of cozy mysteries, I don’t need to tell you the correct answers!
I am embarrassed to admit this, but I just started my FIRST Miss Emily D. Seeton novel! Yes, I know that they are almost as classic as the Miss Marple books. Yes, I have almost all of the Miss Seeton novels waiting in my bookshelf… along with many other wonderful cozy novels…. all of them seemingly there just to gather dust now that I am spending all of the time at my computer… rather than reading my favorite cozy mysteries! ("More Reading/Less Typing" ought to be my new mantra!)
Getting back to the purpose of today’s blog:
The Miss Seeton’s series of books has been written by three different authors. Heron Carvic began the series in 1968, with Hampton Charles taking over during 1990, followed by Sarah J. Mason (aka Hamilton Crane) in 1991, with her last book (or should that be "his" for Hamilton?!?) published in 1999.
Miss Emily D. Seeton is a retired British teacher, although in the novel I am reading, she hasn’t quite decided to retire… at least she hasn’t by page 49! So far, "Picture Miss Seeton" has all of the things you would expect from a Cozy Mystery… all of the above correct answers come into play, but, alas, I haven’t met up with a cat yet… just egg-laying chickens…
I am really excited about starting this new cozy series, although I know it’s not new at all. Sometimes, when I start to read a book that has this much promise, I actually feel like "I’m home again"… It’s a difficult feeling to describe, but I am guessing that other cozy mystery readers have a sensation similar to my "I’m home again" feeling when they start reading a new author’s book that looks like it is really going to deliver the COZY that we all want so much!
Molly says
Oh man, I envy you SO much reading Miss Seeton for the first time!!! Enjoy them, I’ve read quite a few of them more than once since it was a long long time ago that I started reading them.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Molly,
Sounds like you have done the same thing with your Miss Seeton books as I have with my E. F. Benson books. Every once in a while you just have to reread a book by an author you really enjoy.
I’m glad to hear that the Miss Seeton books are as good as I thought they might be!
shermeen says
Ok here is what I want to know, Why were there 3 different authors? Also Hampton Charles’ books were decidedly different than the other 2 authors, I can find no information about him. Thanks, I have read most of the books, and wish there were more.
Danna - cozy mystery list says
Shermeen… I am writing a blog on what I can find out about Miss Emily D. Seeton’s three different authors. I will post it tomorrow….
darina says
Thank you for mentioning miss seeton, I really envy people living in english speaking countries the choices of authors and books that you have,the effort I have to go into to find a book here,shattering….