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Teachers as the Main Sleuths in Mystery Books…

March 27, 2010

I decided to make the Teachers as Sleuths theme a while ago, during the beginning of the school year. But, I got side-tracked (again!) This theme includes the mystery authors who are included on the Cozy Mystery Site… (Obviously, this theme entry does not include all of the mystery books which have teachers as the primary sleuths.)

Teachers as the Primary Sleuths from mystery books found on the Cozy Mystery site:

Judith Arnold: Lainie Lovett Still Kicking Mystery Series – Grade School Teacher

Donald Bain (& “Jessica Fletcher”): Murder She Wrote Mystery Series – Retired English teacher

Tace Baker (aka Edith Maxwell): Speaking of Mystery Mystery Series – Linguistics Professor

Mignon F. Ballard: Miss Dimple Mystery Series – 1st Grade Teacher

Jo Bannister: Brodie Farrell Mystery Series – Math Teacher

Maggie Barbieri: Murder 101 Mystery Series – English Professor

Laurien Berenson: Melanie Travis Mystery Series – Special Education Teacher

Joan Blacher: Ardis Jensen Mystery Series – Ex University Counselor

Alice Boatwright: Ellie Kent Mystery Series – English Professor

J.S. Borthwick: Deane & McKenzie Mystery Series – English Professor

Gail Bowen: Joanne Kilbourn Mystery Series – Poly-Sci Professor

Julia Buckley: Teddy Thurber Mystery Series – English Teacher

Heron Carvic: Miss Seeton Mystery Series – Retired Art Teacher

Sarah Caudwell: Hilary Tamar Mystery Series – Law Professor

Hampton Charles: Miss Seeton Mystery Series – Retired Art Teacher

Erika Chase: Ashton Corners Book Club Mystery Series – Reading Specialist

Anna Clarke: Paula Glenning  & James Goff Mystery Series – Professors

Melissa Cleary: Dog Lover’s Mystery Series – Film Studies Professor

V. C. Clinton-Baddeley: Cambridge Crime Mystery Series – Retired Professor

Elizabeth Spann Craig (aka Riley Adams): Myrtle Clover Mystery Series – Retired Octogenarian

Hamilton Crane (aka Sarah J. Mason): Miss Seeton Mystery Series – Retired Art Teacher

Bill Crider: Sally Good Mystery Series – English Professor AND Carl Burns Mystery Series – English Professor

Edmund Crispin: Gervase Fen Mystery Series – English Professor

Amanda Cross: Kate Fansler Mystery Series – English Professor

Kathi Daley: TJ Jensen Paradise Lake Mystery Series – High School

Jeanne M. Dams: Dorothy Martin Mystery Series – Retired Teacher

Lesley A. Diehl: Laura Murphy Mystery Series – Psychology Professor

Joanne Dobson: Karen Pelletier Mystery Series – English Professor

Jan Dunlap: Bob White Birder Murder Mystery Series – High School Counselor

Anthony Eglin: English Garden Mystery Series – Retired Botany Professor

Aaron Elkins: Gideon Oliver Mystery Series – Anthropology Professor

Honora Finkelstein & Susan Smily: Ariel Quigley Mystery Series – English Teacher

“Jessica Fletcher” & Donald Bain: Murder She Wrote Mystery Series – Retired English Teacher

Linda French: Professor Teodora Morelli Mystery Series – History Professor

P. L. Gaus: Ohio Amish Mystery Series – History Professor

Anne George: Southern Sisters Mystery Series – Retired English Teacher

Alexia Gordon: Gethsemane Brown Mystery Series – Music Teacher in Ireland

Paula Gosling: Stryker & Trevorne Mystery Series – English Professor

Margaret Grace: Miniature Mystery Series – Retired English Teacher

Elissa D. Grodin: Edwina Goodman Mystery Series – Physics Instructor

Janice Hamrick: Jocelyn Shore Mystery Series – High School

Maria Hudgins: Dotsy Lamb Travel Mystery Series – Retired History Professor

Mary Ellen Hughes: Maggie Olenski Mystery Series – Math Teacher

Jane Isenberg: Bel Barrett Mystery Series – English Professor

Abigail Keam: Josiah Reynolds, Beekeeper Mystery Series – Ex-History Professor

Diana Killian: Poetic Death Mystery Series – Teacher

Cynthia Kuhn: Lila Maclean Academic Mystery Series – English Professor

Jim Lacey: Ryan/Lehrer Mystery Series – History Professor

Jane Langton: Homer Kelly Mystery Series – History Professor

Marilyn Levinson (aka Allison Brook): Golden Age of Mystery Book Club Mystery Series – Professor

Charlotte MacLeod (aka Alisa Craig): Peter Shandy Mystery Series – Botany Professor

Ada Madison (aka Camille Minichino & Margaret Grace): Sophie Knowles Mystery Series – Math Professor

Liesa Malik: Daisy Arthur Mystery Series – Retired Special Education Teacher

Sarah J. Mason (as Hamilton Crane): Miss Seeton Mystery Series – Retired Art Teacher

Sujata Massey: Rei Shimura Mystery Series – English Teacher

Ralph M. McInerny (aka Monica Quill): Notre Dame Mystery Series – Philosophy Professor

Tyora Moody: Eugeena Patterson Mystery Series – Retired Social Studies

Mary Grace Murphy: Noshes Up North Mystery Series – Retired Teacher

Tim Myers (aka Chris Cavender, Casey Mayes, Elizabeth Bright, & Melissa Glazer) Slow Cooker Mystery Series – Instructor of Slow Cooking Techniques

Clare O’Donohue: World of Spies Mystery Series – Hollis and Finn Larsson are college professors who assist Interpol in Ireland.

Bernadette Pajer: Professor Bradshaw Mystery Series – Electrical Engineering Professor

Stuart Palmer: Hildegarde Withers Mystery Series – Retired Teacher

Leigh Perry (aka Toni L.P. Kelner): Family Skeleton Mystery Series – English Professor

Cate Price: Deadly Notions Mystery Series – Retired Teacher

Gillian Roberts: Amanda Pepper Mystery Series – English Teacher

Patricia Rockwell: Pamela Barnes, Acoustic Mystery Series –  Psychology Professor

Sarah R. Shaber: Professor Simon Shaw Mystery Series – History Professor

Catherine Shaw: Vanessa Duncan Cambridge Mystery Series – Teacher

Susan Smily & Honora Finkelstein: Ariel Quigley Mystery Series – English Teacher

Robert Spiller: Bonnie Pinkwater Mystery Series – High School Math Teacher

Sarah Stewart Taylor: Sweeney St. George Mystery Series – History Professor

Denise Swanson: Scumble River Mystery Series – School Social Worker

Margaret Truman: Smith & Reed Mystery Series – Law Professor

Ann Waldron: Princeton Murders Mystery Series – Writing Professor

Jill Paton Walsh: Imogen Quy Mystery Series – College Nurse

Livia J. Washburn: Fresh-Baked Mystery Series – Retired Teacher

Tracy Weber: Downward Dog Mystery Series – Yoga Instructor

Margaret Yorke: Dr. Patrick Grant Mystery Series – Professor

♦To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme, click on this link.♦

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36 Comments - Click Here to Read the Comments or to Add Another

Comments

  1. Judith says

    March 30, 2010 at 1:23 pm

    Patricia Wentworth’s Miss Silver is a former governess.

    Reply
  2. Anne says

    May 21, 2010 at 11:19 am

    I just finished the first of Maggie Barbieri Murder 101 series. I was very impressed with it. One of the best series I have started in a long time. Can’t wait to get the rest of the series. My summer is set! I might be the last one on the planet to have started this series but wanted to share with those who have not had the pleasure. Well written, smart and fun.

    Reply
    • Sue K. says

      July 6, 2013 at 5:38 am

      I also love this series. They don’t come fast enough for me!

      Reply
  3. Karen Russell says

    June 2, 2010 at 10:22 am

    Margot Kinberg and William Urban both write about professors, too.

    Reply
  4. Danna - cozy mystery list says

    June 2, 2010 at 10:36 am

    Thanks, Karen, for telling us about them!

    Reply
  5. Patricia Rockwell says

    December 3, 2010 at 10:31 am

    My amateur sleuth Pamela Barnes is a Psychology professor and acoustics expert. She uses her knowledge of sound to solve the strangulation death of a colleague in “Sounds of Murder.”

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      December 4, 2010 at 2:55 pm

      Patricia, thanks for telling us about your teacher/sleuth in Sounds of Murder.

      Reply
  6. Nicole says

    January 17, 2011 at 4:05 am

    Imogen Quy is a college nurse in Cambridge – 4 books by Jill Paton Walsh

    (BTW, I absolutely LOVE your site. It’s just what I’ve been looking for! Thank you!)

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      January 18, 2011 at 2:28 pm

      Thanks, Nicole!

      Reply
  7. Lou says

    June 28, 2011 at 6:57 pm

    A friend just directed me to this site. Very nice!
    May I add Simon Nash’s Adam Ludlow books, and Leo Bruce’s Carolus Deene ones.

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      July 2, 2011 at 12:19 pm

      Thank you, Lou, for telling us about Simon Nash’s Adam Ludlow and Leo Bruce’s Carolus Deene.

      Reply
  8. Tessa says

    July 29, 2011 at 4:39 pm

    I am looking for the name of an author in order to see if she has added anymore titles to a series. The first book was set at a boarding school for young ladies. The first
    murder was of one of the teachers, who returns as a ghost. Another teacher is the “detector”. It was definitely set in England, though I can’t recall the area.

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      July 31, 2011 at 11:31 am

      Tessa, I’ll add this to my list of entries to post. Hopefully someone can come up with the book for you…

      Reply
  9. linda says

    September 27, 2011 at 11:44 am

    I have loved Anne George’s “Southern Sisters” series. There hasn’t been anything close to that series since! I have 2 sisters and this series reminded me of our relationships!!

    Reply
  10. davidandersonauthor says

    October 18, 2011 at 6:48 am

    I am a new author (An Indecent Death, A Striking Death) whose books feature Detective Sergeant Nicholas Drumm, a Canadian detective and former teacher. Does he qualify in this section? Been following your blog for some time – thanks for all your good work!

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      October 18, 2011 at 2:13 pm

      Thank you, David Anderson, for telling us about your Detective Sergeant Nicholas Drumm mystery series!

      Reply
  11. Cindy H. says

    January 12, 2012 at 12:35 am

    I read a new mystery author recently, and enjoyed her first book very much. I haven’t seen her listed on the site anywhere, so I’d like to bring her to peoples’ attention.

    The author is Janice Hamrick. She started her “Jocelyn Shore” mystery series with the book “Death on Tour”. Jocelyn is a high school teacher in Texas, who goes with her cousin on a package tour in Egypt. She ends up in the middle of a murder mystery, where she could be the next victim! Jocelyn is very funny and spunky. The book gives great detail about the Egyptian tour, and there is a fun romance added as well. Her second book in the series is set to come out in July 2012, “Death Makes the Cut”. Worth reading!

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      January 13, 2012 at 1:22 pm

      Thank you, Cindy H., for telling us about Janice Hamrick. She is actually on my list of authors to post to the site.

      Reply
      • Cindy H. says

        January 14, 2012 at 12:50 am

        I am glad you are adding her. I was drawn to it by the Egyptian setting, and was very happy with the book overall.

        Reply
    • Meg Smith says

      November 19, 2017 at 8:53 pm

      Thank you Cindy, I think. I am trying to cut down but I am intrigued so I’m going to buy the book…I’m so weak.

      Reply
  12. Sue K. says

    July 6, 2013 at 5:39 am

    Denise Swanson writes about a school social worker, Skye Denison in her “Murder of a…” Series.

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      July 9, 2013 at 3:06 pm

      Thanks, Sue K, for the reminder about Denise Swanson’s school social worker. You would think I would have remembered to put her on this list >>> My sister is a social worker in the Chicago school district!

      Reply
  13. Anita says

    August 15, 2013 at 6:33 pm

    Livia J. Washburn’s A Fresh-Baked Mystery series. The main character and all her friends are retired teachers and it’s a nice cozy series.

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      August 18, 2013 at 5:01 pm

      Thanks, Anita, I just added Livia J. Washburn to the Teachers mystery book theme.

      Reply
  14. Cannot Find says

    June 17, 2015 at 10:13 am

    Hi, My sister and I read this book years ago: Its probably out of print but for some reason it’s driving us both crazy because neither of us can remember who wrote it or the title. Something to do with an Archaeology professor, a female student, perhaps set in Arizona and something to do with a burial site – he was in love with her, and she was the best friend of his daughter (I think perhaps his daughter was dead…can’t remember) It was likely a series of a couple of books written maybe in 1990.

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      June 18, 2015 at 4:04 pm

      Cannot Find, I’m not sure who you’re talking about, but I would suggest that you take a look at this theme:
      Mystery Books with Anthropologists and Archaeologists as Their Sleuths…

      Reply
      • Cannot Find says

        June 23, 2015 at 9:35 am

        Thank you, but we’ve already looked through that list and every other possible list online that we could think of!

        Reply
        • Mary g says

          November 15, 2015 at 9:52 pm

          Hi. I just spotted this post. The mention of this book and the elements…archaeology professor, Arizona desert, etc….and being published around the 1990’s, has the back of my memory doing some rumblings. Could the book have been by Elizabeth Peters? (Not the Amelia Peabody series, or the Vicky Bliss series……. But a standalone, perhaps?). Elizabeth Peters did a few books that had that love interest stuff, along with the archaeology. Could have been almost more of a romance than a mystery, and she was very prolific. My second guess is one in the series by J.F. Trainor, with the character Angela Bibiwan.
          Hope this helps.

          Reply
          • T says

            November 16, 2015 at 1:03 pm

            Hi Mary – thanks for the reply. No, it’s not either of those. My sister and I vaguely remember it was a newer, perhaps first time, female author, and the books may be out of print. They were VERY light but it’s become a bit of an obsession over the years to track them down! There may have been three books in the series.

            Reply
          • Danna - cozy mystery list says

            November 16, 2015 at 3:15 pm

            Mary G, thank you for the Elizabeth Peters idea. We are certainly lucky that she was so prolific over the many, many years she wrote…

            Reply
  15. Kate (C.T.) Collier says

    May 26, 2016 at 5:54 pm

    Two more academic mystery series:

    Don’t miss Lesley A. Diehl’s “Laura Murphy Mystery Series.” Laura is a psychology professor. Murder is Academic and Failure is Fatal are the first two titles. Setting is a college in upstate New York. Funny and fast-paced.

    My series The Penningtons Investigate releases book one, Planted, on July 22. Lyssa Pennington, PhD Economics, is a professor at Tompkins College in upstate New York’s Finger Lakes area. Her husband, Kyle, PhD Computer Science, is CIO of the same college. Smart classy cozies.

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      May 26, 2016 at 8:35 pm

      Kate, thanks for the Teachers info. I even have Lesley A. Diehl on the site!

      Reply
  16. Susan says

    June 6, 2019 at 8:59 pm

    I see you don’t have the Miss Seeton books listed. She is an elderly psychic art teacher who works part time for Scotland Yard. This series has a variety of authors. During the war she worked for the secret service.

    Reply
    • Danna - cozy mystery list says

      June 8, 2019 at 11:04 am

      Susan, here is the Miss Seeton main page on my site. It’s great that “Hamilton Crane” is writing more Miss Seeton Cozies now!

      Reply
  17. Dawn says

    January 31, 2022 at 8:20 pm

    The black sheep knitters books has Maggie Messina who is a retired teacher. She runs a knitting store and her and her 4 friends solve murders. Can’t recall what subject she taught though. There was one more that I was thinking of, but, it has slipped my mind. Will report back if it comes to mind! 🙂

    Reply
  18. Dawn says

    January 31, 2022 at 8:48 pm

    I think the Heather Wells mystery series should be on this list too. Well she’s not a teacher, she is a residence hall Director at a college in New York. That’s the other one I was thinking of! 🙂

    Reply

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