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Messages - Becke Davis

631
As I wrote in my top mysteries and thrillers list for 2019, Edith Maxwell is my Queen of the Cozy. Her Country Store mystery series is my absolute favorite. I love her Quaker Midwife and Cozy Capers Book Group series as well.

I am into Carlene O'Connor's Irish Village series a lot. Plus Sheila Connolly's County Cork series. Oh, and I can't forget to mention the Vicki Delany series I'm reading: Year Round Christmas mysteries and the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mysteries.

A couple of new series I have enjoyed is the Movie Palace mysteries by Margaret Dumas and Nicole Asselin's Ballpark Mysteries.

I'm holding you personally responsible for increasing my to-be-read shelves! I've read a couple of books by Sheila Connolly and Vicki Delany but I don't think I've read anything by Edith Maxwell, Margaret Dumas or Nicole Asselin. I may have read something by Carlene O'Connor - I'll have to go check my shelves of keeper cozies.

In the meantime, I've ordered Edith Maxwell's MULCH ADO ABOUT MURDER.

The MULCH ADO ABOUT MURDER is from her five book Local Foods mystery series. I only recently acquired all five of the books in that series but haven't yet gotten around to reading them.

I know if you read the Country Store mysteries you will love them like I do. The series lead, Robbie Jordan, kicks as much butt as Jack Reacher - with way better food! I turned one of my co-workers onto the series and she can't get enough of them now.

And I will be glad to take the blame for getting you to read some of the authors I like that you aren't all that familiar with. More sales for them!

I do buy a lot of new books but I balance those with books from the library and from used book stores. I do like to support authors as much as I can!

632
As I wrote in my top mysteries and thrillers list for 2019, Edith Maxwell is my Queen of the Cozy. Her Country Store mystery series is my absolute favorite. I love her Quaker Midwife and Cozy Capers Book Group series as well.

I am into Carlene O'Connor's Irish Village series a lot. Plus Sheila Connolly's County Cork series. Oh, and I can't forget to mention the Vicki Delany series I'm reading: Year Round Christmas mysteries and the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mysteries.

A couple of new series I have enjoyed is the Movie Palace mysteries by Margaret Dumas and Nicole Asselin's Ballpark Mysteries.

Back again. Our feature for March, as a tie-in with St. Patrick's Day, is going to be Ireland. My original idea was to highlight books and/or series set in Ireland, but we can expand this to include mysteries with a strong Irish theme that might not actually take place in Ireland. You've just given us two authors/series to give us a place to start.

Any other suggestions?

633
What I'm Reading / Re: A BETTER MAN by Louise Penny
« on: February 02, 2020, 03:56:16 pm »
More from the February newsletter:

Editing

It has taken me a year to research and write this book.  As you know, I only produce one thing all year.  No short stories, no essays.  No ceramics and hardly any meals.  Just this.  But oh, the joy of being in the company of Gamache and all the others.

Of course, it's not always easy, for them or for me.  But so very rewarding.  To create, and get to visit, that brave new world.  And to have you as company. 

For now, I've finished the book and am working on the notes from my editors.  Notes I take extremely seriously, out of respect for them, for the characters, for you, and for myself.

Though, God knows, I feel like a worm on a hook - reading the 'suggestions' and writhing.  Muttering, 'But it's perfect as it is!!  How dare they!!'

Even the smallest suggestion feels, at first, like a drip of acid.  (I believe I just mixed metaphors…what would my editor say?  Oh, wait, I know exactly.  And how would I react to her perfectly justified and helpful 'suggestion'?  Oh, wait.  I know exactly.)

Then I get off my self-imposed hook (and develop a thicker skin), and get to work.  I don't accept every suggestion, but quite a few I do. 

And I take all of them seriously.  If not always with good humour.

February in Canada

Am back in Quebec now, and loving it.  Re-connecting with friends, with the village.  With Pilates.  With butter tarts. 

Having finished the writing, if not the writhing, and into the editing, and without promotion commitments in the agenda for this month, I can now go to sleep without setting an alarm.  What bliss!  What a rare gift that is, in all our lives.

A Better Man - Agatha nomination

Had fun news a few days ago.  A BETTER MAN, the latest Gamache book, has been nominated for an Agatha Award for Best Contemporary Novel. 

And, to make it sweeter, a lot of my friends are also nominated, in that category and others.  It makes a great To Be Read list. 

Click here to see the full list of nominees: http://malicedomestic.org/agathas.html

Congratulations to all.  Whoever wins, I am happy.

Audie Award nomination

In other great news, KINGDOM OF THE BLIND has been nominated for the Audie Award for Best Male Narrator!!  A wonderful recognition for Robert Bathurst.  Congratulations, Robert!!

February is nicely quiet.  Almost nothing in my agenda, except gum surgery.  Yes, I consider that a highlight worth mentioning. 

Most sensible people try to get away, even for a short while, from Quebec in February.  I stay here.  I love winter.  In December, January, February.  Even March.  But after that? 

Enough. 

It's fun for me to use a quote from The Tempest as the title for this book.  Not only is it apt, given the plot and themes, but it brings back memories of my high school days at Lawrence Park Collegiate (Go Panthers!). 

In my final year, Grade 13 at the time, I produced the school play.  It was, The Tempest.  What fun we had!  And so these lines resonate with me. 

And one in particular, given the over-arching theme of the Gamache books:

What's past is prologue.

I believe that.  And, not coincidentally, so does Armand.  And it is extremely evident, perhaps more than most of the books, in ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE.

Sending warm thoughts your way.  None of this would be any fun without your companionship.  Thank you.  Merci.

Louise
Xxoo

"Now I will believe that there are unicorns…."
The Tempest

634
What I'm Reading / Re: A BETTER MAN by Louise Penny
« on: February 02, 2020, 03:51:00 pm »
Exciting news in Louise Penny's newsletter! I'll attempt to paste the details here:

Louise Penny
- February Newsletter

" ….my library was dukedom large enough."
- Shakespeare, The Tempest

Not sure if you've heard, but I can now tell you the title of the next Gamache book!  It's a quote from Shakespeare's The Tempest.

Just as a young man is leaping to almost certain death from a storm-tossed ship, he screams, 'Hell is empty, and all the devils are here.'

Wow.  The terror.  Delivered just as this young man and his shipmates were in the middle of what they thought would be a great and wonderful adventure. 

And so it is in this book.  I won't, as yet, tell you the plot, but the title is:

ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE.

It is coming out on September 1st.

Book 16 in the chronicles of Armand Gamache et al.  Can you believe it?

"Oh brave new world, that has such people in it"

The Tempest

635
Welcome and General Discussion / Re: Say Hi and Introduce Yourself
« on: February 02, 2020, 11:32:48 am »
Hi Molly!

Welcome to the forums. I am sorry to say that I haven't read your work before but I'm definitely going to add the Highland Bookshop Mysteries books to the list of series I need to check out. I love series set in Ireland and Scotland and when they are set in and around a bookstore or library, so much the better!

Molly - I'm trying to remember the first time we met in real life. Was it at Magna Cum Murder? I know we chatted at the one I attended where I got knocked out by some kind of 24 hour flu bug and I spent most of the conference in my hotel room. But I'm pretty sure I'd met you earlier, too. Anyway...

I think I've read all your books (except the one, maybe two that are in my ridiculously huge to-be-read pile). I especially love the Highland Bookshop series because it sounds so idyllic...and then the bodies start to drop. ;-)

636
Not sure exactly what a "cozy mystery" is? Author AMANDA FLOWER, whose books I enjoy, gives a good explanation of the genre in this article for Publisher's Weekly: https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/tip-sheet/article/76834-the-enduring-appeal-of-the-cozy-mystery.html

"An amateur sleuth, an unsuspecting victim, a quirky supporting cast, and trail of clues and red herrings are the main ingredients of a cozy mystery. The term “cozy” was coined in the late 20th century...

The heart of why readers love cozies is they know what they are getting. They know they will have a sleuth who is pulled into the crime because that sleuth cares about other people, they know that the sleuth’s friends and family will help and hinder the investigation, they know that humor will abound, and they know that in the end, through all the twists and turns, the killer will be caught.

In a cozy, there is a happily ever after and justice is served. That does not always happen in the real world. A cozy is a brief escape from the troubles of the real world..."

Cozies are sometimes called "puzzlers" because there are puzzles for the reader to solve.

You'll find more about cozies (and cozy authors) at these links:

https://www.cozy-mystery.com/definition-of-a-cozy-mystery.html

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/what-defines-a-cozy-mystery_b_5995b2f9e4b055243ea13675

https://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/4-things-you-should-know-about-writing-a-cozy-mystery-novel

https://bookriot.com/2017/12/13/best-cozy-mystery-series/

https://www.sararosett.com/what-is-a-cozy-mystery/

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3810.Best_Cozy_Mystery_Series

637
I'm reading the latest issue of Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine (January/February 2020). Lots of good stories, but I especially liked these three cozy/traditionals: "The Last Noel" by Steve Hockensmith, "The Wreck of the Edward Fitzsimmons" by Mark Thielman, and "On the Banks of the Styx" (featuring Dr. John Watson) by James Tipton.

As for writing, I'm working on the next Highland Bookshop Mystery. Heather and Homicide is book 4 in the series. It involves a true crime writer, a missing antique miniature book, and a circle of standing stones. I'm having lots of fun - and better get back to it. type type type type typity typo type

Thanks for visiting, Molly! I love your Highland Bookshop mystery series - I have two on my keeper shelf and one in my to-be-read pile. Can you give us any idea what's coming in Book 4? I also enjoyed LAWN ORDER and all your Haunted Yarn Shop mysteries.

638
As I wrote in my top mysteries and thrillers list for 2019, Edith Maxwell is my Queen of the Cozy. Her Country Store mystery series is my absolute favorite. I love her Quaker Midwife and Cozy Capers Book Group series as well.

I am into Carlene O'Connor's Irish Village series a lot. Plus Sheila Connolly's County Cork series. Oh, and I can't forget to mention the Vicki Delany series I'm reading: Year Round Christmas mysteries and the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mysteries.

A couple of new series I have enjoyed is the Movie Palace mysteries by Margaret Dumas and Nicole Asselin's Ballpark Mysteries.

I'm holding you personally responsible for increasing my to-be-read shelves! I've read a couple of books by Sheila Connolly and Vicki Delany but I don't think I've read anything by Edith Maxwell, Margaret Dumas or Nicole Asselin. I may have read something by Carlene O'Connor - I'll have to go check my shelves of keeper cozies.

In the meantime, I've ordered Edith Maxwell's MULCH ADO ABOUT MURDER.

639
When it's cold outside and the days are still too short, it's the perfect time to sit by the fire sipping tea, hot chocolate, wine or whatever...while reading a cozy (or even cozy-ish) crime novel!

Tell us your favorite cozy novels and the authors of your favorite cozy series.

If you write cozies, introduce yourself and tell us about your books.

Let's make this short month go faster - join the discussion, right here, right now!

640
Welcome and General Discussion / R.I.P. Mary Higgins Clark
« on: February 01, 2020, 04:33:22 pm »
Wow, I kind of thought she'd live forever. Just saw the news that Mary Higgins Clark, age 92, has died.

I'm guessing most of you are familiar with her books. I'm pretty sure I've read all of them, including the books she co-authored with Alafair Burke.

https://abc7chicago.com/society/bestselling-author-mary-higgins-clark-dies-at-92/5896056/?fbclid=IwAR11n6FjtJHt4ZjedHLY3ER1mQNDB325hLlx-hlvXPQzli53VhN4qYcZZtQ

641
Back when I moderated the Mystery Forum at BN.com, we ran special features throughout the year. Within the framework of these features, authors would be invited to join the conversation and tell us about their books, plus the forum participants could share their favorite books and/or authors and, if they chose to, they could write a short blog about the featured topic and share it on the thread for the featured topic.

Some topics to consider: Cozy and Cozyish Books, Thrillers, Psychological Suspense, Vintage Mysteries, Romantic Suspense, Historical Mysteries, mysteries set in particular cities or countries, pet mysteries, military/espionage mysteries, and so on.

What would you like see featured here?

642
Favorites / Re: David Baldacci
« on: January 29, 2020, 07:41:20 pm »
I'm a big fan of David Baldacci as well. I haven't read everything he's written but I've read most of it. I have a few books that I bought but haven't gotten around to reading yet.

I loved the standalones The Winner and True Blue, but I love his series books too.

One of my trivia team partners is a HUGE fan of the author and when he found out (cause I called him to tell him!) that I had gotten not one, but TWO Baldacci advance copies to do reviews, he was soooo jealous.

By the way, the reviews I did were for:

A Minute To Midnight: https://www.mysteryscenemag.com/component/content/article/26-reviews/books/6718-a-minute-to-midnight

Great review! I'm really enjoying Carol Blum and her relationship, personally and on the job, with Atlee Pine.

One Good Deed: https://www.mysteryscenemag.com/component/content/article/26-reviews/books/6635-one-good-deed

I'm looking forward to reading this, too!

I haven't made much progress on A MINUTE TO MIDNIGHT which is no fault of the book. We've had a lot of rain the past few weeks and my granddaughters are getting cabin fever. Compared to Chicago weather, this has been idyllic, but it's too wet and muddy for the girls to play outside. As a result, they are full of beans and I'm ready to crash way earlier than usual. Plus, I watch a sweet foster baby a couple days a week. She is just starting to walk so nothing is safe, and by the end of the day I'm too tired to read much. I am progressing, just not as quickly as I'd like.

643
Favorites / David Baldacci
« on: January 28, 2020, 03:11:25 pm »
David Baldacci is a best-selling thriller writer. Like Harlan Coben and Linwood Barclay, Baldacci is a must-read for me. I just started his latest, A MINUTE TO MIDNIGHT.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44287119-a-minute-to-midnight

I went through his book list and realized I've read at least one book from each of his series books, but I've read nearly all of his stand-alones.

I think I've read all of his MEMORY MAN books - I love the premise:

"Amos Decker is a valuable asset to the police force: a highly skilled investigator with a perfect memory, the result of a traumatic sports injury. Decker’s inability to forget anything makes him a wonderful detective, but it’s also a curse for a man who has seen things he would rather not remember."

https://www.novelsuspects.com/novel-suspects/david-baldacci-memory-man-series/

One of his stand-alones really resonated with me: https://www.davidbaldacci.com/titles/david-baldacci/total-control/9780759524927/

644
Welcome and General Discussion / Re: The 2020 Edgar Nominations
« on: January 26, 2020, 04:53:31 pm »
I do the same thing, to some extent. If I'm curious about a book or author I've never read before, I may look to see if their books were nominated for awards or if they won any awards. It gives an author credibility, but doesn't necessarily mean I will like their books.

645
Welcome and General Discussion / Re: The 2020 Edgar Nominations
« on: January 26, 2020, 01:51:24 am »
I haven't received ONE NIGHT GONE yet so I just read THE ZIG ZAG GIRL, one of Elly Griffiths MAGIC MEN books. I really liked it! Not sure where this one comes in the series but I'm definitely going to read more. I think some of her older books were award winners - I need to check that out!