Author Topic: February Feature at the Forum: Curl Up with a Cozy!  (Read 34181 times)

Becke Davis

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February Feature at the Forum: Curl Up with a Cozy!
« on: February 02, 2020, 01:57:06 am »
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!

JRob

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Re: February Feature at the Forum: Curl Up with a Cozy!
« Reply #1 on: February 02, 2020, 08:16:30 am »
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.

Molly MacRae

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Re: February Feature at the Forum: Curl Up with a Cozy!
« Reply #2 on: February 02, 2020, 09:10:59 am »
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

Becke Davis

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Re: February Feature at the Forum: Curl Up with a Cozy!
« Reply #3 on: February 02, 2020, 10:57:09 am »
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.

Becke Davis

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Re: February Feature at the Forum: Curl Up with a Cozy!
« Reply #4 on: February 02, 2020, 11:02:03 am »
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.

JRob

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Re: February Feature at the Forum: Curl Up with a Cozy!
« Reply #5 on: February 02, 2020, 11:06:41 am »
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!

Becke Davis

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Re: February Feature at the Forum: Curl Up with a Cozy!
« Reply #6 on: February 02, 2020, 11:25:46 am »
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

Becke Davis

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Re: February Feature at the Forum: Curl Up with a Cozy!
« Reply #7 on: February 02, 2020, 05:35:21 pm »
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?

JRob

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Re: February Feature at the Forum: Curl Up with a Cozy!
« Reply #8 on: February 02, 2020, 07:46:30 pm »
Well, we can't forget about Rhys Bowen's Molly Murphy series which does start in Ireland but is mostly set in turn of the century (or thereabouts) New York. It is the first series I read that was tied to Ireland and it is fantastic. I got to meet her at a signing and she signed my copy of the first book in the series!

I'm not sure I know of any other series/books tied to Ireland but not actually set there. At least not off the top of my head. I've never had to go looking for that kind of thematic narrative before.

Becke Davis

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Re: February Feature at the Forum: Curl Up with a Cozy!
« Reply #9 on: February 02, 2020, 09:51:55 pm »
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!

Becke Davis

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Re: February Feature at the Forum: Curl Up with a Cozy!
« Reply #10 on: February 02, 2020, 10:31:58 pm »
Jumping ahead to March, some of the books and authors that come to mind (in addition to the authors already mentioned in a previous post):

Tana French's Dublin Murder squad books: http://tanafrench.com/books.html

Stuart Neville's THE GHOSTS OF BELFAST https://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/book-review/ghosts-belfast

Ken Bruen's THE GUARDS https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/298920.The_Guards

Dervla McTiernan's THE RUIN and THE SCHOLAR

Benjamin Black's Quirke series

Sheila Connolly's County Cork series

Erin Hart's Nora Gavin/Cormac Maguire series

Paul Murray's SKIPPY DIES https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/books/review/Kois-t.html

Colin Bateman's DIVORCING JACK https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-55970-310-9

Adrian McKinty's Detective Sean Duffy series

John Banville's THE BOOK OF EVIDENCE

Cora Harrison's A SECRET AND UNLAWFUL KILLING https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-312-37268-2

Bartholomew Gill's Peter McGarr mysteries https://www.bookseriesinorder.com/bartholomew-gill/

dhaupt3

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Re: February Feature at the Forum: Curl Up with a Cozy!
« Reply #11 on: February 04, 2020, 04:42:27 am »
I like the Gunn Zoo Mysteries with Teddy Bently as the star by Betty Webb
also VM Burns has several and I like her Mystery Bookshop Mysteries staring Samantha Washington
And then there are the classic like Agatha's Miss Marple
dhaupt3

Becke Davis

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Re: February Feature at the Forum: Curl Up with a Cozy!
« Reply #12 on: February 04, 2020, 05:34:04 pm »
Well, we can't forget about Rhys Bowen's Molly Murphy series which does start in Ireland but is mostly set in turn of the century (or thereabouts) New York. It is the first series I read that was tied to Ireland and it is fantastic. I got to meet her at a signing and she signed my copy of the first book in the series!

I'm not sure I know of any other series/books tied to Ireland but not actually set there. At least not off the top of my head. I've never had to go looking for that kind of thematic narrative before.

Good call! I met Rhys several years ago - I think it was at Left Coast Crime in Santa Fe. Before she started the Molly Murphy books or the Her Royal Spyness series, she had a cozy series set in Wales and featuring police constable Evan Evans. I read every one of them and was sad when she moved on to her newer series', even those became much bigger best sellers than the Evan books. She has also written some stand-alones. Her new stand-alone, ABOVE THE BAY OF ANGELS, comes out on February 11. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07T6KS3QH/

Becke Davis

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Re: February Feature at the Forum: Curl Up with a Cozy!
« Reply #13 on: February 05, 2020, 10:02:21 pm »
I'm posting this on behalf of cozy mystery author LEANN SWEENEY. She is having a miserable time after an injury in 2016 which caused significant nerve injuries to her dominant arm and hand. She's still in constant pain which, as you can imagine, makes it very difficult to write/type. She's worried her fans have given up on her CATS IN TROUBLE series but the good news is, she has almost completed the next book in the series.

Leann has 8 books so far in the CATS IN TROUBLE series, starting with THE CAT, THE COLLECTOR AND THE KILLER:
http://www.leannsweeney.com/the-cat-the-collector-the-killer/

She has five books in the YELLOW ROSE mystery series, starting with PICK YOUR POISON:
http://www.leannsweeney.com/pick-your-poison/

It's hard for authors to write AND promote their books, and it's even harder when they are dealing with illness and/or injuries. If you'd like to give Leann and her books some love, you can find out more about them here: http://www.leannsweeney.com/books/

Denise

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Re: February Feature at the Forum: Curl Up with a Cozy!
« Reply #14 on: February 06, 2020, 12:33:54 pm »
One cozy "rule" I don't really agree with is that the sleuth has to be an amateur. I think it's more about the setting and atmosphere. For example, Becke, I notice that you mentioned a series featuring a police constable. One that comes to my mind is the Richard Jury series by Martha Grimes, that I consider to be cozies. Of course, those encompass two settings, and I guess Melrose's little corner of the world is the cozier of the two, and he's an amateur, but even the London bits with Jury and his crazy neighbors and colleagues are cozieish. Have only seen the series and not read the books, but Midsomer Murders definitely seem like cozies to me. Even Agatha Raisin turns pro and opens her own detective agency!

Not sure it qualifies as a cozy, although in general I consider Christie to be a cozy author, but I'm currently reading So Many Steps to Death (British title Destination Unknown), which is more in her espionage category - disappearing scientists.
"Poirot," I said. "I have been thinking."  "An admirable exercise, my friend. Continue it." - Agatha Christie, Peril at End House