Cozy Mysteries: Plucky Heroine Moves Home and Finds Body

[blackwing]

Agatha Christie of course is the ultimate in cozy, but so many cozy series lately have the similar theme of a woman in her late 20s / early 30s moving home after some romantic disaster in the big city at her big time job.  Now she is stuck running a shop or the family business, runs across her ex who seems to still be interested, and bodies start piling up.

I don't mind these so much as long as they have an interesting theme or a more unique setting other than small Hallmark Channel hometown.

What are your favourite cozy mystery series?  What's your favourite setting/theme?

I'll throw out a few that I have enjoyed:

• Agatha Christie
• Ellis Peters - Brother Cadfael
• Peter King - Gourmet Detective
• Daryl Wood Gerber - Cookbook Nook, a woman who runs a store that sells cookbooks in California
• Paige Shelton - Country Cooking School.  Woman runs a cooking school and sees ghosts.  
• Ellery Adams - Pie Shop.  Woman imbues her pies with magical properties
• Joyce and Jim LaVene - Renaissance Faire mysteries
• Vicki Delany - Klondike mysteries.  Woman runs a saloon and dance hall in the Gold Rush era.
• Kylie Logan - League of Literary Ladies.  Book club somewhere near Cleveland.
• Maddie Day - Country Store in Indiana

There are many more.  I am a guy who reads cozies, which seems to be a rare breed.  I read them because they are fast and fun and I like to see if I can solve it before the main character does.  I do wish there were more men who wrote cozies with men as main characters.  I am slowly savoring my way through Conrad Allen's Dillman and Masefield series, which is set on various ocean liners in the early 1900s.  George Dillman is an American detective hired by the cruise lines and Genevieve Masefield is his beautiful English girlfriend and detective partner.

[BlackberryJam]

@blackwing I will have so much to say in this thread! Thank you.

My first recommendations for male protagonist cozy are books by David Handler. His Stewart Hoag mysteries have Hoagy, a flash in the pan writer who now ghost writes celebrity memoirs, solve mysteries with his dog, Lulu. They take place in the 80s/90s. His other great series are the Berger and Mitry mysteries. Mitch Berger is a short, widowed, Jewish film critic who moves to a small new England town. Des Mitry is a tall, artistic, Black state trooper stationed in the area. You get both of their POVs.

[sugarbaker design]

42 minutes ago, blackwing said:

There are many more.  I am a guy who reads cozies, which seems to be a rare breed. 

Me too!

42 minutes ago, blackwing said:

Vicki Delany - Klondike mysteries.  Woman runs a saloon and dance hall in the Gold Rush era.

I think I got a recommendation about Vicki Delaney from you @blackwing I tried out VD's first in her Sherlock Holmes bookshop series, I liked it, I plan on continuing with the series.  And Ellery Adams is on my list.

42 minutes ago, blackwing said:

Maddie Day - Country Store in Indiana

The author of the Gethsamane Brown books, Alexia Gordon, has a cozy podcast where she interviews authors.  Many times the interviewed authors don't say anything to inspire any kind of interest in their work.  Indeed, sometimes the interviews devolve into discussions of recipes.  (Those damn cupcakes!).  But recently AG interviewed Edith Maxwell, who also goes by Maddie Day, who talked about her Quaker mid-wife series set in the late 1800's in Massachusetts.  The intriguing interview prompted me to pick up Delivering The Truth.  I quite enjoyed it, and now I am open to trying out her other psuedonyms and series.

I may be stretching the definition of cozy, but as I've mentioned in the other thread, I'm currently reading the works of Charles Todd, Louise Penny, Simon Brett, Alexia Gordon and Margaret Maron.

 

Edited March 11, 2022 by sugarbaker design

[BlackberryJam]

I second Alexia Gordon and Louise Penny. Louise Penny writes the Armand Gamache series, and when they aren't all about corruption in the Sûreté du Québec, they are very good. I'm on my third Margaret Maron. 

Edited March 11, 2022 by BlackberryJam
Forgot part of the sentence.

[blackwing]

I agree that Louise Penny is great, as long as she isn't stuck on her corruption story angle.  The latest book had zero mention of corruption and it was very enjoyable.

Will check out Alexia Gordon and David Handler.

[OtterMommy]

Hmmm, I'm not sure I would consider Agatha Christie or Louise Penny cozy.   Of course, I have yet to find a definition that separates cozy mystery from regular mystery.  

However, one thing that I do think differentiates the two is having a "sleuth" who is not someone who would normally be sleuthing.  With that, I suppose the Miss Marple mysteries (but not, I think, any other Christie or any of Louise Penny's Gamache books) would fall under that umbrella.  I think that is why I tend not to read that many cozies--I don't like my mysteries solved by hair dressers (or chefs or bookshop owners, etc).   

That being said, I've read books that would be considered a cozy under that definition but are not generally considered to be so otherwise.  One title that comes to my mind is Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara.  Another one that I would consider a cozy but others have told me is not is Finley Donovan is Killing It.  In my mind, that is pure cozy.

Anyway, a long winded into to my question...how do you all define a cozy mystery?

[BlackberryJam]

15 minutes ago, OtterMommy said:

Anyway, a long winded into to my question...how do you all define a cozy mystery?

My definition of cozy is "mystery that is not chock full of thriller elements," and "not a police procedural" but can have a detective/police officer as the protagonist. I use "cozy" as defining my comfort level in reading them. If there is constant, anxiety-inducing danger, not cozy. If all of the characters are unpleasant, not cozy. If it's written from the POV of the killer, not cozy. If the protagonist is tortured, beaten, left bloody, not cozy. 

Louise Penny doesn't quite make it because of the corruption based books, but the ones focused on Three Pines do.

If I feel all warm, cozy and comfortable reading, it's a cozy for me. 

At the same time, I don't care if the book I'm reading falls strictly within one definition or not. 

[OtterMommy]

1 hour ago, BlackberryJam said:

My definition of cozy is "mystery that is not chock full of thriller elements," and "not a police procedural" but can have a detective/police officer as the protagonist. I use "cozy" as defining my comfort level in reading them. If there is constant, anxiety-inducing danger, not cozy. If all of the characters are unpleasant, not cozy. If it's written from the POV of the killer, not cozy. If the protagonist is tortured, beaten, left bloody, not cozy. 

 

I can buy that.  Personally, I like my mysteries darker so what are marketed as cozies usually aren't for me.  That being said, I love some of the books you listed as cozies--I'm working my way through all of Agatha Christie's books now.  I think "cozy mystery" like many genres, can be a bit fluid.

[GaT]

Interesting, I would never have thought of Agatha Christie as being a cozy writer. To me cozies are what Hallmark makes it's mystery movies from.

[sugarbaker design]

10 hours ago, GaT said:

Interesting, I would never have thought of Agatha Christie as being a cozy writer. 

You wouldn't consider the Miss Marples cozies?

[GaT]

2 hours ago, sugarbaker design said:

You wouldn't consider the Miss Marples cozies?

I get why you think of them as cozies, but I just don't. Cozies just seem to be "lighter" to me, I get through them quickly without much thinking. Christie novels seem to need more involvement, if that makes any sense.

[OtterMommy]

I do think that there is a lot of leeway as to what is considered a cozy.  Personally, I don't consider Agatha Christie a cozy read, but I can understand why some do.  I did a little googling and here are some of the cozy mystery definitions I found:

Cozy Mystery List has a pretty long definition.  You can read the whole thing here, but here is a snippet:

Quote

Cozy mysteries are considered “gentle” books… no graphic violence, no profanity, and no explicit sex. Most often, the crime takes place “off stage” and death is usually very quick. Prolonged torture is not a staple in cozy mysteries! The victim is usually a character who had terrible vices or who treated others very badly. Dare I say…. the victim “deserved to die?” And, there are usually connections between the victims (if indeed there are multiple victims… which usually, in a cozy mystery, there are!), even though the reader is not aware of the obvious connections until the amateur sleuth solves the crimes.

Wikipedia says:

Quote

Cozy mysteries, also referred to as "cozies", are a subgenre of crime fiction in which sex and violence occur off stage, the detective is an amateur sleuth, and the crime and detection take place in a small, socially intimate community. Cozies thus stand in contrast to hardboiled fiction, in which more violence and explicit sexuality are central to the plot. The term "cozy" was first coined in the late 20th century when various writers produced work in an attempt to re-create the Golden Age of Detective Fiction.

(This explains why some consider Agatha Christie as a cozy read as cozies are supposed to re-create the genre over which Agatha Christie reigned).

And an article in Publisher's Weekly says:

Quote

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.

Perhaps the edges of the genre bleed a bit.  However, people have their own tastes and I think that finding books you enjoy is more important than subscribing to a particular genre.

[Mabinogia]

On 3/11/2022 at 10:45 AM, blackwing said:

I do wish there were more men who wrote cozies with men as main characters.

My newest favorite are the Corgi Case Files. Male lead is a romance writer who inherits his late wife's families vineyard in the obligatory small town. He finds himself owner of a pair of corgis who have a habit of sniffing out crime. The writer, Jeffrey Poole, is clearly a dog owner because he absolutely nails the personality and canine habits of the two corgis. He seems to write a lot of fantasy books and started this series to take a break from that. They are fun and humerous little mysteries. There is some very peripheral romance, but it isn't "meet cute" or "push/pull" it is just two more mature adults with life experience who enjoy spending time together. 

The thing I tend to dislike most about cozies is the romance, which is usually either the childhood sweetheart rekindled, the rugged cop who doesn't like the plucky, know it all heroine getting involved in the case, or the at some point suspect with whom the lead falls after realizing it was all some big misunderstanding. 

In Corgi Case Files the romantic interest is just some chick he met at a book store and asked to coffee. 

Re: Agatha Christie's inclusion in "cozies". I'd say Miss Marple fits the bill, amateur sleuth, small village full of quirky characters but others less so, but flirting on the boarders since she does tend away from gore or proceduralness. 

I think cozy mysteries kind of get a bad wrap, in that they are lumped into the Hallmark/Lifetime movie genre and while that seems to be the direction the genre has gone, probably because they are easy and formulaic, I don't think that was the original meaning, I think it was just less gritty, more, curl up with a cup of tea under a blanket for a relaxing read. 

[BlackberryJam]

I agree that the term "cozy" has become a way to denigrate the quality of the mysteries. Sure, there are plenty that are the same theme over and over, but if Poirot isn't a cozy, what is it? Certainly not thrillers or procedural. It's just a mystery? I'm fine with that label, but a search for just "mystery" is always packed with thrillers. And the term, "whodunit" has fallen out of fashion.

Anyway.

I've reserved one of the Corgi Case Files. Thanks for the rec!

 

[Mabinogia]

7 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

And the term, "whodunit" has fallen out of fashion.

That is sad. I love a good whodunit. I used to love procedurals, all that gritty, dark serial killer stuff, but I'm over it now. I think life has gotten a bit too bleak so I love a nice light group of eccentric characters trapped in a fancy mansion eyeing each other suspiciously while someone picks them off (non-graphically) one by one. 

I hope you like the Corgis. They are good fun and my happy place. 

 

[blackwing]

I do think the definition of "cozy" is fluid.  I can see why some would say that Agatha Christie is not cozy.  After all, almost all of her books involve death, some that would be considered violent.

Cozy these days unfortunately seems to rely on a formula.  It's always a bit disappointing to me that when there are about 30 pages left, I can pretty much think to myself, "oh it's that time.  The headstrong heroine who has been told not to go off on her own by rugged boyfriend cop is going to stupidly do just that.  And then she will encounter the killer and she will be in peril.  But she is resourceful and throws her expensive high heeled shoe (that she shouldn't have worn, because duh, it's hard to run in them) at the guy and escapes, into the arms of rugged boyfriend".

On 3/11/2022 at 4:59 PM, OtterMommy said:

Hmmm, I'm not sure I would consider Agatha Christie or Louise Penny cozy.   Of course, I have yet to find a definition that separates cozy mystery from regular mystery.  

However, one thing that I do think differentiates the two is having a "sleuth" who is not someone who would normally be sleuthing.  With that, I suppose the Miss Marple mysteries (but not, I think, any other Christie or any of Louise Penny's Gamache books) would fall under that umbrella.  I think that is why I tend not to read that many cozies--I don't like my mysteries solved by hair dressers (or chefs or bookshop owners, etc).   

That being said, I've read books that would be considered a cozy under that definition but are not generally considered to be so otherwise.  One title that comes to my mind is Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara.  Another one that I would consider a cozy but others have told me is not is Finley Donovan is Killing It.  In my mind, that is pure cozy.

Anyway, a long winded into to my question...how do you all define a cozy mystery?

I haven't read "Clark and Division" but Naomi Hirahara has a series that is definitely considered cozy, it's about a young woman who moves home to Kauai to work at her family's shave ice shack.  I think the second book in the series is being released soon.

[OtterMommy]

44 minutes ago, blackwing said:

I haven't read "Clark and Division" but Naomi Hirahara has a series that is definitely considered cozy, it's about a young woman who moves home to Kauai to work at her family's shave ice shack.  I think the second book in the series is being released soon.

I haven't read anything by Hirahara besides Clark and Division, but that book isn't part of the series you mentioned.  However, I liked C&D enough that I might actually check that one out!

[Mabinogia]

39 minutes ago, blackwing said:

Cozy these days unfortunately seems to rely on a formula.  It's always a bit disappointing to me that when there are about 30 pages left, I can pretty much think to myself, "oh it's that time.  The headstrong heroine who has been told not to go off on her own by rugged boyfriend cop is going to stupidly do just that.  And then she will encounter the killer and she will be in peril.  But she is resourceful and throws her expensive high heeled shoe (that she shouldn't have worn, because duh, it's hard to run in them) at the guy and escapes, into the arms of rugged boyfriend".

I do think that's what the new definition of cozy is, but I would call that more Lifetime mysteries, or mystery romance which I can't stand. it's not that I don't like romance, I do, it's that I have hardly ever read a mystery that has a romance in it where the romance wasn't forced and disappointing. The other thing I don't like is that most of the time the romantic partner is in some way part of/involved in the mystery, either a cop, a suspect at some point, or a victim at some point. Like, the only way these people meet love interests is in pursuit of a killer. That's just not healthy lol. 

I get that it's an economy of characters type thing, most writers just make the love interest a part of the overall mystery plot, and usually a detective if it's a series, to minimize the number of characters, but it makes them all very formulaic. As soon as I read that the book is about attractive character A who is not a detective but is very clever/observant gets involved in attractive cop character B's case I'm out. Hard pass for me.  

I prefer buddy sleuth stories, like Sherlock and Watson or Poirot and Hastings or Lady Hardcastle and Flo. I don't mind amateur sleuth married couples either, though I tend towards Victorian for those. Actually, I prefer Victorian mysteries, or up through early 30s. I think because more modern mysteries tend towards procedural and if they are "Cozy" they are either "chick lit" versions of mysteries focused on romance or cats, lots of cats or cupcakes/baking/food or some weird supernatural "witches solving crimes" stuff which, while I like supernatural stories I don't like them in my murder mysteries. Books aren't Reece's!

[sugarbaker design]

14 hours ago, blackwing said:

I do think the definition of "cozy" is fluid.

 

13 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

I do think that's what the new definition of cozy is,

Right, depending on one's age, one's tastes, one's prejudices, and other factors I can't think of right now, there are going to be many different definitions of cozy.  I don't use cozy as a pejorative.  I use it to describe a sub-genre of crime fiction that I usually enjoy.  I also enjoy procedurals, classic whodunnits, noirs et al.

13 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

I prefer buddy sleuth stories,

Ditto.  That's why I love Stephen Spotswood's Fortune Favors The Dead.  It is definitely not a cozy, set in the 40s with a female version of Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodman.

 

13 hours ago, Mabinogia said:

I think because more modern mysteries tend towards procedural and if they are "Cozy" they are either "chick lit" versions of mysteries focused on romance or cats, lots of cats or cupcakes/baking/food

I agree, it is hard today to find a classic cozy without cats, dogs, cookies and cupcakes.  That's why I come here looking for suggestions.  I have so many to try out!

[Mabinogia]

7 hours ago, sugarbaker design said:

Stephen Spotswood's Fortune Favors The Dead

Just looked this one up. Sounds good. Just added it to my read list. It sounds like it has everything I like, a hard boiled noirish style, crime solving buddies, and a main character with MS. I have MS and I don't often see it represented in books that aren't about having it).  

[BlackberryJam]

If the cover of a book has a cat on it, I will not read it. I dislike cats (and I’m not fond of dogs), and cat lovers tend to over cook the pet love in novels. I get it that some people really love cats, but I’m allergic and they make my skin crawl. 

I appreciate the use of Lulu the dog in the Stewart Hoag novels. It feels organic and not super cutesy. There are a few I’ve read that involve like, park rangers with dogs, and that works for me too. I have no interest in purse puppies or animals that are receptacles of the all the protagonist’s gooey affection. 

It’s been a while, but I remember enjoying the Charly Poisson novels, French male chef in upstate New York. I also still have a chicken hash recipe I will make from those books.

[Jalyn]

Have you tried the Flavia de Luce series by Alan Bradley? Lead is 11 so you don't need to worry about the romance. It's not YA (or, at least, it doesn't feel like it to me), just has a young lead. It's set in Britain shortly after WWII and Flavia is... an unusual young lady. She can't decide, for a while, if she should be a poisoner or a detective. The murder makes it clear. 

I don't consider Dame Agatha to have written cozies.

 

 The death in "Hercule Poroit's Christmas" - I think - was famously so incredibly bloody because one of her relatives had said that she had bloodless deaths.

The reveal in Endless Nights is incredibly dark and disturbing. (I read this one too young, I actually hid the book away so I wouldn't read it again because it upset me so much!)

She has several thriller novels that travel all over the globe and impact politics. 

She murdered off several small children (usually for something they saw or knew, but also, at least once, for an inheritance) and once had the child be the murderer.

The only reason that I think it matters at all is that people use it to disregard works as "just a cozy" like it makes it lesser. Got to say, if any definition of where you put AC's books end up making it lesser, your doing something wrong. She may not be to everyone's tastes, but she was damn good at what she did.

(No actual endings to specific books given away, but a couple of hints and the answer to one given without indicating the book.)  

Edited March 16, 2022 by Jalyn
Fixing formatting

[Melgaypet]

I enjoy a cozy mystery. I can see the arguments on both sides of the Dame Agatha question, but I do mentally classify her works as cozy, because of how they make me feel while reading. It's probably no surprise that I far prefer Miss Marple to Poirot.

Query: Do the Lord Peter books qualify as cozy? For some reason, I'm more inclined to say no and I'm not sure why. Because the detective is a man? That's a very stupid reason, but maybe that is part of my reaction - (I do tend to prefer a female sleuth, in general. Brother Cadfael, your excellent exception is noted.) Maybe it's just best to say that Dorothy L. Sayers and Agatha Christie helped define the Golden Age of Mystery that inspired the cozy genre.

My current favorite cozy mysteries are the works of TE Kinsey - the Lady Hardcastle Mysteries and the spin-off series the Dizzy Heights.

ETA: I also strongly prefer historical mysteries to those set in the present day. I occasionally decompress by watching a Hallmark Mystery Movie where a plucky young librarian/baker/podcaster solves murders and falls in love, but I don't care for the type of books they're based on.

The most recent cozy I read was quite adorable - Shady Hallow by Juneau Black. It's a basic small-town murder mystery, except all the characters are anthropomorphized woodland creatures.

Edited March 16, 2022 by Melgaypet

[DearEvette]

2 hours ago, Melgaypet said:

Query: Do the Lord Peter books qualify as cozy? For some reason, I'm more inclined to say no and I'm not sure why. Because the detective is a man?

I believe so.  I always thought for something to be cozy it was more about the 'what' than the 'who'.  That even if the protagonist was a man  that the overall feeling was one of low stakes and a comfortable read, a contained area (small town or village or house party), no on screen violence or real menace, nothing really graphic, no need for weapons, clues that an amateur could follow, and a sometimes mundane or relatable motive.  Some light humor is even welcome.

I do think there is some debate on whether something is a cozy if the protagonist is not an amateur sleuth.  For instance, the Miss Marple books are cozy.  But the Poirot ones maybe not so much because he is an actual detective and there is a sub-genre of mystery called detective fiction.

But then again there is the Hamish MacBeth series by MC Beaton which are considered cozies, I think.  He is a 'lazy' police constable in a small Scottish town, but he does his investigations 'off the book' because he is usually not invited to be part of the official investigation and usually solves things the detectives don't/can't.  So in that sense he is treated like an amateur.

[sugarbaker design]

1 hour ago, DearEvette said:

For instance, the Miss Marple books are cozy.  But the Poirot ones maybe not so much because he is an actual detective and there is a sub-genre of mystery called detective fiction.

Of course the Miss Marple stories and novels are cozies.  Christie spanned all genres of crime fiction.  Classic puzzlers like And Then There Were None and Witness For The Prisecution, rulebreakers like The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and Crooked House, and novels that featured bloody deaths like Poirot's Christmas.  To call Christie a cozy writer would do her a disservice, but she sure wrote cozies like The Moving Finger and Nemesis.

[blackwing]

19 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

It’s been a while, but I remember enjoying the Charly Poisson novels, French male chef in upstate New York. I also still have a chicken hash recipe I will make from those books.

Looked this one up and it looks fun, I will put these books on my list.

6 hours ago, Melgaypet said:

ETA: I also strongly prefer historical mysteries to those set in the present day. I occasionally decompress by watching a Hallmark Mystery Movie where a plucky young librarian/baker/podcaster solves murders and falls in love, but I don't care for the type of books they're based on.

I too greatly enjoy historical mysteries.  I am not sure if these qualify as cozy or not, but I loved Steven Saylor's now-ended Gordianus the Finder mysteries, set in Ancient Rome, often with real historical events as a backdrop.  He is kind of like a private detective so to speak. 

I tried the Marcus Didius Falco series by Lindsey Davis years ago, and despite having a passion for Ancient Rome, I never got into them.  Maybe I should give them another try.

I loved Gary Corby's mystery series set in Ancient Greece, but he seems to have stopped writing.

There are many historical cozies set in the early 20th century, but I'm wondering if there are more set in ancient times (Rome/Greece specifically).

[BlackberryJam]

I enjoyed the Julian Kestrel Mysteries by Kate Ross. Only four were written before her passing. They are set in Regency England. Julian is a Beau Brummel type who solves mysteries. 

Another historical series are the Sarah Tolerance Mysteries by Madeleine Robins. Again Regency England. Sarah is a "fallen woman" who makes her living now as a sort of a detective.

The Edwardian Mysteries by Marion Chesney aka MC Beaton are fun, but heavier on the romance. 

[DearEvette]

15 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

The Edwardian Mysteries by Marion Chesney aka MC Beaton are fun, but heavier on the romance. 

I've read these  They are fun.  I think she deliberately wrote them under the Chesney name, rather than the Beaton name to signal the romance content. 

Totally, 100% cosign on the Julian Kestrel mysteries.  The dialogue is delightful.

I liked the first couple of the Mistress of The Art of Death series by Ariana Franklin. Lots of real history peppered in.  It is set during the reign of Henry II during medival times as the protagonist is a woman doctor who must conceal her knowledge of human bodies, causes of death etc.in case she is accused of withcraft.

In the same theme, I've enjoyed the Lady Darby series by Anna Lee Huber.  Has some romance, but in a very mannered sense.  The main character is an widow artist who is a bit of a scandal and outcast because her first husband was a doctor who worked with grave robbers to be able to study anatomy.  She was forced to draw the anatomy for him and was tainted by him by association.  CW/TW there is a fine thread of domestic violence alluded through the first several books as she lets drops some things about her marriage.  But in the first book she assists solving  a murder because she knows a lot about death (because of her late husband) and makes some smart observations about the dead body.

[BlackberryJam]

2 hours ago, DearEvette said:

I've read these  They are fun.  I think she deliberately wrote them under the Chesney name, rather than the Beaton name to signal the romance content. 

Totally, 100% cosign on the Julian Kestrel mysteries.  The dialogue is delightful.

I liked the first couple of the Mistress of The Art of Death series by Ariana Franklin. Lots of real history peppered in.  It is set during the reign of Henry II during medival times as the protagonist is a woman doctor who must conceal her knowledge of human bodies, causes of death etc.in case she is accused of withcraft.

In the same theme, I've enjoyed the Lady Darby series by Anna Lee Huber.  Has some romance, but in a very mannered sense.  The main character is an widow artist who is a bit of a scandal and outcast because her first husband was a doctor who worked with grave robbers to be able to study anatomy.  She was forced to draw the anatomy for him and was tainted by him by association.  CW/TW there is a fine thread of domestic violence alluded through the first several books as she lets drops some things about her marriage.  But in the first book she assists solving  a murder because she knows a lot about death (because of her late husband) and makes some smart observations about the dead body.

I haven't read the Franklin, but the Lady Darby ones were good until 

Spoiler

she got pregnant. Now every other paragraph has a reference to her "condition". Dear lord, she's just hitting us over the head with the pregnancy stuff. Enough already. The "big bad" she's attempting to create falls flat for me as well. 

Not strictly a cozy even by my very broad definition, but not too procedural and doesn't make my stomach turn is the Gemma Monroe series by Emily Littlejohn. Gemma is a detective in a small Colorado town. I bring them up in comparison to the Lady Darby books because the Monroe series

Spoiler

does a great job dealing with pregnancy and motherhood. Gemma is first pregnant, then later has her daughter in the books. She continues to work, leaving her daughter with a nanny. But when Gemma is at work, she works. She doesn't spend 98% of her time stressing over her child or thinking about her child. She focuses on the job. She does feel guilt for working so much, but it's not so overpowering that she can't be a good detective. I know that one is historical and one is not, but I just appreciate the Littlejohn books and their take on motherhood.

Another historical series I enjoy are the Deanna Raybourn Lady Julia Grey books. The first book, her husband drops dead at dinner. There is a mild supernatural element in these. I also enjoy the Rosalind Thorne historicals by Darcie Wilde. Rosalind is a gently bred woman whose father went off the rails gambling, leaving her broke. She makes her way by being a "useful woman," discreetly handling problems for women of the ton. Somehow it always leads to murder. There is a bit of a love triangle, but it doesn't overpower the story.

I recommend the Amory Ames books by Ashley Weaver. Amory is a wealthy, married young woman in 1930s England. Her marriage is on the rocks, but there's no real love triangle. The first 4 or 5 are great and then...like many series, the characters get stupid and the quality falls off. 

ETA: It's so lovely to be able to read this thread and find new recs. 

Edited March 17, 2022 by BlackberryJam

[emma675]

Oh, I'm glad I found this topic! I love cozy mysteries.

Back in 2020, someone on this site recommended Juliet Blackwell's Haunted Home Renovation series and I really enjoyed it. It's about a woman who moves back home after her divorce and helps her dad renovate mansions in San Francisco, while coming across dead bodies and seeing ghosts.

I've also liked Angie Fox's Southern Ghost Hunter Mysteries series and the Lillian Frost and Edith Head mystery series that Renee Patrick does. And you can't go wrong with the Phyrne Fisher series (books or TV).

[SomeTameGazelle]

On 3/16/2022 at 6:24 PM, blackwing said:

There are many historical cozies set in the early 20th century, but I'm wondering if there are more set in ancient times (Rome/Greece specifically).

Margaret Doody has a series starting with Aristotle Detective. 

[SusanM]

I don't know if Ngaio Marsh qualifies as a cozy since her main character is a policeman but the Inspector Alleyn mysteries are among my favourites and I don't think they can really be defined as police procedurals.  One thing that I appreciate is that it makes sense that he be "in at the death" unlike most cozies that have amateur sleuths constantly coming across dead bodies!

Another series I enjoyed were the Miss Dimple books by Mignon Ballard that were set on the homefront during WWII.  I think the author either has died or dropped the series though as I haven't seen a new one in a few years.   This had another feature of most cozies in that there was a realistic timeline and life moved forward for the characters from one book to the next and if the series has ended I'll never know if some of "the boys" made it back from the war!

Edited March 19, 2022 by SusannahM

[Vanderboom]

Simon Brett has a number of cozy mystery series. I used to like the Fethering series the best, but Carole's personality has begun to grate on me.

[sugarbaker design]

On 3/19/2022 at 1:35 PM, Vanderboom said:

Simon Brett has a number of cozy mystery series.

Yes!  I went through the Mrs. Pargeter series, I enjoyed it very much.  Mrs. P is a widow who always winds up finding a body/crime.  What makes her unique is her late husband was a career criminal with many shady friends, many shady friends who can help solve a murder.  They're brisk reads with a decent puzzle and some humorous dialogue and situations.  I'm currently reading the Charles Paris series by Brett.  Paris is an alcoholic working actor in 70s and 80s England.  They're a bit darker and more cynical than the Mrs. P books, but fun nonetheless.

On 3/19/2022 at 9:04 AM, SusannahM said:

I don't know if Ngaio Marsh qualifies as a cozy since her main character is a policeman but the Inspector Alleyn mysteries are among my favourites and I don't think they can really be defined as police procedurals.  One thing that I appreciate is that it makes sense that he be "in at the death" unlike most cozies that have amateur sleuths constantly coming across dead bodies!

Marsh is a wildly uneven writer.  Some of her work is quite good (Overture To Death, Surfeit of Lampreys, Death and The Dancing Footman...) and some not so much.  The wonderful thing is none of her novels are more than 200 pages in paperback format, so even if it's not one of her best, it's not a major waste of time.

[BlackberryJam]

I'm enjoying the Beaver Island Mysteries. A 71 year old former spy (Irma) and her temporary guest, a 43 year old green tech genius (Violet) solving mysteries.

Irma is hilarious. She's a tiny old lady with the mind of a terminator. 

They are light and funny and nice.

[Mabinogia]

1 hour ago, BlackberryJam said:

I'm enjoying the Beaver Island Mysteries. A 71 year old former spy (Irma) and her temporary guest, a 43 year old green tech genius (Violet) solving mysteries.

Oooh, that sounds fun. Will have to give them a try. I tend to perfer the fun cozies over the romantic cozies. 

[BlackberryJam]

18 minutes ago, Mabinogia said:

Oooh, that sounds fun. Will have to give them a try. I tend to perfer the fun cozies over the romantic cozies. 

There are hints that there might be romance in the future, but the potential love interests are minor characters/island residents. I'm two books in. There's no sexual tension. The only will they/won't they is whether or not Irma will murder her country club enemy and make it look like an accident.

Edited April 2, 2022 by BlackberryJam

[SusanM]

On 3/21/2022 at 12:12 PM, sugarbaker design said:

Marsh is a wildly uneven writer.  Some of her work is quite good (Overture To Death, Surfeit of Lampreys, Death and The Dancing Footman...) and some not so much.  The wonderful thing is none of her novels are more than 200 pages in paperback format, so even if it's not one of her best, it's not a major waste of time.

The first one I ever read was Surfeit of Lampreys and I was hooked.  Had I started with Photo Finish or Last Ditch I might have not bothered with her.  Which would have been a mistake as for the most part I enjoy her books - the ones written towards the end of her career, definitely not so much.  

[Mabinogia]

10 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

The only will they/won't they is whether or not Irma will murder her country club enemy and make it look like an accident.

Haha, she sounds like my kinda dame

[BlackberryJam]

Just finished Burning Hope by Wendy Roberts. This one involves a young woman who has uses fire scrying. All of Roberts' books have a protagonist with a super natural skill. I particularly enjoyed the crime scene cleaner who could see ghosts, the Ghost Duster series, until it hit the love interest phase about book 3? 4? It's been a while. Roberts is terrible about writing love interests. The men are all complete assholes such that I have no idea why the women would be interested.

Her second series has a woman who can use divining rods to find dead bodies and the first book was completely fantastic. The ending was a complete shocker without me feeling like I'd been tricked the whole time. But moving through the series, the love interest is awful. 

Spoiler

He's an older man/FBI agent who treats her like a child, and then, of course, she acts like one.

Burning Hope jumps straight into having a poorly written love interest. I am super annoyed by this. Her books would be so much better if the love interests were eliminated entirely.

[DearEvette]

On 3/17/2022 at 12:54 PM, BlackberryJam said:

Another historical series I enjoy are the Deanna Raybourn Lady Julia Grey books. The first book, her husband drops dead at dinner. There is a mild supernatural element in these.

The Julia Grey books are fun.  I adore her family.  It is so big and interesting with all her siblings being so different from each other.  The opening line of the first book is one of my very favorites.  I kinda fell off with these, though after the fourth book.  Really did not like that one.  The novellas are nice little stories to check in with the family, though.

[BlackberryJam]

7 minutes ago, DearEvette said:

The Julia Grey books are fun.  I adore her family.  It is so big and interesting with all her siblings being so different from each other.  The opening line of the first book is one of my very favorites.  I kinda fell off with these, though after the fourth book.  Really did not like that one.  The novellas are nice little stories to check in with the family, though.

I felt the same way about Julia Grey. I feel like sometimes authors get so wrapped up in certain elements of a book that they miss what readers enjoy. Rarely does a series hold up over time. 

[sugarbaker design]

I just finished a very dark, engrossing, decidedly non-cozy non-fiction book (Killers of The Flower Moon), so I desperately needed a light cozy to balance things.  I was in the library, nothing looked appealing, I whipped out my phone, checked out some of the recommendations on this thread.  There was only one book that was the first in a series of an author that was recommended by a poster in this thread.  I just finished The Secret, Book and Scone Society by Ellery Adams.  It wasn't a great book, but it really hit the spot.  It had all the ingredients I need for a cozy:  a not too likable amateur detective, a decent mystery plot, doesn't take itself too seriously, but is not silly or ridiculous.  I enjoyed the heroines and their story about how they became a sisterhood.  While the mystery was satisfying, it was really based on real estate and greed.  It was kind of a dud for me.  But not enough of a dud to stop me from reading the next book in the series.  Their first names are Nora, Hester, Estella and Judy.  Since this is a novel that is heavy on literary references, I couldn't help thinking of Nora from A Doll's House, Estella from Great Expectations and Hester Prynne.  I could not think of a literary character named Judy to save my life. 

[BlackberryJam]

I definitely preferred the Ellery Adams Books by the Bay series. The lead character is an older woman (40s/50s) without constant money fears, confident in herself, who joins a writer's group. Each of the writers is an interesting and developed character. I enjoyed that Olivia wasn't constantly thinking things like, "I really want that $14 coffee, but I have to get my car fixed, oh hell, gimme the coffee." 

She's a wealthy woman, with a dog, and a life that she enjoys, although she's somewhat emotionally isolated. Part of the series is her learning to open up to people, let them in, while also looking into her own past. 

[blackwing]

2 hours ago, sugarbaker design said:

I just finished a very dark, engrossing, decidedly non-cozy non-fiction book (Killers of The Flower Moon), so I desperately needed a light cozy to balance things.  I was in the library, nothing looked appealing, I whipped out my phone, checked out some of the recommendations on this thread.  There was only one book that was the first in a series of an author that was recommended by a poster in this thread.  I just finished The Secret, Book and Scone Society by Ellery Adams.  It wasn't a great book, but it really hit the spot.  It had all the ingredients I need for a cozy:  a not too likable amateur detective, a decent mystery plot, doesn't take itself too seriously, but is not silly or ridiculous.  I enjoyed the heroines and their story about how they became a sisterhood.  While the mystery was satisfying, it was really based on real estate and greed.  It was kind of a dud for me.  But not enough of a dud to stop me from reading the next book in the series.  Their first names are Nora, Hester, Estella and Judy.  Since this is a novel that is heavy on literary references, I couldn't help thinking of Nora from A Doll's House, Estella from Great Expectations and Hester Prynne.  I could not think of a literary character named Judy to save my life. 

 

1 hour ago, BlackberryJam said:

I definitely preferred the Ellery Adams Books by the Bay series. The lead character is an older woman (40s/50s) without constant money fears, confident in herself, who joins a writer's group. Each of the writers is an interesting and developed character. I enjoyed that Olivia wasn't constantly thinking things like, "I really want that $14 coffee, but I have to get my car fixed, oh hell, gimme the coffee." 

She's a wealthy woman, with a dog, and a life that she enjoys, although she's somewhat emotionally isolated. Part of the series is her learning to open up to people, let them in, while also looking into her own past. 

I read the "The Secret, Book and Scone Society" and for some reason, I just didn't care for it.  I haven't read any of the rest.  I much prefer her Book Retreat mysteries (woman runs a resort in Virginia that is devoted to books and reading) and her Pie Shoppe mysteries (woman has magical ability to imbue her pies with whatever the recipient needs).

[blackwing]

I recently finished two books.  Murder at the Mena House by Erica Ruth Neubauer.  It's set in Egypt in the mid 1920s.  A young widow is travelling with her aunt and a couple of murders happen.  I enjoyed the setting and the time period.  

And after all the recommendations, Murder in G Major.  This book was simply delightful.  I enjoyed Gethsemane Brown, the ghost, and the Irish setting.  Looking forward to reading the next entries in this series.

[BlackberryJam]

26 minutes ago, blackwing said:

I recently finished two books.  Murder at the Mena House by Erica Ruth Neubauer.  It's set in Egypt in the mid 1920s.  A young widow is travelling with her aunt and a couple of murders happen.  I enjoyed the setting and the time period.  

And after all the recommendations, Murder in G Major.  This book was simply delightful.  I enjoyed Gethsemane Brown, the ghost, and the Irish setting.  Looking forward to reading the next entries in this series.

I've read both of these and enjoyed both! I recommend the remainder of the books in both series. I really enjoyed the Gethsemane Brown audiobooks. 

I'm glad to hear they worked for you too. 

I read the third Beaver Island book this weekend. It wrapped up one of the overarching stories nicely. These are very light and funny. 

Is anyone else reading the Edith Head mysteries? Edith was a Hollywood costume designer. They are enjoyable, but the misogyny of the time gets a bit annoying.

 

[blackwing]

I finished An Eternal Lei by Naomi Hirahara.  This is the second book in her Hawaii series.  Leilani Santiago is a 25 year old woman who gives up her life in Washington state (after a breakup I think) and returns home to Kauai where her family owns a shave ice shack.  The first book was the typical cozy, she is running her family's business, she gets accused of murder, etc.

This second book was quite interesting because it actively incorporated COVID-19.  Characters wear masks, there's expressions of concern when the older people won't wear one, there's COVID-19 restrictions at the hospital, kids are attending school via Zoom, people coming to the island have to quarantine, traffic is a lot reduced, etc.  But most interestingly, there's a lot of talk of how devastating the pandemic has been on island businesses.  Without tourism, many businesses are struggling.  The shave ice shack is acting as a distributor of food to the needy, money is tight, a can of tuna and rice is the meal for the entire family of 7.

It's very interesting to me how authors of long-running series (particularly cozies) are addressing or not addressing the pandemic.  Some are not writing it into their books because they think books should be an escape and people don't want to read about it.  Others are incorporating it because this pandemic has altered many people's way of life and characters in books should be no different.  This book is the first one I read that makes the pandemic more than a mere mention.

Edited April 22, 2022 by blackwing

[blackwing]

I finished The Black Cat Murders by Karen Baugh Menuhin.  This is the second book in the Heathcliff Lennox series.  It's set in the 1920s in the English countryside in the Cotswolds.  I was attracted to the first book in the series which is called Murder in Melrose Court because, of all things, a Facebook ad (🎵 I always feel like, somebody's watching me... and I have no privacy!) which billed the book as "Downton Abbey meets Agatha Christie with a touch of P.G. Wodehouse".  These books are fun reads, they are cozy with a touch of humour.  I really do like the fact that the protagonist is a man who is a minor English lord that dabbles in assisting in solving crimes on the side, and so far, there has been no love interest that is sidetracking him!  

[BlackberryJam]

I was looking through the books on sale at Audible and I do not want books that:

• Keep me on the edge of my seat.
• Make me bite my nails.
• Are “unputdownable”.
• Are absolutely gripping.
• Are twisty thrillers keeping me guessing to the end.

Ugh. I don’t want reading fiction to be work.