Cozy Mysteries: Plucky Heroine Moves Home and Finds Body

[sugarbaker design]

On 12/30/2022 at 1:26 PM, blackwing said:

Jeffrey Cohen (also known as EJ Copperman)

I just got a used copy of Night of The Living Deed by Copperman.  It's set in my home state of NJ, in shore town, in haunted inn.

[BlackberryJam]

I loved the Constable Evans series. The Royal Spyness series is really struggling at this point with Georgie never seeming to mature. I’m very close to done with them. 

I’m slowly plowing through the Country Club Murders series by Julie Mulhern. They take place in the 70s in Kansas City. I enjoy them.

Read the Merry Folger series by Francine Matthews. So-so, but nice to when you don’t want to think much.

[Bethany]

10 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

The Royal Spyness series is really struggling at this point with Georgie never seeming to mature. I’m very close to done with them. 

I remembered reading these awhile ago, read up to the one with Noel Coward.  I just looked this up and I've missed  a lot of titles.  I know you said you're close to done but would you recommend the ones after #6?

Edited January 15, 2023 by Elizabeth Anne

[BlackberryJam]

On 1/15/2023 at 11:49 AM, Elizabeth Anne said:

I remembered reading these awhile ago, read up to the one with Noel Coward.  I just looked this up and I've missed  a lot of titles.  I know you said you're close to done but would you recommend the ones after #6?

Depends on what you’re looking for. I’m reading the latest and the first 230 pages of 590 is setup. Dull, repetitive setup. How many times can Georgie not have the right clothes, have damaged clothes, turn down offers of free clothes only to end up in designer clothes? 
 

It’s the cotton candy of books.

ETA: Finished it. I clocked the killer the moment of introduction and I figured out the motive right away as well. It was thin, as far as plot goes. Very thin. Also, if you suspect your husband might be spying for the Germans and you love him and trust him, why not just, you know, ask?

Edited January 16, 2023 by BlackberryJam

[JTMacc99]

On 1/11/2023 at 11:48 AM, sugarbaker design said:

I just got a used copy of Night of The Living Deed by Copperman.  It's set in my home state of NJ, in shore town, in haunted inn.

I think that at least part of why I really enjoyed Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels was my own NJ roots. She paints such a great picture of that part of the state and the characters and attitudes you will find there.

From the Amazon blurb about the first novel: 

Meet Stephanie Plum, a bounty hunter with attitude. In Stephanie’s opinion, toxic waste, rabid drivers, armed schizophrenics, and August heat, humidity, and hydrocarbons are all part of the great adventure of living in Jersey.

She’s a product of the “burg,” a blue-collar pocket of Trenton where houses are attached and narrow, cars are American, windows are clean, and (God forbid you should be late) dinner is served at six.

I was moving things around at home and saw One for the Money on a shelf and decided to read it again. There is a reason that novel won the Dilys Award for best mystery when it came out. (Side note: Back when I was trying to find good mysteries to read, I liked to hit up things like the Dilys Award and Edgar Award lists to get my recommendations. It turned me on to a lot of great authors.)

The books are witty, often laugh out loud funny, and are loaded with great characters.

[sugarbaker design]

4 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:

I think that at least part of why I really enjoyed Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels was my own NJ roots. She paints such a great picture of that part of the state and the characters and attitudes you will find there.

I read the first five or six Stephanie Plums when they first came out in the 90's, and I did enjoy them.  But then it just seemed I was reading the same novel again and again, over and over.  Stephanie gets involved in a case, Ranger gets involved, Lula gets involved, the grandmother gets involved, hilarity ensues....Lather, rinse, repeat.

[Ohiopirate02]

I made it to the 15th book in the Stephanie Plum books and had to tap out there.  Introducing smartphones into a narrative while keeping Stephanie 27ish was a bridge too far for me, plus the lack of character growth.  I might revisit books 16-29 at a later date.

[Bethany]

I'm reading the first book in a series that I thought was recommended here - maybe it was in another thread - anyway it's the first book in the Mele Keahi's Mysteries.  So far I'm enjoying it.  It's no Agatha Christie but that's setting the bar a bit high!

[JTMacc99]

1 hour ago, Ohiopirate02 said:

I made it to the 15th book in the Stephanie Plum books and had to tap out there. 

I think I made it to the late teens when I was reading a lot. Since then I'll do something like read 20 and 21 and then put it down again. I need to make sure Bob the dog is still okay.

[blackwing]

Finished a few cozies lately.

Musseled Out, the third book in the Maine Clambake series by Barbara Ross.  Very enjoyable.  I like the characters and setting in this series a lot.

Winter's End, the fourth book in the Alaska Wild series by Paige Shelton.  Beth Rivers is still hiding out in Alaska, although it seems more people are learning her true identity, and she gets involved when a man disappears and a woman is found murdered.

The Game is a Footnote, the latest in the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop mysteries by Vicki Delany.  Gemma Doyle gets involved when she is asked to investigate a supposed haunted house.  She finds a dead body instead.  This series is always reliable, and this time, the setting involves a historical house that is run as a living history museum and farm.

Bear Witness, the first in the new Alaska Untamed series by Lark O. Jensen.  Apparently this author has written 30 something books under her own name, Linda O. Johnston.  I've not read anything by her before and I'm not really sure why she changed her author name.  Publisher dictated?  It's very strange how she flat out states that this is her new name in the acknowledgements.

This series involves a woman who is a tour guide for a company that operates tour boats in the Juneau area.  The tours travel from Juneau up the Tracy Arm and are designed to be for wildlife and glacier viewing.  One day, a particularly irascible customer disappears.  The next day, he is found dead.

I thought I would like this series a lot more than I did... I was enticed by the promise of "Alaska Untamed" and the blurbs on the cover promising that it makes you feel like you are in Alaska.  Um no not really.  Most of the book is spent on a tour boat or in an office or home in Juneau.  None of the wilderness really is involved.  The Paige Shelton series is way better at giving you a feel for Alaska than this one.

On 1/11/2023 at 10:48 AM, sugarbaker design said:

I just got a used copy of Night of The Living Deed by Copperman.  It's set in my home state of NJ, in shore town, in haunted inn.

How is this series?  I know it's long-running, I've always thought about reading it but have never gotten around to it.

[sugarbaker design]

18 hours ago, blackwing said:

How is this series?  I know it's long-running, I've always thought about reading it but have never gotten around to it.

I enjoyed it very much.  It had all my favorite cozy ingredients:  a smart, but not so smart, that they're arrogant amateur detective, a light-hearted tone, quirky characters and a corpse.  This one also has a snarky NJ sensibility and two ghosts.

Allison Kerby is a divorce mother of one who moves to the Jersey shore, buys a fixer upper she intends to convert to a guesthouse.  At least she's not coming back to her hometown to help her parents with their catering/baking/florist/cafe/B&B.  For the record, I live in NJ and do vacation down the shore at a guesthouse every summer on Memorial Day Weekend with old friends so I immediately felt a kinship with this novel. While fixing up the guesthouse she bumps her head which magically enables her to see the two ghosts living in her house.  And surprise!  They were murdered in her house and they want Allison's help in finding their killer.

The best thing about The Night of The Living Deed is it's funny.  There are one-liners galore.  I also admired the pacing, the plot develops in its own time, adding different aspects to the mystery.  It's immensely readable, it's 300+ pages in paperback, I read it in 2 days on my daily train commute, with a smile on my face.  Allison does go out on a date or 2, but she's still hurting from her divorce, so romance is not a big feature.  And for that I am grateful, nothing ruins a mystery more than a bad romance.

I do have minor quibbles.  There aren't that many suspects, the puzzle itself wasn't that difficult, but there were some surprises.  It's a little padded at 300+ pages, I would've whittled it down to 250, then it would have been perfect.  I love me a 250 page cozy.  I've added Copperman to my list of acceptable current cozy authors like Simon Brett, Vicky Delaney and Paige Shelton.

An old friend of mine recently recommended older authors that might be considered cozy-like and up my alley, he recommended writers from the 80's like Charlotte MacLeod and Joan Hess.  I'm going to go online and see if I can get a few cheap paperbacks of these writers.

[Bethany]

40 minutes ago, sugarbaker design said:

An old friend of mine recently recommended older authors that might be considered cozy-like and up my alley, he recommended writers from the 80's like Charlotte MacLeod and Joan Hess.  I'm going to go online and see if I can get a few cheap paperbacks of these writers.

My mother got me into these authors.  She was a big fan of both.  Charlotte Macleod also wrote a few series set in Canada under the name Alisa Craig which are among my favourites of hers.

[sugarbaker design]

On 2/9/2023 at 11:23 AM, Elizabeth Anne said:

Charlotte Macleod also wrote a few series set in Canada under the name Alisa Craig which are among my favourites of hers.

Oh great, I'll try out the Craigs first.  Alisa Craig has got to be a pun of Ailsa Craig in Scotland.

Edited to add:  Just got an email that Better World Books has a 25% coupon.  I ordered 5 MacLeod paperbacks for $20!

Edited February 14, 2023 by sugarbaker design

[blackwing]

I finished The Girl with the Dragonfruit Tattoo, the third book in the Trouble in Paradise series by Carrie Doyle.  Plum Lockhart, travel writer turned leasing agent on the fictional Caribbean island of Paraiso, runs into a longtime friend who is married to a Hollywood producer and is currently aboard the luxury yacht of a billionaire music mogul.  One of the staff is found dead.  Plum had received an invitation from her friend to join the party, and the local police ask Plum to surreptitiously investigate.

This series is a lot of fun, I highly recommend it.  I enjoyed the characters greatly, especially the Beyonce-like diva.  Much of the book takes place aboard this luxury yacht sailing around the islands, and it was a perfect quick read during these cold winter days.

I also finished Four Leaf Cleaver, the eleventh book in Maddie Day's Country Store mysteries.  This series is one of my favourites.  Robbie Jordan has agreed to allow her restaurant to be used for the taping of an Irish-themed episode of a cooking competition reality show.  Of course, someone ends up dead.

I have not yet read any of Maddie Day's Cozy Capers Book Group mysteries which appear to be set in Masschusetts since the first one is called "Murder on Cape Cod".  Has anyone read these?  Are they as good as the Country Store mysteries?

[Bethany]

On 2/9/2023 at 11:44 AM, sugarbaker design said:

Oh great, I'll try out the Craigs first.  Alisa Craig has got to be a pun of Ailsa Craig in Scotland.

I've just launched on a re-read of her Grub and Stakers books.  I'd forgotten how much fun they are too read!  Definitely not the choice of those who like their mysteries serious and full of blood and gore though!

[BlackberryJam]

Accidently posted in the wrong thread.

 

Just read Mystery in Provence by Vivian Conroy. It made me bemoan the lack of real editing. The characters were terrible and inconsistent. The dialogue was silly. The reveal was dumb.

[blackwing]

Finished a few lately...

Fogged Inn, the fourth Maine Clambake mystery by Barbara Ross.  It's fall, so there are no clambakes, and Julia and her boyfriend are opening Gus's bar for dinner service.  A body is found in the walk-in freezer in the morning.  But the doors were locked overnight.  The man had dined at the restaurant the previous night, along with four couples who all say they had never seen him before.

Iced Under, the fifth Maine Clambake mystery by Barbara Ross.  It's February.  Julia's mother Jacqueline receives a mysterious package in the mail that contains an expensive black diamond necklace.  She says it belonged to her family until it disappeared a hundred years ago.  Who had it, and who sent it?  And how does this relate to Jacqueline's long-lost cousin?

Curds of Prey, the third Cheese Shop mystery by Korina Moss.  Willa Bauer is asked to provide a cheese bar for a bridal shower of the elder daughter of the town's wealthiest family.  The groom-to-be is discovered dead, and Willa's sort-of boyfriend is the chief suspect.

 

I can't say enough good things about the Barbara Ross books.  It's easy to see why she is so popular, the mysteries are well-crafted and well-thought out and they seem to be a little different than the typical cozy.  Not formulaic at all.  I was particularly impressed with "Iced Under", who would have thought that a cozy about a woman that runs a Maine clambake business could be so successful when the setting is in Boston in the dead of winter and there is no clambaking at all?

I really like the Cheese Shop mysteries, this author crafts tight plots and well fleshed-out characters.

Oh, and I cooked my first ever recipe from the pages in the back of a cozy mystery!  I made the Split Pea with Ham soup from the back of "Fogged Inn".  It sounded so good in the book, and the recipe looked easy, and we had a ham bone from Easter.  Very easy and very tasty!

[blackwing]

I finished The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell.

From Goodreads:

Quote

For six amateur bakers, competing in Bake Week is a dream come true.

When they arrive at Grafton Manor to compete, they're ready to do whatever it takes to win the ultimate The Golden Spoon.

But for the show's famous host, Betsy Martin, Bake Week is more than just a competition. Grafton Manor is her family's home and legacy - and Bake Week is her life's work. It's imperative that both continue to succeed.

But as the competition commences, things begin to go awry. At first, it's small acts of sabotage. Someone switching sugar for salt. A hob turned far too high.

But when a body is discovered, it's clear that for someone in the competition, The Golden Spoon is a prize worth killing for...

This book was billed as "Knives Out meets The Great British Baking Show".  I love both.  So I really really wanted to like this book.  It was OK.  I just wish I liked it better.

The book is billed as a mystery, but apart from one obvious "mystery in the past" and "who is sabotaging the competition"... there really isn't much mystery.  There isn't even a dead body until well past 75% of the book.

I think the biggest issue with this book is that it's very obvious that the author loves TGBBS and wanted to write a book about it.  Up until the death, the entire book reads like TGBBS fan fiction.  There's so much detail in the description of the tent, the cook stations, the bakes, the fillings, the decorations, etc.   It seems to me that the author would have written a book just on a baking competition, but that she sold the idea as a mystery so had to include a death somewhere.

Everything is really predictable.  The contestant characters are cartoon stereotypes.

Still, overall, I enjoyed this book, I just didn't think it was as good as it could have been.  Will be interested to see what she comes up with as a sequel.

[wanderingstar]

Just read The Bangalore Detectives Club by Harini Nagendra for my monthly book club. I loved it! The main character Kaveri is wonderful - plucky, compassionate, and clever. Looking forward to reading the second book in the series, Murder Under a Red Moon. Definitely recommended for cozy mystery fans.

Edited May 17, 2023 by Gillian Rosh

[andromeda331]

I just finished the first book in the Hannah Swansen series Chocolate Chip Mystery. I've known about the series from the YouTube reviewer Arglefumph Reads who does Baby-Sitters Club, Sweet Valley, Boxcar Children and other mostly kid/teen books and from Hallmark's Murder She Baked now Hannah Swansen Mysteries starring Allison Sweeney who I've been a fan of since I used to watch Days of Our Lives I loved Sami. I know the book series gets weird later with the Ross stuff but I really liked the first book. I used to bake and the murder mystery was pretty good. I liked Hannah and other characters and my dad's from a small town in Minnesota so I really liked the setting of a small town in Minnesota. I'll definitely try the next one.  

[blackwing]

I finished:

Intrigue in Istanbul, the fourth entry in the Jane Wunderley series by Erica Ruth Neubauer.  Jane is an American widow in the 1920s living in England.  She and her fiance travel back home to Boston to tell her father about their engagement, only to find that he is missing.  Jane, her interfering aunt, and their fiances travel to Istanbul to try and find him.

Fateful Words, the latest in the Scottish Bookshop series by Paige Shelton.  Each year, Delaney Nichols' employer Edwin selects four people and gives them an all-expenses paid, local's knowledge literary tour of Edinburgh.  Edwin is called out of town suddenly and Delaney has to take over the tour.  A guest mysteriously disappears and a man is pushed off the roof of their hotel.  Delaney is determined to figure out what happened.

Death in Damascus, the fourth Heathcliff Lennox book by Karen Baugh Menuhin.  Lennox receives a letter from his sort-of girlfriend asking him to come to Damascus and help get her ex-fiance out of jail.  He has been accused of attempted murder.  He goes and is embroiled in international spy activity amd odd things happening on the set of a movie. 

I very much enjoy all three of these series.

[blackwing]

I read:

Mastering the Art of French Murder by Colleen Cambridge.  This is the first in a new series.  Set in the 1940s in Paris after World War 2.  The main character is Tabitha Knight, an American woman who has moved to Paris to live with her French grandfather.  She works as a French language tutor to American ex-pats and is friends with Julia Child, who has moved to Paris with her American diplomat husband and is taking cooking classes at Le Cordon Bleu.  She attends a party at Julia's sister's place.  A body is found the next day in the basement of Julia's building.  It's a woman who was also at the party the night before.  Unfortunately, the woman is clutching a note written in Tabitha's handwriting and she was killed with one of Julia's knives.

This was an interesting story, the author uses the Paris setting very well.  There are quite a few descriptions of French food and she uses the Julia Child character effectively.  I'm interested to see what future entries in this series looks like.  It would seem a bit inconceivable if Tabitha involves Julia in every single murder she comes across, but it seems that's where things could be headed.

Ashes to Ashes, Crust to Crust by Mindy Quigley, the second in the Deep Dish Mystery series, which is set in a pizzeria in the town of Geneva Bay which is a stand-in for Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.  Delilah O'Leary is trying to develop a new recipe for the restaurant's entry into the annual Taste of Wisconsin festival.  Delilah discovers that the owner of the new juice bar is the new girlfriend of her ex-fiance.  A man is poisoned at the juice bar, and sets into motion various events.

This is a great cozy series.  The characters are well-developed, there are multiple intertwined mysteries and storylines, and the resolution is satisfactory.  Many cozies tend to be formulaic but this series seems to avoid this to large extent.

Stowed Away by Barbara Ross, the sixth Maine Clambake book.  It's June and Julia Snowden and her family are about to open the clambake for the summer.  Julia discovers that an old school rival Wyatt Jayne is the girlfriend of the eccentric and reclusive billionaire who has anchored his enormous yacht in town.  One evening, Wyatt invites Julia onto the yacht for dinner.  Julia and her boyfriend arrive onto the yacht, where they discover the dead boyfriend, and Wyatt is nowhere to be found.

I really like this series because each entry in the series seems very unique.  The yacht setting of this book was great, and once again, Ross manages to keep me guessing with a very interesting and surprising resolution.

 

[blackwing]

I've read a lot of cozies lately but the one that stand out is A Most Efficient Murder by Anthony Slayton.  I found it because of a Facebook ad.  It's set at an English country manor in the 1920s.  A strange woman is found murdered in the garden and the earl asks his secretary Mr. Quayle to solve the mystery.

Quote

When the reclusive Earl of Unsworth’s first party in over a decade is spoiled by murder, His Lordship’s loyal and efficient secretary, Mr. Quayle, must unravel a web of red-herrings and buried secrets before the murderer can strike again…

“I do not wish to disturb you, your grace, but there is a body in the garden…”

England, 1925. When a strange young woman is found murdered on the grounds of Unsworth Castle, the Duke and his family are astounded at first, but quickly become enraged when the police begin asking all sorts of impertinent questions.

And when suspicions dare to fall on one of their own, it is up to Mr. Quayle, Lord Unsworth’s exceedingly efficient secretary, to find the true culprit and save the House of Unsworth from scandal and ruin.

This book was a lot of fun.  The book jacket calls it a combination of Agatha Christie meets P.G. Wodehouse and I think that's an accurate description.

[Laura Holt]

In another thread I was reminded of a cozy mystery series I read a number of years ago.  I still had a few titles and ordered the rest from Amazon.  Anyway it's  a series by Anne George called the Southern Sisters Mysteries.  8 titles starring Sister and Patricia Anne and they're just so much fun to read.  What I think of when I think of a cozy mystery.  Just finished the last one and wish there were more.

Edited September 30, 2023 by Laura Holt

[SomeTameGazelle]

Author Kate Lansing (whose books I have not read) had a little segment on CBC radio talking about the charms of the cozy. I thought perhaps she stressed the aspect of the gimmicky theme too much, but of course that is pervasive even if it is the part I care about least (and in some cases actively dislike).

https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-14-day-6/clip/16014228-why-millennials-gen-z-embracing-cozy-mysteries

[sugarbaker design]

On 11/17/2022 at 4:23 PM, blackwing said:

Cheddar off Dead by Korina Moss.  This is the first in a new Cheese Shop series.  One of the very first cozy series I ever read was the Cheese Shop mysteries by Avery Aames (Daryl Wood Gerber).  I picked this book up because, well, cheese!  The woman in this series runs a cheese shop in Sonoma Valley.  There is an unsavory character is killed, the main character accused of the murder, a handsome detective, a friendly neighbor, a supporting cast of friends/employees, a punny title (which has probably been used several times before) etc.  All the tickmarks of a typical cozy.  Not much new here but it was still very enjoyable and I loved the talk of cheese.  There is already a second book in this series and I am looking forward to the further adventures.

Just read this one and I enjoyed it very much.  Cute, without being cloying, no cringy moments, an imperfect heroine with a charming set of supporting characters.  I look forward to more.

[blackwing]

4 hours ago, sugarbaker design said:

Just read this one and I enjoyed it very much.  Cute, without being cloying, no cringy moments, an imperfect heroine with a charming set of supporting characters.  I look forward to more.

Yes, this is a great series.  I just finished the fourth book, Case of the Bleus, and it was a good read.

[blackwing]

Ugh, how did I miss that the first book in the Gethsemane Brown series, Murder in G Major, was turned into a Hallmark Mystery movie and aired last fall?  They bill it as the "Haunted Harmony" mysteries.  Going to have to see if they re-air it sometime.

[sugarbaker design]

23 hours ago, blackwing said:

Ugh, how did I miss that the first book in the Gethsemane Brown series, Murder in G Major, was turned into a Hallmark Mystery movie and aired last fall?  They bill it as the "Haunted Harmony" mysteries.  Going to have to see if they re-air it sometime.

It was disappointing, don't get your hopes up.  MiGM was such a fun, colorful cozy, I don't know how the producers/writers/director managed to make it so bland and colorless.

[BlackberryJam]

@blackwing

We read a lot of the same books. I just finished the latest Jane Wunderly, love the Gethsemane Brown books, and have made the Anthony Slayton books a purchase and not just wait from the library.

I enjoyed the second Benjamin Stevenson, Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect, more than the first. Still not great, but enjoyable.

The Launch Party  by Lauren Forry had a lot of enormous plot holes. I mean, if you’re going to put a mystery on the moon, research the science.

I am enjoying the Door County mysteries by Annelise Ryan. The sleuth is a cryptid hunter, which is interesting. Really good use of the Wisconsin setting.

I am recommending Mark De Castrique series, starting with Secret Lives. The protagonist is Ethel Crestwater, a septuagenarian retired FBI agent who runs a boarding house. It’s a bit of a spy series crossed over with mystery.

I enjoyed The Busy Body by Kemper Donovan which is thinly disguised Hillary Clinton solves a murder fanfic. 

[sugarbaker design]

1 hour ago, BlackberryJam said:

I enjoyed The Busy Body by Kemper Donovan which is thinly disguised Hillary Clinton solves a murder fanfic. 

This one is definitely on my TBR list.  I'm a huge fan of Kemper's All About Agatha podcast.

[blackwing]

On 4/26/2024 at 9:34 AM, BlackberryJam said:

@blackwing

We read a lot of the same books. I just finished the latest Jane Wunderly, love the Gethsemane Brown books, and have made the Anthony Slayton books a purchase and not just wait from the library.

I enjoyed the second Benjamin Stevenson, Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect, more than the first. Still not great, but enjoyable.

The Launch Party  by Lauren Forry had a lot of enormous plot holes. I mean, if you’re going to put a mystery on the moon, research the science.

I am enjoying the Door County mysteries by Annelise Ryan. The sleuth is a cryptid hunter, which is interesting. Really good use of the Wisconsin setting.

I am recommending Mark De Castrique series, starting with Secret Lives. The protagonist is Ethel Crestwater, a septuagenarian retired FBI agent who runs a boarding house. It’s a bit of a spy series crossed over with mystery.

I enjoyed The Busy Body by Kemper Donovan which is thinly disguised Hillary Clinton solves a murder fanfic. 

I just finished the latest Jane Wunderley as well.  I didn't like the Scottish island setting as much as I did the settings of the previous books, but overall it was still well done.

Just finished the third Gethsemane book.  Since there's only five, I've been pacing myself.  I thought I read somewhere some pages and pages back that the author is working on a new one.  Or am I making that up?

I'm curious as to where the next Benjamin Stevenson book will take place.  On a cruise ship?

The only Door County mystery I read was the first book in the series by Patricia Skalka.  I've been to Door county a handful of times and I remember thinking that her book could have been set anywhere, I thought she didn't use the location well at all.  She seemed to avoid actual recognisable place names like the names of restaurants or shops.  I've often wondered if I should give her another chance.

But I've not heard of any Door County mystery by Annelise Ryan.  Will have to check that one out.

[BlackberryJam]

27 minutes ago, blackwing said:

I just finished the latest Jane Wunderley as well.  I didn't like the Scottish island setting as much as I did the settings of the previous books, but overall it was still well done.

Just finished the third Gethsemane book.  Since there's only five, I've been pacing myself.  I thought I read somewhere some pages and pages back that the author is working on a new one.  Or am I making that up?

I'm curious as to where the next Benjamin Stevenson book will take place.  On a cruise ship?

The only Door County mystery I read was the first book in the series by Patricia Skalka.  I've been to Door county a handful of times and I remember thinking that her book could have been set anywhere, I thought she didn't use the location well at all.  She seemed to avoid actual recognisable place names like the names of restaurants or shops.  I've often wondered if I should give her another chance.

But I've not heard of any Door County mystery by Annelise Ryan.  Will have to check that one out.

I was tired of hearing Jane complain about Scotland. Yes, it's cold and windy. We get it. 

I plowed through the Gethsemane books before I knew they were ending. I hope the author is writing more, but I haven't seen her active on SM or goodreads since 2022. Bummer.

The Benjamin Stevenson books seem like they'd have a limit. Ski resort, train, maybe cruise ship is next. Then what? Also, I suspect Ernest will get on my nerves.

Here is the blurb on the Ryan, Monster Hunter/Door County mysteries.

Quote

Morgan Carter, owner of the Odds and Ends bookstore in Door County, Wisconsin, has a hobby. When she's not tending the store, she's hunting cryptids--creatures whose existence is rumored, but never proven to be real. It's a hobby that cost her parents their lives, but one she'll never give up on.

So when a number of bodies turn up on the shores of Lake Michigan with injuries that look like bites from a giant unknown animal, police chief Jon Flanders turns to Morgan for help. A skeptic at heart, Morgan can't turn down the opportunity to find proof of an entity whose existence she can't definitively rule out. She and her beloved rescue dog, Newt, journey to the Death's Door strait to hunt for a homicidal monster in the lake--but if they're not careful, they just might be its next victims.

So the first one was a Loch Ness-type monster. The second deals with Bigfoot. They aren't supernatural mysteries though. More, "murderers hiding their murders by making people think..." but still leaving open the possibility of the existence of the monsters. I think the MC does a good job of debunking myths while still being hopeful. I also like the fact that she's not pushed around by her family and isn't poor and being saved by a male lead.

I might try the Skalka books, because I'm always looking for a new series.

I had been reading the Anna Pigeon books because the National Park settings are great, but the writing is weak and just how many times can scrappy Anna physically beat the bad guy? Ugh.

I DO NOT recommend I Only Read Murder by the Ferguson Brothers. Just a horrific MC. 

 

[sugarbaker design]

19 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

I had been reading the Anna Pigeon books because the National Park settings are great, but the writing is weak and just how many times can scrappy Anna physically beat the bad guy? Ugh.

Well, the plots are weak, and the villains one-note, but Barr writes beautifully about nature.  YMMV.

19 hours ago, BlackberryJam said:

I DO NOT recommend I Only Read Murder by the Ferguson Brothers. Just a horrific MC. 

What's a MC?

[BlackberryJam]

12 minutes ago, sugarbaker design said:

Well, the plots are weak, and the villains one-note, but Barr writes beautifully about nature.  YMMV.

What's a MC?

Barr's descriptions are great. She does great scenery. Anna's internal monologue is just annoying. I'll keep reading them though.

MC = Main Character. Sorry. 

Just started The Princess of Las Vegas by Chris Bohjalian. It's about a Princess Di impersonator with a residency in Vegas and the hotel co-owner gets murdered. So...kinda ridiculous, but why not? It's a beautiful day for an audiobook. 

[sugarbaker design]

24 minutes ago, BlackberryJam said:

Just started The Princess of Las Vegas by Chris Bohjalian. It's about a Princess Di impersonator with a residency in Vegas and the hotel co-owner gets murdered. So...kinda ridiculous, but why not? It's a beautiful day for an audiobook. 

The more ridiculous the better as far as I'm concerned.  I recently read the Agatha-nominated The Devil's Chew Toy by Rob Orsler, an LGBTQ cozy, or quozy like the author calls it.  It reminded me of the aforementioned Gethsemane Brown books, forgettable plots but a very likable protagonist with a colorful supporting cast. 

[blackwing]

I just finished Torn Asunder by Barbara Ross.  Unfortunately, she wrote in the afterword that she is ending this series after 12 books and 6+ novellas.  She said it was her decision.  She made it sound like she wants to spend more time with family, and have a vacation with them where Grandma isn't in the corner working on a new book.

As far as the book itself, the plot involves a mysterious guest at the wedding of Julia's friends Jamie and Zoey.  After the guest dies, it seems everyone is saying they didn't know who he was.  Or did they?

I will miss this series, it was a lot of fun.  After Julia and her boyfriend Chris split up and it became apparent he wasn't coming back, I had always thought that Julia would end up with her childhood friend Jamie.  Ross had other ideas and paired her with someone else.  I felt bad for Jamie who clearly had been pining for her for years.  There is a flash forward at the end of the book which is a mostly happy ending.

I know Ross started a new series Jane [something], Professional Busybody but those seem to have petered out after two books.  Are these any good?

[sugarbaker design]

18 hours ago, blackwing said:

I will miss this series, it was a lot of fun. 

I agree!  Ross has real talent, I started reading the Julia Snowden series after reading about them on this thread.  I've only read two, but I can tell Ross is a good writer who can write a fun cozy with being silly.

[sugarbaker design]

On 4/26/2024 at 10:34 AM, BlackberryJam said:

I enjoyed The Busy Body by Kemper Donovan which is thinly disguised Hillary Clinton solves a murder fanfic. 

Just finished it!  I enjoyed it as well. I actually felt the reverence KD has for golden age mysteries with his references to Poirot, Marple, Holmes and Alleyn.  I was surprised to hear that the recurring series character will be the nameless ghost writer and not the HRC character.  I don't know if I like this decision.  I found Dorothy much more interesting.

[Dimity]

On 5/5/2024 at 9:41 PM, blackwing said:

I just finished Torn Asunder by Barbara Ross.  Unfortunately, she wrote in the afterword that she is ending this series after 12 books and 6+ novellas. 

These are available on Kindle Unlimited and I've just downloaded the first title.  Sounds good!

[Dimity]

@blackwing  thank you so much for talking about this series!  I've been housebound the last few days and am steadily working my way through the series 

Spoiler

I am hoping she dumps Chris!

and am just loving them.  I had to pay extra for some of the novellas and for the last title but once I got involved I knew there was no way I was going to be able to miss any of her titles!

[blackwing]

14 hours ago, Dimity said:

@blackwing  thank you so much for talking about this series!  I've been housebound the last few days and am steadily working my way through the series 

  Reveal spoiler

I am hoping she dumps Chris!

and am just loving them.  I had to pay extra for some of the novellas and for the last title but once I got involved I knew there was no way I was going to be able to miss any of her titles!

Glad you are liking it!  And sorry if I might have spoiled things up above, I tried to go back and spoiler bar but I guess my post is too old.   Hope you didn't read that too closely!

 

[Dimity]

22 hours ago, blackwing said:

 Hope you didn't read that too closely!

It's all good.  I am at the point now where it's obvious 

Spoiler

Jamie and Zoe are a couple - dammit, I thought he was the end game - now I am casting an interested eye towards Sgt Flynn!  He has grown on me, and on Julia so maybe he will edge out Chris.

 

[Dimity]

@blackwing am in the final novel now and unless something dramatically changes by the end Julia is with someone I hoped she'd be with!  My daughter started these books at my recommendation and got a shock in the first book as she forgot it was a cozy mystery and couldn't believe it when a door opened and we meet our first murder victim!

[Dimity]

On 5/5/2024 at 9:41 PM, blackwing said:

There is a flash forward at the end of the book which is a mostly happy ending.

I really appreciate it when an author of a long running series does this.  I like to have loose ends tied up.  Ross did a particularly satisfying epilogue which left me with a good feeling.  I've read a few cozy series where it seems obvious that the author didn't know the series was ending - I think particularly of Jill Churchill who had two series going and then pfft they were gone.  Doing some Internet sleuthing it sounds like she did not end them on her own initiative which is too bad.

[Dimity]

Another cozy mystery author has turned up on kindle unlimited - Charlotte Macleod.  These are older mysteries, probably from the 1980s thru to early 00s but are just wonderfully well written.  Highly recommended!

[sugarbaker design]

2 hours ago, Dimity said:

Another cozy mystery author has turned up on kindle unlimited - Charlotte Macleod.  These are older mysteries, probably from the 1980s thru to early 00s but are just wonderfully well written.  Highly recommended!

The Sara/Max series has been added to my rotation.  Witty, fun mysteries all under 250 pp.  Can't go wrong.

[Dimity]

I've ended up following a series that showed up on kindle unlimited and I would not recommend them to anyone and yet I am finding them oddly addictive.  They are the Ginger Gold mysteries by Lee Strauss.  They're really not all that well written and there is precious little mystery to them.  But here I am on book 14 and probably will keep reading through to the last title.

I have a theory about this series - and it's true for many of these so called "historical" cozies that have shown up.  I think they are the adult version of the Stratemeyer syndicate and there is a cabal of writers churning them out.

[Dimity]

Someone upthread mentioned the Major Lennox books by Karen Menuhin and as they are on kindle unlimited  gave them a try.  Finished the first one and am now launched on The Black Cat Murders.  What palate cleansers from the more recent cozies I've been reading!  Well written and well plotted and without the constant use of certain key words that were beginning to drive me right around the bend!

[blackwing]

23 hours ago, Dimity said:

Someone upthread mentioned the Major Lennox books by Karen Menuhin and as they are on kindle unlimited  gave them a try.  Finished the first one and am now launched on The Black Cat Murders.  What palate cleansers from the more recent cozies I've been reading!  Well written and well plotted and without the constant use of certain key words that were beginning to drive me right around the bend!

Might have been me, I am savoring them and reading them slowly.  I am on book 8 I think.  These are fun mysteries, the plots are well done (and not using the same tired stereotypical cozy plots or the same book over and over) and they are funny!