These are the newest four authors who you all recommended to be included on the Cozy Mystery site. For those of you who are wondering where your recommended authors are… I have more than fifty other authors on my list and will be posting them… eventually.
The newest four authors added to the site (all of whom were recommended by Cozy Mystery site readers) are:
Linda Hall: Hall was awarded the American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year Award in 2008, as well as the The Word Guild Award for best Christian mystery in Canada…
Gail Oust: Oust writes the Bunco Babes Mystery Series which features a retirement community Bunco group of (senior) sleuths. (Bunco is a type of dice game…)
Denise Tucker: Tucker is an Associate Professor who writes the Madame President Mystery Series, which is unique in that each book of the series features a famous house, castle, or villa.
Eugenia Lovett West: West writes the Emma Streat Mystery Series which features a former opera diva/sleuth. The series is set in Boston…
Joanna wrote to me the other day with a really interesting link to her review of G. A. McKevett's Killer Calories cozy. Her review was such a delight for me to read, and it wasn't just because she uses my definition of a Cozy Mystery!
It really is clever how Joanna ("a social worker with an English degree" – from her blog site) dissects McKevett's Killer Calories and makes the point that it is (indeed) a Cozy. I hope you can take a few minutes to go read her review, and enjoy her site!
Every so often, I go through all of my "private lists" of authors with their chronological lists of cozy mystery books, and try to make sense of the notes that I have added to the list. (The date of my last update was about two years ago.)
The Cozy Mystery Site is the basis of my private list. It is the reason I started the site. I used to keep a version of the site as my way of keeping track of my favorite authors and their mystery books. I know that I have talked about this before, so I won't go into the details… AGAIN!!!
Anyway>>> I am updating my private lists, and this usually takes me a few days of wrangling around with the notes I have written in the margins and the one inch space I leave between my authors. Yes, I not only have the site's lists, but I have another copy on my desktop with just the authors I follow (which are quite a few!) and then I have a printed copy on which I like to mark off the books as I read them, add my authors' new published books, and write "important" notes to myself about some of the books and/or authors. I have to admit, though, that the important notes are usually in the negative vein… something like "YUCK" or "NO MORE OF THIS SERIES"… and of course, there is sometimes the X-ing off of an author.
On a more positive note, I also cram new authors into the margins of my paper copy list. Cyril Hare is one author who comes to mind. I feel like he is my "happy discovery" this year… and I wish I could remember who recommended him to me! THANK YOU!!! I have his Christmas mystery, which I consider a "keeper" as I am sure I will be re-reading it in a few years. (That's one good thing about a memory that seems to be deteriorating with age…. I can read the same books twice, and just get that little hint of déjà vu… nothing major, though… the EUREKA moment of finding out who the culprit is still takes place, but I have that little nagging sensation that I already knew he/she did it. Of course, I prefer not to read the same books twice, which is the reason for my obsession with chronological lists!)
So, since it is the beginning of the new year, I am updating my lists, and urge some of you who are as obsessive/compulsive about these chronological series to do so, also. I'm on a mission! Another reason to forget the housework, serve frozen TV dinners, and not apply any of the minimal make-up I usually don. Hmmm……. I might have to do this updating gig more often!
Here are four new authors to the Cozy Mystery Site… These authors have come to me via your recommendations:
Jessica Beck: Donut Shop Mystery Series is set in North Carolina and features a sleuth who is the owner of Donut Hearts Coffee Shop… Donut recipes are included in the books…
Lisa Bork: Broken Vows Mystery Series takes place in New York and the sleuth is the owner of a sports car boutique… It's no accident that she solves crimes!
Kate Ellis: Wesley Peterson Mystery Series features an archaeologist/sergeant and an inspector in England, Joe Plantagenet Mystery Series features a British inspector, and Lady Katheryn Bulkeley Mystery Series features an abbess of an English convent. (Ellis combines archaeology, history, and mystery when writing her novels. Not Cozy)
Christy Evans: Georgiana Neverall Mystery Series has, as its sleuth, an apprentice plumber who left her job as an executive and moves back home to Oregon…
Yesterday, Ray T posted this comment:
"What do you think about The Good Wife now that CBS has decided to show reruns of old episodes over and over? They ruined a good show."
I decided that rather than post the comment on the entry about the show, I would take this opportunity to write exactly how I feel about this:
Yes, Ray T, CBS has ruined a good show. I am absolutely incredulous every time the "high-ups" of one of the major networks think they can "get by" with this sort of thing. Rather than promote a new show during its first season, and treat the viewers with respect, they pull this type of lame-brained trick. Quite frankly, I would think that the major networks have a difficult enough time trying to attract viewers from all of the other channels that are available today.
I remember the first year that I became aware of this type of major network shuffle, the "air-six-episodes-during-twelve-weeks" game. It was the year that ER premiered. I considered myself "hooked" on that show…. until I saw that they started showing repeats of the brand new show over and over, and over again!
That's when I found out that I really wasn't that "hooked" on the show. I left it, and never looked back! Unfortunately, The Good Wife is not the only show with which the major networks are pulling this sort of stunt. I simply don't have the patience to be strung-along. A show had better be downright wonderful for me to stay with it once the network decides to keep RE-airing the same shows.
And, as long as I'm writing about The Good Wife, I have to admit that I am getting VERY TIRED of the whole subplot involving the son hiding important black-mail items that arrive at their apartment. Right! >>> My dad's in jail, and is being framed, but I'm not going to let my parents know about this black-mailing stuff that is intended for them. >>> Good grief! That got old for me the fourth time they tried to incorporate it into the plot!
(That's right, I am still with the show, although I have to admit that I am on the fence about dropping it.)
Now I'll get off my soap box….
Here is the latest question I have been asked, but I'm not sure of the answer. At first I thought that perhaps Sara was describing Judith Van Gieson's Claire Reynier Mystery Series (which is on my list of pages to make…)
Sara asks:
"I have no idea where to post this question, so I'll start here. Could you please point me in the right direction to find the answer to my question (below)? Is there a specific website where I can post a question about a book?
A while back I read at least two — if not — three books in a series about a woman who was part archivist and part sleuth. The details are very sketchy in my mind, but I recall that the series was based out west. I'm thinking she was in Colorado or New Mexico maybe. The main character, a young woman, would be asked to evaluate the authenticity of a book or archaeological find or artifact. The readers then followed her efforts in researching the provenance of the item. She was constantly getting into complicated schemes of people meant to trick or deceive others. Does anyone remember which author's series this was or does anyone have any other details about the series that I can use to track it down? This has been bugging me for months now and I kept hoping I'd find the answer. I hope you can help."
If you have any guesses, please post a comment on the site. I know how frustrating it is to try to remember an author!
