October 12, 2007
Cozy Mystery Authors with Holiday Themes…
As I have mentioned a few times, I just went through every author on my cozy mystery authors lists, and tried to categorize them by their professions and/or interests. (The reason I say "tried" is that I have been corresponding with a very knowledgeable librarian… I'll call her "Janet"… since that is indeed her name… and I sent her my crafting mystery list yesterday, only to have her come up with several authors I had missed, who I actually have on my site… Shame on me!!!)
I know I have blogged about this many times, but I truly enjoy reading cozy mysteries with holiday settings during those particular seasons. You should be able to find a lot of mystery books that take place during the different holiday times of the year if you search my Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, and Easter pages… But, the following are cozy authors who write (almost exclusively) holiday-themed novels:
Jane Haddam (aka Orania Papazoglou) writes the Gregor Demarkian series. Demarkian is a retired FBI agent who pairs up with author Bennis Hannaford, and most of the times, these pairings are during some type of holiday season. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Valentine's Day, New Year's… it's all work and no vacation/holiday time for these two sleuths!
Lee Harris just started writing her second series recently, but she has been writing the Christine Bennett series since the early 1990s. Christine is an ex-nun who has a penchant for solving crimes… and again, these usually take place during a holiday of some sort. Harris has made it very easy for us to be able to identify the exact holiday the book is going to take place during… since most of the titles include the actual holiday…. The Christmas Night Murder, The Valentine's Day Murder, The Thanksgiving Day Murder, The Mother's Day Murder… even The Cinco de Mayo Murder!
Leslie Meier's main character/sleuth is Lucy Stone, a housewife with several children she has to juggle while solving crimes. The very first novel in the series is now called Mistletoe Murder, but when I read it, it was called Mail Order Bride. Meier just collaborated with Joanne Fluke and Laura Levine on a new Christmas book called Candy Cane Murder, in which Lucy Stone is featured.
Valerie Wolzien writes two series: the Josie Pigeon and the Susan Henshaw series. The Susan Henshaw series is set during different holiday times of the year. Susan Henshaw (like Lucy Stone from Meier's series) is also a housewife who solves crimes between running errands and taking care of her family.
Mary Higgins Clark has written several holiday-themed mysteries, some of which she wrote jointly with her daughter, Carol Higgins Clark.
I just discovered another author who writes holiday themed books… Livia J. Washburn. She is the author of the Fresh Baked Mystery Series.
If you have any other cozy mystery authors who you think should be included on this list… please let me know by posting a comment…
***To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme click on this link.***
Filed under Authors, Books, Cozy Mystery Books by Theme, Holiday Mystery Books by Danna - cozy mystery list
Comments on Cozy Mystery Authors with Holiday Themes… »
Twila @ 8:04 pm
Danna, thank you, thank you, thank you! I can't tell you how much I appreciate your list and your blog! I LOVE cozy mysteries and was starting to think I was going to run out of authors pretty soon but you put paid to that! There are lots of authors on your list that I hadn't even heard of. Of course, there are lots that I have too :-). I hate when I finish an M.C. Beaton book (either series) because it means I have to wait until another is written! I also enjoyed the Alexander McCall Smith Number One Ladies Detective Agency series as audio books. The gal that reads them is outstanding and I was able to knit while I listened! Thanks again for the very helpful list of authors. I can see that I'm in no danger of running out of authors to read:-).
Danna - cozy mystery list @ 8:56 am
Twila, I am so glad you found the site.
I know exactly what you mean about finishing a favorite author's book and then feeling a sense of melancholy because you are going to have to wait until the author gets another book out…. which seems like it is never FAST enough for us! When I finally discovered M. C. Beaton's Agatha books, I had several books to catch up with… I just looked at Beaton's chronological list of books… and I am guessing I discovered her in 1994. So, I had three of her Agatha books to read… and I absolutely loved them. I put off reading the Hamish books because I figured they could never compare with the Agatha books, and I thought that I would be disappointed. BUT…. When I finally started playing catch-up with her Hamish books, I found that I actually liked him more than Agatha! And, luckily, I had twelve books to read before I had to start waiting for Beaton to put out another Hamish books. I have her 2007 Hamish book right here by my computer, but I'm putting off reading it because I know that once I finish it… I will have to wait until 2008 for her next book… I will probably start reading it pretty soon, though, since I cannot wait to see what all of the familiar characters are doing in Lochdubh. Thanks for writing…. I'm glad the site will be able to give you some ideas of authors you might want to try once you "run out" of authors!
Cora @ 6:40 pm
Danna, I just came across a new Halloween mystery…Frill Kill by Laura Childs. This is the latest book in her Scrapbooking series.
Danna - cozy mystery list @ 10:36 pm
Cora,
Thank you so much for sending me the name of a new Halloween scrapbooking book… I just posted it on today's blog (as a postscript) as well as on the Halloween Mystery Book List.
Thanks, again!