Here are some Fun Massachusetts Facts:
State Motto: "By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty."
Massachusetts' name means "at or about the great hill.”
State Flower is the Mayflower.
Capital is Boston.
State Bird is the Chickadee.
Harvard was the first North American college, founded in 1636. Every December 16, there is a reenactment of the Boston Tea Party at the Boston harbor.
Authors who are found on the Cozy Mystery Site and who feature Massachusetts locations in their books:
Linda Barnes: Carlotta Carlyle Mystery Series AND Michael Spraggue Mystery Series…
Nero Blanc (aka Cordelia Frances Biddle & Steve Zettler): Crossword Mystery Series…
Anne Canadeo: Black Sheep Knitting Mystery Series…
Susan Conant: Dog Lover's Mystery Series, Cat Lover's Mystery Series, & Gourmet Girls Series (with her daughter Jessica Conant-Park)…
Philip R. Craig: Martha's Vineyard Mystery Series…
Dicey Deere: Torrey Tunet Mystery Series (Boston native in Ireland)…
Joanne Dobson: Karen Pelletier Mystery Series…
G.H. Ephron (aka Hallie Ephron & Donald A. Davidoff): Peter Zak Mystery Series…
Sally Gunning: Peter Bartholomew Mystery Series…
Toni L.P. Kelner: Where Are They Now? Mystery Series…
Harry Kemelman: Rabbi Small Mystery Series…
Kathryn Lasky Knight: Calista Jacobs Mystery Series…
Mary Kruger: Knitting Mystery Series…
Jane Langton: Homer Kelly Mystery Series…
Anna Maclean (aka Jeanne MacKin): Lousia May Alcott Mystery Series…
Charlotte MacLeod (aka Alisa Craig): Sarah Kelling & Max Bittersohn Mystery Series AND Peter Shandy & Helen Shandy Mystery Series…
Francine Mathews (aka Stephanie Barron): Nantucket Mystery Series…
Margaret Miles: Bracebridge Mystery Series…
Camille Minichino (aka Margaret Grace): Periodic Table Mystery Series…
Katherine Hall Page: Faith Fairchild Mystery Series…
Robert B. Parker: Jesse Stone Mystery Series, Spenser (for Hire) Mystery Series, AND Sunny Randall Mystery Series…
Cynthia Peale: Beacon Hill Mystery Series…
Nancy Pickard: Jenny Cain Mystery Series…
Cynthia Riggs: Martha's Vineyard Mystery Series…
P.B. Ryan: Gilded Age Mystery Series…
Clea Simon: Theda Krakow Mystery Series…
Winona Sullivan: Sister Cecile Mystery Series…
Sarah Stewart Taylor: Sweeney St. George Series…
Eugenia Lovett West: Emma Streat Mystery Series…
Leslie Wheeler: Living History Mystery Series…
Please feel free to contact me if you see an author from the Cozy Mystery Site who belongs on this list, or if you have any comments.
♦To access more Cozy Mysteries by Theme click on this link.♦
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
How about Sarah Stewart Taylor? She lives in Vermont but writes about the Boston area.
Hi Marianne,
You are so right! Thanks for the information. I am going to go and add Taylor to the Massachusetts list right now…
What about the series by Wendy Lee featuring Angela Matelli and takes place in Boston and suburbs?
How about Tess Gerritsen? Her novels always take place in MA and ME and sometimes visits to NY but mainly MA.
Thanks, Maria, for telling us about Gerritsen!
Katherine Hall Page and her Faith Fairchild series set in MA and ME
I know, and boy am I glad you caught this! I actually "took Faith" with me when I visited my daughter in Cambridge!