More Murder Most Cozy: More Mysteries in the Classic Tradition

Murder Most Cozy

by Cynthia Manson (Editor), Ruth Rendell, Agatha Christie

Following up on the great success of Murder Most Cozy, this winning second edition brings stories from the same legendary masters of the cozy together again in one great collection. Includes works by P.D. James, Elizabeth Goudge, Ruth Rendell and others.

Genres: Short Stories, Mystery, Anthologies

Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 1993

About the author

Cynthia Manson is a literary agent, formerly Director of Marketing at Davis Publications, publishers of Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazines. She has also edited several anthologies.

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up solely for the short story by Elizabeth Goudge - she writes murder mysteries too?! Well no. The story included here, White Wings, is certainly not a murder and hardly a mystery, but still charming, and as an Elizabeth Goudge completist I’m happy I read it.

Otherwise, this collection reminds me that I very much like P D James and Agatha Christie, and there’s a reason they are so much better known than the other authors anthologized here.

[Ram · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compendium of short mystery stories by the biggies in the genre - PD James, Ruth Rendell, Melba Marlett, John Dirckx, Elizabeth Goudge, Christianna Brand, Henry Parry and the most famous of them all - Agatha Christie - these were mysteries in the classical tradition - while Brand and Marlett disappoints, others were riveting to read

[Cynthia Rodrigues · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this one up because of Agatha Christie, PD James and Ruth Rendell. I found two new authors worth reading, Henry T Parry and John H Dirckx.
The Boxdale Inheritance by PD James: A canon is unwilling to accept a large inheritance until he can be sure that the step-grandmother that bequeathed it to him did not acquire it through unlawful means.
The Man on The Roof by Christianna Brand: A mean duke is found killed, but the inspector isn’t convinced it is suicide even though the dead man had a history of always threatening to commit suicide.
In this story, it is a woman who upstages the intelligent inspector, as is a trend in cozy mysteries.
The Second Mrs Porter by Melba Marlett: A woman admitted to a hospital believes that the real Mrs Porter is dead and that she has been forced to take her place.
I found the plot this book rather clever at the beginning, but it ended so vaguely that I lost all interest.
The Paintbox Houses by Ruth Rendell: I enjoy her writing, particularly the Wexford series. Her descriptions were a treat and so they were here. But the story itself felt flat as it reached its conclusion.
The Mahogany Wardrobe by John H Dirckx: This was one of the best stories in this book.
The Plumpoint Ladies by Henry T Parry: This one started out very slow, and I almost gave up reading it. But it simmered nicely and really turned up the intensity around the halfway mark.
White Wings by Elizabeth Goudge: Two rich elderly sisters who come upon hard times, and have pity on a vagrant, only to find their precious possessions being stolen from them.
Sanctuary by Agatha Christie: A dying man drags himself into the sanctuary of a church, and says one word, Sanctuary, to the pastor’s wife. She turns out to be the niece of Miss Marple, and she uses her own common sense, along with her aunt’s wonderful deduction skills to learn the truth about the murderer.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Baffling, intriguing, and wonderfully engaging murder returns to vicarages and villages, boarding houses and quaint seaside resorts in More Murder Most Cozy. Solving them, of course, are mystery-lovers' favorite sleuths -- eccentric elderly ladies and irascible police detectives. Agatha Christie's incomparable Miss Marple ponders the conundrum of the murdered man who dies whispering the word sanctuary. P. D. James' unflappable Adam Dalgleish snoops into a scandalous May-December wedding to discover whodunnit in a poisoning case 67 years old. And Christianna Brand uses her consummate skill to tease us with the locked room mystery of a butterfly collector shot to death in a cottage surrounded by pristine snow. So get your little gray cells ready, warm you feet by the hearth, and set a glass of sherry within arms' reach, because these eight superb stories are the perfect treat for the mystery connoisseur who relished ... More Murder Most Cozy
~~back cover

A charming and brain-teasing gaggle of mysterious short stories -- each one better than the last.

[Dazey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed most of the stories included in this collection though a few were hard to follow. I do have one gripe, and it is that "White Wings" by Elizabeth Goudge, while charming, is not a murder mystery, but that's just semantics and it still was a fun and cozy read. I suggest looking up Victorian Murder Mystery Ambience and Music on Youtube by the creator Martia's Muses if you want to use a background noise to really get you into the world. It makes you yearn to be in a Clue type mystery. Would also recommend this for any other murder mysteries with the same vibes and this book, Sherlock Holmes stories, Agatha Christie, and the like.

https://youtu.be/W1HQudooHB4?si=C-Dbg...
This is the link if anyone doesn't want to look it up by hand.

[Lora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun clean group of short stories about murders or just mysteries. I have to say two things for my own sake, when I read this later to jog my memory:
1- The least interesting was only mildly annoying (in its characters), and still added to the group on the whole. You don't see this with many short story collections. Usually a couple of the choices just reek, and I have to shake my head over what must be short-story-collection-politics. That isn't so apparent in this book.
2- Elizabeth Goudge. Her story was a wry mystery with the usual deeply human overtones I've come to expect from her.
A fun book I was glad to hand off to my avid mystery lover child.

[Serena · Rating 4 out of 5]

James, PD - the Boxdale Inheritance *****
Brand, Christianna - the Man on the Roof ****
Marlett, Melba - the Second Mrs Porter *****
Rendell, Ruth - the Paintbox Houses ***
Dirck, John H - the Mahogany Wardrobe ****
Parry, Henry T - the Plum Point Ladies ****
Goudge, Elizabeth - White Wings ***
Christie, Agatha - Sanctuary *****

My Rating System:
* couldn't finish, ** wouldn't recommend, *** would recommend, **** would read again, ***** have read again.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book fell into my lap and it appealed because of the shorter nature of the stories. At first I thought I had read this book before because the first 2 stories were quite familiar but the others were new (except for Agatha Christie). Not a bad way to spend a few hours.