Looking for a new cozy mystery author to love? Dive in to this collection of excerpts from the Minotaur Books/St. Martin's Press Winter 2017 season (books published from January to April). The collection
Fudge and Jury by Ellie Alexander Fever In the Dark by Ellen Hart Death at the Yoga Cafe by Michelle Kelly Death, Taxes, and Sweet Potato Fries by Diane Kelly Snowed In with Murder by Auralee Wallace Swiss Vendetta by Tracee de Hahn A Death In the Dales by Frances Brody Bel of the Brawl by Maggie McConnon Death By Any Other Name by Tessa Arlen No. 2 Feline Detective Agency by Mandy Morton Dying On the Vine by Marla Cooper A Date With Death by Julia Chapman Of Books and Bagpipes by Paige Shelton Devil's Breath by G.M. Malliet
Ellie is a voracious storyteller and a lover of words and all things bookish. She believes that stories have the ability to transport and transform us. With over forty published novels and counting, her goal is to tell stories that provide points of connection, escape, and understanding.
She loves inhabiting someone else’s skin through the pages of a book and is passionate about helping writers find their unique storytelling lens. As a writing teacher and coach, she guides writers in crafting the story they’ve always wanted to tell while navigating the path to publication that’s right for them.
You know I do not think that I have ever really read a cozy mystery, as I can recall. I have seen the cozy mystery movies on the telly but did not consider that to be a good yardstick from which to measure this genre.
That said I was looking for something that would introduce me, without committing me to one particular author. I needed to sample some of what was out there. Biff, boom, bang and here you go, this one fit the bill perfectly and for that alone I award two stars.
Being a newbie I just dove in from the beginning. If I could not feel it, I moved on but I gotta tell you I was surprised by how many I wanted to keep reading. Perhaps these would be tasty little treats to visit in between other reads, you know kind of like I what I did with Sherlock and am want to do with King’s short stories and my personal favourite Rex Stout with my pal Archie. So this really helped me develop a better understanding of what appealed to me in this genre.
That said, I believe that means it met its objective, at least for this reader. If like me you are looking to see where your interest might lay then you cannot go wrong with this sampler. :)
Oh yeah and samplers in general suck because you never get to read the whole thing , duh.
My thanks to St, Martin’s Press and NetGalley as well as all these talented authors.
This is a collection of EXCERPTS by 14 different cozy mystery authors. It's a nice collection of samples esp. if you're looking to find a new cozy author to read, which you may or may not have ever read their books, but wondered what their books are about
In my case, I had only known of 1 of the authors, unless some authors are writing under a different pseudonym. Gave me some new authors to look what else they've written and/or how many other books are in their series, for the excerpts I enjoyed. I'll admit, I was disappointed when I saw it was a sampler, on the plus side, I found some authors I'd like to follow up in future, reading their full length books
I'd recommend this book of samples for those who may not have ever read a cozy mystery, they can read this collection & see if it's a genre they'd enjoy. Also, for those that already enjoy the cozy genre, to read & find new authors they'd like to add to their cozy mystery list
I received a digital copy from Net Galley & St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Publishing. In return I wrote an honest review
At first I really thought that the book was only a story, with small point of views and in the end it all would be connected, but it wasn’t.
I had to search it to understand that the author was giving sneak peeps of multiple books from different authors… To be honest that’s definitely not my style and I won’t be reading the rest of the series.
I gotta say 2024 hasn’t been great to me regarding books 🥹
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This sampler is a collection of the first chapters of the cozy mysteries that will be released in the Spring and Summer of 2017. I really enjoyed all the stories and look forward to reading the full length novels. I always enjoy finding the new authors and this also has some favorite authors as well.
Title: Cozy Case Files: A Cozy Mystery Sampler, Volume 1 Author: Ellie Alexander; Tessa Arlen; Frances Brody; Ellen Hart' Julia Chapman; Marla Cooper; Diane Kelly; Michelle Kelly; G. M. Malliet; Maggie McConnon; Mandy Morton; Paige Shelton; Auralee Wallace and Tracee de Hahn Publisher: St Martin's Press Published: 1-17-2017 Pages: 314 Genre: Mystery, Thrillers & Suspense Sub-Genre: Cozy; Anthology ISBN: 9781250147325 ASIN: CB01NCNPHE7 Reviewed For NetGalley and St Martin's Press Reviewer: DelAnne Rating: 5 Starts
Samples of the following books are offered: Fudge and Jury by Ellie Alexander Fever In the Dark by Ellen Hart Death at the Yoga Café by Michelle Kelly Death, Taxes, and Sweet Potato Fries by Diane Kelly Snowed In with Murder by Auralee Wallace Swiss Vendetta by Tracee de Hahn A Death In the Dales by Frances Brody Bel of the Brawl by Maggie McConnon Death By Any Other Name by Tessa Arlen No. 2 Feline Detective Agency by Mandy Morton Dying On the Vine by Marla Cooper A Date With Death by Julia Chapman Of Books and Bagpipes by Paige Shelton Devil's Breath by G.M. Malliet
With the cost of books it is best to sample them before decideing which to spend your precious dollars on. Samplers are a great way to test the waters.
Ellie Alexander, Ellen Hart, Michelle Kelly, Auralee Wallace, Tracee De Hahn, Frances Brody, Maggie McConnon, Tessa Arlen, Marla Cooper, Mandy Morton, Julia Chapman, Paige Shelton and G.M. Malliet are the authors in this first volume.
A compilation of cozy mystery writers who entice you with sneak peeps into some of their books. This book gives you a “taste” of the author’s style to determine if it is a good fit or not. Some of the authors I have not read but after reading the excerpts of their books, I bought them.
Each author’s style is fun, fast paced and their characters seem very developed. You would not be disappointed in reading any one of these authors!
I would highly recommend this series to anyone looking for something new to read in the cozy mystery genre. Each selection with a series introduction plus a few chapters lets the reader know what to expect.
This sampler is a collection of the first few chapters of cozy mysteries due to be released in the Spring/Summer of 2017. It's a good way to find books you may want to read but might not otherwise consider. There are 14 mysteries included, all by different authors. Some of the authors are more well known than others. I enjoyed reading the different writing styles and getting to know a little about the characters. Out of the 14 authors, I've read four and plan on reading their next book. Out of the remaining 10 authors, I'm interested in three of them and plan on reading their next book. Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book.
This was a cute sample of several new cozy mysteries that will be released over the next few months. They all share a few chapters of their books, giving the reader a chance to discover a new author or become reacquainted with an old author. It's an ideal situation for everyone.
I voluntarily read an ARC of this book provided by the publisher using NetGalley.
This is nice sampler of 14 cozy mysteries published by St. Martin's Press in the spring/summer of 2017. I had only read books by a few of the authors with excerpts in this book, so it was a nice introduction to the other authors' work.
This sampler did as it was intended, and whetted my appetite for these new releases. Of course, now I am quite impatient to read the complete stories, haha.
*I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, via NetGalley*