Cruisin' thru the Cozies Reading Challenge discussion
2019 Level 4 (Sleuth Extra)
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Lena's 2019 Challenge
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Paranormal:Dead and Breakfast by Kate Kingsbury.
The author wrapped 3 different mysteries into this one book and it was too much. I couldn't get into any of them.
Just Desserts by G. A. McKevettCareer-based (just lost her job as a cop and becoming a PI)
I loved this one! I read the Granny Reid mystery first and there are a few details in this one (written I think 23 years earlier) that don't quite jive and it's also bordering on not being a cozy because some parts are pretty graphic. Overall it was really good. I haven't been able to find the second book in paperback so I bought it on Kindle. Can't wait to get started!
First Date With Death by Diana Orgain
Travel (ironically also just lost her job as a cop, but I'm calling this one travel because she leaves San Francisco to be on this show and part of the show is taking trips for the different "dates"- probably a stretch I know :)
I was pretty sure I would like this one because I read the book she co-wrote with Laura Childs and figured the writing would be along the same vein and it was. My favorite style of writing, very little description and mostly dialogue. Fast-paced and engaging. It looks like there are only 3 books in this series and possibly no more coming. Unfortunate but not surprising, there's not a lot of places to go with a setting of a reality TV show where the contestants are looking for love.
Northern Winters are Murder by Lou AllinThis one wasn't really a cozy I don't think. It wasn't gory but it had a cold, somewhat procedural feel to it. I didn't dislike it but I won't be reading any more of them.
Bitter Sweets by G. A. McKevett
Also in some ways not a cozy. It was pretty gory. That aside it was really good. I like the development of the characters and the addition of Tammy, who's a nice counter for Savannah.
Every Breath You Take by Mary Higgins Clark
This is book 5 in the Under Suspicion series. Somehow I missed it and I read 6 before this one. It was your standard Mary Higgins Clark, suspenseful and intense. Hard to put down!
Biscuits and Slashed Browns by Maddie DayThe first 2 books in this series were so good. For some reason in book 3, the main character became this nasty, underhanded, back-stabbing blabbermouth. Unfortunately this did not improve in book 4. Too bad because I like everything about this series other than the fact that the MC is a complete jerk. I don't plan to read any more in this series.
I'm so disappointed to hear this because I loved the first two books in the series. I had a hard time getting into book 3 and that may be the reason. I may try to pick up book 4 but it sounds as though it may not be worth my time.
You may like them more than I did. I just got frustrated when Robbie would talk to people who were supposed to be her friends and then she would immediately rat them out to the detective she's barely met. And the author paints the other characters as being these dumb country bumpkins who can't string a sentence together.
Killer Calories by G. A. McKevettTravel (She stays at a spa to solve a murder that occurred there)
I love this series. They're a bit more gory than a typical cozy but getting less so. The characters are fun and interesting and likable.
Mod
Career-based (just lost her job as a cop and becoming a PI)
I loved this one! I read the Granny Reid mystery first and there are a few details in this one (written I..."
Both of these sound really good. I'll have to check them out
You should, I think you'll like them! They're somewhat similar to Laura Levine's Jaine Austen series if you've read those. I'm reading the 4th one now, Cooked Goose.
I've read several since I posted last! Not a Creature Was Purring by Krista Davis was really good. I've enjoyed that series all along but I think it's getting better as it goes.
Death Overdue and Read and Gone by Allison Brook were just OK. The main character is pretty artificial and she's got some weird daddy issues.
The Novel Art of Murder by V. M. Burns was good but I'm still struggling to get over the generational gaps. We have Nana Jo, a 75-year old woman who has great-grandchildren who are over 21. I realize that's physically possible, but it seems clear to me that Nana Jo was meant to be Sam's mother and it just bugs me that they added an extra generation in there without adjusting the ages so that it actually made sense.
I read the next 2 Savannah Reid mysteries, Cooked Goose and Sugar and Spite, which I love. These are similar in tone to the Jaine Austin series, which I also love.
Death by Chocolate Malted Milkshake by Sarah Graves was really disappointing. It wasn't much of a mystery, there were no clues and no suspects, all they had was some wild assumption they made about the cause of death which just so happened to be correct even though it came completely out of left field. All of that overshadowed by the threat of closing the chocolate shop and the characters scattering to the winds. It took me forever to slog through that one.
I forgot to include Past Due for Murder by Victoria Gilbert. I don't dislike the series but the author has an awful habit of continuing to write long after the mystery is solved. When the murder is solved, the mystery is over! Cut out the fluff and wrap it up!
Broken Bone China by Laura Childs was really good! I don't know that I liked it as well as some of the others but I love all of her series and this series is my favorite. Getting Old Can Hurt You by Rita Lakin was not so good. I like the series but this one was self-published and the editing just wasn't as good. There were some things I had a hard time getting around, changes in verb tense, cheesy stuff happening to force a happy ending to a scene that probably shouldn't have one, unnatural (and often incorrect) use of slang terms. The series is about a group of elderly women but previous books were written in such a way that people of any age could enjoy them, this one read like it was written how an insensitive person would treat an elderly person, kind of like a child and pandering.
Over the past week or so I finished Sour Grapes and Peaches and Screams by G. A. McKevett. I really like the series and it's gotten way cozier as it's gone along, Peaches and Screams is #7 in the series and it's pretty much merged completely into the cozy category. The obnoxious siblings are irritating but they kind of get their comeuppance at the end of Peaches and Screams.These remind me of Laura Levine's Jaine Austin series, which I also love. There's a lot of humor in both. Fans of that series I think would like this one as well and vice versa.
Read Detour by Lorena McCourtney. This is the second Mac 'n' Ivy book, I love the series and the Ivy Malone series before it. In this one they stay at a dinosaur park, it's really cute and Mac and Ivy are a really cute couple.
I’ve read three more Savannah Reid mysteries, two more Kebab restaurant mysteries, and I read the first two Santa Fe mysteries by Amanda Allen, I particularly liked these, they take place in the 1920’s, a young widow living in New Mexico. They’re really very good.
Level four (Sleuth Extraordinaire) -
B) Read two books from each sub-genre in level one plus an additional 20 cozy books of your choice (total of 40 books)
- Culinary (anything dealing with food: restaurants, baked goods, etc.)
1) Biscuits and Slashed Browns by Maddie Day (2/11)
2) Death by Chocolate Malted Milkshake by Sarah Graves (3/20)
- Animal related (cats, dogs, birds, etc.)
1) Fudge Bites by Nancy Coco (11/14)
2) Death of a Gigolo by Laura Levine (10/22)
- Craft related (any kind of hobbies - knitting, crocheting, scrapbooking, etc.)
1) Cropped to Death by Christina Freeburn (4/16)
2) Color Me Murder by Krista Davis (5/18)
- Paranormal (witches, vampires, etc.)
1) Dead and Breakfast by Kate Kingsbury (1/7)
2) Death Overdue by Allison Brook (3/2)
- Cozy mysteries based outside the US (example: Belinda Lawrence series (British))
1) Northern Winters are Murder by Lou Allin (1/28)
2) Terns of Endearment by Donna Andrews (11/8)
- Career-based cozy mystery (housekeeping, wedding planner, etc.)
1) Just Desserts by G. A. McKevett (1/23)
2) Bitter Sweets by G. A. McKevett (1/31)
- Holiday based (set during any holiday - Christmas, Thanksgiving, Valentines, etc.)
1) Not a Creature Was Purring by Krista Davis (2/23)
2) Owl Be Home for Christmas by Donna Andrews (11/18)
- Travel mystery (character could be on a cruise, touring another area, etc.)
1) First Date With Death by Diana Orgain (1/28)
2) Killer Calories by G. A. McKevett (2/15)
- Historical mystery (any mystery not set in the present)
1) Past Due for Murder by Victoria Gilbert (3/6)
2) Santa Fe Mourning by Amanda Allen (5/21)
- Choice! (freebie!)
1) Every Breath You Take by Mary Higgins Clark (2/3)
2) Read and Gone by Allison Brook (3/7)
3) Novel Art of Murder by V. M. Burns (3/11)
4) Cooked Goose by G. A. McKevett (3/16)
5) Sugar and Spite by G. A. McKevett (3/25)
6) Broken Bone China by Laura Childs (3/31)
7) Getting Old Can Hurt You by Rita Lakin (4/3)
8) Sour Grapes by G. A. McKevett (4/7)
9) Peaches and Screams by G. A. McKevett (4/14)
10) Detour by Lorena McCourtney (4/22)
11) Death by Chocolate by G. A. McKevett (4/29)
12) A Moment in Crime by Amanda Allen (5/25)
13) A Vintage Death by Mary Ellen Hughes (5/30)
14) Stabbed in the Baklava by Tina Kashien (6/9)
15) Cereal Killer by G. A. McKevett (6/17)
16) Murder a la Mode by G. A. McKevett (6/24)
17) One Feta in the Grave by Tina Kashien (6/28)
18) Hide & Sneak by G. A. McKevett (10/15)
19) Bitter Brew by G. A. McKevett (10/16)
20) Mumbo Gumbo Murder by Laura Childs & Terrie Farley Moran (10/18)