Comfort Reads discussion

I know many people enjoy cozy mysteries as a way to relax. Please share your favourites here.

There are so many, most involving dogs. You see, I'm a little obsessed...

I get my information from http://stopyourekillingme.com where they keep track of series order, who writes about who, who the main protagonist is, and all the other sundry details. Plus, they have genre lists and "if you like this author then you might like..." It's a great site.

Oh, I can't forget to mention The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith.

Kelly wrote: "Oh, I can't forget to mention The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith."

I LOVE this series! And thanks for the link, Kelly, I will check that out.

I have to say that Mary Higgins Clark is a great mystery author for comfort reading. Not much brain power required but I always really enjoy them.

Kelly wrote: "Oh, I can't forget to mention The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith."

Kelly, have you seen the TV show? I had only read the first two books when I saw the TV show, but thought they did an amazing job with the casting. They actually film it in Botswana, and also use many local musicians for the music. It's very well done.

It's in my Netflix queue. I've been to Botswana so I want to see it for several different reasons.

Lee wrote: "I know many people enjoy cozy mysteries as a way to relax. Please share your favourites here. "

If it's cozy mysteries, I'd recommend Mary Stewart all the way.

I also like Dorothy Gilman's "Mrs. Pollifax" series. She's great fun to read.

Yes, I think Mary Stewart is almost the definition of cozy. I haven't read many of her mysteries though.

Hannahr wrote: "I also like Dorothy Gilman's "Mrs. Pollifax" series. She's great fun to read...."

Ah, Mrs. Pollifax! Not only a great cozy mystery series, but a definite comfort read!

Kelly wrote: "It's in my Netflix queue. I've been to Botswana so I want to see it for several different reasons."

Oh, wow! You definitely need to see it then. And post here when you do. I would love to know what you think of it.

I'd like to add Laura Childs' Tea Shop Mystery series, starting with Death by Darjeerling. Great writing & super cozy!

I love M.C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth mysteries set in the Scottish village of Lochdubh. I am currently on the last one, Death of a Witch, and I think a new one will be out in February.

I'm glad to hear you like that series Kathy. I've wondered about it myself. I've just finished reading a travel book about the Scottish Lowlands that was enjoyable, so I think I'll add Beaton's books to my TBR!

Kathy wrote: "I love M.C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth mysteries set in the Scottish village of Lochdubh. I am currently on the last one, Death of a Witch, and I think a new one will be out in February."

I've been meaning to try out Beaton's Hamish McBeth series. I loved the TV series (although I've heard it doens't follow the books). The characters and "personality* of Lochdubh sound right up my alley.

Perfect! We've got a bunch of cozy mystery lovers here. I'm just going to name the authors you've mentioned again with a link directly to their profiles so those who are interested can check them out with ease.

1. M.C. Beaton writes the Hamish MacBeth series.

2. Laura Childs writes the teashop mystery series with Death by Darjeeling being the first.

3. Dorothy Gilman writes the Mrs. Pollifax series.

I don't like many non-historical mysteries, but I really did enjoy The Nantucket Diet Murders byVirginia Rich; I have not read any of her other Eugenia Potter mysteries (the author unfortunately passed away, and some of the later novels are written by a different author), but The Nantucket Diet Murders was quite enjoyable (somewhat similar in feel to the Murder She Wrote television series). I also think that all of the Eugenia Potter mysteries feature food very prominently, so I guess that this mystery series is also somewhat of a food inspired fiction. The food descriptions in the one novel I have read were certainly "yummy" (even though death was on the menu as well).

Laurie wrote: "I'm glad to hear you like that series Kathy. I've wondered about it myself. I've just finished reading a travel book about the Scottish Lowlands that was enjoyable, so I think I'll add Beaton's b..."

And I should probably read the travel book, Laurie. What's the name of it?

Hannahr wrote: "Kathy wrote: "I love M.C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth mysteries set in the Scottish village of Lochdubh. I am currently on the last one, Death of a Witch, and I think a new one will be out in February..."

I looked up the television series, too, but I'm not sure I want to watch it, as they apparently changed some aspects of the books that I wouldn't have wanted changed. Of course, it's always hard to have a movie or show as good as the books.

Another cozy mystery series is the Coffeehouse Mysteries by Cleo Coyle. I've read the first two, On What Grounds and Through the Grinder and have more waiting for me for this year. I love coffee, and the main character runs a coffee shop, so it's a good fit for me. I want to do a little of my serious reading first though. Probably will get back to these in February sometime.

I stumbled upon a great site today for cozy mystery readers that has an extensive list of authors and the chronological order of books in their series. It is http://www.cozy-mystery.com/

Kathy, Ooh. Thank you. That's a wonderful resource.

There's another site, the URL which I cannot think of now, that does this with all mystery series.

Lisa wrote: "Kathy, Ooh. Thank you. That's a wonderful resource.

There's another site, the URL which I cannot think of now, that does this with all mystery series."


If you think of it, Lisa, post it. I love all the resources for mysteries I can get.

Thank you Kathy, I'm going to post that cozy mystery website up top in the member announcement section. I have a number of websites I want to post there, I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Kathy wrote: "
If you think of it, Lisa, post it."

I stopped working and searched more carefully and just found it!:

http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/

Lisa wrote: "Kathy wrote: "
If you think of it, Lisa, post it."

I stopped working and searched more carefully and just found it!:

http://www.stopyourekillingme.com/
"

Great site, Lisa. Thanks.

Kathy wrote: "I stumbled upon a great site today for cozy mystery readers that has an extensive list of authors and the chronological order of books in their series. It is http://www.cozy-mystery.com/ "

Nice site, Kathy! Thanks! I hadn't seen that one before.

Yes, thank you everyone for the websites. I've posted them up top in the Reading Resources Area so they'll all be in one place.

Lee wrote: "Yes, thank you everyone for the websites. I've posted them up top in the Reading Resources Area so they'll all be in one place. "

Thank you, Lee.

Has someone read the M.M.Kaye´s mystery series?? For instance, Death of Zanzibar ....

I found another interesting site:

http://www.crimethrutime.com/timeline...

Laura wrote: "I found another interesting site:

http://www.crimethrutime.com/timeline..."

Thanks Laura, I'll pop that one up top too!

Laura wrote: "Has someone read the M.M.Kaye´s mystery series?? For instance, Death of Zanzibar ....
"

I love M.M. Kaye's "Death in" mysteries...but then I love M.M. Kaye's books in general!

glad to know Hanna, since from time to time we can find these mysteries series at BM.

Kathy wrote: "Laurie wrote: "I'm glad to hear you like that series Kathy. I've wondered about it myself. I've just finished reading a travel book about the Scottish Lowlands that was enjoyable, so I think I'll..."

Oops, sorry Kathy, I've haven't checked this thread in a couple of days. The book was Liz Curtis Higgs' My Heart's in the Lowlands.

Laurie wrote: "Kathy wrote: "Laurie wrote: "I'm glad to hear you like that series Kathy. I've wondered about it myself. I've just finished reading a travel book about the Scottish Lowlands that was enjoyable, s..."

Thanks Laurie.

Ha! And the web site I posted in message 25, I just saw that Kelly had already posted that same web site in message #2. It is a terrific resource, when I remember to use it.

Donna Andrews's bird series that starts with Murder With Peacocks has been mentioned here, and I really love that series.

The first Donna Andrews book I read is from a different series, the Turing Hopper series, where the main protagonist is a computer/computer program. This series is really unique and fun, I think. The first book in it is You've Got Murder.

For "comfort" mystery reading, I have to mention Sue Grafton and her Alphabet Mysteries starring Kinsey Millhone. They are lighthearted & entertaining, yet compelling and well-written.

And thanks for the links! I am a mystery nut, and I'm also very anal meticulous about reading a series in order. Nothing makes me madder than reading a good mystery only to find out it's number 8 in a series of 12! LOL

Valerie, Grafton is one of my favorites!

I haven't yet read Grafton, but I have kind of been "saving" her books for when I need a good long series fix.

Christine, I found them at about D/E and read all those first ones at once, but this is one series when a year or so apart per book works best for me. I don't like reading too, too many in a row, even though I love them. Overall, the series improves as it goes on!

Another great historical mystery series is the "Elizabethan Theatre" series by Edward Marston. They feature a crime solving book-bearer by the name of Nicholas Bracekwell. The novels are not incredibly long, and are both historically intriguing (as they show what life was like not only in Elizabethan society, but more particularly for the often relatively nomadic theatre troops) as well as deliciously entertaining. Marston has done an amazing job showing both the dedication as well the the eccentricity of Elizabethan actors; there have been about sixteen of these gems up to date, the first of the series being The Queen's Head. A word of warning, though. If you are Roman Catholic, I would like to warn you that more than a few of these novels feature Roman Catholic plots against England (Queen Elizabeth I), which, though, was a fact of life during the Tudor era.

I'm sorry, I was trying to post this in the historical mystery category, and I made a mistake. Hope nobody minds.

Gundula, No problem. I'm sure mystery fans in the group will find your post. There's somewhat of a mish mash of books in many of the threads, and that's fine.

Lisa, I put the first of the series on the bookshelf. Do you want me to add the others as well (there's about 16), or would that be a bit overwhelming?

Gundula, It's up to you. I added the historical-fiction shelf to that one; you can take it off if you feel it doesn't apply. Lee & I generally add just the first book of series plus any specifically mentioned book not first in a series, but if you like them all and want to add them all, feel free!

Gundula, You know the books, so please add all shelves that do apply. Thanks!

I think I'll add the other ones in the series as well, particularly as some of the earlier ones are not that easy to obtain anymore.

Gundula, Thanks!