Cozy Mysteries discussion

I have several authors that I'd like to include as our featured author but eventually I'm gonna run out. lol So I'm going to ask to see what suggestions members have. Please list the author, which serie(s) they write and the title of the first book in the series. That way I have a place to start researching each author. I've been trying to pick authors that have popular series, or more than one series to feature. I'm trying to, at this time anyway, avoid featuring authors with only one or two books out. Once we get through featuring alot of prolific popular authors than we can start featuring new authors with just a couple books.

2 of my very favorites: Earlene Fowler writes the Benni Harper series, first book is . The other is Susan Wittig Albert who writes the the China Bayles series, the Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter series and also has a new series starting next month called the Darling Dahlias. I've only read the China Bayles series and it's a favorite of mine. The first China Bayles book is . The first Beatrix Potter book is and the Darling Dahlias book is . She also wrote a series with her husband under the name Robin Paige.

Good picks Melodie. I like the series by Kathleen Bacus. There are only six books though.

Joan Hess: Maggody Series, the first was and the Claire Molloy series, the first was .

Besides Agatha Christie, one of the first series I really devoured was Ellis Peters' Brother Cadfael, the first was .

Funny Shay should mention Agatha Christie - lots of books to choose from there...Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple... What about Dick Francis? Kate Collins?

I could definetly do an Agatha Christie month as some folks, like me, havn't read her yet. I have several just havn't found the time yet to read one. I was already thinking of using Susan Albert Witting too. I'm also trying to vary the authors that are listed so that each month isn't more of the same, but something a little different. So if one featured author doesn't appeal to you, the next might. It also might get folks interested in authors they havn't heard of or havn't read before.

Briansgirl "Master Book Sale Huntress" wrote: "It also might get folks interested in authors they havn't heard of or havn't read before."

Seems to be working so far. I think there are more than a few of us now hooked on Nancy Atherton and Aaron J. Elkins.

Good Heather. :)

Are Dorothy Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey books considered cozies? When I was heavily into reading mysteries, I devoured everything from Sayers along with Dame Agatha. They're very much a product of their times-very 1920s-1930s British and not at all PC by our standards.

Sandra, Dorothy Sayers is an excellent suggestion. A lot of the old, classic mysteries really concerned themselves with laying down actual clues, false herrings, etc. within their pages. A lot of modern mysteries seem to not do this as well or at all.

Since I was looking for something different than what we'd already featured, I choose Dorothy Sayers to be out Featured Author for August. :) Thank you.

I will definetly use some of the other suggestions other months as I definetly want to do other classic mystery authors like Agatha Christie and Ellery Queen as well. This lets us look at popular current authors as well as occassionally taking a step back and reading classic mystery authors. The classics may not fit everyone's definition of cozies, but I think it's good to go back and see which authors made mysteries a popular genre.

Don't know why I didn't think of this last night, since I recently discovered some of her books in my TBR stash, but what about Phyllis A. Whitney? Another one of the "grande dames" of mysteries who, according to the official website, wrote adult and juvenile mysteries, as well as books on writing.

Heather L wrote: "Don't know why I didn't think of this last night, since I recently discovered some of her books in my TBR stash, but what about Phyllis A. Whitney? Another one of the "grande dames"..."

Now Phyllis Whitney I like! I think I'm probably the only one in this group who doesn't like the "classic" mysteries, like Agatha Christie & the Sherlock Holmes stories. I tried both & neither was my cuppa when I was growing up. My maternal grandpa read all the time and when I was about 10 he gave me a copy of I, THE JURY (we didn't tell my mom!), and that hooked me! I still read Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, Donna Parker and the like, but any time I could get my hands on a "grown-up" mystery I was happy as a clam! I read mostly "hardboiled" mysteries and thriller types until about 9 or 10 years ago. After 9/11, for some reason, I really noticed a shift in my reading to more cozy types and UF.

I have never read Nevada Barr but I have wanted to for a long time. Perhaps if she were featured I would pick up her first book Track of the Cat.

I love Jill Churchill's series. Jane Jeffry's first book is Grime and Punishment and my favorite of her two series Grace & Favor Mysteries set in the 1930s, first book Anything Goes. She writes under a couple other names but they aren't mysteries.

Mary Daheim is another good cozy writer. The Bed & Breakfast series with Judith Flynn & Cousin Rennie starts with Just Desserts and the Emma Lord series starts with The Alpine Advocate. I like the Lord series the best and Daheim is up to V with The Alpine Vengeance. She also has some collaborative works and some stand alone novels that look like romance.

A British author that maybe some haven't read that I think has an excellent cullinary series is Janet Laurence. Her Darina Lisle series starts with A Deepe Coffyn. There are 10 in this series. She has another series with 3 books that I have not read. The first book is Canaletto and the Case of Westminster Bridge. She also has some collaborative works.

Melodie wrote: "Heather L wrote: "Don't know why I didn't think of this last night, since I recently discovered some of her books in my TBR stash, but what about Phyllis A. Whitney? Another one of ..."

I haven't read a Phyllis Whitney in years, but still have many safely shelfed. I really loved them! I have several Agatha Christie and Rex Stout that I bought years ago when I was able to go hunting in used book stores. I keep watching Christie Mystery on pbs and have started wanting to read them. Also-I love the Henry Fitzroy pic by your name. I love the series in print and tv.

I love a series by Carola Dunn - the Daisy Dalrymple series. The first book in the series is Death at Wentwater Court. They are set in England after World War I. There are at least 15 in the series so far. She writes other series, but I'm not sure if they are mysteries.

Another author that might fit into your featured author would be Valerie Wolzien. She has 2 different characters that sound like they might be good. I have not read her yet but I have several in my TBR mountain.

I read Urn Burial by Kerry Greenwood. It's a currently running series set in 1920s Australia. The protagonist is the Hon. Phryne Fisher. There are at least 17 books in the series.

Another Australian author that I really like is Arthur Upfield. He wrote a series of novels featuring Detective Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte set in Australia in the 1930's through the 1950's. I have a bunch of the books, but I'm not sure if anything of his is still in print.

What about Carolyn Hart? Her Death on Demand series can get you interested in lots of other authors. Plus she has the Henri O and now a paranormal one that starts with Ghost at Work.

OMG! I love Meg and her crazy family! The books are terrific.

I've never heard of some of these. I'll have to look them up.

Diane (deebotte) wrote: "What about Carolyn Hart? Her Death on Demand series can get you interested in lots of other authors. Plus she has the Henri O and now a paranormal one that starts with [book:Ghos..."

I second the nomination of Carolyn Hart. She's well-known as a "diva" in the mystery writing community, someone who really knows her craft, and I thoroughly enjoy her books.

I know a lot of people have already read her books, but I love MC Beaton (aka Marion Chesney).

I haven't read any Carolyn Hart books, which book should I start with to become acquainted with her writing?

Robin wrote: "I haven't read any Carolyn Hart books, which book should I start with to become acquainted with her writing?"

The first book of her longest running series is Death on Demand featuring Annie and Max. I can't remember off the top of my head the first book in her Henri O series, but her newest series about a ghost solving mysteries begins with Ghost at Work.

I would say the death on demand series is what she is best known for.

Okay, will look for Death on Demand, Thanks, Jennifer-in-oz.

Robin, check out the thread for Jan 2011 when Carolyn Hart is the featured author. The full list of her books is there, in order, so you can see what the first of each of her series is.

I already reserved a few of her books at my library, thanks briansgirl.

Heidi I wrote: "I know a lot of people have already read her books, but I love MC Beaton (aka Marion Chesney)."

I also love MC Beaton. I've read both Hamish and Agatha. I like Hamish the best.

ஐ Briansgirl "Book Sale Queen"ஐ wrote: "I have several authors that I'd like to include as our featured author but eventually I'm gonna run out. lol So I'm going to ask to see what suggestions members have. Please list the author, which ..."

I am new to this site, so I may be providing information you already have. If so, please excuse me, but do you know about the Fantastic Fiction web site? http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/ You can look up an author and find all his/her books listed. The list will be organized by series, and in order by series. You can also look up a particular book, and get the same information. On the individual book page, there is usually a synopsis, and at the bottom of the page there is frequently a section called "Similar books by other authors." I have found this web site very helpful in finding new authors / books to read.

I would love to see Joanne Fluke (Hannah Swenson series, first book is Chocolate Chip Murder) or M.C. Beaton as the featured author!

I like Laura Childs series of books. She has both the Teashop Mysteries and the Scrapbooking Series.

I don't know if somebody has mentioned him, and I don't know if he's really a cozy writer: Edgar Wallace, but I like a lot some of his books.

My vote would be for JB Stanley/Ellery Adams I love her supper club mysteries and she also has two other series she writes using that name. As Ellery Adams she started a new series and after reading the first one A Killer Plot I was hooked.

Robin wrote: "I like Laura Childs series of books. She has both the Teashop Mysteries and the Scrapbooking Series."

Robin, she was already our featured author in July.

How about Jill Churchill, Elaine Viets or Mary Daheim?
I know they each have more than one series.

Briansgirl, I was not in your group in July, so I didn't know.

Robin, there is a thread with all previous featured authors on it (along with the month). This is one way to see at a glance who has already been chosen. Also, all threads are still in the featured authors folder. Feel free to look around and you can see some good discussions on our previous featured authors. Also, at the beginning of each thread is a list of all of their published works, in order by series, with links to all goodreads books. As this is a good reference, I don't ever plan on deleting any of the featured author threads in the future. They will always be there if anyone wants to go back and look at them.

I've enjoyed all our featured authors. I'd enjoy M.C. Beaton or Mary Daheim. I like her Alpine series better than the other. I need to read a few more of those and see if my appreciation has increased. I think Tamar Myers would be a hoot! I bet she would visit often.

Has anyone suggested Rhys Bowen yet? I just finished Her Royal Spyness and really enjoyed it. I know my mom has read her books and really likes them.

I'd like to suggest Nancy Pickard. Her Jenny Cain series (first one is Generous Death) is great, but even better are her new stand alone mysteries set in her home state of Kansas, such as The Scent of Rain and Lightning and The Virgin of Small Plains. I really admire Nancy's writing.

I love this line of conversation! I adore Rhys Bowen and mc Beaton. I also enjoy Ayelet Waldman's mommy track mysteries. Elizabeth daly's are classics. Louise penny is phenomenal. Charles Todd and Barbara cleverly are also favorites. Jeanne m Dams has a lovely series about an American who lives in an English village. Donna Andrews is cozy and funny with her Meg lanslow novels.

Johanna wrote: "I love this line of conversation! I adore Rhys Bowen and mc Beaton. I also enjoy Ayelet Waldman's mommy track mysteries. Elizabeth daly's are classics. Louise penny is phenomenal. Charles Todd and ..."

I really enjoy the Meg Lanslow series also!

Valorie wrote: "Has anyone suggested Rhys Bowen yet? I just finished Her Royal Spyness and really enjoyed it. I know my mom has read her books and really likes them."

I love these books! Her Evan Evans series is my favorite!

I haven't tried that series yet, but will move to that series once I finish the Georgie series. Thanks for the recommendation Johanna!

Has anyone suggested Lorna Barrett, aka Lorraine Bartlett

Are there any specific requirements, other than that they are authors of cozies? Living or dead is obvious from previous choices (I never really expected Agatha Christie to drop in on our discussions. LOL) More than one series? Specific number of books? Just off the top of my head (and pulling from some of my favs) - Laurien Berenson, Cynthia Baxter, Claudia Bishop (who is also Mary Stanton), Dorothy Cannell, Susan Conant, Diane Mott Davidson, Jerrilyn Farmer, Joyce & Jim Lavene, Anne George, Sarah Graves, Lyn Hamilton, ... (and that's just the first part of the alphabet )

The requirements are that they write at least one popular cozy mystery series. If they write more, great. My other requirement would be that they have a series, not a couple stand-alone books. In other words, I'm featuring a cozy author's work for the month, not selecting a book-of-the-month for us all to read the same book. Not everyone may like or could find the same book, and this was something a little different by featuring the author. So the featured author needs to be established enough to have a few books for us to choose from. If the author happens to be living, and I can find a contact me link on the author's official website, I've contacted them to let them know they were selected as our featured author for the month and invited them to join our discussion if they choose. And yes, I didn't expect Agatha Christie to join us either! lol

I love how you feature authors especially since it has encouraged me to read a few new authors.
Have any of the featured authors been memebers of this group? If not, it would be fun to choose an author who especially is active in the group.

Thanks Becky. I have thought of featuring an author whose a member of the group. However, I've been picking authors with large active series and many of our authors here only have a few books published. I need to start checking into all the authors we have here to get more familiar with all that they've published. (There's a thread where they can introduce themselves, specifially, as a published author.)

Been busy but it's time to pick a featured author for Feb and get it posted so need to do that over the next few days.