December MysteryCAT -- Cozy Mysteries

Cozies, my favorite type of mystery. The kind where regular people try to solve crimes, amateur sleuths typically, though some professional sleuths can come within the definition of a cozy. Think Hercule Poirot.

In a cozy, there's a minimum of blood and gore. Not a lot of gory, graphic details.

Here's a list of cozy authors/books, including a list of new, forthcoming cozies. Lots of series here.

http://www.cozy-mystery.com/

In the cozy world, the biggest assembly of fans takes place every spring at Malice Domestic, where the Agatha Awards are handed out. Here's a list of Agatha Award nominees and winners.

http://www.malicedomestic.org/agathaawards.html

Sit back in a comfy chair with some hot tea and grab a cozy. It's the time of year for it. Enjoy!!

I've got dozens of series I follow, including the long-running Annie Laurance Darling series from Carolyn Hart to the Booktown series by Lorna Barrett. There are cozy series of every stripe but some of my favorites obviously include bookstore-related cozies. Other favorites include culinary cozies and academic mysteries.

Please share your own recommendations below -- and don't forget to add any cozy mysteries you read to the wiki!

In case you need it, here's a link to the wiki...
http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/2014_MysteryCAT#December_-_Cozy_Myste...

I've listed several potential reads on the wiki. The ones I'm most likely to get to in December are:
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith (also GeoCAT)
Death at Sandringham House by C. C. Benison
Not a Creature Was Stirring by Jane Haddam
Murder on Safari by Elspeth Huxley (also GeoCAT)
The Merchant of Menace by Jill Churchill

Two are GeoCAT choices and three are Christmas mysteries.

The latest Charles Maddox, The Laws of Murder is out so I'll hopefully be reading that.

ETA: I didn't see Y.S. Lee listed as a cozy writer, but her books read to me like a cozy so I'm going to count The Body at the Tower for this CAT too, unless someone has an objection to that.

I'm going for the next one in the China Bayles herbal shop cozy - Rueful Death by Susan Wittig Albert. And if I finish my challenge early, I may try to fit in another one. Depends on how busy the holidays get.

I've been saving Holiday Grind by Cleo Coyle for December since I knew it should fit and be Christmas-y too. (It was next in series for me.) I'm sure I'll have a few more because I definitely enjoy lighter reads around the holidays.

I am going to read The Circular Staircase for this challenge. I think that should count--country house mystery.

I'll probably join cbl_tn with Death at Sandringham House.

I was going to skip this one, since I don't usually read cozies, as they lack the requisite population of serial killers and desperate characters, but I have The Circular Staircase on my TBR and so will try to read that.

I have Monsieur Pamplemousse by Michael Bond saved for this category, but I also have a C.C. Benison and a couple by M. C. Beaton. So... Bond, Benison or Beaton?

I am planning on reading Murder With Peacocks by Donna Andrews and Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen in December. If I have the time I will probably squeeze in an Agatha Christie as well.

Ok, top options for me include:
- The Hound of the Baskervilles / Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- Mew is for Murder / Clea Simon
- Even Cat Sitters Get the Blues / Blaize Clement (also fits AlphaCAT)
- The Anteater of Death / Betty Webb (also fits AlphaCAT)
- Needled to Death / Maggie Sefton

Planning on Murder with Puffins - the sequel to Murder with Peacocks that Judy is doing.

If anyone wants to read a Christmas-themed cozy mystery, I've set up a Christmas mystery group read, similar to the one we did last year: https://www.librarything.com/topic/183070

>13 rabbitprincess: Thanks, that's great. I'll hope to get in some Christmas mysteries, as usual.

I'm afraid my plans are up in the air for December, depending on whether I finish my challenge before then. For me, November is one big cozy-a-thon. My current book is one of the Lord Peter Wimsey updated books, A Presumption of Death.

I'm planning on Rhys Bowen's The Twelve Clues of Christmas for this CAT, which will also tie into the Christmas mystery group read!

Planning on reading Death by Sudoku.

I have a few that I'd like to get to,

The September Society by Charles Finch
Speaking From Among the Bones by Alan Bradley
Some Hercule Poirot, maybe The Big Four

I'm about a quarter of the way into the 23rd Rita Mae Brown Mrs Murphy book, though my first one. Nine Lives to Die. I can't believe that I've never read anything by this author before.

I loved the first cozy that I have completed for December. Her Royal Spyness introduces a great new character and I am going to enjoy following her adventures.

>19 DeltaQueen50: Oh, that's a fun series! I'm reading one of the later books right now. :)

#19 by @DeltaQueen50> I read that one a month ago and am excited to continue the series. It was fun, wasn't it?

>20 christina_reads: & >21 majkia: I can see the Royal Spyness series is going to be perfect as a light read between more serious books, or even, dare I say it, to help one over a reading slump.

>22 DeltaQueen50: - You hit the nail on the head. I look forward to the new Royal Spyness book each year and save it for when I need a lighter read.

I'm generally not the biggest fan of cozies, but I've already finished two this month. I've been working my way through Agatha Christie's bibliography, so I read A Murder is Announced featuring Miss Marple. I also read Mrs. Pollifax on Safari by Dorothy Gilman for the GeoCAT, and realized it would probably also fit here.

I am hoping I uncover a Christmas cozy or two in the stash downstairs that I can finish and get out of the house! Either way, I should be able to read a few this month--Christmas-themed or not.

I am hoping Laurie R. King's latest Mary Russell mystery will find its way to my hands before the end of the month...

~~~

Addendum: here's a question for mystery-lovers: have any of you read Laurie R. King's Touchstone and The Bones of Paris?

I am asking because I have both books, unread, and have conflicting information as to these two books being in a series: some sources say series, others say they are okay to read as standalone books. I'd like to read The Bones of Paris asap (as it is an ER book), but if I should read Touchstone first, I will do that.

Thanks for your help. :)

I had to give up on The Circular Staircase. It was just too dated for me to enjoy it.

I'll be starting the latest Charles Finch later today, The Laws of Murder. Although my Saints are sucking so much right now, I might drown my sorrows in a good book sooner rather than later.

I couldn't let a cozy mystery month slip by without my reading an Agatha Christie. The Pale Horse was a fun read as she slipped a few characters from other books in and it dealt with the supernatural.

I recently finished Rhys Bowen's The Twelve Clues of Christmas. Desperate to escape her odious sister-in-law for Christmas, Georgie accepts a job as social hostess at a country estate in Devonshire. She's looking forward to a traditional English Christmas, but her plans are disrupted by a string of suspicious deaths in the village. As with the rest of the series, this book was a fun, escapist read.

Glad to see people are enjoying their December cozies. I am starting the 2015 challenge on 12/15 (I started the 2014 on 12/14 last year).

Anyway, I've been holding off on mysteries for a time but plan to start later this week.

I am not sure if this is going to be a cozy or not, but I am starting Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann.

>33 Robertgreaves: Yes, that's a cozy. Enjoy!

COMPLETED Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann

My review:

George's sheep love him so when they find their shepherd dead one morning with a spade dug into his corpse, the flock decides, with some encouragement from Miss Maple, the cleverest sheep in Glennkill, if not the world, to find out who killed him.

The premise sounds impossibly twee, but this is actually quite an intriguing book which keeps you turning the pages to find out more about the sheep's eye view of humans and their doings and the solution to the mystery.

Well, the best thing that can be said about Death by Sudoku is that I finished it. It wasn't horrible but it didn't really add much to my life either. It was perfect for reading on an airplane though as it was a light, somewhat silly mystery with enjoyable enough characters.

>36 LittleTaiko: I think I'll avoid that one.

Which is pretty much how I feel about sudoku anyway :-)

I decided to read Rueful Death by Susan Wittig Albert.

>35 Robertgreaves: I don't generally like cozies, but Three Bags Full charmed me when I listened to it. It was one of the first German audiobooks I actually understood (Leonie Swann is German and the book was originally called Glenkill), so that may have had something to do with how much I enjoyed it.

I finished The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie.

Finished The Laws of Murder latest in the Charles Lenox series. Big changes!

The latest by Laurie R. King arrived today, an ARC of Dreaming Spies...guess what just made my "Cozy" list...? :)

I'm reading The Sherlockian and had to chuckle when she was mentioned by one of the Baker Street Irregular club members!

I am reading an ARC of Twisted Threads by Lea Wait. It's the first in a new needlepoint cozy series by the author. I'm loving it so far, so I know that this is a series I'll want to follow.

I just finished reading the latest Laurie R. King installment of "Holmes and Russell", Dreaming Spies. It has a notation on the proof cover that no reviews are to be published until the book is, in February 2015, so my review has to wait.

But I liked it. :)

Should we be flagging this as "Not a Review"?

::pulls string to release ceiling full of ping pong balls onto @Robertgreaves::

It just occurred to me that the Judge Dee mystery The emperor's pearl might qualify as a cozy. What's your opinion?

>47 Robertgreaves: this is for you:

Dreaming Spies by Laurie R. King (an Early Reviewer choice)

Russell and Holmes are back, on their previously-mentioned trip to Japan that takes place in the timeframe between Locked Rooms and The Game. There seems to be less sleuthing and more cultural learning in this latest installment of the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes universe. However, I read it straight through, enjoyed it, and suspect that fans of this series will probably not be disappointed.

COMPLETED Teatime for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith

My review:

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency is asked to investigate possible match-fixing in the local football league.

More of the same, but that's not a criticism for this series :-).

I finished The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie, featuring one of my favourites, Miss Marple. I've just started another Christie mystery, Death in the Air, with Hercule Poirot.

I finished my first cozy for the month, Pearls and Poison by Duffy Brown, the third book in her Consignment Shop mysteries series set in Savannah. It's the same hijinks as the previous books, although things do heat up a bit towards the end. My review is here.

Needled to Death / Maggie Sefton
3.25 stars

Vickie, an alpaca rancher, is found murdered in her home when Kelly brings a group of fellow knitters by to see Vickie's alpacas. While Kelly is sorting out some personal inheritance business, she also decides to help Vickie's daughter sort out some of her mother's finances, while also finding out more about what happened to Vickie.

I liked it, though I'm not really into knitting so those parts of the book weren't as interesting to me. There are a couple of knitting patterns and a couple of recipes at the end of the book, as well. It was unfortunate I ended up reading it at the same time as listening to a different cozy mystery on audio. It made it a bit tricky to distinguish the two as I switched between them. I am liking the audio one just a bit better than this one, so I couldn't quite give this 3.5 stars (which is likely what the audio one will get), but I thought this deserved more than 3 stars (“ok” in my rating range). For a while, I thought I wouldn't continue this series, but I think I am going to give it another chance and read book 3. We'll see after that.

The Alto Wore Tweed - Mark Schweizer (ROOT from 2012)

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Rating: Good

I confess I missed a lot of humor in this book, since it is based on Episcopal church happenings. But I did enjoy what I understood and found the main character a hoot, literally, when he gets his owl.

The mystery was pretty convoluted and was hard to solve which is a plus especially for cozy mysteries.

If you get all the musical and religious humor you’ll enjoy it probably more than I did.

I've got The Alto Wore Tweed on my wishlist. Recommended by an FB friend who is an Episcopal priest in the US.

I've got it as an ebook and hope to get to it next year.

The humor is very good, so I'm sure you'll both enjoy it. :)

Sentenced to Death / Lorna Barrett
3.5 stars

One of Tricia's friends and fellow bookstore owner, Deborah, is killed at the Founder's Day celebration when a plane comes crashing down. No one else sees it, but Tricia is suspicious Deborah was killed on purpose. In the meantime, Deborah's store is quickly sold by her husband and Tricia's best employee is asked to manage the store. And more nefarious things start to happen...

I liked this. I listened to the audio and it managed to hold my attention (always a bit trickier via audio). It might have helped that I already know many of the characters from the previous four or five books in the series. I will be continuing this series, for sure.

The Anteater of Death / Betty Webb
4 stars

Lucy, the anteater at Gunn Zoo, is pregnant. When a man is found murdered in her enclosure, she is initially blamed, but they soon find out he was shot before he ended up in her enclosure. Her zookeeper Teddy (Theodora) tries to help out her former (high school) boyfriend (now sheriff), Joe, with the investigation.

I really liked this – of course a lot of my enjoyment was due to the zoo animals. I also loved that the first and last chapters were from Lucy's point of view. I'm definitely planning to read more in the series.

Difficult to resist a title like that, LibraryCin.

>61 Robertgreaves: hahaha! True, isn't it!?

Beginning The Body at the Tower.

I have got back into the Agatha Raisin series, and it looks like I will manage to squeeze in the Christmas-themed book in the series.

I finished Death in the Air by Agatha Christie. Can't go wrong with Hercule Poirot!

I squeezed in one last book, Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith for Botswana. I actually didn't finish the last few pages until this morning, but since I read most of it in December I'm going to count it!