Anyone read Cozy Mysteries?

N

NewlySenior

Member
Location
Midwest US
I'm a long time Cozy reader and I'd love to discuss, review and recommend.

If you're unfamiliar, think Murder She Wrote. Jessica Fletcher, an author, stumbling over a dead body every week and solving the crime before the police do. Cozies do not have any "on page" violence - it all happens "off screen" and there's romance but no sex.

I've been reading the Aunt Dimity series (cute and entertaining) and I'm looking for new series to get into, preferably from before 2020.

I'm hoping there's a few cozy fans in here, I'd love to hear from you.
 

bowmore said:
I read Hope Callaghan's mysteries. She has a few different series, and I enjoy all of them.
Click to expand...
Oh, me too! I've read every Garden Girls in the series and I really do miss those gals since the series ended. (I want a spymobile!) Although I read a couple of each, I could never get into the Savannah or Cruise Ship series. šŸ“š When it comes to cozies in general, I don't get into many of those... I love clean suspense and anything by Christy Barritt (Christian mystery/suspense)... I've followed every Lantern Beach series since day one.
@bowmore
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the warm welcome! The Cat Who series is one of the first I discovered back in the 80s/90s and still my favorite. Ol' Lilian was brutal, no character was safe!

Kaila said:
I did read some for a few years, and I might try it again.

I Can't remember, at the moment, what my selections were,
.....:unsure:

after I'd read the Cat Who series, that is! :LOL::ROFLMAO:


Welcome to the forum, @NewlySenior
Nice to meet you! :)
Click to expand...
 
Yes! I started on them a couple of years ago. I found a book with a cat on the cover at Goodwill, bought it and I've been hooked ever since. That book was one of the 'Country Store' series and I bought every other one new. Also 'Cat Cafe' series. I took my read books to our PAWS thrift which killed me to do so but I don't have a bunch of room, I won't read them again (too many others) and moved them on to someone else.

I look for them in thrift stores because that will help me see if I like the series and author. I bought one of those magical type ones at the thrift store. It was OK but too much into the good witch stuff so I wouldn't buy another one.

Also a new series that isn't bad is 'Mountain Lodge.'

They are not gory or graphic which I don't need. Someone is found with an ice pick in their back and from there it's about the main character, their family, friends, pets and community. And solving the crime of course.
 
Remy said:
That book was one of the 'Country Store' series and I bought every other one new.
Click to expand...

The series by Maddie Day? I love that series, I have the latest (published last year) to get to, then I'm caught up. I love small town cozies, they feel like home to me. If you'd like a recommendation of a series with a similar vibe, I like the Chatty Corgi series by Jennifer Hawkins. Small UK village, great characters, an adorable talking corgi named Oliver (few books get talking animals right) and just a friendly, cozy feel.
 
@NewlySenior Yes, that's Maddie Day. I have another book in her New England series or something I haven't read yet.

I probably have 15 cozies from the thrift store to read and try a new series. Reading the middle of the series is usually not a problem. I did find out who the 'mystery doner' was in the Cat Cafe series because I read the 3rd book first where the mystery doner was revealed. The doner was helping with the house and cat cafe expansion.
 
The Hamish Macbeth series by the late M.C. Beaton is my idea of what a cozy mystery should be. 20th century, small village in the north of Scotland. Very easy reading.

Lately I've been reading the Charles Lenox series by Charles Finch. (Thank you so much for the tip CinnamonSugar! :)). 19th century London. A bit more challenging but still cozy.
 
Tommy said:
The Hamish Macbeth series by the late M.C. Beaton is my idea of what a cozy mystery should be. 20th century, small village in the north of Scotland. Very easy reading.

Lately I've been reading the Charles Lenox series by Charles Finch. (Thank you so much for the tip CinnamonSugar! :)). 19th century London. A bit more challenging but still cozy.
Click to expand...
I love the Hamish MacBeth and the Agatha Raisin series and M.C. Beaton definitely helped define cozy mysteries. I hadn't heard of the Charles Lenox series, I'm going to give it a try but my favorite historical cozy is the Mina Scarletti series by Linda Stratmann. She's written several non-fiction books about Victorian times and started writing a mystery series based on Spiritualism. Makes you feel like you've been transported 150 years into the past!
 
Tommy said:
The Hamish Macbeth series by the late M.C. Beaton is my idea of what a cozy mystery should be. 20th century, small village in the north of Scotland. Very easy reading.
Click to expand...
I recall that I'd read some of those, too, and I enjoyed them;
I don't know if there are more of those, that I did not get to reading, at that time in the past.

This entire thread helps to lead me toward reviewing sometime soon now, what I did read,
and which ones I might like to read again,
and what I might have missed, that I possibly would enjoy now, :geek:
and gives me the entire idea that it might be good for me to try reading some of this type of books, again, now.

Thanks for starting the thread, @NewlySenior :)
 
Kaila said:
I recall that I'd read some of those, too, and I enjoyed them;
I don't know if there are more of those, that I did not get to reading, at that time in the past.

This entire thread helps to lead me toward reviewing sometime soon now, what I did read,
and which ones I might like to read again,
and what I might have missed, that I possibly would enjoy now, :geek:
and gives me the entire idea that it might be good for me to try reading some of this type of books, again, now.

Thanks for starting the thread, @NewlySenior :)
Click to expand...
You're very welcome, I'm just happy to find fellow cozy readers!
 
PeppermintPatty said:
For some reason Iā€™m not able to read novels any more. I canā€™t seem to focus enough and end up reading the same page over and over again. Unfortunately I havenā€™t read a book on a long time.
Click to expand...
I know how you feel, I've run into the same problem since COVID. I used to read 100 - 150 books a year, now it's getting tough to find books I can get into. What authors do you read?
 
For a while I was reading the Coffee House Mystery Series by Cleo Coyle. It dragged after a while, but book 18 was closer to the earlier books. Still, it was good but not great, so I haven't read the last two.

I tend to like more hard-core mysteries as well as paranormal/fantasy, so I'm more a J.D. Robb and Simon R. Green fan. I do follow several historical mystery series, however - I concentrate mostly on Regency England as it's one of my favorite eras.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top