Category Archives: Cozy Mysteries

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Clarissa Bell is an Oxford trained archaeologist in the 1920s so no one takes her seriously. But her father’s wealth enables her to join a dig in Egypt. And her speciality on pottery and various Egyptian pigments quickly embroils her in a mystery involving missing artifacts, forgeries, and murder. She meets a charming rogue, Benedict Quinn, who may or may not be trustworthy. Events take a serious turn when she realizes some of the forgeries are designed to suppress information – and several groups do not want this to get out. She is threatened, kidnapped and almost killed before the murderer is discovered.

But the man behind the larger crime remains unknown.

This mystery had more than a whiff of Crocodile on the Sandbank (the first Amelia Peabody mystery by Elizabeth Peters.) Clarissa is an annoying protagonist, especially in the beginning; arrogant, a know-it-all and reckless to the point of foolishness. I almost didn’t finish the book because of her character. However, her flaws smooth out a little, and some explanation is given for her academic arrogance. The mystery is interesting and the setting can’t be beat. All the information on pottery and pigments was very interesting.

So, recommended, with the caveat I mentioned.

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This week I read two cozies, one I liked very much. The other not so much.

An A-list for Murder is the second in the Evelyn Gallagher series by Amy Patricia Meade. Evelyn is working on another movie with Hitchcock at the beginning of WWII. She meets a sobbing young woman, Phoebe Dillon, in the bathroom. The next day, the body of the young woman is discovered in an empty lot and soon after an article slandering her appears in the paper. Evelyn contacts her friend, Lt. Ziegler and is soon involved in questioning people who knew the girl. At an event, Evelyn meets Ted Dorton and he swears he did not write the article about Phoebe.And Alex, Evelyn’s love, makes a surprise appearance.

As Evelyn investigates, she discovered the girl’s murder had far more to do with world events than the movies, involving, among other things, the Nazi efforts to keep the US out of the war.

This one is even better than the first one was. Highly Recommended.

I also read Hiss me Deadly by Miranda James. Librarian Charlie and his cat Diesel are involved in another mystery. The return of an Athena native, who ran away at 16 and made a huge success of himself as a musician, has the town in a tizzy. Wil wants to talk to Charlie; the young man feels something is off and wants Charlie to look around. Charlie soon discovers that Wil’s success, breaking up a local band, has caused some hard feelings. When the lead singer of the high school band shows up at an event featuring Will and his current band, and is electrocuted, Charlie realizes that the situation is far more serious than he realized.

Several other murders occur before Charlie finally understands what is happening.

The beginning of this book was interesting (although I found Diesel not at all catlike.) However, about halfway through, the story got away from James. It read as though she’d put down the book and picked up the story later; it didn’t really hang together. So, not terrible, but not wonderful either.

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The Turnbull Murders is the second in R.J. Koreto’s Wren Fontaine series. Wren has taken a job renovating a mansion on an island in the New York Harbor. The house has been bought by a movie star and he and his entourage are filming on the island as Wren works. Very soon after Nicky Tallon, Saffron, Thalia and all the other actors arrive, a PR rep Beebee is found dead. The coffee was poisoned by fentanyl and because it was Saffron’s drink, the police assume she was the target.

Several people within the entourage have secrets. Wren and Hadley, who is catering the food for the movie people, painstakingly uncover the secrets at the same time they delve into the secrets of the house. The story behind it is that Captain Turnbull, who built it, murdered a male servant for developing a relationship with his sister and then escaped to sea. Needless to say, the reality was a lot more complicated.

A second murder occurs and then a third is attempted. But Wren, despite her often repeated statement that she is not good with people, figures everything out.

I read the first book and I think this second one is the better story. But both are interesting and I plan to read the third. The use of an architect as the amateur detective is unusual and Wren’s unraveling the mysteries based on patterns connected to the houses is interesting. Recommended.

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The Greenleaf Murders : a Historical House Mystery, is the first in a new series by R. J. Koreto and it has a unique focus; the restoration of an old house.

Wren Fontaine is an architect with a focus on the restoration of historic mansions. The company, run by her father, is hired to restore the Greenleaf House. Besides the usual electrical and plumbing problems, Wren must work around Aunt Agnes, a woman in her nineties, who is still living in the house and has the right to live there for the rest of her life.

Stephen Greenleaf is very cagey about the eventual fate of the house and concerns abound that a firm known for cutting corners will take over the renovations and turn the house into a hotel. When the representative of the company is found shot to death with an antique gun, the stakes immediately increase tenfold. Then, in a review of the attic, the skeleton of a young woman is discovered in an old trunk. The body dates from almost a hundred years in the past – but the victim was shot with the same gun.

Greenleaf family secrets and family scandals soon embroil Wren in the investigation. The house holds the answers.

Unusual setting and focus. Recommended.

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I have been a fan of Lori Robbins since Murder in the First Position, part of her ballet themed mysteries. (She has since been nominated for an Agatha Award for the fifth in this series, appropriately titled Murder in Fifth Position.)

In Lesson Plan for Murder, and its sequel Study Plan for Murder, she changes her setting to a High School. Her protagonist, an English teacher, investigates two murders connected to the school.

In Lesson Plan for Murder, a truly obnoxious fellow teacher is murdered. Theories run rampant, including suicide, but Liz Hopewell is convinced no English teacher would commit suicide without leaving a perfectly composed note. She then finds some mysteriously coded notes on classic books, which Liz is convinced hold the key to the solution. Despite warnings from her husband, and a handsome detective, Liz throws herself into investigating. When several more teachers are poisoned, Liz realizes the killer is someone in the school, and he won’t stop. Liz continues until she identifies the killer, and almost loses her life in the process.

Study Guide for Murder is a more personal mystery. Liz’s husband is eager for them to join an upscale golf club and he wants the sports-challenged Liz to learn golf. At her first lesson, a man is murdered with her golf club. Liz is on the case, assisted by her sister. Now Liz is the prime suspect.

At the same time, Liz and her sister are researching their past, the father who abandoned them for another family, and who owed money all over town. The investigation brings them to the rundown streets of Brooklyn, their childhood home, and a family mystery.

Highly Recommended. The characters feel very real, Liz is an engaging detective, and the setting is great. I can’t wait for the next book in this series.

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After a week spent in the Mediterranean (more on that later) and the weekend immediately after at Malice Domestic (one of the major writing conferences) I am finally back to my regular schedule.

The Burmese Kitten: An Emma Grant Mystery

When Emma Grant’s best friend decides to move out to live with her partner, Emma Grant advertises for a female roommate to share her apartment. Instead, two men show up. The handsome polished Bob Appleton and the slovenly and abrasive student Steve Gorey. Although she refuses them the room, both men begin cycling in and out of her life.

But Emma has other problems to worry about. Her partner, and uncle, wants to expand her business, the Empire Assurance Company. And more seriously, there is a fire at a house Emma’s company insures; a fire which is quickly determined as arson. Then two bodies are discovered in the ruins. By the time Emma works through the various threads and solves the murders, we have seen greed, antiquities smuggling, prostitution and more.

This is a fairly long book. I also found the murderer pretty easy to identify. But the characters are both believable and interesting and the scenes of Albany at this time are fascinating. Recommended.

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Amy Patricia Meade is becoming one of my favorite authors. In this outing, she offers us Rosie the Riveter.

Rosie has taken on the job at the Brooklyn shipyards, along with several other women, because of the pay. The more ‘ladylike’ jobs do not pay as well and Rosie is supporting her widowed sister and baby. The male riveters don’t want the women there but Rosie is managing.

When her foreman makes a pass at her, promising a promotion, she clocks him in the head with the telephone. The next day his body is discovered in a nearby alley. Rosie is the prime suspect. She begins to investigate, finding a surprise ally in the police lieutenant investigating the case.

Roșie discovers several people wanted the foreman dead. The solution rests in a very nice twist. I would love to read the sequel but unfortunately it is unavailable.

Highly Recommended.

I also read Million Dollar Baby by Meade. Marjorie, an attractive mystery writer, catches the eye of wealthy British heir, Creighton Ashcroft. The house he is renovating is the site of a suicide, a mysterious death, and a missing diamond. When Ashcroft invites Marjorie to tour the house, they find a body.

A handsome policeman arrives to investigate – and Marjorie is immediately interested. Ashcroft is jealous and annoyed, but the three must work together to solve the mystery.

Another winner!

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The two books I read this past week couldn’t be more different.

Turkey Trot Murder takes place as Tinker’s Cove, Maine, is gearing up for Thanksgiving. But the community is rocked by the murder of a young college student, Allison Franklin. Her father, the wealthiest man in town, puts the blame squarely on the immigrants. He includes a restauranteur, although his family could trace their heritage pre-United States. Emotions run high and soon Allison’s father is also found murdered.

Who could be the murderer of both Franklins? The immigrants? Or the many other people in town, including Franklin’s estranged wife, with whom both battled?

I thought Turkey Trot Murder would be cozier than I usually read. And it did follow several of the cozy rules: the violence takes place mostly off scene and there are plenty of homey domestic touches throughout. But the depiction of the opioid crisis gave the story much more weight. I found this aspect very realistic and really more interesting than the mystery. In fact, the mystery ended up being overshadowed by the rest of the story.

Recommended with that caveat.

Wasp Trap couldn’t be more different.

In 1999, 6 students are chosen by a charismatic teacher to work on a special project, developing a test to discover psychopaths. But Sebastian shuts down the project very suddenly. No one knows why.

The six students, now adults in their forties, meet at a dinner party planned by two of the so-called revolutionaries. The visit quickly goes sideways when the six are isolated in the house by two genuine psychopaths and told to confess a secret from 1999. The situation rapidly spirals into murder.

I thought this book started slowly but once it picks up steam, it is unputdownable. There are several surprising twists before the secret is revealed and the psychopath is revealed. Recommended.

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Sam, Candie and the gang are involved in another adventure. In this outing, Hank’s brother Aaron (Hank is Sam’s squeeze) is in town and involved with Joy, the daughter of the owner of the diner. A barbecue contest sees a bank manager make a pass at Joy. Aaron leaves in to defend his girlfriend. When the bank manager is found squashed to death by a pumpkin, Aaron is a prime suspect.

But there are many suspects, all with strong motives for wishing Edgar dead.

Lots of fun. The pet parade with all the pets in fancy costumes was a highlight. And I have to give Kazlo credit for finding some of the strangest methods of murder ever. Not only the 2000 pound pumpkin, but an outhouse, a bag of dogwood and so on.

Recommended.

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At Death’s Dough is the fifth in Mindy Quigley’s deep dish mysteries. Delilah runs an upscale pizza restaurant. But it is winter, and custom is slow. She is gearing up for Valentine’s Day, and hoping for a good turn out. Dominick Capone, Delilah’s boyfriend’s cousin, has a plan. But a few days later, his body is discovered frozen in the frozen lake outside.

Even more than who murdered him is the why. As Delilah pokes into it, she discovers his murder leads to a long ago death, and a treasure.

I did not even come close to identifying the killer. The characters are engaging and the recipes are good too. Recommended.

I read the Lace Widow on the recommendation of a friend. This is a historical mystery that takes place just after the American Revolution and involves the duel between Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton.

Eliza Hamilton, Alexander’s widow, is almost prostate with grief at the death of her husband. But she is convinced her husband was murdered and is determined to bring Burr to justice for it. Her questions bring her into contact with a house of widows on Pearl Street, but also to the notice of a band of conspiracists. A brick with a warning note is hurled through her window. And her son, Alexander Junior, is targeted as the murderer of several other men, all friends of his father.

I found the details of early New York City fascinating. The Hamiltons lived in Harlem, which was the country then! Each trip back and forth takes hours. But I didn’t love the main character who, although she is praised for her strength, is always falling into tears, fainting, and sleeping. I would give this a mixed review. Parts are very good, others not so much.