Category Archives: Cozy Mysteries

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Rita Todacheen is a forensic photographer, an unusual choice for a Navaho. Navahos avoid death; Rita is photographing the dead every dat. She also sees ghosts, a gift/curse that she has had her whole life. Now she is haunted by a murder victim, Erma, who insists Rita find out who murdered her.

More murders, one of a judge and a family, begin to push Rita onto the path to discovering the murderer.

This has a real Sixth Sense vibe. I found the identity of the murderer fairly easy to figure out and the mystery is somewhat overwhelmed by the ghost angle.

Still, unusual and captivating. Recommended.

Foul Play in La Playa is the fourth and the newest in the Vermont Country Living Series. In this outing, the Buckleys accompany their friends Alma and Sheriff Mills to Mexico for a destination wedding. First, Stella and Nick discover that the previous occupant of their cottage was murdered. Then, barely a few days later, one of the other guests is found murdered.

In certain mysteries, the victim is so unpleasant that the reader thinks he or she deserves it. This is one of those cases. Georgie is a vile woman who ferrets out secrets and then blackmails the secret holder. Naturally, the mystery turns out to be far more complicated than that.

Another winner. I hope Meade continues with this series. It is stellar!

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First, a shoutout to let everyone know I’ll be at Clifton Park Mall this Saturday, June 21, 10 – 4. There will be a lot of authors there and so a lot of fun.

This week I read two very good books.

The first was the new one by well-established author, Anne Perry. The One Thing More takes place during the French Revolution on the eve of the execution of the King. Celie, born into minor aristocracy, is now a laundress. She is also working with a group trying to arrange the King’s escape. Several other people, including the owner of the house, are not only involved but leaders. But the plans are halted when Bernave, the house’s owner and the leader of the plot, is murdered during an incursion by a mob. Who murdered Bernave and why? Now the house is surrounded by the police, including the dogged Menou. Celie, in an effort to connect with another plotter, has to go over the roofs.

The murderer and the motive are not identified until almost the final page after some pretty hair raising scenes. Perry has not lost her touch. Recommended.

Death upon a Star is Amy Patricia Meade’s newest mystery. Evelyn Galloway travels to Hollywood in the late thirties to work as a script girl for Alfred Hitchcock on Rebecca. On Evelyn’s first day, she meets a kind older actor who had been a silent movie star. They make arrangements to meet for lunch the following day but he doesn’t show. Evelyn can’t let it go and begins her own sub rosa investigation.

Meade’s trademark humor and interesting characters are on full display but the real star is the setting. From the activity in the studio to the long ago stars to Alfred Hitchcock himself, Meade hits every note perfectly. Although not as funny as the Country Living series, Death Upon a Star is charming and fun. It deserves a wide readership. Recommended.

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Game over at Guild Hall in the third in the Vermont Country Living Mystery series. In this outing, the Buckleys are invited to attend at Game Supper at the Guild Hall. Not a sports game supper or a board game supper but a game meat supper. The object is to sample all of the game recipes: venison stew, bear meatballs and the like.

The supper does not turn out as planned. An young man, Mudd Morrison, angry that his ‘gleaned’ meat (read roadkill) is not included, confronts organizer Bessent. He is sent on his way but a short while later Bessent drops dead, poisoned.

Later that night, Stella sees a light at the guild hall as someone searches Bessent’s office.

She begins to dig into the mystery, discovering that Bessent’s game supper has created quite a few enemies, from the exhausted volunteers, to Mudd Morrison, to the environmentalist who is worried about sustainability, even the local priest.

Then, in the middle of all this, Stella’s mother arrives unexpectedly with a catastrophe of her own.

And I can’t forget the talking dog. Yes, seriously. Truly funny.

The Nick and Nora Charles vibe is alive and well, the characters are offbeat but never implausible, the mystery is intriguing. I love this series and can’t wait for the fourth installment. A must read.

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Nick and Sarah Buckley trade their city life on Murray Hill for a rustic farmhouse in Vermont. Barely a few hours after they arrive, they discover a body in the well – by way of blood in the tap water. Since their house is now a crime scene, they must leave. But where can they go? The town is full of leaf peepers and there is not a room to be had.

Offered a hunting camp, with no electricity or running water, they soon realize that if they ever want to return to their house, they are going to have to solve the crime.

Accordingly, they begin speaking to their neighbors and soon discover the victim was almost universally loathed. And the locals; well, quirky does not begin to describe them. But Sarah and Nick persevere.

This cozy has a real Nick and Nora Charles or Hart to Hart vibe. It is laugh out loud funny. A++. Highly recommended.

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I pre-ordered the new Finlay Donovan book: Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave.

Like her previous books, this is a mix of mystery, humor and romance. Finlay’s neighbor, the nosy Mrs. Haggerty who documents everything going on in the neighborhood. Then a body is discovered in Mrs. Haggerty’s back yard. Although she is cleared, her house remains a crime scene. Mrs. Haggerty’s nephew drops her off at Finlay’s, leaving her to sleep in the spare room while her elderly neighbor takes the master bedroom. Finlay and her best friend Vero want to stay out of this investigation – but when Finlay’s ex Stephen becomes a prime suspect, they have no choice.

And Mrs. Haggerty has secrets of her own. Finlay watches her leave the house late at night to hand deliver notes. Wha-a-a-t?

Lots of fun.

This is another book I picked up at the Suffolk Festival. I’ve read several of the other series by Christine Trent: the Lady of Ashes series and the Florence Nightingale mysteries and enjoyed them. St. Clement’s Bluff is a change of pace.

Raleigh is devastated by her husband Grant’s death. When she finally begins to recover, and reads Grant’s will, she is shocked to discover he has left her a house on St. Clement’s Bluff. None of his family seem to know anything about it.

When Raleigh visits it, she finds an old house with its history as a stop on the Underground Railroad. The house is totally empty, except for one room that is filled with beautifully carved furniture. Raleigh begins to investigate.

She gradually meets nearby neighbors, including a fisherman, Kip Hewitt who saves her from a half-hearted suicide attempt.

Well-written, and with a clever mystery, but the real draw are the characters.

Recommended.

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I wil be reading some of the books I bought at the Suffolk Book Festival. Murder Strikes a Chord by Heather Weidner is the first.

When Cassidy inherited her grandmother’s property and event venue business, she also inherited her grandmother’s four sixty plus friends, the Pearly Girls, who wear their pearls everywhere.

In this outing, Cassidy has arranged a nostalgia tour for several rock bands popular during the eighties. The Weatherman are the headliners; that is, until the lead singer and primary songwriter is founded garroted.

Since the relationship between the band members is testy, suspicion immediately falls on them. But Johnny Storm has lived the rock and roll lifestyle so there are plenty of other suspects.

At the same time Cassidy is investigating the murder, and trying to run a business, she is dealing with the mayhem caused by the Pearly girls.

A funny and light-hearted mystery. Lots of fun.

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Sleep in Heavenly Pizza (the fourth of Mindy Quigley’s Deep Dish Pizza series) starts with a bang at a holiday party for a wealthy family. Delilah follows one of the women upstairs and quickly realizes something is going on. The undercurrents continue, culminating in the discovery of bare feet and ankles protruding from a snow mound at the annual snow sculpture festival. Delilah identifies the feet and Capone, the detective in charge, and her boyfriend, reveals that the body also wore no clothes.

What is going on?

Added to this puzzle is Melody’s jealousy of the wealthy friend of Delilah’s niece, who is flirting with the sexy bartender, and Rabbit’s jumpiness. What is going on with him? A recovering alcoholic, and a felon, he has been a model employee up to now. Delilah worries he has fallen off the wagon.

Another fun and charming cozy. The recipes at the back are an added bonus.

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On the recommendation of a friend from my writing group (Mally Becker of the Mavens of Mayhem), I read Murder once removed by S.C. Perkins.

The detective/protagonist is a genealogist who researches family histories. She is researching the family history of Gus Halloran and discovers an ancestor was murdered. Halloran wants to know who murdered his ancestor and Lucy narrows down the field to two possibilities. Halloran chooses Applewhite, the ancestor of a current state senator.

Things spiral out of control. Files and Photos are stoles from another descendent and Lucy is threatened.

The mystery turns out not to be so simple and, of course, involves property and money.

I loved this. The characters, not just Lucy but her best friends Roxanne and Serena, are fun and the information about genealogy and family relationships is fascinating.

Highly recommended.

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This week I read two light cozies.

I read A New York Christmas, by Anne Perry.

This mystery features Jemima Pitt, daughter of Thomas and Charlotte. Jemima is hired to accompany Delphinia Cardew, a very wealthy young woman, on her journey across the Atlantic. Jemima and Phinnie are taken in to the Albright home (Phinnie is engaged to marry Brent Albright). But there is concern that Phinnie’s mother, Maria, will reappear and cause a scene at the ‘wedding of the year.’ But the discovery of a woman’s body by Jemima means she is suspected of murdering Phinnie’s mother.

If I were scoring this book, I would assign a B. It includes Perry’s characteristic characterization BUT it is much too short. I felt as if swaths of plot and character reaction were left out.

Enjoyable but not one of Perry’s best.

I also read Mistletoe, Mutts, and Murder by S.A Kazlo.

It is Christmas time and Sam’s parents are arriving for a holiday visit. Her father has always had an antagonistic relationship with Theo Sayers, the man who lives across the street. He blasts Christmas music loudly (to annoy his neighbors?) and his decorations floor the neighborhood with light. When he is found strangled in his snowy front yard Sam’s father, and his best friend are instant suspects. Although Hank, the town’s police chief and Sam’s significant other, tells her not to investigate, she and her cousin Candie, question Theo’s wife Rosa and his boss at the mall. Theo was a mall Santa. As Candie and Sam go forward, they discover quite a few people had reason to murder Theo Sayers.

Very light but a quick fun read, appropriate for the season.

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This week I read Premeditated Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce.

This was an Edgar Award winner in the Children’s category. It reminded me strongly of the Enola Holmes books and Alan Bradley’s Flavia de Luce series. Here’s an interesting fact. Although all the protagonists are young girls (opinionated and very bright, it goes without saying), the Bradley mysteries are considered adult while the Enola Holmes and Myrtle Hardcastles are classed as children’s lit.

Myrtle is a bright twelve year-old with an obsession for criminal justice. In the interest of science, she Observes (she always capitalizes this word) her neighbors. When her next door neighbor, an eccentric older lady who breeds lilies, dies under Mysterious Circumstances, Myrtles sees her chance to investigate. Armed with her mother’s microscope, and accompanied by her governess, Miss Judson, Myrtle sets about proving that Miss Woodhouse was murdered. No one believes her, not even her father, but Myrtle perseveres, putting not only herself in danger but also her father.

I really enjoyed the mystery and Myrtle is a great character. However, a young reader would have to be a very good reader to enjoy Premeditated Myrtle.

Recommended with reservations.

Just a reminder: I will be at Rensselaer Public Library Saturday, 1 to 3. The event is free. I will be giving away a copy of Death in Salem to all who buy a book.