Category Archives: Cozy Mysteries

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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.

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This week I read the fifth in the C.J. Bellamy Burgoyne mystery series, Primrose Hill.

Sophie, Flora, Ada and Mrs Barker are sent to a house on Primrose Hill by Inspector Penrose to investigate a murder. To fit in with the other residents, Sophie is given a dog. To complicate matters, the Home Office has been watching one of the houses which is inhabited by Bolsheviks. Sophie is given strict instructions not to engage the members of that house at all.

Gradually, Sophie and Flora begin to meet the other residents of the hill. Who could have killed Mr. Hamilton? And what was the weapon?

The situation become further confused as the Home Office sends agents into the house to watch number fifteen, the house of the Communists. With whom, I might add, Sophie does become involved.

As usual, the book was light and fun. However, there were almost too many stories. The spying theme, the murder, the introduction to Indian food. By the time the reveal of the murder occurred, I was confused about which of the Primrose Hill residents this was.

Recommended with reservations.

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This week I read two books by members of my writing group – the Mavens of Mayhem.

A Wedding Gone to the Dogs is the fourth in Kazlo’s cozy Samantha Davies series. In this outing, Samantha and her cousin Candie are preparing for Candie’s wedding. Of course, nothing goes smoothly. One of Candie’s previous suitors has photos of her – and those photos might disrupt her relationship. More concerning, a dead man is found in Candie’s house and it looks suspiciously as though she has murdered him. Samantha is convinced her cousin could not be involved and investigates.

Frothy and fun.

The second mystery could not be more different. Autumn Embers by Tina De Bellegarde is a more traditional mystery.

While Sheriff Mike is worried about his upcoming election (and is already upset over his separation from his wife, Bianca is heading to Kyoto, Japan to visit her son. A murder, witnessed by Bianca, upsets everything. J.C. was universally disliked so there are many suspects, including Bianca’s son Ian. In a foreign country with none of her usual supports, Bianca calls Mike for help. He runs background checks on some of the other expats and gradually Bianca unravels the mystery.

De Bellegarde’s admiration and affection for Japan shine thorough out this beautifully written mystery. It really inspires me to visit Japan myself. Highly Recommended.

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Occasionally I read other genres than mystery. Science fiction and historical fiction are two of my other favorites. This week I read System Collapse by Martha Wells.

I have read quite a number of novels and stories by Wells but this was a new series for me. Told from the viewpoint of a Murderbot, an android if you will, it tells of a hunt for some rogue colonists and a skirmish with a corporation determined to enslave the colonists and take the planet for its resources. Put like that, it sounds average but the murderbot’s voice is so human in so many ways that the story works. The bot, like Data in The Next Generation is both human and not and struggles with the dichotomy. Fun.

I also read Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice. In this outing, Finlay and Vero head to Atlantic City to save Vero’s cousin from a mobster and rescue the Aston Martin given Finlay by a Russian gangster. Needless to say, it does not go smoothly. Finlay’s ex-husband and mother insist on accompanying her and then Finlay’s hot cop boyfriend turns up. Laugh out loud funny.

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The third of Amy Myer’s cozies, Marsh and Daughter’s murder mysteries, Murder in Hell’s Corner, finds Georgia and her father investigating the murder of Patrick Fairfax, a revered WWII pilot.

As Georgia and Peter investigate, especially looking into a close knit group of pilots who knew Fairfax, they realize that he was not as universally admired as his family believed.

Was the murderer one of his many women? Or one of the other pilots? Or his business partner? The solution, and the twist at the end, is surprising.

What I found captivating, though, was the descriptions of WWII. The relentless bombing by the Germans, the loss of friends and comrades that occurred almost hourly, the sheer scale of a war pounding at this small country. Like Foyle’s War, it is a reminder that England was almost destroyed and was metaphorically hanging by its fingernails.

Highly Recommended.

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I’ve been a big fan of Victoria Thompson for many years. Murder on Madison Avenue is book 25 in her popular Gaslight Mysteries.

Malloy is approached by a distraught Mrs. Bing who wants a divorce from her husband but won’t explain why. Mr. Bing is the owner of a automobile company, an EV too – a really interesting part of the book. Curious, Malloy and Sarah attend the car show to get a read on Mr. Bing.

Shortly thereafter, Mr. Bing is found murdered, run over by on of his very own cars.

To complicate matters, Bing’s first wife, who he abandoned but never divorced, shows up. Her story is that when Bing abandoned her, he also took their daughter Pearl, and Nora Bing wants her back.

Now, hired by the second Mrs. Bing to discover the murderer, Malloy and Sarah investigate.

As always, the characters and the setting are fascinating. I knew what was going on, though, from very early in the book. I suspect most modern readers would. But I did not guess the identity of the murderer. B+. Recommended.

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Since I am watching the Summer Olympics, my usual reading has taken a hit. I am about half way through Finlay Donovan Knocks ‘Em Dead.

The previous book in the series ended with a cliffhanger: Finlay sees a proposed hit on her husband with a bounty of $100,000. She is pretty sure Theresa is not behind it since she is in jail for her connections with the Russian mob.

Since Finlay is nothing if not impulsive, she not only looks at the hit, she responds to it. The coded response comes to both Finlay and ‘EasyClean”, saying whoever murders Steve first will get paid – and she wants it done by Christmas.

Finlay and her nanny/friend begin investigating and are in Steven’s trailer at his business when someone firebombs it. The discovery of a body in a storage unit rented under Theresa’s name further complicates the case.

Like the first in the series, it is funny. But also full of contrivances. Finlay does a lot of foolish things, impulsively and without thought. I would give the series a B to a B+. It’s funny and the story keeps moving but I find Finlay’s thoughtlessness and impulsivity annoying.

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I wanted to read something very different and somewhat exotic. I picked up Auntie Lee’s Deadly Delights: a Singaporean mystery.

This was truly exotic, from the strange and unusual food to the Singapore setting. But, as I have said so often, people are always the same. (I frequently feel that the murder victims are so unpleasant it is no surprise when they’re murdered and, in fact, I wonder why it took so long.) If anyone deserved murdering, it is Mabel Sung and her son Leonard. There is no shortage of suspects but suspicion immediately falls on the caterer, Auntie Lee, who prepared traditional foods for the buffet, some of which require soaking to remove cyanide. (Really!)

Auntie Lee, who knows she is innocent, embarks on her own investigation. Fortunately, Inspector Salim has eaten at Auntie Lee’s cafe numerous times and he does not believe Auntie Lee is definitely guilty. The game is afoot!

This is a cozy police procedural with a lot of humor. The unusual setting is certainly a plus but the personality of Auntie Lee is the real charm here. Really fun.Recommended.

Currently Reading – a good beach read

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Murder in the Bistro; a Maggie Newberry mystery, by Susan Kieran-Lewis, is number 9 in the series. I bought it after seeing an ad on Bookbub.

There is a lot going on in this mystery. It really gives the reader of the stresses of a young mother with young children, married, and in the French countryside.

Maggie’s husband Laurent is busy with the grape harvest and is having trouble with some of the gypsy pickers. At the same time, her friend Grace, and Grace’s two children, are staying at the house. The youngest, Zouzou is fine but Taylor is a difficult thirteen. Grace is trying to get her business off the ground – but the photographer is more interested in shooting photos of Maggie’s youngest, Mila.

Then another American in the village, a chef trying to open a bistro, is murdered and Laurent’s partner is accused. The victim is so poisonous the reader is unsurprised when she is murdered, but there are other unpleasant characters in the village. The reactions of the locals to Maggie sure don’t encourage moving to a village in France.

But – I loved the book. I plan to go back to number one and read them in order. Recommended.

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This week I read two cozies. The first is the third in a series I really enjoy by Mindy Quigley.

Delilah and crew are on their way to a mansion, and a very high-end fundraiser for the Library. Delilah is already stressed out from creating a pizza with no tomato sauce, no gluten, and no cheese.

Then a body rolls down the steps and lands at the bottom. Who would want to kill this annoying, but harmless, member of the Library Board?

Calvin Capone, and his mother, are on scene and begin the investigation as a storm rages outside, trapping everyone, including the killer, in the mansion.

All the usual characters are here, including Butterball the cat.

Lots of fun. The recipes aren’t bad either. I have already ordered the next one.

The second cozy is a book I purchased after seeing a Bookbub deal. My first time ever buying one. Foul Play at Seal Bay by Judy Leigh takes place in Cornwall, England. Morwenna is an older woman, divorced, and working in the small local library and her family’s teashop.

At a party to celebrate Morwenna’s daughter’s engagement, a wealthy transplant from London is murdered. The local detective is completely out of his depth. Morwenna can’t help but begin asking questions. A letter, and a sign painted on the Library wall telling her to back off, fail to discourage her.

I did not see the final twist coming. Light and charming.