Category: book Nook
Hey all, lately I have been reading what I like to call light hearted misteries. Nothing too scary or groosome.
I've been reading these gardening misteries by Ann Ripley. While searching for the order of the series, I came across the following website.
http://www.cozy-mystery.com/Ann-Ripley.html
That link will bring you to the Ann Ripley page, but you can always navigate to the homepage.
Who has some more suggestions of cozy misteries? I'm kind of getting into this genre.
*smile*
Well, I'm a cat lover, so I like mysteries involving cats. The Mrs. Murphy series by Rita Mae Brown is cute, so is the Midnight Louie series by Carole Nelson Douglas, although as the series progresses, the subject matter gets more serious, and you really have to read them in order because there is a lot going on with the main characters. But, no graphic violence. Also, The Cat Who mysteries by Lilian Jackson-Braun. Other mysteries I like not involving cats include the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. These are what I would call slap stick silly but very enjoyable if you like to laugh out loud. Also, I like both Mary Higgins Clark and her daughter Carol Higgins Clark. I read a lot of other mystery and detective novels, but many of them are not what I would call cozies.
A website I like to visit to find the correct reading order of books in a mystery series is: www.stopyourekillingme.com. Just click on the letter of the last name of the author you are looking for or click on the letter of the name of a character. I always use the author, so I'm not sure if you would click on the letter of the first name or the last name of the character.
I like Mary Higgins Clark too. Cool I'm going to check out some of the cat mystery books.
Midnight louie is a great series. I should try and get back into it. Your right though becky, I got one of her books, and while I understood what was going on after a bit, you do have to read them in order.
Becky, thank you for the website. Sometimes it is challenging to figure out the order via the library's website.
OMG, a series I'm just starting is by Joanne Fluke. It is a bakery shop mistery; all the titles are adorible! The first one is the chocolate chip cookie murder. *grin!*
I've heard of those Joanne Fluke mysteries, and they do sound cute. Maybe someday I'll start it, but right now I've got so many different series going I don't think I want to start a new one.
Thanks for the Joanne Fluke mystery recommendations and also appreciate the web site as it is sometimes difficult to know which books come first or next in a mystery.
If you really like the Joanne Fluke books, you probably would like Dianne Mott Davidson, she writes about a caterer that always seems to get herself in the middle of everything. Her 1st book is called Catering to nobody, all of her books have cute little names that tie into the story. Like, Dying for chocolate, prime cut, tough cookie, and so on.
You might like the Cassidy James Mystery series by Kate Calloway. The first few books are titled, First Impression, Second Fiddle, third Wheel and so on. The main character is a detective who happens to be lesbian, and lives and works somewhere in the pacific northwest.
Ooh, thanks for the suggestions all! I'm loving the Joanne Fluke books. Well actually, I've only read the first on, but I'm awaiting the second. Lol, the first one was read on my booksense, the second, I could only get on tape.
I've finished 2 books by Dorothy Gilman, the Mrs. Polifax misteries. Oh my gall, they are a hoot! Yes, I think Mrs. Polifax would like that word. They were written in the late 60's and 70's, and are about a woman in her 60's who wants to be a spy for the CIA. Hee-Hee, if you are in the mood for great entertainment, I recommend checking them out.
I'm currently reading Burgler's can't be Choosers, by Lawrence Block. These ones are about Berny the burgler, who isn't really all that great of a burgler. He keeps getting himself in these sticky situations. *grin*
Hmmm, IceQueen, that series does sound good. I'm not finding it on the bard site though. Maybe my local talking book and braille library has it. Failing that, may have to be a print job that my partner reads. *smile*
If you're a fan of culinary mysteries, (Joanne Fluke's Hannah Swensen mysteries are great, and the recipes are as wonderful as the stories!), I would also recommend the Pennsylvania Dutch mysteries written by Tamar Myers. Like most books in these cozy mystery series, they also have cute titles such as Too Many Crooks Spoil the Broth, Play It Again Spam, Thou Shalt Not Grill, and Between a Wok and A Hard Place. They feature Magdalena Yoder, the owner of a Penn Dutch inn who lives in the heart of an Amish community. She has a penchant for getting into all kinds of humorous predicaments.
For another cozy series that features gardening, you might want to consider Susan Wittig Albert's China Bales' series. This series stars a former criminal attorney who moved to a small Texas town to start an herbal shop. Each of her mysteries features an herb in its plot and the author provides information throughout the book about the herb, its uses, an how to grow it, while keeping the reader's interest in the mystery at hand.
I hope this helps, and happy reading!
John
Boy, do I have a lot of books to scope out!
John, each of the series you mentioned sound good. Unfortuenly, Bard doesn't have the first in the Pennsylvania Dutch series, but hopefully my local talking book and braille library will.
Bard, does have the first one of the A Den of Antiquity Mystery from the same author, so I may give them a whirl.
Thanks y'all, this is great!
Wow, Susan Wittig Albert has a few different series.
Has anyone read THE COTTAGE TALES OF BEATRIX POTTER Series? Those are the only books Bard has by her.
The tbbl does a bit better, but it is going to be a challenge to read each one in order. Especially for the herbal misteries.
I really look forward to the booksense supporting the protected drm format, then I can download from the ordinary library. Yet another resource for books! *smile*
what is BARD? The series I'd mentioned previously is on bookshare. I like the site less now that the files are compressed and opened differently, and the books are no longer readable on Maestro victor reader. As crazy as it sounds i enjoyed having my reading material and gps in one lol.
BARD: Braille and Audio Reading Download. It is NLS's site to download books to a supported player.
Bookshare is $75 a year, correct? Also, are the books narated or will it be text to speech reading the book? I don't know a whole lot about it. *smile*
$75 for the first year and $50 each year after. The books are zipped in zip files. I usually just open the xml file and read it in IE via Jaws. Otherwise one can transfer all files onto a daisy player and read that way. Thanks for the response on the NLS stuff.