Cozy Corner Cozy Mystery Spotlights and Interviews
Getting Cozy this November
November 20, 2013
I love a good cozy mystery, so I'm thrilled to be able to highlight a few top
picks each month on Fresh Fiction in hopes that new readers will discover what
so many have known for so long. Cozy mysteries are fun. Reading them is often
like coming home or visiting old friends. Quirky characters, towns and cities
you'd like to call home, a fun hook (thinking sewing, bakeries, and
pets—not all together, mind you), and an amateur sleuth we'd like to call
friend. If you have a cozy mystery you'd like to see featured here, email me at
[email protected]. Dive into cozies with these top picks:
Heather Blake, who
also writes as Heather
Webber, has a brand new witchy series. Her fans and new readers alike will
love Carly Bell Harwell and her potions shop. Heather has found a great niche.
Her cozies, all with a magical twist, have a charm to them that draws people
in. A POTION TO DIE FOR
is no exception. It's the first in the new Magic Potion series. The
sleuth, Carly Bell Harwell, owns Little Shop of Potions. When Carly finds a
dead man in her shop, clutching one of her potions, things start to unravel. As
in all good cozies, the heroine turns sleuth, in this case needing to clear her
name. The sooner the better, before the town condemns her and her shop. I
highly recommend Heather
Blake's A POTION TO DIE
FOR!
Jenn McKinlay is another
prolific cozy mystery writer. With several series running at once, I wonder how
she keeps it all straight! READ IT AND WEEP is the
4th book in the Library Lovers Mystery
series. In this one, the Briar Creek Community Theater takes center stage, and
the production of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream is in turmoil after,
what else, a murder rocks the theater. Lindsey Norris is no ordinary library
director (what a fun job, right?!). She's turned into the town sleuth, as well,
and when a cast member in the Shakespeare production is poisoned, she's
determined to figure out what happened and who the killer is. Jenn has a
winning series on her hands, and why not? She's got plotting talent, plays
fair, and sucks the reader in with her fun characters.
What's a hedgewitch? Good question! And if
you're curious, you'll find out more in Bailey Cates' latest
Magical Bakery book, CHARMS AND CHOCOLATE
CHIPS: A Magical Bakery
Mystery. If you're in the mood for a little bit of magic tossed with some
culinary bliss, this book is just the thing. It takes readers back to Honeybee
Bakery in Savannah where magic abounds... in the kitchen. Bailey's takes her
character's magic in a different direction than many paranormal cozies on the
market today. It's centered on the earthy elements of herbs and nature, making
the series very relatable to readers. Katie is still figuring out her magic,
and her identity as a witch, and her relationship with Declan (love that good
Irish name!). Murder interrupts it all when an acquaintance from the Georgia
Wild conservation group is murdered. As with any good amateur sleuth, Katie
Lightfoot gets mixed up in the murder investigation. This is the third book in a
great series. It won't disappoint.
One of my favorite things about cozy mysteries
is the covers. They are fun, welcoming, clever, and give you the sense that a
feel-good read lies inbetween the pages. That is definitely the case is the
next book featured. In case you didn't know the power of a gift basket, give A BASKET OF TROUBLE a try.
This Claire Hanover
Mystery by Beth
Groundwater takes Claire to the world of stables and horses with a dead
stable hand, her brother's business in ruin, and a lawsuit. Like any amateur
sleuth worth her salt, it's up to Claire to get involved and help save the day.
Beth writes an action-packed cozy (more so than the average) and it works,
keeping you turning the pages to find out just how a crafter like Claire can
help save her brother and avert more murders from happening.
Now I'm not mathematically inclined, but you
don't have to be to love THE
QUOTIENT OF MURDER, the fourth Professor Sophie Knowles
mystery by Ada
Madison. I love the hook of this series. It's different from the more
craft-oriented focus of so many cozies, which makes for something just a little
different. Sophie is no average sleuth. She's a math professor who uses
puzzles to teach her college students. Who knew math could be so much fun?
But, as will happen in Sophie's world, murder happens, and a student's horrible
death can't be explained with a neat sum or orderly math operation. But just
like the puzzles she loves so much, clues can be pieced together to solve what
she's sure is murder. Sophie's a natural and her mathematical ability lends
itself to sleuthing so organically.
To round out our November offerings, try the
free introduction to the Lola Cruz mystery series
with the short A LOLA CRUZ
CHRISTMAS STORY by yours truly. The story is a prequel to the Lola Cruz series and introduces aspiring PI Lola Cruz, her on
again/off again love interest Jack Callahan, and the crazy Cruz family. The
series continues with three full length novels (Living the Vida Lola, Hasta la
Vista, Lola!, and Bare-Naked Lola) featuring the sleuth, her charmingly
intrusive family, her old high school crush Jack Callaghan, and her PI
coworkers. A LOLA CRUZ
CHRISTMAS STORY will put you in the holiday spirit!
About Misa Ramirez
Melissa Bourbon, who sometimes answers to her Latina-by-marriage name Misa
Ramirez, gave up teaching middle and high school kids in Northern California to
write full-time amidst horses and Longhorns in North Texas. She fantasizes
about spending summers writing in quaint, cozy locales, has a love/hate
relationship with yoga and chocolate, is devoted to her family, and can't
believe she's lucky enough to be living the life of her dreams. She is the
Executive Marketing and Publicity Director with Entangled Publishing. In her
spare time, she writes. She is the author of the Lola Cruz Mystery series
with St. Martin's Minotaur and Entangled Publishing, and A Magical Dressmaking Mystery
series with NAL. She also has two romantic suspense novels and writes the
occasional romance. Learn more about Misa at her website. Join her on social media: Facebook
and Twitter at @misaramirez or @melissabourbon
I didn't realize that Fresh Fiction had a cozy corner even though I know many cozy authors list here. Thanks for the lovely reviews of my favorite genre. (Billie Jackson 1:08pm November 30, 2013)
The cozies are my first love. That doesn't mean I haven't branched out to any other type. I think the only ones I can't read are some of the horror ones. (Shirley Cleveland 1:34pm December 26, 2013)