Cozy Mystery Corner discussion

The theme for October '18 is Job-related and the featured series is Zoe Chambers by Annette Dashofy. The MC is a paramedic in Vance Township, Pennsylvania. Several books in the series have been finalists for Agatha Awards. The first book in the series is Circle of Influence.


Other books in the series are:


Lost Legacy
Bridges Burned
With a Vengeance
No Way Home
Uneasy Prey
Cry Wolf

Discuss any book in the series in this thread.

Circle of Influence is $2.99 on Kindle.

I am reading #4 in this series, With a Vengeance.

I have been wanting to try this series for a while. The idea of a paramedic MC opens up a lot of possibilities. I just downloaded Circle of Influence on audio from my library, and I will start it in the next couple of days.

I've only made it to two books in this series so far (and I read the second last month). They are a bit darker than what I typically think of as a cozy, but so good and so worth reading.

I don't know when it will happen, but I need to catch up on this series.

Sounds interesting. It is reasonably priced for Australia on Kobo, but I couldn't find it on kindle.

I finished Circle of Influence last night. After reading, I'm not sure I would call it a "cozy" mystery. It had some cozy elements (small town, amateur sleuth, etc.) but was much grittier than most cozies and had more violence and several curse words. That said, the writing was excellent (as was the narration). Another series to add to the ever-growing list!

I agree with your assessment. These have been nominated for the Agatha multiple times over the years, and I've loved both of the ones I've read, but they are more traditional than pure cozy.

As long as you know that going in, you'll love these books.

I finished Circle of Influence this afternoon. I agree with those who have said it is more of a traditional mystery than a cozy. I enjoyed it, though, and will probably read at least one more of the series.

That's an interesting distinction - traditional/cozy - and one I had not made. I think of some mysteries in the cozy genre as having a lighter tone. Some entries can even feel fluffy with so much emphasis on the quirks or foibles of the MC. (It seems like more of those have entered the genre lately.) That's one way to distinguish mysteries with a more serious tone though I hesitate to create subgenres within a subgenre. It's writers like Carolyn Hart and Margaret Maron who drew me to this genre. A good puzzle to solve without the blood and gore. The Zoe Chambers mysteries fit that description.

Finished the 4th in the series a couple of days ago.
With a Vengeance was excellent! The chapters alternated between Zoe and Pete, the town's police chief. When told from Pete's viewpoint, it leaned toward a police procedural. Lots of suspects and possible motives but the identity of the killer and the motive surprised me. Love it when the author gives you all the clues but I still didn't solve this one. Clever story, written well.

I enjoyed this, I thought it was towards the "harder" end of the Cozy Genre but very enjoyable and I like the flick flack between Zoe and Pete (giving different viewpoints), this is (blast it!) a series for me to add to my TBR list (so ..... err ..... thank you, I think! to whoever picked this!)

Hilary (A Wytch's Book Review) wrote: "I enjoyed this, I thought it was towards the "harder" end of the Cozy Genre but very enjoyable and I like the flick flack between Zoe and Pete (giving different viewpoints), this is (blast it!) a s..."

You're welcome. My pleasure! 😄

I’m still unsure whether to look for more in this series. For some reason, it was slow reading for me. I tend to read cozies at bedtime, and this tended to send me to sleep, except the last few chapters. I may read more in the series, but maybe not as bedtime reading.

I finished reading the series this week. I thought the books kept getting better as the series went on. Or maybe I just kept getting more invested in the characters. Anyway, I hope there will be more.

I enjoyed this book and I agree with those who didn't think it was a cozy. I was surprised by the language and felt that much of it was not warranted. Having said all that I'll probably read another in the series.