Cozy Mysteries discussion

Brenda — Yeah. Found out this evening that there was another incident early this morning in the same area. This is ridiculous! I swear, my neighborhood is usually a safe one and a good one for walking. Unfortunately, there are idiots everywhere and no cure for stupid. 😐

Dead right!! I don't know what part of the US you live, but the gun crime over there blows us away over here in Australia!

I’m in Southern Wisconsin. We generally don’t see the higher crime rates of (for example) NYC, Chicago or LA, but car theft and “shots fired” incidents have really increased over the last few years. 😕

Stay safe Heather :)

My review for Thursdays at Orange Blossom House by Sophie Green

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I just started reading Distant Echoes by Colleen Coble you gotta love a woman who works with dolphins in Hawaii

Finished out the week with Nine Dragons by Michael Connelly https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Up late finishing Heat Wave by Richard Castle, a novel based on the fictional writer/TV series Castle. Yeah, this one has been languishing in Mount TBR a few years now. Okay more than that, at least a decade. Loved the TV show, so don’t know why I put it off so long. I pulled it out now for the PopSugar challenge of a “book published anonymously,” as no one knew who “Richard Castle” was until after the show ended. It started out slow, but quickly picked up.

Heather L wrote: "Up late finishing Heat Wave by Richard Castle, a novel based on the fictional writer/TV series Castle. Yeah, this one has been languishing in Mount TBR a few years n..."

Thanks for the incentive to pull this off the tbr! Not only have I had it on there for too long, as well, but you've helped me with popsugar's anonymous category, too. (I had something picked out but it's not going to work, after all.)

I finished books 2 and 3 of The Photographer romantic suspense Trilogy.

Tainted Pictures by Sarah Robinson
My 4 star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...


Untainted by Sarah Robinson
My 5 star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Meg wrote: "Heather L wrote: "Up late finishing Heat Wave by Richard Castle, a novel based on the fictional writer/TV series Castle. Yeah, this one has been languishing in Mount..."

You’re welcome! Glad to help you out. I’m now 35/50 after crossing that one off the list. Only fifteen to go! 😳

My review for Beyond the Olive Grove by Kate Hewitt

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

My review for Her Last Hope by Louise Guy

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

My review for Scorch Dragons by Amie Kaufman

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Picked up The Zonderling byKersti Niebruegge last night. Fast read and another Popsugar challenge prompt done. While it fits “A book whose title starts with Q, X or Z,” I’m using it for “A book from your TBR with the ugliest cover.”

Heather L wrote: "Meg wrote: "Heather L wrote: "Up late finishing Heat Wave by Richard Castle, a novel based on the fictional writer/TV series Castle. Yeah, this one has been languish..."

You’re welcome! Glad to help you out. I’m now 35/50 after crossing that one off the list. Only fifteen to go! 😳

I know, it's like all of a sudden the end of the year appears to be looming! I haven't counted what I have left to read for popsugar but it's close to yours. I didn't sign up for all 50 but I hope to get close to it, anyway.

Meg — My goal was to do at least 30, so technically I’ve already exceeded my challenge. Last year was the closest I’ve come to finishing, with 49 of 50 — and there was no way I was finishing that last one. It wasn’t a genre, but a type of book I do not read, so had nothing for it in Mount TBR. All the books I’ve read for PopSugar the last two years have come from books I already have, with few exceptions. A couple I found in a local Little Free Library or borrowed from a friend, nothing newly purchased. I have fourteen left, and think I can do at least 8-10 more before end of the year.

Currently reading The Haunting of Coyote Island by Alexandria Clarke so far I really like it.

Heather L wrote: "Picked up The Zonderling byKersti Niebruegge last night. Fast read and another Popsugar challenge prompt done. While it fits “A book whose title starts with Q, X o..."

It's not too attractive is it! We've actually got a thread for the ugliest covers/covers that make you shudder, and boy! Some of them are hideous!!!

Brenda — There are definitely some covers that make you wonder what the art department or publisher was thinking. While the toilet paper lettering does tie into the plot, it’s not exactly attractive. Were it not for the fact that the author is/was from Wisconsin, I wouldn’t have picked it up, but at least I found it used (can’t remember if it was a Little Free Library or Library Book sale).

Heather L wrote: "Up late finishing Heat Wave by Richard Castle, a novel based on the fictional writer/TV series Castle. Yeah, this one has been languishing in Mount TBR a few years n..."

I read several of them, but I stopped after the TV series ended. I've got a couple on my shelves. I should go back and finish the books.

Out of curiosity, who is writing the books? If I heard, it's been so long I can't remember.

Heather L wrote: "Brenda — There are definitely some covers that make you wonder what the art department or publisher was thinking. While the toilet paper lettering does tie into the plot, it’s not exactly attractiv..."

Yes and I wouldn't know about some I've seen and whether they tie in to the plot as the covers turn me off straight away!! So I'm glad there was some redemption for you :)

Hi Mark! The Castle books were written by Tom Straw. Here’s a link to an interesting article about his experience writing as Richard Castle:

https://www.mysteryscenemag.com/blog-...

My 4 star review of The New Home by Chris Merritt. This is a standalone psychological thriller that is suspenseful, shocking, and pulls on your heart strings.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Heather L wrote: "Hi Mark! The Castle books were written by Tom Straw. Here’s a link to an interesting article about his experience writing as Richard Castle:

https://www.mysteryscenemag.com/blog-ar..."

I'm not Mark 😄 but want to thank you for the article. Enjoyed it!

Meg — Glad you liked it! 😊

My review for Lost Angels by Stacy Green

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I finished The Edge of Lost by Kristina McMorris. This historical fiction novel was a little to slow-paced for me but the world-building/atmosphere was extremely well done.

My 3.5 star review rounded down to 3 stars:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

My review for Seasons in the City by Megan McKean

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

My review for The Liar Next Door by Nicola Marsh

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Heather L wrote: "Hi Mark! The Castle books were written by Tom Straw. Here’s a link to an interesting article about his experience writing as Richard Castle:

https://www.mysteryscenemag.com/blog-ar..."

Thanks for much for posting that article. It was very cool to see behind the scenes of the novels.

I think I stopped after book six. I know I've got at least one more on my shelves and a couple more I haven't even bought. I need to get back and finish them off.

My review for The Song of Lewis Carmichael by Sofie Laguna

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Mark — You’re welcome! I can only imagine how difficult it was for Straw to keep that secret while the show ran, especially when overhearing conversations about both the show and the book. A friend has four or five more Nikki Heat books and at least one of the Derrick Storm books, so maybe I’ll pick one up some day.

Hi everyone - newish to the group (been lurking for a bit). :-)

This past year I've stepped out of my "cozy comfort zone" and have been reading recommendations from connections on Instagram. Last night I finished When we were fire on fire," by Elen Chase (the follow-up to her When we were sea and stars).

Her writing is so lovely. When I finished the final page of her book I thought: Wow, I can't believe how much I cared about these characters! It's been a long time since I've felt that way, even with books I really enjoyed. I don't have a review up for it yet, although I do for the first book in her series.

Here is my 4 star review of Saving Danger by Katie Reus:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

This is a contemporary romantic suspense novel that was fast-faced, full of relationship-building and had suspense and action.

T.L. wrote: "Hi everyone - newish to the group (been lurking for a bit). :-) "

Welcome! You’re sure to receive plenty of non-cozy recommendations in this discussion.


Listened to an audiobook of The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle this afternoon, courtesy of YouTube. Amazing how many free offerings can be found there! Am now 37/50 for the PopSugar challenge, as this counts as a “locked room mystery.”

You're doing well Heather with only 13 to go!! Can you please fill me in on what a 'locked room mystery' is please? I hear a few people saying it, and am not sure what it means :)

Brenda —

From Wikipedia: The "locked-room" mystery is a subgenre of detective fiction in which a crime (usually murder) is committed in circumstances under which it was seemingly impossible for the perpetrator to commit the crime or evade detection in the course of getting in and out of the crime scene.


The door and windows of a room in which a Murder is committed is usually locked from the inside, with seemingly no way for someone to get in and out. Hence, “locked room.”

The Murders in the Rue Morgue by Poe is one of the earliest examples. Agatha Christie wrote a few of them as well, including Murder on the Orient Express and And Then There Were None. The Red House Mystery and The Mystery of the Yellow Room are also locked room mysteries.

Related is the “closed circle” mystery, in which only a few people could have committed a crime during a party or other (public) event. Christie’s Cards on the Table and Hallowe'en Party qualify. More recent examples are Death in a Budapest Butterfly and Needle and Dread.

Many thanks Heather! I've read a lot of them it seems, and just put them down as mysteries ;)

My review for Hanged Man in the Garden by Marion Halligan

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Brenda wrote: "Many thanks Heather! I've read a lot of them it seems, and just put them down as mysteries ;)"

You’re welcome! This was one prompt I knew I should be able to do this year, no problem. It was a bit annoying, though, when three books read earlier this year were all “closed circle” instead of being more strictly a “locked room.” I decided to hold them in reserve, since the PopSugar group had decided they were close enough. I had forgotten that The Sign of Four was on the list of “locked room” mysteries until I was a couple chapters in. Naturally, it does not take Holmes long to figure out how the murder was accomplished.

I finished Gated Prey by Lee Goldberg. This is book 3 in the Eve Ronin police procedural and crime thriller series and is set in and near Calabasas, California. Overall, this is a tense, gritty, and engaging novel with wit, suspense, and plenty of action.

My 4.5 star review rounded up to 5 stars:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Just finished reading The Midwife's Tale by Sam Thomas I loved it. Tonight I plan to start reading the next book in the series The Harlot's Tale

Heather L wrote: "Brenda wrote: "Many thanks Heather! I've read a lot of them it seems, and just put them down as mysteries ;)"

You’re welcome! This was one prompt I knew I should be able to do this year, no proble..."

Haha! Of course not ;)

YEEESSSSSS! I made it through Orlando by Virginia Woolf. It was the only classic group read for this month that I actually had and had not yet read. This was my fourth Woolf and my least favorite.

Time to reward myself with something more fun!

My review for The Orphanage by Lizzie Page

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Heather L wrote: "YEEESSSSSS! I made it through Orlando by Virginia Woolf. It was the only classic group read for this month that I actually had and had not yet read. This was my fourth ..."

Well done! you're very brave!!

Thanks, Brenda!

My review for The Chalky Sea by Clare Flynn

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

My review for Divided House by J.M. Dalgliesh

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...