Cozy Mystery Corner discussion

We are all fans of Cozy Mysteries ...and I thought that it might be fun to share how it all began for us ...by telling about the authors, books, or series that introduced us to Cozies ...and initiated our love for this genre :-)

The Mystery Of Holly Lane was my introduction to the world of "Mysteries"...! :-)

This is the 11th book in the "Five Find Outers And A Dog Series" by Enid Blyton, which features Fatty, who is the brain and the leader of the group and who also has a dog called Buster. Then there are Daisy and Larry. And Pip and Bets. Who is the youngest but her contribution is usually invaluable. 

So these five kids and dog solve the mysteries, robberies, kidnapping etc, that take place in their small town. 

Much to the annoyance of the local village policeman Mr. Goon, who especially hates Fatty for being more intelligent, solving the mysteries before him, and for getting the admiration and respect of Inspector Jenks...! 

Mr. Goon often complains to the kids parents for their 'interference' and especially gets Pip and Bets, whose parents are very strict, in a great deal of trouble. To take revenge and to add to the fun, the kids often play tricks on Mr. Goon by disguises and red-herring clues... 

And though I am all 'grown-up' now, I still sometimes indulge by re-reading some of these books now and again...! :-)

Well anyway, then, ...after spending few years with Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew, 

... Agatha Christie became my all-time favourite "Mystery" author...!

Some Hercule Poirot Mystery Books:

 

Some Miss Marple Mystery Books:



Then my love for "Contemporary Cozies" started with Grime and Punishment , the first book in "Jane Jeffry Mystery Series" by Jill Churchill ...which I read after coming upon it in the library in Frankfurt ...about 8 years before ...and from then onwards, I have become highly addicted to "Cozy Mysteries"...! :-)

I'm in a group called Wacky Reading Challenges. While scrolling through all the challenges, I found a Cozy Mystery challenge. It included a link that defined cozy mysteries. I had never heard the term before, but recognized that I've read a few, and have always enjoyed them. So, I dove in. This was only 2 months ago, but in think it is currently my largest shelf on here.

My first mysteries were the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, and the Famous Five (more Enid Blyton).

I think I came to the adult genre through Charlotte MacLeod and Ellis Peters. My parents were reading them when I was in my 20s, and I got hooked!

I started with Enid Blyton also!! I found a book someone had donated to my school's library and proceeded to read a whole bunch of them. My favorite series is the one with Barney the circus kid.

I participated in a Scattegories challenge in the Pick-a-Shelf group last year and one category was to find a book with the title or author beginning with the letter H on a particular shelf. The only author on the shelf that I'd heard of was Charlaine Harris and the book was . I enjoyed it so much that I devoured the rest of the series and went searching for others like it.

Nancy Drew mysteries.

I'm going to say Nancy Drew as well. And Trixie Belden, also the Hardy Boys- loved the TV show.

It was perpetuated, in a round about way, by the Inspector Henry Tibbett series by Patricia Moyes right around the time I got married in 1983. I buzzed through all the earlier ones and then waited and waited (and waited) for each new book to come out. I was sad when she stopped the series.

I know this series isn't really a cozy because Tibbett isn't an amateur sleuth but his wife Emmy joins him in his sleuthing! And after I'd gone through all the ones already written, I asked the bookstore owner about books like them. She introduces me to the likes of Anne Perry, another combination inspector/wife team, and Lillian Jackson Braun.

I was hooked on cozies before I even knew they were a subgenre.

My grandmother got me into reading mysteries, starting with Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Boxcar Children and Bobbsey Twins at a fairly early age. She also introduced me to Dorothy Gilman and Mrs. Polliax, along with Agatha Christie and Poirot & Miss Marple and of our favorite Jessica Fletcher and Murder She Wrote. We would trade books back and forth as we found new authors and often watched Murder She Wrote and Masterpiece Mystery together whenever Poirot or Miss Marple were on. I recently inherited all her mystery books and look forward to discovering "new, older" characters that she enjoyed.

Trixie Beldon and Nancy Drew were my introductions to cozy mysteries. I discovered Nancy at the local library, and Trixie at the local bookstore.

My oldest niece, Ruth, and I lived in the same house when we were teenagers I was only a few years older. they lived on the first floor and we lived on the second, my Mom, Dad and me. We would ride our bikes to the Library to get Nancy Drew, Victoria Holt Trixie Beldon and other mysteries and then exchange them before we took them back. That is when I got hooked on mysteries and riding bikes. Best times to remember. They all live in different states now.

It all comes down to the reading preferences of older family members. My grandfather started me out by telling me Sherlock Holmes stories before I was old enough to read them myself. His favorite was the Mystery of the Dancing Men. In addition, my great aunt was a fan of Agatha Christie. She was an amateur actress who appeared in a few play based on her books. She lent me some of her books when I visited. I skipped children's mysteries and went straight to adult mysteries by the age of 12 or so.

The tradition continues now. My sisters and I recommend books to the teenagers in the family. It all started with Rebecca.

Back in the days when if a kid was bored they told you to read a book, i read an omnibus of mysteries from the Readers Digest. It had Murder on the Orient Express in it and I was hooked on Dame Agatha and read all of her
books I could find in the library. I then discovered Nero Wolf and fell in love with Archie. So I have been reading cozy mysteries and of course Nancy Drew since the summer I was 12. Which since I will be 70 next month that is a very long time ago.

I guess Agatha Christie introduced me to cozies because The Man in the Brown Suit was the first mystery I ever read and I really enjoyed the book.

Like many others: The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, Father Brown, Father Dowling, and Ellery Queen novels. I read them all around the same time. Cozies are excellent when learning English.
I broadened on to Hamish Macbeth and haven't looked back since.

I've been reading cozies all my life - since I discovered Nancy Drew and others like her as a child of probably 9 or 10. But I didn't even hear the term Cozy until i joined Goodreads sometime last December. I prefer Cozies by far - too much sex or violence or uncouth language is just TMI for me...

Paisley, thank you for mentioning Father Brown. I just loaded a hefty volume of Father Brown stories on my Kindle. Such a pleasure to re-read them.

Agatha Christie and other British cozies introduced me, but then I started reading many profession-oriented cozies by American authors. I like them all.

Watching Murder She Wrote and then discovering The Cupcake series at Barnes an Noble and the Psychic Detective series on Audiobooks on my Kindle.

I saw a interesting cozy title at a used book store about 3 years ago, and have been reading cozies ever since!

The cozy series by Monica Ferris and The Cupcake Bakery Mystery series by Jenn McKinlay were some of my first cozies.

Watching British mysteries on BBC. I found I liked the mystery without all the hardcore nastiness. So I tried a cozy and enjoyed that too. Right now my favorite is M C Beaton's Hamish McBeth series.

Just happened upon the group when I signed up for Goodreads. Glad I did!

My Aunt (who is an avid reader) sent me one and it included cats! That was it! I was won over!

If we're counting Nancy Drew... I guess since I got my first Nancy Drew from my mother, I'd have to say my mother.

Not counting Nancy Drew... I got myself into cozies. I've always loved mysteries. When I started buying my own books I found that some mysteries came in series and just started buying them. I don't think I knew what a "cozy" was. I was just reading mysteries with recurring characters. I don't think I heard the term "cozy" and knew what it meant until, maybe, 10 years ago.