I don’t really review cozies, despite reading A LOT of them. For those unfamiliar, the cozy genre are generally “gentle” murders – no graphic violence, not a lot of sex, blood or swearing, and the person who gets whacked deserves it. A lot of the focus on cozies is atmosphere …
Christopher Fowler
By far the best in the series for awhile, The Lonely Hour has Bryant and May at their finest, weirdest, best. Spoiler alert: The memory issues from past books have totally solved/explained and these two octogenarian detectives have their snappy synapses firing at full. There’s plenty of the …
Dean Jobb
While the name Jack the Ripper still resonates over a century later, Dr. Cream has fallen into obscurity. Yet, in his day, he was as infamous a murderer as Jack. Like his predecessor, Dr. Cream primary targeted prostitutes. However, his crimes were more subtle, as they were done …
Robert Thorogood
The most advanced policing usually needed in Marlow, England (a real town, now due for some major tourist traffic) is directing traffic around swans in the road. So when a string of murders occur, it grabs the attention of three residents. Using their own unique skills (and innate …
Anne Glenconner
Glenconner’s first fiction book is a fascinating blend of experience and fabrication. A real-life Baroness, former lady-in-waiting to Princess Margaret, and former owner of the Caribbean island Mustique, Glenconner sets her book on this very familiar location. With a clear-eyed look at the “haves” (the rich, famous socialites) …
Libby Cudmore
Codmore’s debut murder mystery is a Gen-X must read. The murder mystery plot is tight, interesting, and fast-moving. However, it’s Cudmore’s characters and their conversations that truly make the book. Jett Bennett, an aspiring writer in New York, is looking for her tribe. Living in her grandma’s apartment …
Debra Bokur
The first in an excellent new series, Bokur hits all the right buttons. Her mystery is set on the island of Maui and revolves around Police Chief Walter Alaka’i and his niece, Detective Kali Māhoe. The plot is tight and fast moving – a surfer who dies mysteriously, …
Erle Stanley Gardner
Author Gardner is best known for his long-running Perry Mason series of books, tv shows and movies. But his lesser-known, but equally enjoyable, Cool and Lam series is definitely worth a read. The Knife Slipped is described as a “lost” book, but in reality it was more …
Richard Osman
Osman’s debut murder mystery is, in a word, adorable. The popular British tv presenter and comedian has written a sweet, funny, poignant and also truly excellent murder mystery. His elderly crime-solvers, four retirees at an exclusive retirement community, are fearless and brilliant. The two hapless police officers trying …
John Dickinson Carr
Dickinson Carr is considered one of the classic “vintage” (though possibly second-tier) mystery writers. He’s up there with likes of Pim, Tey, and Marsh. But if Castle Skull sounds like the title a seventh-grader would give their first novel, you wouldn’t be far off. There is nothing …
You can’t help but compare Marsh to Agatha Christie as a grande dame of murder. After all, Marsh invites you to with the quote “It’s time to compare Christie to Marsh instead of the other way around.” – Dily Winn, New York Magazine printed on all of her books.
The …
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Anna Waterhouse
Mycroft Holmes had three major strikes against it – 1. written by a celebrity 2. co-written with a professional writer and 3. a story in a major and wildly popular canon. However, after reading an excellent op-ed written by Abdul-Jabbar in the Washington Post, …
Jane Willan
The author the Sister Agatha mysteries, Reverend Jane Willan, does a wonderful job evoking the peaceful life of a rural Welsh Abbey. Of course, being a mystery, there is plenty of murder and mayhem. But like many of the best mystery authors, the whodunnit is second to the …
Tim Myers
Set in rural North Carolina, innkeeper Alex Winston struggles to keep his one-of-a-kind inn open. Despite being miles from the sea, his inn features a full-size replicate of the lighthouse at Cape Hatteras. The series is a pleasant, low-key look at life in a beautiful, small town – …
Lorraine Bartlett
Author Lorraine (or LL) Bartlett writes the thoroughly enjoyable Booktown mystery series, a definite must-read for cozy fans. However, she has a lesser-known series that is, in many ways, more compelling.
Bartlett’s Jeff Resnick series follows a former insurance adjuster, now part-time bartender. After a nearly fatal mugging, …
Simon R. Green
Green, author of the fabulous Nightside series, has a new …”hero.” Ishmael Jones is an alien, crashed on the Earth decades ago. With no memory of who or what he is, but endowed with all sorts of handy strengths, he works for a secret organization protecting …
