I had such a loooooong review post yesterday, I moved Cozy Mystery Monday to today. So for this week it will be Cozy Mystery Tuesday! Let’s just be whimsical like that 😉
This week I took a look at my hold list at the Mid-Continent Public Library (shout out!!) and found a few cozy mysteries that are getting closer! The hold list sometimes moves slow but I think these will be worth the wait.
This was just released on September 2nd and I’ve moved up to fourth in line. It’s the 5th in the Darling Dahlias series. I absolutely adore this series. It’s so genteel and “Southern proper” and sweet, then WHAMMO, they have a mystery to solve!
If you’re not familiar-the Dahlias are a Ladies Gardening club in Darling, Alabama in the 1930’s. The Depression is in full swing and folks who may have been well off before are now struggling like everyone else. This one has a plan to print “funny money” to act as currency within the town to help the local economy. Of course it goes very wrong and money goes missing. There is a little bit of romance along with lots of depression recipes and gardening & household hints.
The series is so well written and the characters are so true to life, I wonder if the author is referring to some old diaries or something. Very well done both characters and setting. The mysteries are intriguing but the big payoff is the pace of the story as it unfolds.
I’ve tried to read another of Albert’s series: China Bayles, and just cannot get into them. Something about that series just doesn’t fit me so I gave up after trying a couple of them. The Dahlia series, on the other hand, oh, my! Fits me like a glove and if you enjoy a slower walk through your mystery book, try the Darling Dahlias!!
Four must be my lucky cozy number this week-I’m 4th in line for this one, too! This is the 1st in the new Southern Sisters Mystery series and set in Athena, Mississippi-the same setting for the Cat in the Stacks series. Miranda James is also Dean James-I’ve read the Simon Kirby-Jones vampire series and thought it was wonderful so this book will be something a little different from vampires!! Bless Her Dead Little Heart finds the snoopy Ducote sisters acting as pet sitters for Diesel the cat from the Cat in the Stacks series. So, there is a cat, an old sorority sister on the doorstep, a murder and a will-doesn’t that sound good!! This will be released on October 7th so I hope to be reading it quite soon.
I’m still 5th in line for this book and it was released way back in July of 2013! It’s the first in the Cookbook Nook Mystery series and features what looks to be a whizbang of a story: Jenna moves back home to help her aunt open a cafe’ and bookshop. When her old college roommate comes to town, trouble follows. Desiree is now a celebrity chef and her book signing at the Cookbook Nook goes awry when she is murdered. There are plenty of suspects including Jenna, who must find the killer before there are more victims. Ooh, gave me chills, that part! The second book in the series is called Inherit the Word and it came out this spring in March; the third book Stirring the Plot will be released this month on the 30th so I hope my hold list moves quickly so I can get the first two finished before then.
Three more great cozies we “Otter” be reading! Stop back tomorrow for a mild Wednesday post about …oh, let’s let it be a surprise… OK, one little hint-it will be about books and it may possibly be a look at the mid-week reading slump and how to shake up your hump day with a good book!!