Okay, I keep seeing all this stuff about "cozy mysteries"......what the heck are ppl talking about?  Just wondering!!!

Amy, a cozy mystery is usually one where the main character is an amateur sleuth, whereas they usually fall into trouble. They have other jobs like candlemaker, bookstore owner, they own floral or herbal shops, that sort of thing. Plus there isn't a lot of sex, swearing and stuff like that.  Some of my favorites are the Culinary mysteries starring Goldy Bear Shultz,  the Psychic Eye series by Victoria Laurie, the main character is a psychic, and my favorite, The Aunt Dimity series, where the main character gets a lot of help from a ghost!

  There are a couple of great "cozy" threads in Hidden Gems that may give you some ideas if you decide to try them out.  I'd never heard of them until I got to PBS and now I can't get enough!

  Hoped that helped!

Thanks, yes that does help.  I've learned a lot since joining PBS and I thought I knew a lot....lol.  Considering I'm studying to be an English teacher all this trivial knowledge is important...lol.  I have to stay ahead of my future students!!  I sincerely love the fact that ppl don't mind to respond to unimportant questions!!!  I love this site!

Thanks, Kim B.!!!

The 'Birdwatcher' mysteries by Christine Goff are good cozy mysteries that I got at my local library bookshop - they were great - now I just have to get the last 2 in the series. 

And thank you, Kim, for the good description of a cozy - I've been wondering for a while and no one was giving very good answers.

Amy, go to the mystery forum and you'll see some threads not only explaining cozies, but discussion the different series and authors.

Hi Amy!

You brought me my first smile on this dark and thundery morning.

For my first game, I joined a "comfy cozy" one - thinking it was either one for a good book to get all snuggled in bed to read or for home decorating books.  Well, you can imagine my surprise when I finally got the nerve to ask the wonderful swap hostess who some of the author's were that I should be on the lookout for. :)  Yes, I know, run-on sentence BUT I was a speech teacher/coach who married a history/English teacher so he could check everyone's papers. :)

Anyway, since I have been checking them out, I have found a new group of books to read AND there are even series that feature design tips and delish recipes!

If you haven't been inducted into the sorority sisterhood of games, this is a great group to be rushed by.

Best of luck in your teaching career - the  kids need sweet people like you!

Happy week-end!

Paula

I have to say Thanks for asking this question!  I've been wondering about it too but never got curious enough to ask.  Now I don't have to!  :-) 

  Amy,  you are very welcome!  I learned here early on, there aren't any unimportant questions!  I had no idea what a cozy mystery was either, and now I've got tons on my WL and Reminder list, they are one of my favorite genres to read!  And yes, I totally forgot to mention that there are usually tips or ideas in many books, and the books that star culinary figures.. YUM! Tons of recipes, too!  I've tried a few from the Aunt Dimity series and the Candy Shoppe series by Sammi Carter and they were sooo good!

I love cozies! They are a fun read. Usually pretty funny as well.

I am just addicted to cozies!!  I'll give you some more suggestions:

Joanne Fluke writes a great series starring Hannah Swenson who owns a cookie baking shop in a little town in Minnesota.

JoAnne Carl writes a series about Lee (I can't remember her last name) who works as business manager in her aunts candy shop.

Rhys Bowen has a series starring a Police Constable, Evan Evans, who lives in a small village in Wales called Llanfier.

Maddy Hunter has a wonderful series about a young lady who works as an escort with a Senior Citizens club from Iowa when they take trips abroad, for example, to Switzerland, Ireland, Italy, and Australia.  She has a new book coming out soon about going to Norway.  You really have to read this series in order, because each one builds on the next.  The name of the first book is "Alpine to You" and as of yesterday it was available here.

The knitting series by Maggie Sefton is great too.  It is a fairly new series and is in popular demand,

Patrica Sprinkle writes a series with the main character Judge Maclaren Yarborough (the Judge is a woman, I wasn't sure when I first picked up the book!" and they are called "A Thoroughly Southern Mystery"  These are wonderful and take place in a small town in Georgia.  You could really list them almost with a G rating. 

Laura Childs writes "Tea Shop Mysteries" about a women and her two staff members who run a tea shop and catering service in Charleston.  She has also recently started a new "scrapbooking series" which I know alot of people really love, but me, not so much.

Cozy mysteries will also often include a pet, like KoKo and Yum Yum, Siamese cats in the Lilian Braun series "The Cat Who....." They are also written so that whoever finds the body does so after the crime has been commited and there is no graphic description of the blood, wounds, etc. 

And of course there are the classics like Agatha Christie and Ngaio Marsh.

I'd better stop now or I'll be writing for an hour!

Welcome to the Cozy Club!

Joy