Joan Hess writes a series about bookstore owner, Claire Malloy, who also solves murders in her hometown of Farberville, Arkansas. Claire is a quirky character full of mayhem and mischief. Or is it her teenage daughter Caron who always talks in capitals ("Mother, you are So Not Funny!")?  The titles of each of these 18 novels give the reader an idea of the wry humor inside.  This lastest one is "Deader Homes & Gardens."  Claire and her new husband are in the market for a new house. Her two bedroom, one bath double just is not big enough now. When she finds the perfect house (think swimming pool, meadow, orchard) no matter what comes along Claire has to have it. Of course, murder comes along to this very strange place called Hollow Valley, full of Hollow idiosyncrasies. Pandora Butterfly is an aging hippie who dances in the road, while her in-laws are so strictly evangelistic that they cannot accept any deviation from their narrow viewpoint. Add in a fourteen-year old goth niece, an ancient demented patriarch and his caretaking relative to this mix and pandemonium reigns.  This is a great ride of humor plus an excellent whodunit.  But if you haven't read any of Hess's books, start with the first Claire Malloy "Strangled Prose."  Hess also writes another series about a police chief Arly Hanks in Maggody (there are sixteen of those).  They have the same kind of humor and endearingly nutty characters.

When I attended the American Library Association Midwinter meeting in Dallas in January, the highlight for me was the PopTop Stage on Mystery Day.  Mystery authors formed panels and talked about their works. After each panel, the authors signed complimentary copies of their books for the attendees.  I heard several authors with whom I was not familiar but eagerly look forward to reading their works.  One such author is Deborah Crombie who writes a British (yes, British -- although she is a Texan!) procedural featuring Duncan Kincaid and his sergeant Gemma James. These are wonderful looks into the workings of present-day Scotland Yard and its members. Of course, it helps that there is a love interest between Duncan and Gemma.  The novels are chock full of interesting characters, plot lines diverting all over the place, and really interesting mysteries.  The book I received from that signing is Crombie's last, "No Mark Upon Her."  So being the purist that I think I am,  I had to begin with the first book.  I now have read seven of the books. I ended up getting Nook copies of those I hadn't read so I would be ready for the last one (# 14).  When I was on the library catalog today I saw all those books were in ebook format. I could have saved money if I had checked there first. Oh well!

If you like reading British mysteries, try Deborah Crombie. She has a real touch with the vernacular and the feeling of the British humor and feeling.

Loved the newest Hamish Macbeth, "Death of a Kingfisher" by M.C. Beaton. Poor Hamish; he is so misfortunate in matters of love.  His newest love interest is truly all wrong for him but he is still mesmerized by her. Murders most foul follow and Hamish, lazy as he is, manages to be the instigator in solving them.

Not only do I like the cozy amateur sleuth mysteries, I also read procedurals, thrillers, just about anything with a crime background. I just started J.A. Jance's newest one about Ali Reynolds, "Left for Dead". It has some very curious puzzles to solve.

The American Library Association Publishers have just brought out "The Readers' Advisory Guide to Mystery" by John Charles, Candace Clark, Joanne Hamilton-Selway, and Joanne Morrison.  Look for it soon in your local public library. It will have lots of leads for authors, series, characters, etc.

Today I received permission from Hachette (in my Netgalley account) to download M.C. Beaton's newest Hamish story "Death of a Kingfisher".  Guess what I am going to do tonight! Years ago at an American Library Association Conference in Washington, D.C., M.C. Beaton was one of the authors to be signing her books. I took the train from Delaware down so I could be one of the first to have her sign.  If you are a reader of her Agatha Raisin series you might be surprised to know  that she looks a lot like Agatha, only not with a scowl on her face. She was very friendly and gracious. But Agatha is a good-looking woman, even James says so, and so is Ms. Beaton.

I love Netgalley but am a real novice at downloading to my Nook. It only took two tries to get this newest book downloaded so maybe I am getting the knack of it.

Happy reading! I will give a "whodunit lover" quick review of this newest Hamish MacBeth mystery soon.

Cozy Anyone?

I love mysteries -- almost all kinds -- but especially love the cozy.  Some of my favorite titles are set in the UK, Wales, and Scotland.  Rhys Bowen has changed my way of looking at the British cozy, with her "Royal Spyness" series. I was more or less stuck in the modern cozy  -- especially by my favorite M.C. Beaton (love that Hamish MacBeth and the irascible Agatha Raisin!) -- until this series caught my eye.  I especially loved the sense of history that intereactions with the Queen opened.

Have you discovered the website Cozy-Mystery.com?  This is a great place to keep up with your favorite series and/or find new authors.  Now is the time of the cozy series; there are new ones being published every month, some better than others, of course. Being a retired librarian I dote on those that feature librarians or bibliophiles as sleuths. Right now I am reading "File M for Murder" (A Cat in the Stacks Mystery) by Miranda James.  Charlie Harris, the rare books cataloger for the local college, along with his Maine Coon cat Diesel, solves murders on the side.  Great fun!

Of course mystery series that revolve around food are also delicious.  There are ones about donut shops, cookie bakeries, barbeque joints, cheese shops -- just think about food and you'll find a mystery to whet your appetite.

This is the beginning of a new adventure for me, blogging about what I like to read. Don't be surprised, however, if sometimes I mention a great children's book because I was a children' librarian for a good number of years.

Read a good book today!  If you want to comment about it, I would love to know what you think.