Mysteries for March

March is a great month for mysteries.  It is still cold enough to want to stay indoors and snuggle up with a good “cozy” mystery.  Mysteries intrigue the reader as they become more and more engrossed in the story and try to solve the “whodunit” which is what makes reading mysteries so enjoyable.   

My first experience with mysteries was the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew and at an early age I was hooked.  I love a good mystery and pride myself on being able to solve them way before the final chapter.    There are several different types of mysteries such as the caper, the hard boiled, police procedurals, legal/medical, private eye, historical and the sleuths.  If you want to read a mystery series checkout Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum mysteries, James Lee Burke’s Dave Robicheaux mysteries or Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swenson mysteries which also contains recipes since she is a bakery-owning amateur.  Whether you like your mysteries on the light side or hard boiled you will find excitement awaits you as you try to solve the crimes!

-Jo

Cozy Mysteries

There’s nothing I like better than to curl up with a good, curious mystery book.  Whether it’s during my lunch break, on the couch in the evening, just before bed, on an airplane, on the beach, in a waiting room…doesn’t matter where.  I love a good murder mystery!

The literary establishment calls them “cozy mysteries”.  I call them entertaining.  A brief step out of reality.  Not only do I get to work on honing my detective skills while reading, I often learn a new recipe or tip for brewing a good cup of tea.  My husband thinks the titles are funny—like Scones and BonesHail to the Chef or Scrub-a-Dub Dead.

Two websites that are especially good for finding cozy mysteries are:

www.stopyourekillingme.com

www.cozy-mystery.com

Both places will help you find authors to read, find the books in chronological order (a must-have if you’re reading an authors series), and alert you to upcoming titles and new authors.  Plainfield-Guilford Township Public Library belongs to Evergreen, which means if you can’t locate a title in our collection, you can most likely find one at another Evergreen library and have it sent here for you!

Some of my favorite cozy mystery authors are:

(And yes, I know…they’re all female writers!)

If you’re in the mood for something light, fun, and entertaining—why not try a cozy mystery?  If you need a suggestion, I’ll be glad to help!

~Reann