Sunday, August 26, 2012

Whodunnit?

My first reading love was mysteries. I cut my reading teeth on Nancy Drew so to speak. On any given library trip I made a bee line for the corner section where a multitude of the yellow-spined books waited. As I grew up and my reading tastes evolved, I turned to romance. I started reading romance in high school. The Harlequin American line was my genre of choice.

Now that I'm all grown up, I'll still pick up the occasional Nancy Drew to read. It brings such a sense of nostalgia. As an author, romance is a big part of my life. I still love to read romance, but I find that if I'm in the middle of writing a particular story, reading a different romance often confuses the issue. So I've turned back to my first love.

Lately I've been reading a lot of cozy mysteries. I don't like graphic blood and gore, but ordinary, everyday heroines caught up in life's happenings with a little bit of romance thrown in are perfect for me.

I actually started a couple of years ago with Joanna Carl's "Chocoholic" series. I also read Lois Greiman's series featuring Chrissy McMullen. Just this past spring I sat next to Denise Swanson at a book signing and grabbed a bookmark for her new series. After reading Little Shop of Homicide, which I loved!, I went and read-through her (so far) sixteen book Scumble River series this summer. These days I'm delving into The Flower Shop Mysteries by Kate Collins. I've also read the Charlaine Harris series about a small town librarian. Also on my radar for my Kindle is the Grace Marsden series by Luisa Buehler.

Any cozy series you've read that you can recommend? I'd love to add more to my list.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

6 comments:

Cellophane Queen said...

I don't have a series. Just a single mystery (normally, I write YA fantasy), but your description of what you like seems to fit. If you're interested you can check my blog.

I also recommend Carola Dunn's Daisy Dalrymple series if you like the English sleuths. She's famous in her own right, but I found her because we live in the same town. She's a neat lady as well as a darn good writer.

I have a fondness for Agatha Christie and PD James, so I head for those. Read them all, so maybe should give them another go round.

Debra St. John said...

Hi Marva,

Thanks for the suggestions. And I'll check out your blog for sure. Thanks for commenting!

Morgan Mandel said...

Copies are fun, especially the ones including food or chocolate.
Morgan Mandel

Morgan Mandel said...

Blogger likes to tell me what words I mean to say. Cozies is the word, Blogger!

Deb Larson said...

Great selection of books, Deb. I just finished Heather Graham's mystery, "The Unspoken." It was a quick, exciting read and set in Chicago!
DL Larson

Margot Justes said...

Not exactly cozies...if you like period mysteries, I can recommend Anne Perry. Her Charlotte and Thomas Pitt mysteries, set in Victorian England are wonderful.
Margot
www.mjustes.com