Another Collection of Cozies

These are all cozies that I have read this year but did not blog about. These all count toward the Cruisin' Through the Cozies Challenge and this list will help me keep track of my progress. I posted another cozy collection earlier this year. 

• Cheddar Off Dead by Korina Moss (Cheese Shop Mystery #1) When the local food critic--who never gives a good review--is found dead with a knife from Willa's brand new Sonoma-county gourmet cheese shop she is determined to find the killer.
• Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot #13) The murder of the expedition leader on an Iraqi archaeological dig site compels Poirot to untangle the secrets of the woman's past. 
• Bowled Over by Victoria Hamilton (Vintage Kitchen Mystery #2) Conflicts and secrets from high-school days long past surface as our fearless (foolish?) heroine pokes around in a small town murder. 
• Pushing Up Daisies by Rosemary Harris (Dirty Business #1) A small Connecticut town is the setting for this mystery featuring a professional gardener starting her business with a big job for the local historical society which leads to her unearthing a dead body and long buried secrets.
• Sentenced to Death by Lorna Barrett (Booktown Mystery #5) A tragic accident hits the Stoneham, NH Founders Day celebration, but it just doesn't seem like an accident to bookstore owner Tricia Miles who starts asking her own questions.
• Shades of Earl Grey by Laura Childs (Tea Shop Mystery #3) Charleston society is shocked by a horrible accident at an engagement party. But it may not have been an accident at all and there may be a cat-burgler at work in the Historic district. 
• Bran New Death by Victoria Hamilton (Merry Muffin Mystery #1) When she flees her NYC life for the castle she has inherited in a small town upstate Merry Wynter finds more intrigue than she expected from such a tiny town.

These bring me to my goal of reading 20 cozies this year. However, I have not read one for each of the identified categories so I still need to read two more: a paranormal one and a holiday one.

 

Another Collection of Cozies

These are titles that I finished recently which count toward the Cruisin' Through the Cozies Challenge.

 

Gunpowder Green by Laura Childs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is set in a tea-shop so I am counting it toward the "anything culinary" category. I would have liked a bit more info about the various teas. There was a lot of name dropping, but not a lot of explanation. An entertaining enough mystery though.



The Painted Queen
by Elizabeth Peters and Joan Hess
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the last of the Amelia Peabody books, and it was finished by Joan Hess after the death of Elizabeth Peters. It was well done and stayed true to the series, but I felt like Amelia was a gentler version of herself which was less appealing and the supporting characters were less involved than they are in some of the books. The manuscript H excerpts were very good. Like the other EP novel I read for this challenge this could be either for the mystery set outside the US--Egypt in this case--or the historical category. 



Search the Dark by Charles Todd
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A body found in Dorset brings Instpector Ian Rutledge from London to investigate. It is very much a small town story with everyone knowing everyone and immediately suspecting outsiders. Rutledge, and several other characters, struggle with the scars left on them by World War. This is one of the "cozies of my choice."


Fudge Cupcake Murder by Joanne Fluke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have read several of the books in this series before and this one was exactly what I expected. Lots of sweets, tons of coffee, and obsessive attention to Moishe, the cat. I am counting this as an "animal related" cozy.