Featured

2023 Left Coast Crime Awards (the Lefties)

Left Coast Crime 2023 presented four Lefty Awards at the convention in Tucson, Arizona on Saturday, March 18, 2023. To be eligible, titles must have been published for the first time in the US or Canada during 2022, in book or ebook format. Congratulations to all the nominees and winners (indicated in bold)!

Best Humorous Mystery Novel
  °  Ellen Byron, Bayou Book Thief
  °  Jennifer J. Chow, Death by Bubble Tea
  °  A.J. Devlin, Five Moves of Doom
  °  T.G. Herren, A Streetcar Named Murder
  °  Catriona McPherson, Scot in a Trap

 

Best Historical Mystery Novel (events before 1970)
  °  Dianne Freeman, A Bride’s Guide to Marriage and Murder
  °  Catriona McPherson, In Place of Fear
  °  Wanda M. Morris, Anywhere You Run
  °  Karen Odden, Under a Veiled Moon
  °  Ann Parker, The Secret in the Wall
  °  Iona Whishaw, Framed in Fire

 

Best Debut Mystery Novel
  °  Erin E. Adams, Jackal
  °  Eli Cranor, Don’t Know Tough
  °  Ramona Emerson, Shutter
  °  Meredith Hambrock, Other People’s Secrets
  °  Harini Nagendra, The Bangalore Detectives Club
  °  Rob Osler, Devil’s Chew Toy
  °  Jane Pek, The Verifiers

 

Best Mystery Novel
  °  Kellye Garrett, Like a Sister
  °  Laurie R. King, Back to the Garden
  °  James L’Etoile, Dead Drop
  °  Gigi Pandian, Under Lock & Skeleton Key
  °  Louise Penny, A World of Curiosities
  °  Alex Segura, Secret Identity

 

 

2023 Left Coast Crime Awards (the Lefties) Read More »

Irish Fiction & Mysteries – 2023 List

View from Blarney Castle

St. Patrick’s Day will be here soon! For those of you that focus your reading on holiday/cultural themed books, the list below features Irish writers, mysteries/suspense set in Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day murders, or titles with Irish characters central to the plot. Some are modern classics, some are newbies, but all are entertaining reads. You’re sure to find a story in the updated list of 47 Irish Fiction & Mysteries – 2023  that you will want to read again and again. (Links included for bold titles)

Lisa Alber: “Path into Darkness

Maeve Binchy:  “Chestnut Street
Furlong-Bollinger: “Paddy Whacked
Ellie Brannigan “Murder at an Irish Castle
Verity Bright “Murder in an Irish Castle
Declan Burke: “The Lost and the Blind

Steve Cavanagh: “Th1rt3en
Sheila Connolly: “Fatal Roots
Kathy Cranston: “Apple Seeds and Murderous Deeds

Sinead Crowley: “One Bad Turn

Kathi Daley: “Shamrock Shenanigans
Maddie Day: “Four Leaf Cleaver
Frank Delaney: “The Last Storyteller

Nelson Demille: “Cathedral

Peggy Ehrhart: “Irish Knit Murder

Patricia Falvey: “The Yellow House
Mike Faricy: “Jewels to Kill For
Tana French: “The Searcher

Alexia Gordon: “Murder in G Major
Andrew Greeley: “The Bishop at the Lake

Jane Haddam: “A Great Day for the Deadly
Lyn Hamilton: “The Celtic Riddle
Lee Harris: “The St. Patrick’s Day Murder
Erin Hart: “The Book of Killowen

Jonathan Harrington: “A Great Day for Dying

Mary Anne Kelly: “Twillyweed
Amanda Lee: “The Long Stitch Good Night

Dan Mahoney: “Once in, Never Out
Caimh McDonnell: “A Man with One of Those Faces
Brian McGilloway: “The Last Crossing
Adrian McKinty: “The Chain
Ralph M. McInerny: “The Green Revolution

Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, Barbara Ross: “Irish Coffee Murder
Catie Murphy “Dead in Dublin

Stuart Neville: “So Say the Fallen

Carlene O’Connor: “Murder at an Irish Bakery
Sister Carol Anne O’Marie: “Death Takes Up a Collection”


Helen Page: “Equal of God”
Louise Phillips: “The Doll’s House
J.M. Poole “Case of the Shady Shamrock

Janet Elaine Smith: “In St. Patrick’s Custody
Jo Spain: “Beneath the Surface

Patrick Taylor: “An Irish Country Family
Charles Todd: “An Irish Hostage
Peter Tremayne: “Blood in Eden

Kathy Hogan Trochek: “Irish Eyes
Traci Wilton “Mrs. Morris and the Pot of Gold

 

If your favorite Irish Fiction & Mysteries titles are not on the list, let me know and I’ll add them! Happy choosing and reading!

 

 

Irish Fiction & Mysteries – 2023 List Read More »

2023 Valentine’s Day Mysteries and Fiction

Are you a fan of holiday themed reading? Published between 2016 and 2023, here is an updated  list of thirty-one novels, novellas, and short stories centered around Valentine’s Day. Be prepared to sigh, or giggle, or be entranced by the selection. Click on the titles to discover more about the books and enjoy!

 

Jennifer S. Alderson  Death by Baguette

Carolyn Arnold  Valentine’s Day is Murder

 

Belle Bailey  A Sugar Maple Valentine

Patti Benning  Tall, Dark, and Deadly

Bellamy Bloom & Addison Moore  Murder Bites

Franky A. Brown  What Happened to Romance?

 

Susan Carroll The Valentine’s Day Ball

Cherry Christensen  Secret Valentine

Colleen Cross  Witching for Love on Valentine’s Day

 

Sylvia Damsell  A Valentine Wish

Steve Demaree A Valentine Murder

Liz Dodwell Valentine’s Day: a Polly Parrett Pet-Sitter Cozy

Jessica L. Elliott Operation: Romance

 

Tammy Falkner A Valentine’s Day Miracle

Amanda Flower Honeymoons Can Be Hazardous

Deborah Garner  A Flair for Truffles

Patricia Gligor Marnie Malone

Donna Grant  My Fiery Valentine

 

Holly Hepburn Valentine’s Day at the Star and Sixpence

Liwen Y. Ho Romantically Ever After

June McCrary Jacobs Handmade Hearts

 

Libby Klein  Theater Nights Are Murder

Jackie Lau  A Big Surprise for Valentine’s Day

Lia London Love from A to Z

 

Ava Mallory & nine more authors Stirring Up Love & Mystery

Jenn McKinlay  Royal Valentine

Leslie Meier  Valentine Candy Murder

Mobile Writers Guild Valentine’s Day Pieces (Anthology)

Addison Moore & Bellamy Bloom  Sealed with a Hiss

 

Summer Prescott A Blossom of Murder

Amy M. Reade  Be My Valencrime

 

Happy Reading!

 

2023 Valentine’s Day Mysteries and Fiction Read More »

NYT Top Ten – Best Fiction and Nonfiction 2022

The New York Times Book Reviews announced its 10 Best Books of the Year of 2022, with five fiction and five nonfiction titles. Books published in 2022 were eligible and were narrowed to this list by the Book Editors staff.

Fiction:

“Checkout 19” by Claire-Louise Bennett

“Trust” by Hernan Diaz

“The Candy House”  by Jennifer Egan

“Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver

“The Furrows” by Namwali Serpell

 

Nonfiction

“Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us” by Rachel Aviv

“Stay True: A Memoir” by Hua Hsu

“We Don’t Know Ourselves” by Fintan O’Toole

“Under the Skin: The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of Our Nation” by Linda Villarosa

“An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us” by Ed Yong

 

 

NYT Top Ten – Best Fiction and Nonfiction 2022 Read More »

2022 – Christmas Themed Mysteries and Romance

Christmas seems to be the most popular holiday theme for mysteries and fiction of all varieties. I discovered that there were hundreds from which to choose, with more written every year. Some writers focus entirely on Christmas in every book they publish.

If you are a fan of Christmas themed fiction, then this updated 2022 list of sixty-two novels, novellas, and short stories is for you. The books were recommended by avid cozy booksellers and reviewers, as well as NBR and Kerrian’s Notebook subscribers. Click on the titles to find out more about the books, then snuggle up with a great Christmas read.

 

Susan Wittig Albert “The Darling Dahlias & the Poinsettia Puzzle

Gretchen Archer  “Double Deck the Halls

Donna Andrews “Dashing Through the Snowbirds

Mary Angela “Very Merry Murder”

Joy Avon “In Peppermint Peril”

 

Laurien Berenson “Here Comes Santa Paws

Susan Bernhardt “Murder Under the Tree

Brittany E. Brinegar “Holly Jolly Murder

Leslie Budewitz “As the Christmas Cookie Crumbles”

Anna Celeste Burke “Cowabunga Christmas

Ellen Byron “A Cajun Christmas Killing”

 

Lynn Cahoon “Have a Holly Haunted Christmas

Robyn Carr “A Virgin River Christmas

Nancy Coco “Have Yourself a Fudgy Little Christmas

Cate Conte “A Whisker of a Doubt

Maya Corrigan “Gingerdead Man

 

Kim Davis “Frosted Yuletide Murder

Maddie Day “Christmas Cocoa and a Corpse”

Sharon Daynard  “Murder Points North

Vicki Delany “Dying in a Winter Wonderland

Hannah Dennison “A Killer Christmas at Honeychurch Hall

Maria DiRico “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Murder

Leighann Dobbs “Grievance in Gingerbread Alley

 

Barbara Early “Murder on the Toy Town Express”

Peggy Ehrhart “Silent Knit, Deadly Knit

Morris Fenris “Christmas Angel Charity

Beatrice Fishback “Winter Writerland

Amanda Flower “Candy Cane Crime

Joanne Fluke “Christmas Cupcake Murder

Jacqueline Frost “Slashing Through the Snow

 

Daryl Wood Gerber “Wreath between the Lines

John Gray “Manchester Christmas

Patrice Greenwood “As Red as Any Blood

Carolyn Haines “A Garland of Bones

Victoria Hamilton “Breaking the Mould”

Jo A Heistand “A Recipe for Murder

Julie Hennrikus “A Christmas Peril”

 

Liz Ireland “Mrs. Claus and the Santaland Slayings

CeeCee James “The Frosty Taste of Scandal

Miranda James “Six Cats a Slayin”

Tina Kashian “Mistletoe, Moussaka, and Murder

 

Laura Levine “Death of a Neighborhood Scrooge”

Debbie Macomber “Dear Santa

VL McBeath “A Christmas Murder

Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, Peggy Ehrhart  “Christmas Card Murder

Ada Moncrieff “Murder Most Festive

 

Nancy Naigle “Hope at Christmas

Carlene O’Connor “Murder at an Irish Christmas

Gail Oust: “The Twelve Dice of Christmas”

James Patterson, Maxine Paetro: “The 19th Christmas

Kathy Manos Penn “Candy Canes, Canines & Crime

Anne Perry “A Christmas Legacy

 

Amy M. Reade “The Worst Noel

Heather Redmond “A Christmas Carol Murder

Barbara Ross “Nogged Off

Rosemarie Ross “Christmas Candy Corpse

 

Karen Schaler “A Royal Christmas Fairy Tale

Julie Seedorf  “The Discombobulated Decipherers”

Jennifer Snow “A Lot Like Christmas

 

Jane Willan  “Abide with Me

Traci Wilton “Mrs. Morris and the Ghost of Christmas Past

Sherryl Woods: “Christmas at White Pines

 

 

2022 – Christmas Themed Mysteries and Romance Read More »

2022 – National Book Awards

From the National Book Award site: “The National Book Awards were established in 1950 to celebrate the best writing in America. A panel of judges selects a Longlist of ten titles per category, which is then narrowed to five Finalists, and a Winner is announced at the Awards Ceremony in the fall. Each Finalist receives a prize of $1,000, a medal, and a Judge’s citation. Winners receive $10,000 and a bronze sculpture.”

Click on the highlighted titles for more information about the books. The winners were divulged on November 16, indicated in red.

 

Fiction
Tess Gunty, The Rabbit Hutch 
Gayl Jones, The Birdcatcher 
Jamil Jan Kochai, The Haunting of Hajji Hotak and Other Stories 
Sarah Thankam Mathews, All This Could Be Different 
Alejandro Varela, The Town of Babylon 

Nonfiction
Meghan O’Rourke, The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness
Imani Perry, South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation
David Quammen, Breathless: The Scientific Race to Defeat a Deadly Virus
Ingrid Rojas Contreras, The Man Who Could Move Clouds: A Memoir
Robert Samuels and Toluse Olorunnipa, His Name Is George Floyd: One Man’s Life and the Struggle for Racial Justice

Translated Literature
A New Name: Septology VI-VII, by Jon Fosse, trans. from the Norwegian by Damion Searls
Kibogo, by Scholastique Mukasonga, trans. from the French by Mark Polizzotti
Jawbone, by Mónica Ojeda, trans. from the Spanish by Sarah Booker
Seven Empty Houses, by Samanta Schweblin, trans. from the Spanish by Megan McDowell
Scattered All Over the Earth, by Yoko Tawada, trans. from the Japanese by Margaret Mitsutani

Young People’s Literature
Kelly Barnhill, The Ogress and the Orphans 
Sonora Reyes, The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School 
Tommie Smith, Derrick Barnes, and Dawud Anyabwile, Victory. Stand! 
Sabaa Tahir, All My Rage 
Lisa Yee, Maizy Chen’s Last Chance     

Congratulations to all the nominees and winners!

2022 – National Book Awards Read More »

Halloween Mystery List – 2022

Halloween will be here before you know it and if you’d like to pick up a fun read with a seasonal theme, here are eighty-four titles in our updated 2022 Halloween Mystery List. Some have been around for ages, but others have recently been published or re-published. There are dozens more books with a Halloween theme, so if your favorite is not on the list, please let us know the title and author in the comments.

Click on the bold titles to read more about the individual books.

 

Stacey Alabaster – The Pumpkin Killer

Susan Wittig Albert – Witches’ Bane

Ritter Ames and 8 others – Midnight Mysteries: Nine Cozy Tales

Gretchen Archer – Double Jinx

 

Laurien Berenson – Howloween Murder

Susan Bernhardt – The Ginseng Conspiracy

Morgana Best – The Halloween Time Spell

Bethany Blake – Dial Meow for Murder

Susan Boles – Death of a Wolfman

Ginger Bolton –Boston Scream Murder

Lilian Jackson Braun – Cat Who Talked to Ghosts

Christin Brecher – 15 Minutes of Flame

Allison Brook – Death Overdue

Rita Mae Brown – The Litter of the Law

Catherine Bruns – Dessert Is the Bomb

Mollie Cox Bryan – Scrapbook of the Dead

Anna Celeste Burke – All Hallows’ Eve Heist

Jessica Burton – Death Goes Shopping

Ellen Byron – Murder in the Bayou Boneyard

 

Thea Cambert – Halloween at Pumpkin Hill

Nora Charles – Death with an Ocean View

Laura Childs – Frill Kill

Agatha Christie – The Hallowe’en Party

Susan Rogers Cooper – Not in My Backyard

E.J. Copperman – Night of the Living Deed

Maya Corrigan – Crypt Suzette

Kathy Cranston – Pumpkins are Murder

Isis Crawford – A Catered Costume Party

James J. Cudney – Haunted House Ghost

 

Kathi Daley – The Inn at Holiday Bay

Kim Davis – Cake Popped Off

Krista Davis – Murder Outside the Lines

Jana Deleon – Swamp Spook

Steve Demaree – Murder on Halloween

Leighann Dobbs – Halloween Party Murder

Carole Nelson Douglas – Cat with an Emerald Eye

Kaitlyn Dunnett – Vampires, Bones, and Treacle Scones

 

Janet Evanovich – Plum Spooky

Sharon Farrow – Mulberry Mischief

Connie Feddersen – Dead in the Pumpkin Patch

Vickie Fee – It’s Your Party, Die If You Want To

Honora Finkelstein – The Lawyer Who Died Trying

‘Jessica Fletcher’ & Donald Bain – Trick or Treachery

 

Eva Gates – The Spook in the Stacks

Daryl Wood Gerber (aka Avery Aames) – Stirring the Plot

Sarah Graves – Nail Biter

 

Carolyn Haines – Hallowed Bones

Ellen Hart – Sweet Poison

Kelly Hashway – Halloween Homicide

Julia Henry – Digging Up the Remains

Lee Hollis – Death of a Wicked Witch

Carolyn Q. Hunter – Pumpkin Pie Waffle

Ellen Elizabeth Hunter – Murder on the Ghost Walk

 

Sybil Johnson – Designed for Haunting

Daniel Judson – The Violet Hour

Heather Justesen – Muffins & Murder

 

Jenny Kales – A Stew to A Kill

Tonya Kappes – A Halloween Homicide

Andrew Klavan – The Animal Hour

Cynthia Kuhn – The Spirit in Question

 

Joyce & Jim Lavene – Ghastly Glass

James Lilley – Death Knocks Twice

Linda Lovely – Picked Off

Alice Loweecey The Clock Strikes Nun

 

Karen MacInerney – Deadly Brew

Ed McBain – Tricks: an 87th Precinct Mystery

Jenn McKinlay – Dark Chocolate Demise

G.A. McKevett – Poisoned Tarts

Leslie Meier – Wicked Witch Murder

Leslie Meier, Lee Hollis, Barbara Ross – Halloween Party Murder

Alexis Morgan – Death by Jack-O-Lantern

Lynn Morrison – Stakes and Spells

Mandy Morton – Cat Among the Pumpkins

Liz Mugavero – A Biscuit, a Casket

Julie Mulhern – Send in the Clowns

 

Katie Penryn – The Witch Who Hated Halloween

Leigh Perry – The Skeleton Haunts a House

Summer Prescott & 7 others – A Very Cozy Halloween

 

Rachael Stapleton – Black Cats, Corpses and the Pumpkin Pantry

Kathleen Suzette – Gnome for Halloween

 

Rebecca Tope – Death in the Cotswolds

Diane Vallere – Masking for Trouble

Kirsten Weiss – Gourd to Death

Linnea West Halloween Hayride Murder

 

If you’ve read any books in the Halloween Mystery List for 2022, please let us know what you thought.

Happy Spooky reading.   

Halloween Mystery List – 2022 Read More »

Scroll to Top