This past week I took a quick trip to our wonderful local library after work and picked up some old favorite cozy mysteries that I have not read for some time. As each book was pulled from the shelves, I was reminded of the many hours of enjoyment I had reading these stories and getting to know the characters.
There are times when you want something more robust to read and there are those times when something cozy and more gentle. Although the cranky Agatha Raisin series is listed here, they still really do qualify as cozy in my mind. Below are three of the books that came home with me that night and I am working my way through them at pretty good clip.
Hazel Holt- Gone Away
This series is set in the south of England and conjure up images of a warm cup of tea, a rainy day, cozy throw and a cat sleeping in your lap. If you are not familiar with this series, it revolves around Sheila Mallory a middle-aged widow, who also writes articles on nineteenth century authors, Jane Austin in particular.
Mrs. Mallory and her dear friends Rosemary and Anthea manage to get themselves involved in murders in her local seaside town of Taviscombe. There are 21 books in this cozy series, and I have read quite a few many years ago and have decided to start at the beginning and revisit this series. There is no graphic violence, sex, profanity…just lovely cozy mysteries. Each time I read one of these books, I like to imagine myself living in Taviscombe and being part of Mrs. Mallory’s world. Gone Away is the first installment and I highly recommend this series for a taste of a kinder gentler mystery.
M.C. Beaton- The Witches’ Tree
Having read so many of the Hamish Macbeth and the Agatha Raisin mysteries, this was revisiting an old series for me. In this outing, the redoubtable and irascible Agatha Raisin is on the hunt for the murderer of a spinster church lady that was hung from the Witches Tree.
Again, on this outing, we are treated to Agatha’s caustic and acerbic personality. As much as I did enjoy the book, I did ask myself several times, why I keep reading these “Raisin Woman’s” books. There is something a bit like a train wreck about this character that makes you keep coming back to see if she final gets over James, the ex-husband, Sir Charles, her friend with benefits or whatever man comes along for Agatha to obsess over. I would have to say that MC Beaton’s Hamish Macbeth series is usually more to my liking.
Aunt Dimity and the Buried Treasure
Another gem that I rarely hear discussed, which is the wonderful Aunt Dimity series by Nancy Atherton. I first picked up Aunt Dimity’s Death many years ago and have read probably seven to eight titles. During the after work perusal, and thinking about the 100 degree Fall weather we were experiencing, I picked up Aunt Dimity and the Buried Treasure, which is the twenty first installment of the series.
These stories revolve around a young American woman named Lori Shepard and her Aunt Dimity whom she never met in life. Finding herself the beneficiary of Aunt Dimity’s sizable estate, Lori soon discovers that she can communicate with Aunt Dimity in a blue leather book, where the words disappear after each conversation with Dimity. Reginald the pink stuffed rabbit keeps an eye on the book and Lori, who settles in the small English village of Finch and marries and becomes a mother.
These are gentle stories that are a welcome respite from real intense murder mysteries but give you enough mystery and gentle village life to make them irresistible. They are cozy without being campy and the writing in all three are great, especially the Mrs. Mallory and Aunt Dimity series.
All three are fun and enjoyable readings and are worth a check out if you are in the mood for light and gentle mysteries.
