I love to read mysteries. I can spend hours in the bookstore and the library. One of my greatest pleasures in life is discovering a new author and finding there is a whole series of books featuring the same character. I become attached to them like friends and look forward to the next adventure they take me on.
One of my favorite genre of books is the cozy mystery. These books are usually around two hundred pages (quick reads) and feature very relatable characters. More often than not they are not law enforcement officers, but civilians who seem to have a knack for stumbling upon dead bodies and then investigate to find the killer. My absolute favorite authors are as follows:
Sarah Graves. Sarah writes the “Home Repair is Homicide” series featuring Jacobia Tiptree. Jacobia is a former New York City financial advisor who ditches the rat race and buys an old house in Maine that is in constant need of repairs. She is a strong woman who doesn’t turn down any challenge. And she always uncovers the killer! Some fun extras in the book are tips on home repair.
Jill Churchill. Jill’s main character is Jane Jeffry. Jane is a widowed woman raising her children in suburbia. In between P.T.A meetings, carpooling and household chores, she solves local murders. Much to the chargrin of the local police deparment. With her best friend and sidekick, Shelley Nowack, they can’t resist a mystery and always seem to have one fall in their laps. Very fun reads!
Laurien Berenson. Laurien’s character Melanie Travis is a dog breeder and handler. All of the books in the series feature her involvement in the world of dog showing. Very informative and especially interesting to those of us who love dogs.
Joanne Fluke. Joanne’s series are in a subcatagory called “culinary mysteries”. Joanne’s character, Hannah Swensen, owns and runs a cookie shop. Every chapter ends with a recipe. I’ve tried some of them and they are wonderful. Hannah is a quick witted redhead who in between solving murders, dates two of the town’s most elgible bacherlors. Lucky girl!
Valerie Wolzien. Valerie writes about Susan Henshaw. A housewife and mother who also has the unfortunate luck of finding all the dead bodies in town!
To date I have read every book that I can find by these authors. I highly recommend them to anyone wishing to curl up with a fun mystery featuring strong, capable women we’d all like to be friends with. My only complaint is that I go through them so fast and then I have to wait for another one in the series to come out!
