Cozy Up with a Quilt and a Good Mystery

Book Buzz is a blog produced in collaboration with neighborhood librarians from Houston Public Library, Harris County Public Library and the Bellaire Library.

The days are growing shorter and the evenings are beginning to cool, hinting of the arrival of fall. October means football, bazaars, school carnivals, fundraisers, Halloween and more. This is the nicest time of the year to hold an outdoor event in our part of Texas and there are so many choices and so many worthy organizations to support that trying to fit all the events into my schedule can cause an overload. So I take to curling up under a quilt with a mystery book to reduce stress even if it is only for a couple of chapters.

What draws me to cozy mysteries? They are light reads that provide some entertainment when my brain and body are tired. The main character is generally a woman who is an amateur sleuth, although cats can also fit into this role in some of the books enjoy. In the books I read, the heroine is a very intuitive, bright woman (of course, like me). The occupations of this everyday woman range from caterer, quilter, cat owner, gardener, librarian, book store owner and more. I have gotten hungry with the books that have a caterer, learned new quilt names with quilters and understand the librarian characters’ dilemmas.

There is a connection to recurring characters and the stories are safe in these series of mysteries. When I say safe, it means there is no graphic violence, little or no profanity and no prolonged torture scenes that will cause me to lose sleep. I read this subgenre of mysteries for light entertainment during a busy time of the year.

So brew a cup of tea, grab a quilt and cozy up to a mystery as the leaves begin to fall. Here are some suggestions: 

• The Cat Who... mysteries by Lillian Jackson Braun:.Jim Qwilleran is a journalist, and Koko and Yum Yum are his beloved cats, who help him to solve mysteries.
• Mysteries by Diane Mott Davidson: Caterer and amateur sleuth-extraordinaire Goldy Schulz solves delicious mysteries in Colorado.
• Mysteries by Agatha Christie: Miss Marple, a beloved character who is an elderly spinster who lives in the village of St. Mary Mead and acts as an amateur consulting detective.
• Hannah Swensen books by Joanne Fluke: Hannah Swensen runs The Cookie Jar, Lake Eden, Minnesota's most popular bakery. 
• Mysteries by M. C. Beaton (aka Marion Chesney): Pushing up Daisies will be the 27th in the Agatha Raisin Mystery Series.
• Amelia Peabody books by Elizabeth Peters: Amelia Peabody, a 31-year-old Victorian gentlewoman inherited her father's fortune and his strong will as well. Now she's headed for Cairo, accompanied by a girl with a tarnished past, to indulge her passion for Egyptology.

What are your favorite mysteries?

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