It’s that time of year when I must pick the best mysteries I’ve had the pleasure of featuring on the Cozy Corner throughout the year. I’m not going to lie, it’s my favorite, and least favorite part of this blog. I obviously can’t choose them all, yet every one was featured because it spoke to me in a special way. This year brought us some wonderful who-dun-it to enjoy; favorite series of the past, along with a bunch of new mysteries full of diversity that kept our days and nights busy with memorable characters. There were also so many novels I couldn’t feature due to scheduling and space constraints—so how did I choose from such a large pool of incredible mysteries which released this year?  With high spirits, and a glass of wine to toast each and every author;) *** Singapore Sapphire was featured on Cozy Corner blog titled New and Tried and True in September, 2019. A.M. Stuart has a winning start to this series! SINGAPORE SAPPHIRE by A.M. Stuart Early twentieth-century Singapore is a place where a person can disappear, and Harriet Gordon hopes to make a new life for herself there, leaving her tragic memories behind her–but murder gets in the…

Everyone has renovations they want to do, have to do, or are forced to do. We chose to do multiple renovation projects with one scheduled right after the other. I spent months choosing the right contractors. Some more expensive than others, but all of them with good reputations for the work they did and the timelines they kept. I even scheduled Murphy’s Law into my master plan. We were going to be done by May first. It’s Memorial Day and we still have contractors coming and going. My office has been covered with plastic for two weeks. Before that, it was loaded with furniture and boxes for a month. The month before that, it was empty. The last time I got to sit at my desk and write, was the last week of January. I’ve actually missed most of spring, not because of the weather, but because I’ve been working my butt off and keeping contractors inline, on time, and Murphy out of my blasted projects. (Ha!) The time that I’ve missed away from my work, I’ve actually gained in reading. It a known fact that I can get interrupted while I read, but if you interrupt me while I…

It’s my favorite time of year…I get to choose my favorite cozies released in the past twelve months!  And yet, it’s the hardest thing to do, almost like looking at all of the ornaments on my tree and trying to decide which ones I like the most. Since they all belong to my kids and were gifts from my parents who have been gone for too many years, it’s a monumental task, emotional and heart-warming. Like our ornaments, each mystery I’ve featured, along with the books featured on the Cozy Corner by guest authors, has a special place on my bookshelf. Whether it be the hardback, paperback or the ebook, I tend to keep more than I should so that I can go back and reminisce about the wonderful experience. Maybe I should start a tree with book ornaments—my very own Charli Rae and Scarlet would love that in the Book Barn, don’t you think? Princess the armadillo, however, would probably root through the ornaments and knock over the tree. Goodness, but I do see a holiday novella scurrying through my brain for next year! Without further ado, I give you my favorite mysteries and blogs of 2018! Teen Drama…

by Sharon Pape and Kym Roberts It always amazes me when I approached an author I don’t know with a hairbrained idea, and she actually says, “Yes!” Yet the writing community is that way: adventure seekers to the core. My guest today is one of those brave souls who didn’t hesitate to jump on board this crazy ride between her fictional characters and mine. Sharon Pape, author of the fabulous Abracadabra Mystery series, has co-written today’s blog with me. It started out as an interview between characters, but ended up as a short story we hope you’ll enjoy. Without further ado, here’s Magick in the Barn! I looked around and my knees nearly buckled. I closed my eyes, said a silent prayer to anyone listening. “Please, let this be a dream.” I slowly peaked out my left eye. No one in the heavens heard a thing I said. We were standing in the middle of what appeared to be a magick shoppe from 17th century England. There were beakers and bottles and antique fixtures my daddy would absolutely love. Princess nudged my leg and the breath I’d been holding so tight in my chest escaped through my lips. I sounded…

Everyone is more than ready for the trees to bloom and the flowers to sprout. The temperatures are finally rising and hopefully *fingers crossed* we’ve all experience the last snowfall of winter! Sitting in the sun soaking up some vitamin D is finally a possibility, and what better way to celebrate the return of nice weather than to do it with a blanket in the park and a book in your hands? Here are four new mysteries for you to enjoy this spring season. And as a tease for next week, one of these authors will be joining me for a short story right here on the Cozy Corner! It’s your turn to dig into the clues, and figure out the mystery! But, you’ll only be able to do that, by going to each author’s social media sites! QUEEN ANNE’S LACE by Susan Wittig Albert China Bayles #26 A present day ghost leads China Bayles to a secret from Pecan Springs’s past in this haunting mystery from New York Times bestselling author Susan Wittig Albert. While helping Ruby Wilcox clean up the loft above their shops, China comes upon a box of antique handcrafted lace and old photographs. Following the…

It’s hard to pick the best mysteries of the past year, especially when I’m limited on space. I don’t feature a book I don’t love, so if you’ve seen it on the Cozy Corner, you know I adored it. Yet each year I torture myself by trying to list the best mysteries, and considering I never come close to reading all of the books in my to-be-read file, it’s an impossible task. What if the best is still at the bottom of that pile?! This year the challenge seemed even more difficult and my pile even bigger, which led me to choose books that resonated with me, for one reason or another, throughout the past twelve months. I hope you enjoy my picks for 2017’s best mysteries. ON HER MAJESTY’S FRIGHTFULLY SECRET SERVICE ON HER MAJESTY’S FRIGHTFULLY SECRET SERVICE by Rhys Bowen Royal Spyness Mystery #11 In the new Royal Spyness Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of Crowned and Dangerous, Lady Georgiana Rannoch juggles secret missions from the Queen, Darcy, and her mother. But it’s all in a day’s work when you’re thirty-fifth in line to the British Crown. When Darcy runs off on another secret assignment,…

Portrait of Crime #1 August 2010 On Sale: August 3, 2010 Featuring: Zeke; Rory 304 pages ISBN: 0425236048 EAN: 9780425236048 Paperback $7.99 Add to Wish List Mystery Cozy, Mystery Paranormal Buy at Amazon.com Sketch Me If You Can by Sharon Pape She’s a police sketch artist. He’s a dead lawman. Together, they put a face on murder. When her uncle dies, police sketch artist Rory McCain get’s a list of clients from his private detective business and a beautiful, old house with a ghostly inhabitant: Federal Marshal Ezekiel Drummond, aka Zeke. Having a ghost as a housemate is bad enough, but as Rory’s drawn into one of her uncle’s unsolved cases and faces a cold-blooded killer, she may need the marshal’s supernatural help to stay alive. The Old West mingles with modern mystery Excerpt Even as Rory was jumping up from the couch, she was taking aim at the man in the chair. In spite of her trembling hands, she managed to keep him firmly in her sights. How could the shadowy product of her imagination actually exist in the harsh glare of the lamp? The bogey man was never in the closet when you finally built up the courage…