A call for a lighter crime folder emerged earlier this week and so here it is!

Books like Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series, or Alexander McCall Smith No.1 Ladies Detective series and any others that you can think of which are lighter reads.

I love the Agatha Raisin series by M.C Beaton and the Booktown Mysteries by Lorna Barrett.

*Mrs. Pollifax books by Dorothy Gilman

*Aunt Dimity mysteries by Nancy Atherton

*Southern Sisters mysteries by Anne George

*The Cat who... books by Lilian Jackson Braun

*China Bayles mysteries by Susan Wittig Albert

*Chocoholic mysteries by JoAnna Carl

I love the Aunt Dimity's! I'm glad this topic came up, cause I'm looking for some new cozies.

Needlecraft mysteries by Monica Ferris
any by Dorothy Cannell

I'm a big fan of the Stephanie Plum series, and I've also enjoyed The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency and Mum's the Word. Another good series is Thistle and Twigg by Mary Saums. I've read The Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder too, though, and thought it was one of the worst books I've read. I won't be reading any more from that series.

I love

The Pink Carnation mysteries by Lauren Willig. These are heavy on romance, but I do love them.

The Nursery Crime books and Thursday Next books by Jasper Fforde. These are fantasy, but there are mysteries to be solved too. They're a lot of fun.

The Goldy Bear Culinary mysteries by Diane Mott Davidson

The Mrs. Murphy books by Rita Mae Brown

The Beatrix Potter mysteries by Susan Wittig Albert

I've only read one of these, but Deadly Nightshade was okay.

I agree with those who recommended Stephanie Plum, Aunt Dimity, Agatha Raisin, and the earlier Cat Who books.

The Beatrix Potter mysteries by Susan Wittig Albert

I would also recommend her China Bayles series.

Another series by M. C. Beaton - Hamish McBeth. A police constible in a small Scottish village. Terrific.

Teresa wrote: "The Beatrix Potter mysteries by Susan Wittig Albert

I would also recommend her China Bayles series.

"

Are they children's books, or just by her? I have never heard of them, but who doesn't love Peter?

Susan Wittig Albert

It is an adult series set in Texas. China is a former lawyer who wanted out of the rat race and moved somewhere quieter. She now runs a herb/garden store which has expanded over the years. She has Ruby as her best friend and other close friends too. The books age naturally through the series with normal personal things that would happen over a life. The mysteries are solid and for me it just like catching up with old friends. No real violence and some humorous moments and you even for China when she has bad things happen to her.

The Beatrix Potter books are fiction with Beatrix Potter as the main character, living at the farm she bought. They're cute little books. It's been a while since I picked one up, but I believe the cats and badgers and other animals occasionally get chapters to tell what they know about the mystery. They're a lot of fun if that's your kind of thing. They're shelved in the adult section at my library.

That China Bayles series looks great. The first one is called Thyme of Death.

I know I mentioned it somewhere else, but thought I'd do so again here, in it's proper thread.
Shirley Rousseau Murphy

Talking, detecting cats, Murphy had cats personalities down pat. Nice locations too.

Would
Sue Grafton's books qualify? I have enjoyed the majority of the alphabet series.

I love to curl up with any Hamish MacBeth by M.C.Beaton also Agatha Raisin they are really what I call cosy crimes.

Hi Chris, I'm a huge fan of the Hamish MacBeth series and the TV series too. They are indeed cozies, just what I like to read on a rainy afternoon.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Sue Grafton, but I don't know if I'd call her books cozies. I am rereading B is for Burglar now, and I find it completely to be a comfort read. I just love her, she's so funny and sarcastic.

Donna wrote: "Hi Chris, I'm a huge fan of the Hamish MacBeth series and the TV series too. They are indeed cozies, just what I like to read on a rainy afternoon."

I have never seen the TV series, in fact didn't even know there was one. What is it called and who plays Hamish?

Robert Carlyle played Hamish and it was just called Hamish Macbeth.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111993/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91nRyAn2h...

Fiona wrote: "Robert Carlyle played Hamish and it was just called Hamish Macbeth.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111993/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91nRyAn2hpI"

Many thanks Fiona, I will try to find it on DVD and have a look on youtube.

They were shown on BBC America a year or so ago, I think.

I just finished A Reconstructed Corpse by Simon Brett. It's the first book by him that I've read and I did enjoy it. I think this one was pretty far into the Charlie Paris series so I will have to check my library for some of the earlier ones in the series.

I LOVE M.C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin series!
I am currently on book #4 Agatha Raisin and the Walkers of Dembley.

They are a lot of fun, aren't they? I can't help but like Agatha in spite of herself!

I really enjoy Laura Childs Tea Shop and Scrapbook cozies. Have read them all and she has another series in the works. The tea series especially has a great cast of characters.

True cozies are also written by Robin Paige in her victorian series. I have enjoyed several of her titles. A list of cozies must include Elizabeth Peters and Miss Amelia Peabody.

Love the "Cat Who" series by Lilian Jackson Braun. A lot of humor and great characters. The audio books are great. They are read by George Guidall and he is awesome. A word of caution, though. She is no longer living and the more recent ones were written by a ghost writer and aren't nearly as good.

I used to read these books. Maybe I just read too many of them. But they started to seem the same to me. Plus the fact that I don't even like cats. When these two thoughts hit home I swore off the "Cat Who" books.

I didn't know she was no longer living though. I wonder how long ago she died - was it when I decided they all seemed the same?

I didn't know that either. The latest ones really have been terrible. I finally gave up.

I'm not sure of the year she died, but I believe the last one she did was The Cat Who Brought Down the House. I know for sure that the Bananas one and the Turkey one are not hers and all the ones after that. The very latest ones, I think, are awful. I stopped reading them too.

The Banana one is the one that I think of as being the first of the worst.

I honestly couldn't remember where I read that she had died, and so I just did some research on the internet. It seems there is some disagreement on whether she is still alive or not. I found excerpts from an interview she supposedly did in 2005. One site said she was born in 1911 and Wikipedia says 1913 and says she is still alive and living with her family. Other people say she is still alive and not writing and that recent books have indeed been written by a ghost writer. It has also been reported that her publisher is not commenting and that her family at one time asked for everyone to give her a little space, whatever that means. Some say her age has been a hindrance to her writing and that's why the later books weren't as good. I was convinced I read for certain she had died, and really never considered I could be wrong until some of the posts on the board seemed to indicate that it was not common knowledge. Sorry, I didn't mean to mislead anyone. If she is still alive, then she is in her late 90's. But whether alive or not, ghost writer or not the early books in the series are great, and they are a unique set of books and well worth the read.